My family and I spent 10 years living in California and New Orleans before moving to Indiana two years ago. I'm sorry to say that this winter in the Midwest has been at least as warm as any winter I have spent on the West Coast or in the South. And that has made me come to an uneasy conclusion...
We've been enjoying this stretch of 50- to 60-degree weather with very mixed emotions for a few weeks, but the true consequence of these admittedly pleasant days became incredibly clear last Friday. Around 4:30 a.m., my cat and dog (the exact culprit is unclear) brought the gift of a dying bat into our bedroom. My husband has a great tale about me hiding my head under the covers for the next half-hour, but the point of the story is this: BATS SHOULD BE HIBERNATING RIGHT NOW! It is winter in the Midwest, but - according to our local pest control guy - it seems bats are keeping him pretty busy throughout the city.
Many of you may have also seen the news that polar bears may soon be declared endangered. According to "Inconvenient Truth," a new scientific study shows that, for the first time, polar bears are drowning in significant numbers. With the edge of the ice between 30 and 40 miles from shore in some places, the polar bears are swimming so far that they become exhausted and drown before finding an ice floe.
Bats, bears and a million other messengers are making it clear that global warming must be addressed immediately. Our environment is changing. It may appear to be for the better but it is not. No Midwesterner is missing the hassle of scraping ice off our car windows, but we have to remember that everything - especially our recent Bermuda shorts days - comes at a price.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I guess I'm just coming to terms with an idea I was initially uneasy about. For us to give the issue of global warming the unwavering attention it demands, our only answer is this: Al Gore for President.