Our World

KARE Airs Climate Special

Last night when I was watching television I saw that KARE 11 is airing a series of special reports on climate change in the world. The reports are being done by Rick Kupchella and thus far there have been two reports given.

I didn't catch Tuesday night's Extra, but on Wednesday they talked about air pollution/carbon that is clogging our air system. All the sources for the report are highly credible scientific sources. The sources claim that our rise in global temperature is attributed to both human and natural factors, but less snow fall, less ice, and more rain for the past 50 years is more so attributed to human factors.

Mark Seeley who is a climatologist with the University of Minnesota makes a point that I feel many should agree with: we need to stop pointing fingers and stop this problem. We need to recognize these sources and correct them and not worry about who is at fault.

An interesting point to cite deals with the warming of the Arctic Ocean. In the article, it is said that the Arctic Ocean used to have small cracks throughout it that were about 100 yards long, and open water can be seen in these cracks. Now, these cracks have become much larger to the point where you wouldn't be able to see across the crack. This indicates to me some serious warming.

The article/special also attributes the problem to coal burning. In America alone, 1/2 of electricity comes from coal. In Minnesota, 2/3 of energy comes from coal. This coal is creating increased carbon in the air, which is in turn warming up our earth.

I think scientists need to continue to invest resources to trace sources and develop solutions to this problem. Check out the article! Article

posted by Kevin Hurd @ 2/09/2006 08:10:00 AM