The Rancher and Climate Change

I suspect that our ranchers and farmers will recognize the facts of climate change sooner than some.  That's because it's staring them in the face.

Drought conditions in Texas are so bad cattle are keeling over in parched pastures and dying.

Seventy-one percent of the state is now in some stage of drought. The two worst drought designations - extreme and exceptional - covered 15.1 percent of the state. 

Will that rancher care about the warming in Antarctica?

Maybe not, unless his ranch is along the coast.  But homeowners and businesses along all coastal cities should perhaps be concerned.  

Antarctica warming has major ramifications for sea level rise. Research has found that since 1957, the annual temperature for the entire continent of Antarctica has warmed by about 1 degree Fahrenheit. West Antarctica, which is about 20 degrees warmer than the east, has warmed nearly twice as fast.  

Of course as the sea level rises, our coastal towns and cities sink.  

And who is concerned that trees in old growth forests across the West are dying?  The death rate is doubling every 17 to 29 years, according to a 52-year study published in the Friday edition of the journal Science. The scientists conclude this is probably caused by longer and hotter summers from a changing climate.

These were just three articles that I noticed this past week.  How much longer will ideology continue to ignore facts and subvert science?  How does your congressional representative vote on these issues?  Find out -- it's your planet, too.