Why this election campaign matters ...

The Arctic ice cap is melting faster than many scientists thought possible. The sea lanes, traditionally blocked by ice, would now allow passage around both sides of the ice mass. The images below are grabbed from the German newspaper Spiegel.


The ice cap wasn't looking so bad in 2003. NASA


...it has visibly shrunk in this picture from 2008. NASA

After 8 years of government by profiteering oil barons, we sure don't need John McCain, another guy who shows no sign of understanding the science of climate change. There is a reason that younger people are jumping into the political arena so heavily this year. When some of us older ones are dead, they and their kids will still be here. They want a planet they can live on.

Al Gore said it far better from the podium at the Democratic Convention tonight.

Learn more about the challenge at 350.org.

350 is the red line for human beings, the most important number on the planet. The most recent science tells us that unless we can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, we will cause huge and irreversible damage to the earth.

UPDATE: Here's a bit from Al Gore.

We are facing a planetary emergency which, if not solved, would exceed anything we've ever experienced in the history of humankind.

Full speech here.