When most of us old timers were younger, Christmas trees were cut down from old growth wild forests, but today, most come from sustainably harvested Christmas tree farms that cut their trees when they are 9 to 12 years old.

Today, more than 50% of Christmas trees that are found in our homes are of the artificial variety.  While many people think these artificial trees make more eco sense than cutting down live trees others think that the chemicals used to make the artificial trees create more of a threat to the environment than cutting down live ones. It is also thought that the live ones still help with climate changes by reducing greenhouse gases and decreasing global warming while they are growing.

There are a couple other alternatives one could choose as well:

1) buy a live one in a pot and plant it after the holidays.

2) Don’t get a tree at all.

Let’s see what the community at eco.ORG has to say about this. Tell us what you think!

Because heat is a key ingredient in ozone formation, it is critical that we take action today to curb global warming. UCS research shows that warmer summers will likely produce more bad air-quality days in many parts of the country—especially in urban areas where car- and smokestack-related emissions tend to be higher—making ozone-related health impacts and their associated costs much worse.

Unfortunately, federal emissions-reduction policies continue to stagnate: the Obama administration delayed the release of a revised national ozone standard until at least 2013, and the Environmental Protection Agency also delayed its draft rule for reducing global warming emissions from power plants. Because heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide linger in the atmosphere for decades, these delays allow emissions to continue to build, guaranteeing at least some additional increase in temperatures and making future emissions reductions more difficult and costly.

To learn more about the connec­tion between global warming and ozone pollution, and what UCS is doing to help reduce the risks, visit www.ucsusa.org/climateandozonepollution.

Presented in the Union of Concerned Scientists Earthwise Newsletter, Volume 14, Number 1, winter 2011/2012

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has indicated that that CO2 levels are now at 389 parts per million, up from about 280 parts per million 250 years ago. It was said by WMO Deputy Secretary-General Jeremiah Lengoasa that CO2 emissions are responsible for 80% of this rise. He also indicated that these greenhouse gases have long life spans an that even if we eliminate the current conditions that produce them, the current concentrations will remain in the atmosphere for decades to come. Many scientists and climate activists say that 350 parts per million was already the danger point.

This concentration appears to be accelerating as the increase in CO2 between 2009 and 2010 was 2.3 ppm as opposed to the increase in the 1990′s that averaged 1.5 ppm.

The burning of  fossil fuels and the loss of forests that absorb CO2 and the use of fertilizer were indicated by the report as the main reasons for these increases.

Representatives from most of the world’s nations will gather in November 2011 in South Africa to try to and agree on ways to stem this problems and head of serious climate issues that are expected to hit once the concentration of CO2 hits about 450 ppm.