Our goal at Swelter Designs is to promote climate education and solutions to the climate crisis by running a socially responsible business for the benefit of people and planet. Now you can get the discussion going by sending informative and provocative ClimateCards to your family, friends, colleagues, customers, and congregations. ClimateCards are suitable for personal, institutional and business use. Custom designs are also available - please contact us for more information. With ClimateCards you can help educate the American public about the urgent need to address global warming, and what we can do about it: see ClimateCards at the Swelter Store. The Serious Perils of Global Warming As of 2006, there is no longer any question that the global warming we are currently experiencing is induced by human activity. The fossil fuel industry, which has trillions of dollars at stake, has mounted a vigorous campaign to cast doubt upon climate science. But in fact climate science includes over two thousand experts worldwide and is the most rigorously peer-reviewed scientific study in history. And despite the fact that big oil and big coal have funded multiple media outlets and a half-dozen or so skeptics to create the illusion of uncertainty, the scientific verdict is in: We humans have raised the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere far beyond that seen in over a half a million years and it is causing massive damage to the ecosystems that support all life - including us. A Brief Summary . . . To date we have witnessed the effects of an average planetary increase of only one degree Fahrenheit - a rise of up to nine degrees is anticipated in the next century - and the results are already catastrophic: Loss of mountain snow leads to freshwater shortages and decreased agricultural production Warming oceans and melting ice are raising water levels, endangering small islands, coastal settlements and river deltas Increased carbon dioxide is causing acidification of the seas resulting in the death of coral reefs, which are a source of essential marine diversity Accelerated evaporation over land masses has caused widespread drought and forest fire conditions Increasing incidents of unpredictable and violent weather - hot or cold, wet or dry - are a hallmark of global warming Environmental refugees outnumber political refugees worldwide The flow of the gulf stream has begun to change, and threatens to bring a Siberian climate to England and the Northeastern U.S. and Canada and that's just the beginning . . . While underdeveloped nations are more susceptible to climate change, it affects us all. In North America and Europe we are experiencing lethal weather in the form of heat waves, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and drought. Insects, highly sensitive to temperature change, are thriving - destroying forests and bringing tropical disease as far north as Toronto. Even more alarming, adverse developments from global warming are happening much faster than even the most concerned scientists anticipated five years ago. Species are going extinct at increasing rates, and it is time to start thinking the unthinkable: if we don't act now the Earth may become virtually uninhabitable for most human beings. What can we do? The debate across the world is not about weather global warming exists, it is about how to manage this crisis. Except in the United States, where due to powerful corporate interests the American people have been kept in the dark and fed an unending stream of disinformation, essentially to keep a tiny minority of executives and shareholders very wealthy and a few politicians very powerful. Moving to sustainable and renewable energy can support thriving, pollution-free local economies and a democracy that will create millions of new skilled jobs across the country. Determined to do it right, we, the largest energy consumers in the world, can make an exciting and fulfilling transition from an industrial age that's leading us off a cliff. It's our choice: a beautiful spaceship Earth for our children or a parched and barren planetary desert. Go to our links page for more information about how people across the world are addressing the climate crisis, and the kinds of action you can take in your community to turn this disaster into an opportunity to create a more humane and livable world - for all. And use ClimateCards to tell everyone you know that we all have to act now!