Global Warming: A Reality

I posted earlier about the Arctic sea ice slowly melting away for good, and the dangers this would pose, including the increased violence of hurricanes. Here is another good article from The Independent, in which Sir John Lawton, chairman of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and one of Britain's leading scientists, believes that super-powerful hurricanes now hitting the United States are the "smoking gun" of global warming.

Hurricanes were getting more intense, just as computer models predicted they would, because of the rising temperature of the sea, he said. "The increased intensity of these kinds of extreme storms is very likely to be due to global warming."

Thankfully, some people aren't afraid to speak up against the Bush administration's doctrine that denies the reality of global warming:

Asked what conclusion the Bush administration should draw from two hurricanes of such high intensity hitting the US in quick succession, Sir John said: "If what looks like is going to be a horrible mess causes the extreme sceptics about climate change in the US to reconsider their opinion, that would be an extremely valuable outcome."

"There are a group of people in various parts of the world ... who simply don't want to accept human activities can change climate and are changing the climate."

"I'd liken them to the people who denied that smoking causes lung cancer."

Recent research shows that hurricanes are getting more violent, suggests climate change is the cause, and shows that storms of the intensity of Hurricane Katrina have become almost twice as common in the past 35 years.

Sir John said: "Increasingly it looks like a smoking gun. It's a fair conclusion to draw that global warming, caused to a substantial extent by people, is driving increased sea surface temperatures and increasing the violence of hurricanes."

So, Mr. Bush, still convinced global warming doesn't exist? Even after your home state has been hit by a monster-hurricane itself?

How shortsighted of him, especially of a man DESPERATE to leave behind a splendent legacy. Instead, denying the existence of global warming (particularly in the face of so much evidence, and considering the number of people who will likely be affected by it -- let's say, 6 billion, give or take a few hunded...) will be likened to Reagan's ignoring the threat of AIDS and avoiding talking about it until it was too late to save thousands of people from the infection.

Bush will be remembered as the President who not only did nothing to prevent or fight global warming, he actually pretended it didn't exist and fought against the enactment of any preventive measure.

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Since The Independent requires a subscription, you can read the same article here, from Common Dreams News Center.