The Gas Chamber and the Numbers that Suggest It Kills People

The world is a gas chamber. And, you're living in it -- which means you're also dying from it. You've been living in it since the day you were born. Yes, go ahead and note how all these years have passed away and you haven't died yet, so it must not be too bad.

I think of the smoke billowing down from the 480 fires in Canada, and how news reports say those cities choking in it are experiencing the worst pollution in all the world.

I think of how our planet is getting hotter and hotter, heat waves becoming more common. I think of how the Canadian fires were made five times more possible because of climate change.

 And, I wonder at those who deny climate change.

I think of the billion and a half cars in the world, and the more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants. I think of the 15 billion trees cut down each year to deforestation. I think of the 150 billion ton of ice that melts each year in the Antarctic, and the 270 ton that melts in Greenland.

 I think of the estimated 10 million factories in the world, and of the near 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide humankind pours into the air each annual cycle. I think of the 55,000 to 73,000 species that go extinct each year. I think of how extreme heat kills about 5 million and pollution about 10 million people year in and year out. 

You can say you haven't died yet in this "gas chamber." You can say its all a hoax.

But numbers don't lie.

(Index: Climate change info)