Global warming heats up for awareness day
Elizabeth Allred
Issue date: 1/29/09 Section: Health and Science
Next week, in classrooms nationwide, the global climate problem will be discussed as part of National Global Warming Teach-In Day.
Instead of planning a sustainable future for subsequent generations, the human race instinctively reacts to long-term problems with short-term solutions, said Jeffrey Sinn, associate professor of psychology.
The future of life on Earth depends on the intelligence of human beings - a species that has learned to adapt to the changing climate, competed for natural resources and reaped benefits from habitat destruction.
Global climate change - changes in weather patterns, air currents and temperature - continues to perplex scientists.
Scientists claim that global climate change is inevitable, said William Rogers, professor of biology.
Measuring human impact on the environment is vital to understanding the problem of global climate change and to formulate sustainable solutions.
Predictions from various agencies examining the problem of global climate change suggest wildlife is sensitive to slight climatic changes. About 15 to 37 percent of species will be vulnerable to habitat destruction and extinction, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC says that the average temperature will increase between 3.2 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. The IPCC also reports that sea levels may rise 7 to 23 inches, possibly displacing 200,000 residents in coastal regions.
The inevitability of global climate change leaves some students skeptical about future biodiversity.
"Global warming does exist, and it is a very unfortunate thing that plants [and] animals, among other things, are suffering," sophomore psychology major Elizabeth Miller said.
The human race may have reached the moon and may have discovered the depths of the ocean, but prospects are slim for future generations to live without the effects of global climate change encroaching on their lifestyle.
Instead of planning a sustainable future for subsequent generations, the human race instinctively reacts to long-term problems with short-term solutions, said Jeffrey Sinn, associate professor of psychology.
The future of life on Earth depends on the intelligence of human beings - a species that has learned to adapt to the changing climate, competed for natural resources and reaped benefits from habitat destruction.
Global climate change - changes in weather patterns, air currents and temperature - continues to perplex scientists.
Scientists claim that global climate change is inevitable, said William Rogers, professor of biology.
Measuring human impact on the environment is vital to understanding the problem of global climate change and to formulate sustainable solutions.
Predictions from various agencies examining the problem of global climate change suggest wildlife is sensitive to slight climatic changes. About 15 to 37 percent of species will be vulnerable to habitat destruction and extinction, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC says that the average temperature will increase between 3.2 and 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit by the end of the century. The IPCC also reports that sea levels may rise 7 to 23 inches, possibly displacing 200,000 residents in coastal regions.
The inevitability of global climate change leaves some students skeptical about future biodiversity.
"Global warming does exist, and it is a very unfortunate thing that plants [and] animals, among other things, are suffering," sophomore psychology major Elizabeth Miller said.
The human race may have reached the moon and may have discovered the depths of the ocean, but prospects are slim for future generations to live without the effects of global climate change encroaching on their lifestyle.
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