I have fallen way behind in my reading of the newspaper. Here are two quick hits on global warming.
The President is busily leading from the rear on this one. It is nice to read about someone who describes themselves as "Christian" who actually seems concerned about non-voting constituents.
Evangelical Group Calls For Climate-Change Policies
February 8, 2006
WASHINGTON -- Global warming was a popular topic Wednesday as a coalition of evangelical Christian leaders urged President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress to move on new climate change policies and utility officials and senators discussed potential legislation.
Although moving forward without the full support of the National Association of Evangelicals, an alliance of more than 85 evangelical leaders released a statement calling on the nation's leaders to support a new law that would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, which is thought to trap heat in the atmosphere and lead to global warming.
However, research and development funding isn't good enough, said Mr. Ball, speaking at a briefing in Washington.
"It's more research. What we need is a requirement. That's the legislation we need," he said, referring to a bill that would limit the amount of carbon dioxide that can be emitted into the air from power plants or automobiles, for instance.
The White House has backed only voluntary measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Christian leaders at the briefing called global warming "a pro-life issue," and said the purpose behind the Evangelical Climate Initiative is two-fold.
"It's God and it's people," said Rev. Dr. Leith Anderson, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, explaining that solving the global warming crisis fits in with the Christian belief in being steward's of God's creation and loving neighbors.
Poor and needy people across the world are suffering due to droughts, hurricanes, tornados, wild fires and heat waves triggered by rises in the Earth's temperature, said Mr. Bassett of the Salvation Army.
A good article on how the scientists disagree.
Hurricane Debate Shatters Civility Of Weather Science
Worsened by Global Warming? Spats Are So Tempestuous, Sides Are Barely Talking
Charge of 'Brain Fossilization'
February 2, 2006
The 2,000-plus scientists at this week's annual meeting of the American Meteorological Society had plenty to talk about, from last year's droughts to flash floods and wildfires. But the biggest question at the meeting in Atlanta -- why last hurricane season was the worst since recordkeeping began 151 years ago -- was almost too hot to handle.
William Gray, America's most prominent hurricane scientist and an ardent foe of the belief that global warming has worsened hurricanes, was supposed to join a panel discussing the storms. So was Greg Holland of the National Center on Atmospheric Research -- who disagrees with Dr. Gray. But the organizers withdrew the invitations after deciding the dispute had grown so nasty it was too risky to put the two in the same room.
His adversary Dr. Holland is among a group of prominent scientists who argue that the recent burst of powerful storms isn't part of a normal pattern. In a recent article, he and co-authors said that global warming caused by human activity, while not affecting the number of hurricanes, appears to be causing more of them to be very intense. Dr. Holland went to the meeting despite the cancellation of his joint appearance with Dr. Gray and presented his paper's conclusions during a session on a wide variety of weather issues.
What is going on with hurricanes like Katrina and the subsequent Wilma, which was the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic, matters urgently to millions of people wondering whether coastal areas are safe. Insurers and other companies are trying to calculate future risks of operating in the vulnerable regions. And policy makers are wrestling with whether to rebuild some shattered communities.
...
Most serious weather and climate researchers, including Dr. Gray, agree the planet has gradually warmed in recent decades. Last year was the warmest year since 1880, climatologists at National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Goddard Institute for Space Studies said recently. All sides also agree 2004 and 2005 were unusually active years for big storms.
The sides disagree about how much global warming is attributable to natural cycles and how much to human activity such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels. Among meteorologists who say humans are behind global warming, many contend there isn't enough evidence to link it to increased hurricane intensity.
