Down to Earth Blog

Americans Link the Two in Recent Poll: I'm a bit behind on relaying this new poll to you, but better late than never. A Zogby/National Wildlife Federation poll released Aug. 21 shows that "an overwhelming majority say they are more convinced that global warming is happening than they were two years ago, and they are also connecting intense weather events like hurricane Katrina and heat waves to global warming."

74 percent are more convinced today that global warming is a reality than they were two years ago;

68 percent said they think it was a factor in development of more intense hurricanes like Katrina;

72 percent said the government should require major industries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to improve the environment without harming the economy.

Interestingly, one day earlier -- Aug. 20 -- the Washington Post ran this story, "Scientists Disagree On Link Between Storms, Warming," which points out how climate scientists and hurricane researchers can reach different conclusions from the same set of data.

California is taking action to combat global warming by reducing emissions. The  Sacramento Bee reported, "Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday struck a groundbreaking environmental deal to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent over the next two decades." For more info, see this Dow Jones story, "Calif Legislature Passes Bill to Cut Greenhouse Gases."

I say bravo, Arnold! Global warming is happening and we should do something about it, even if we can only mitigate the effects a tiny bit. Since the federal government won't do anything, the states will have to push this issue.

As for the hurricane link, my feeling is that a warming planet is probably affecting hurricanes, but it seems difficult for scientists to measure at this point.

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• #2 Comment from speedgood 
  9/23/06 1:10 PM | Permalink

  Yes, the planet is warming, that was never in doubt. But so what? http://us-global-warming.blogspot.com The Earth has been warming for the past 15,000 years. The current Ice Age is coming to an end. Do you prefer an Ice Age? This climate cycle is on rails, there is nothing that humans can do about it, nor should they try.
• #1 Comment from smurfboy77 
  9/10/06 4:44 PM | Permalink

  Let me just say that global warming is indeed happening. I live in West Virginia, and its been years since we've had a good snow, it usually covers the ground and then melts off the next day. I've also noticed more rainy days during the summer, do to high temperatures and humidity.
  
  We need to wake up and take a look at our planet, we're destroying it and nothing is being done to prevent pollution or the creation of greenhouse gases. More and more people are born in this country, which means more cars, more pollution, and more trouble. You scientists need to get off of the "Prove It" theory and start working on a problem that needs the highest priority right now.  Just because you cannot prove something, like God for example, doesn't mean he doesn't exist.
  
  I'm sure you've all seen "The Day After Tomorrow", or "Category 6, Day of Destruction", or even "Category 7, The end of the World", I think there's a very good possibility that this could become a reality. We continue to ignore the signs and eventually its going to catch up with us, with every one of us. Its time for the human race to clean up its mess!