Category Archives: Broken in the USA

guns & gas

The inconvenient truth

The inconvenient truth of global warming in the 21st century

Based on data since 2000 alone, global warming is still occurring at a whopping 7-sigma significance. How hot will planet Earth get?

A hypothetical map of what an ice-free Earth would look like, with all glaciers, ice sheets and icecaps fully melted. The mean sea level is a full 67.5 meters (221.5 feet) higher than it is today. Thermal expansion of the oceans would exacerbate this effect, but this view of a future Earth is not a foregone conclusion in the coming millennia.(Credit: Kevin Gill/Flickr)

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Toward the end of the 20th century, there was a lot of dissent and argument over the scientifically robust evidence that showed the Earth is warming. 
  • The evidence of this warming is so strong that even if we begin in the year 2000, it’s robust at the 7-sigma level, with less than 1-in-100 billion chance of it being a statistical fluke. 
  • We’re now at the point that we have to ask ourselves when we want Earth’s hottest year of the 3rd millennium to be. We’re capable of determining the answer.

Ethan SiegelCopy a link to the article entitled http://The%20inconvenient%20truth%20of%20global%20warming%20in%20the%2021st%20century

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Back in 1990, with 110 years of temperature records behind them, the world’s top climate scientists convened to put together a report on the state of the Earth’s climate. Working collaboratively, the fruits of their labor became the very first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report. It definitively showed:

  • there had been a global increase in carbon dioxide concentrations since pre-industrial times from ~280 parts-per-million (ppm) to 354 ppm,
  • this was coupled with a global average temperature increase of 0.7 °C (1.3 °F),
  • that the increase in temperature was being driven not by the Sun, volcanoes, or urbanization, but rather by the human-wrought changes to our atmospheric contents,
  • and that this problem would continue to worsen unless carbon dioxide emissions were curbed.

Despite sounding the alarm, the past three decades have led to a far more dire situation. As identified in 2021’s 6th IPCC report, carbon dioxide concentrations now sit at 412 ppm, Earth’s average temperature is a full 1.3 °C (2.3 °F) above pre-industrial levels, and our global carbon emissions have increased to a new all-time high: nearing 40 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide annually, up from 22 billion in 1990. The best time to act was long ago, but the second best time to act is now. 

For considerably more details please see: https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/global-warming-21st-century/

Of course, there are those that take a contrary position. For more on that please see the following: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/09/16/fact-check-did-1200-climate-experts-sign-declaration-denying-climate-emergency

The Elephant in our Country

The Elephant in the room paints a picture that is likely used far too often. In our country’s case, it is more than appropriate. The healthcare industry is by far the largest industry in our country. Our per capita costs exceed $13,000 which is about 2 ½ times the average of the EU countries. The top four sectors (see chart following) are all part of the healthcare industry. The numbers for 1,3 & 4 are all part of the problem as are a significant portion of item #3. If we use a very conservative ratio of 5% for number 2 the total is over $4.3 trillion and that does not include the $34 billion we spend on healthcare premium credits. This industry accounts for 16% of our annual GDP. We spend over $2 trillion more than we should be spending, hence why I refer to this as a hidden tax on our residents. This tax is almost an added 50% on top of the tax that you can see.  I am appalled and you should be. What is being done to remedy this? The answer is next to nothing. A solution to this issue is our current revenue shortfall. So, who pays for our healthcare system? Our Government and amount subsidizes Medicare and Medicaid to almost 38%. Companies share in this cost through their benefit programs and this amounts to about 24%. The remaining 38% is paid by us in the form of insurance premiums, deductibles, co-pays, and by workers for the portion that their company insurance does not cover.  

Based on the expert analysis and our database of 1,300+ US industries, IBISWorld presents a list of the Biggest Industries by Revenue in the US

The 10 Biggest Industries by Revenue in the US

Industry

Annual Revenue

1. Hospitals in the US                                                               $1.426.9B

2. Drug, Cosmetic & Toiletry Wholesaling in the US           $1.364.7B

3. Pharmaceuticals Wholesaling in the US                            $1.292.2B

4. Health & Medical Insurance in the US                               $1.246.9B

5. Commercial Banking in the US                                            $1.210.9B

6. New Car Dealers in the US                                                   $1.124.3B

7. Life Insurance & Annuities in the US                                  $1.121.4B

8. Public Schools in the US                                                           $995.7B

9. Retirement & Pension Plans in the US                                   $937.4B

10. Gasoline & Petroleum Wholesaling in the US                    $928.0B

Who is to blame? We are! Nothing will change until we wake up and demand that our elected representatives take positive action. And what action would that be? For starters we need to evaluate the healthcare systems of several other countries (I suggest 5): Spain, France, Italy, Portugal & the UK. An “independent” task force of healthcare & financial professions should be tasked with evaluating these other systems and by taking the best elements present a plan that reduces our per capita cost in half without reducing available services. Warning: There will be considerable backlash from Hospitals, Drug companies, the legal profession, Insurance providers physicians, and others that feed at the healthcare trough.

Healthcare by Country
Per Capita
Cost
Location2022
 Slovakia $    2,691
 Hungary $    2,840
 Poland $    2,973
 Greece $    3,015
 Estonia $    3,091
 Israel $    3,444
 Latvia $    3,445
 Lithuania $    3,587
 Slovenia $    4,114
 Portugal $    4,162
 Italy $    4,291
 Spain $    4,462
 Czech Republic $    4,499
 South Korea $    4,570
 Japan $    5,251
 Iceland $    5,314
 United Kingdom $    5,493
 Finland $    5,676
 Ireland $    6,047
 New Zealand $    6,061
 Denmark $    6,280
 Canada $    6,319
 Luxembourg $    6,436
 Sweden $    6,438
 France $    6,517
 Australia $    6,596
 Belgium $    6,600
 Austria $    7,275
 Netherlands $    7,358
 Norway $    7,898
 Germany $    8,011
 Switzerland $    8,049
United States $  12,555
Average of other $        5,445
Countries

Petrol taxes in the US vs Europe

Petrol taxes in the US vs Europe

We have done quite a bit of traveling overseas in the past 3 years and are always amazed at how much higher petrol is. We have seen prices in the $6 – $8 per gallon range. The other thing we noticed is how much new and nicer all of the road infrastructure is. I decided to do a bit of research and discovered that most of the difference in the price lies in taxes. To my mind, this makes sense as it charges the users for repair and maintenance. In our country, the tax charged only covers a small portion of what is required and we rely on funds from both Federal and State budgets for the remainder. I suppose this accounts for the decline in the condition of our road infrastructure. Which system do you think is fairer and works better?