Global Warming In The News

By Jeff Turner News Reporter

Texas’ wet summer stood in stark contrast to the triple-digit temperatures of the summer of 2006. Scientists are now saying both summers of unusual weather are products of global warming.

A report released during the summer by an Austin-based non-profit ecological protection group, Environment Texas, said the warmer-than-normal temperatures of 2006, and this year’s wetter-than-normal weather, indicates global warming.

The report found in 2006, Austin experienced 147 days where the temperature hit 90 degrees or more, 38 days more than the historical average. 2006 was the second warmest year on record for the lower 48 states.

This year, the southwestern U.S. is experiencing more precipitation and less severe storms than the summer of 2006. The National Hurricane Center listed five hurricanes and four tropical storms in the Atlantic last year, while 2007 has experienced two hurricanes and three tropical storms.

Does this data indicate continued global warming? Pieter Tans, chief scientist of Climate Monitoring at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, does not think this is necessarily the case. “One of the expectations is more extreme events,” Tans said. “But I don’t think that extreme events by themselves are the best indicator of global warming.”

Tans said the climatic differences between 2006 and 2007 are not concrete proof global warming is destabilizing weather patterns, but he does consider the warming a major concern. “Evidence of climate change caused by mankind, not as part of natural cycles, is accumulating globally,” Tans said.

He said much of the documentation of this can be found in the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released earlier this year. The panel found the rate of increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide, a major culprit in global warming, has accelerated. The report states the cause is almost 100 percent the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, which is increasing. The report described strong indications of climate change: global loss of mountain glaciers and shrinkage of outlet glaciers of ice sheets, less Arctic sea ice, more warming in the Arctic than elsewhere, ocean warming, sea level rise and much more.

The U.S. Congress will consider global legislation this fall. Two bills that would attempt to reduce pollution to levels scientists say are needed to prevent the negative impacts of global warming are the Safe Climate Act, introduced in the House, and the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act, introduced in the Senate.

Many high profile politicos like Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Robert Shapiro, former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, support a tax on carbon emissions. Dodd’s Web site suggests a carbon tax will discourage “big corporate polluters” and stimulate innovation in renewable energy.

J.J. Karabias, a federal field associate for Environment Texas, sees a carbon tax as the first step toward taking comprehensive action to slow global warming. “We are in the right place to take steps to neutralize our carbon foot print,” Karabias said. “Setting goals for corporate polluters has not worked. Congress must set mandates.”

Some people are skeptical a tax on big carbon emitting companies would be effective. A carbon tax “would certainly make people more aware,” said Rene DeHon, senior geography lecturer. “But companies can find loop holes and credits in order to get around a carbon tax.”

Environment Texas’ report ranked Austin fourth in the nation for cities with excessive heat days. However, San Marcos residents can count on the river and their inner tubes as a zero emissions way of battling the hottest and most hellish summer days.