In response to my last post, I received some wonderful comments about things other people have been observing and hearing about, including the very scary news about the invasion of hairy scary ants, some suggestions about how to become more self-sufficient and a recommendation we incorporate barter back into our economy, and a first-hand account of global warming at work as a friend watching glaciers calve away and a visit to the same spot 21 years later revealed nothing but a big slush puddle.
Susan Reiners, the person providing the eyewitness account of her first realization of the reality of global warming made me ask the same question of myself — when did it become a reality for me? I went to a community college straight out of high school. Around 1990, a woman came to speak who was an expert at the time on environmental issues. She described how, in her own household, she and her family would separate their trash into recyclable lots. There were other recommendations she had for how to combat the destruction of the environment, including driving less, walking/biking more, etc. These other notions seemed more reasonable to me. The thought that, as she suggested, one day everyone in America would be separating their garbage seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie to me. Although I didn’t think that would happen, I remember her presenting sufficient evidence that the environment was being very seriously harmed. Although I can’t say it was my first time being aware of the truth about global warming, it was the first time that I got that sinking feeling in my gut that is now so common . . . it’s the one I’ve been feeling more and more when I think about the damage that’s been done and is being done to the earth, and the frightening repercussions. It’s the one I get when I think about the very real possibility of having to fight to find potable water in my old age. I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling.
On that feel-good note, just wondering when was the first time you remember being aware of the reality of global warming? Go ahead … gimme the dirt.
revelgardener 
On the subject of barter, a good place to start might be:
http://www.trtam.com/
There’s a free PDF book for download there which explains what money is and how it works. Even if you think you understand, read the PDF anyway- chances are you will be in for a surprise. The saying “Go local, buy local and Barter is Better” are from a copper coin offered by:
http://aocsmint.com/copper/tubes-of-20oz.html
AOCS stands for American Open Currency Standard, a group of people who use pure copper, silver, and gold in the form of coins instead of US currency. There are advantages and drawbacks to both barter and the use of alternative currencies. The PDF above is a good place to start.
I can’t really recall when I became aware of global warming. I do remember when I was very small (in Brooklyn) that there were a lot of real big snowfalls. The snow was pushed down to the corner and piled into very large mounds. The kids would carve out the inside and make steps to get up to the top. Us kids and a few neighborhood dinosaurs had lots of fun. Old pictures showed snow as high as the parked cars (which wasn’t unusual), and for many years it would always snow on my birthday which was a few days from Christmas. In more recent times it became unusual to snow on my birthday, and when it did snow it was ‘nothing like the good olde days’. Only the last couple years did the snow come back some.
There is little doubt our home, that tiny spec of rock swirling around in the cold dark vastness of space is warming up. While I don’t believe man is causing it (another topic for another day), I do believe we need to cut back on oil consumption, slow down all types of pollution, and in general ‘clean up our act’. We are running out of time. For the foreseeable future this tiny rock is our only home, and no matter how many potentially habitable planets we discover, they are way beyond our reach. People and governments alike had better learn to get along and cooperate with each other. Our resources are dwindling and population is increasing. While politicians are busy pointing fingers and blamed each other for everything, a real time bomb is ticking- and no matter how much we ignore it it’s not going away. For now we go to war for oil, but if we don’t start doing something soon, we will be at war for food and water. That is something that should never happen, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t.
“So long, and thanks for all the fish.”
– dolphin’s last message to mankind, from “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Watch the movie!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371724/