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Hood River News Editorial
February 3, 2007
The timing was ironic in this week’s
release of the climate change report and its warning of what’s going
on above ground all over the globe.
The report comes at the same time as our annual celebration of a
weather alert given us by an underground creature.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of 2,500
scientists from 130 countries, presented its report with the
overarching conclusion that global warming is mainly the result of
by-products of human behavior — specifically carbon dioxide, methane
and other greenhouse gases. The finding is the first major one in five
years and is the farthest-reaching.
The alarming findings, which cover rigorous measurements of greenhouse
gas levels, changes in snow cover, and sea level changes, is certain
to sound an alarm, as well it should.
On Feb. 2 Punxsutawney Phil reportedly predicted that an early spring
is on the way.
Groundhog Day traditionally is the one day a year when everyone thinks
about the weather in the same way, at least as far as wondering what
Phil will show us.
The graver prognostications from the Intergovernmental Panel all but
ensure that we will all think about the weather as we have never done
before. |
