World Wide Forest Devastation and Disappearing Ice Shelves

COMMENTARY | While Rick Perry and many members of the GOP continue to insist global warming is just a "scientific theory" without facts to base it on, scientists say the future of our planet may be at stake due to the warming climate.

Forests across the world are dying, including millions of acres of pine trees across the northern and central Rockies in the U.S. They are victims of the pine beetle, which had been controlled previously by bitter cold winters. With the winters turning balmier, the beetles are flourishing, and killing off trees in devastating numbers.

In Colorado, 15 percent of the beautiful aspen forests are lost to dehydration, in Africa, euphorbia trees are dying, and in northern Algeria it is Atlas cedars that are in decline. Hot, dry weather across the Siberian forest has fueled fires that are destroying miles of trees. Droughts in Australia are causing the same kind of devastation to eucalyptus trees.

Yet, Perry and others like him refuse to acknowledge global warming, let alone make any effort to address what it is doing to the world we live in. This is a serious situation, yet many of our politicians are more concerned about their careers than the future of our earth.

Many people do not realize the important role that trees play on our planet. They absorb more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air by burning fossil fuels and driving their automobiles.

Without the trees to absorb this, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rises faster. The gas traps heat from the sun, and human emissions cause the planet to warm. It's not hard to understand. How can so many people be so selfish and uncaring that they are willing to destroy the only place that human beings have to live in?

In another report, just released, the news that two Canadian ice shelves diminished significantly this summer, and one has almost disappeared completely. These ice shelves existed before Canada was settled by Europeans, and scientists say that it is another mark of global warming.

The Republican dominated congress has become one of the most anti-environmental groups we have ever seen. They are doing everything in their power to reverse laws that have been enacted to protect the environment, and their 125 votes on measures that undermine environmental regulations are proving how little they care about the future of our planet.