Wildfires 180822

      There are 175 wildfires that are out of control in the western states. We tend to think that the world is a huge planet where things happening far away do not really affect us here. I know I always did until recently. Right now those fires on the west coast have filled the air with smoke particulates across the nation. They have produced heavy clouds and irregular rain patterns for August. 202 years ago mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted and shot smoke miles into the air and that caused the year around the world without a summer. You may remember the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 caused the US to have a minimal summer with lots of rain that year. Those 2 events lead me to believe that global warming is a clear and present danger as we continue to burn fossil fuels. Ice ages and warming ages have happened eons ago and many lives were lost. We are on a dangerous course. The US navy has already started raising the port docks by 3 feet because they know that global warming will raise coastal water levels in Norfolk Va. in a few years time from now. Why do we continue to use coal to fire electric plants and use fossil fuels? The answer seems obvious, but it is not what you may think. We have the technology today to eliminate fossil fuels and make power cheap and plentiful. So why don't we do that? Think about the fact that coal and fuel companies are the biggest money makers in the world. Think about the power they have around the world and how they control the governments around the world and use their power to keep their coffers overflowing with money. They have the technology locked up and will never allow it to happen until they drain the planet of coal and oil and natural gas. The question we should be asking is will the planet survive until they are forced to introduce the technology they are holding back? All this coal and fossil fuels add greenhouse gasses and particulates that just like the volcanic eruptions affects our world. There is a book that is easy to find; its title is "The Tipping Point". I do not recommend it because most of it is boring, but the key is the fact that everything continues until it reaches a tipping point that turns things upside down. That is the situation I think we are in with these fossil fuels that threaten our world. Will the tipping point happen before our planet is destroyed or will it be too late? I have no idea, but I hope we change over before it is too late for the future of our grandchildren and their grandchildren.