Don't screw the polar bears

Picture a white fluffy marshmallow being toasted over a bonfire. Orange flames dance around the edges as the temperature rises and the sides become crisp and brown. Now picture billions of tiny people living on the marshmallow and listen to them scream as they all catch fire.\nThe marshmallow is planet Earth.\nBad dramatizations aside, global warming is approaching a "critical point of no return," according to Monday's warning by an international climate change task force. \nGlobal warming? Are the scientists still whining about that?\nI'll admit that caring about the environment hasn't been hip for a while. Before I continue, I want to clear a few things up. I don't wear Birkenstocks or eat granola. I've never once tried to save a whale. Sometimes I recycle, but don't tell anyone. I'm clearly not a tree hugger, but even I think we need to stop ignoring the potential abrupt climate change.\nThe task force, a collaboration of the Institute for Public Policy Research in Britain, the Center for American Progress in the United States and The Australia Institute, reported that if the Earth's climate increases too much, we could be faced with such irreversible consequences as extensive drought, crop failure and rising sea levels.\nWhen we can see our breath and our ears are red in the dead of winter, global warming doesn't sound so bad. It seems to fit into the same category as hot cocoa and mittens.\nDuring a particularly heavy snow, a friend of mine made a comment regarding global warming:\n"Screw the polar bears. I want to play golf." \nI hate polar bears as much as the next person, but do you want our marshmallow to melt?\nThe task force warns that we must take drastic measures to prevent the Earth's climate from rising 2 degrees Celsius. The result of the increase could cause the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets to melt and the Gulf Stream to shut down.\nAn agreement was made at the U.N. Conference on Climate Change in Kyoto to cut the amount of gases that industries produce. But President George W. Bush has rejected the Kyoto agreement on the grounds that the required carbon emission cuts might be detrimental to the U.S. economy.\nSo it's okay if Kevin Costner turns into a fish as long as the U.S. economy flourishes.\nEven the economy seems trite in comparison with the risk of the cradle of life as we know it.\nThe world and fossil fuels have been dating now since about 1750, the approximate start of the Industrial Revolution. The relationship is still hot after 255 years, but it's getting a little too hot. Excessive greenhouse gases that heat the planet tend to kill the romance.\nIf we just told fossil fuels, "We're breaking up with you," the result would be chaotic, but focusing on a switch to renewable energy sources still should be a priority.\nEven if global warming were just something the crazy scientists made up, we couldn't ignore the fact that fossil fuels are finite resources. Focusing on renewable energy is a good idea no matter what. \nWhile policy makers struggle with tackling the issue on a global level, you might be thinking, "I'm just one person. Sure, I can stop having aerosol spraying parties, but how can my actions actually help?\nThe United States is the Paris Hilton of the world's resources, living in excess without seeming to care. We can't continue to view the environment as a limitless Eden.\nEverything you learned in second grade about turning off lights and carpooling — do it. It sounds like hippie rhetoric, but trust me: Conserving energy is not just crucial to the future of our planet -- it's hard-core.