"I have seen the Enemy.... and the enemy is me" Global environmental changes happen naturally, some are beneficial some are not. But those deriving from natural causation are part of a cycle of life that began billions and billions of years ago and were mapped out to happen in such a way. The hard to grasp point is that man has, in such a minute fraction of time, been able to disrupt that process. That disruption that we will now pay the ultimate price for has taken just a HUNDRED years to take accomplish. The normal cycles have been thrown into a giant time accelerator and is now out of control from even the original designer. Man has been a catalyst speeding up those changes and actually creating some new ones that wouldn't have existed without our presence. This post I'm going identify as many as i can. I will continue to add to the list as new info. becomes illuminated to me. Green House gases are gases formed from the burning of fossil fuels. Co2 released from auto combustion is probably the best known, but not necessarily the worst emitter. Methane gases are much worse. Cattle raised for human consumption is the largest single emitter of destructive greenhouse gas. A close second is emissions from coal burning power plants. Those already built and the Hundreds(yes hundreds! China alone built 112 this year! And forecast to build another 100 next year.) Logging and "slash and burn" to gain land for more agriculture to feed the billions here now and the the quarter billion new mouths each added each year. Decimating the rain forests of South America. Burning refuge and forest fires also are a huge problem. 20 million tons of co2 is released for every acre burned.(9,ooo,ooo acres burned in 2006 in the US alone)That's a whole lot of co2! That is compounded by the fact that those 9 million acres are no longer absorbing co2 which it does during its normal process of photosynthesis. Even the gas released by the 7 billion humans is a contributor The temp increases and their effects are felt everywhere. The melting of the Ice cap is of special concern. The cap serves as a regulator for surface temps. As it shrinks its ability to reflect the suns heating rays is also shrinking. This causes the rise in sea levels which increases the absorption of those rays compounding the problem. The ground in far north of our globe consists of perm. and semi perm. permafrost. As warming continues it is quickly changing the amount of ground covered by them. When that thawing occurs we are allowing harmful methane gases, stored for millions of years, from decomposing plant life to escape. That methane coupled with that produced from landfill and dump sites is accelerating the whole climate change process. Some notable scientists predict we could see the end of the Polar Ice Cap by mid century! Please read that last sentence over again. The thawing is also interfering with insects populations. The Birch-bark beetle population held in check by the cooler temps in spring time have reproduced with devastating consiquences.40,000,000,000(40Billion) birch tress have been eaten. completely stripping an area in Alaska twice the size of Yellowstone park!Greenland's ice fields are melting faster than any could have predicted 60% of it is all ready gone. The great glaciers of the world began to slow their forward movement about fifty yrs ago and stopped about 20yrs ago. They are all now receding(melting). The Warmer temps are reducing, and will eventually eliminate, maple syrup production in Vermont, New York, Maine and New Hampshire. Long term the same will happen in Canada. As sea levels rise much of the worlds coastline is at risk. The risks very but they all spell disaster. Saltwater incursion into fresh water habitats and drinking reservoir's . Flooding important estuaries that are vital to the existence of many birds. Migration patterns and breeding habits of many species of birds have been altered by the warmer temps. A stronger version of Mad Cow disease known as Blue tongue has emerged from Africa and has spread through Europe and now has crossed the English channel and is threatening livestock. Its transferred through Widgets(small bugs that have exploded in numbers due to warmer climate) Once infected it is believed it will kill 2/3 of all livestock. Harmful Toxins generated by plant life are growing stronger as the Earth warms. Allergies and respiratory problems are only going to get worse. Insects thrive on warm wet climates like mosquitoes that transmit water borne illnesses that now kill 6,000 people per day world wide. They seem to be the only species on Earth today that is Not in danger of extinction... Until All other life forms do and then they will have nothing to feed on. Deforestation of the rain forest along with oil exploration and drilling is decimating one of the most valuable ecosystems on Earth. The warming of our planet is causing neg effects globally, some fore-casted some that were not thought of. The deserts are expanding because of warmer climates and associated drought. The Sahara and others are actually swallowing up the surrounding villages that have eked a survival in and already harsh environment. Warmer weather will create more drought which in turn reduces our ability to farm. This will increase starvation globally.(its already killing thousands daily world wide mostly children. I know this is very depressing but we must see the real and full picture if drastic changes(that's what is needed) are to be implemented. Scientist are looking at the relationship between rising sea levels and a slowing down of the Gulf stream, The conveyor belt that moderates climates in much of the northern hemisphere. If it continues to slow or worse stop. Much of the biggest agricultural areas that produce most of the world food will be lost. England will have a climate similar Greenland or Iceland! Life forms of all types are under siege. We are losing species to extinction at a mind blowing rate of over 30,000 per yr!! A recent article in the Science Journal quotes science as saying that we currently lost 30% of edible species in our oceans and will loss as much as 90% by 2048. All of these problem exist now because of one very simple, but not addressed statistic. The resources in any ecosystem determine population size of the creature compete for and who need those resources to exist But not Man, oh no, we have once again over ridden nature. The resources on our plant are est to be able to sustain life for around 3 billion people, without depleting those sustainable resources. We currently have a global population exceeding 6.8 billion with an average increase of 77,000/day or 1/4 billion/yr more mouths to feed from those` diminishing resources! Calculations are "IF" we make it to 2050 there will be an additional 10 billion. My bet would be Mother nature will show her displeasure and in doing so will take care of over population by then.