Pittsburgh, PA

Pennsylvania has been facing some highs in temperatures recently that have been breaking weather records. We’ve all complained how hot it’s been getting and for those of us who like to ski, how winter just isn’t the same as it used to be.

A recent article in the City Paper tries to give some answers:

…according to data compiled by the National Climatic Data Center…Pennsylvania emits approximately one percent of the entire world’s greenhouse gases. If it continues, scientists say, Pennsylvania could look more like Georgia or Alabama by the end of the century.

Now I know there are still skeptics out there, who believe global warming is just a natural occurrence and perhaps it is, but there are also a lot of scientists and studies to back up that it’s not entirely a natural process and that with a little intervention we can ease its effects.

“I still wonder why global warming is such a contentious debate,” Wesser says. “There are very powerful research organizations with a plethora of data obtained by scientific methods without bias. Yet somehow there are still skeptics.” -field organizer for PennEnvironment

Local scientists feel Pennsylvania is so high on the list, because of the our large coal consumption. Coal is considered to be one of the worst fossil fuels, because it contains high levels of carbon dioxide, which is very harmful to the environment in large doses.

Penn Environment are asking Gov. Ed Rendell to use scientific methods to cut down on greenhouse gases in Pennsylvania. Rendell is expected to release a statewide global-warming plan in the near future.

They hope to decrease greenhouse gases by 15-20 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050.

The 80-percent change of greenhouse gases is a “very ambitious” goal, according to Stan Kabala, research professor of Duquesne University’s Center for Environmental Research and Education, but it is attainable.

Now I know I’m probably going to get a lot of backlash from this post, but I could care less. I welcome debate, although I won’t be participating in it myself. I’m not sure whether I believe global warming can be helped that much by cutting greenhouse gases, but I do know that it is beneficial for us all to stop polluting the environment so much.

Pittsburgh has come a long way since it was known for its smog, smoke and bad breathing conditions. Since we changed our economy to one based on healthcare, education and financial services we have seen a lot of changes. One being of course, the layoff and closures of so many of our steel plants. We saw the result of this during the 1980’s continuing into almost the present with the unemployment rate and the decreasing population. But ever since 2000, Pittsburgh has seen a huge growth as our economy has settled in and we are starting to see the benefits of the switch from an industrial economy to a health-care/service based one. I can honestly say, as well as a lot of other Pittsburgh born natives, that Pittsburgh was awful for a long time. So awful, that after graduating from high school, I decided to move to NYC and only now, after having been back for 5 years am I starting to see what I’m going to be missing when I move back there again.

I know a lot of people are concerned with the effects of government legislations on the industrial arena, but honestly I think those days are just about over anyways.

environment, global warming, heat, greenhouse gases, pollution, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, weather