“It’s a complicated problem, but the analysis of ice cores does indicate an increase in carbon dioxide and the impact of human activity on the atmosphere.” “Ice cores?” asked Louisa.
“If you had a grape snow cone instead of liquid grape juice, you could put a drinking straw inside and pull out a cylinder of ice, so you’d be able to see what was in the column all the way from the top to the bottom. The oldest ice would be on the bottom and the newest ice on the top,” explained the stranger.
Walt asked, “What can I get you to drink?”
“Black coffee and a grape snow cone with a straw,”
he answered.
“And I’ll have some of those famous pancakes, please.”
After a few minutes of diner kitchen noise, Walt placed a snow cone on the counter. The stranger used the grape snow cone to explain his idea. “The ice core analysis indicates that there have been anthropogenic contributions to the carbon dioxide in the air.”
“Carbon dioxide?” said Jane.
“It’s a gas,” said Clarence.
“What does anthropogenic mean?” said Louisa.
Mrs. Fields said, “’Anthro’ means human and ‘genic’ means source.”