Not long ago, maybe two or three years, there was a feeling that the issues around global warming were not the problem of the current generation. Our generation, and the ones immediately preceding it, had certainly caused the problem through the overuse of fossil fuels: gasoline, coal, natural gas, and so on. Eventually, that was going to cause a lot of ice to melt near the poles, causing ocean levels to rise, among other problems.

But none of that was going to get serious until perhaps the beginning of the next century, that is to say the year 2100 or so. That meant that it would not be our children’s problem, or probably even their children’s problem. Most of us thought that it would probably be all right to relax for a while, and not get too worked up about finding solutions for the problem.

Then, several months or even a year ago, another study was published. It said that earlier studies had not properly calculated the acceleration of the melting, and that all of the ice, at least all of the Arctic ice, could be gone by the year 2040. That brought the problems a lot closer, and some people actually started to pay attention to them. A few people even started to think about maybe taking some action. Not the U.S. government, of course, but some people.

Now we have a new study. It says that even that last study was wrong, and the ice is melting even faster than they had thought. It is now likely that all of the ice in the Arctic will be gone by the year 2012. Yes, that’s right, 2012. That is the very same 2012 that is only four or five years away. Heck, a lot of people won’t even have kids by 2012. This is starting to sound like it may be our problem, isn’t it?

Of course, I have not heard the little Bush say that he’s worried about it. There is some chance that he might not be bright enough to understand it, or that he just figures since he has appointed himself King he will just abolish that pesky Global Warming thing. But do something about it? Heck, no. That might cost some of the corporations that own him a little bit of profit. We can’t have that!

I wonder if we staked George to a pier at about the low tide line and left him there until 2012 if he might change his mind?