By Madeleine Lesser

Global warming seems to be a reality that can be more accurately described as "global disruption."  John Holdren, professor at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, claims that the effects of global warming are not merely a matter of temperature; although increased temperature is a the root of many of the problems.  He recognizes that the climate on the whole is affected, as can be seen by changing winds, ocean currents, storm patterns, melting glaciers, flooding, and droughts.  Clearly, the increase in global warming has led to global climate change entirely.

Increased global temperature exacerbates already existing and inevitable natural disasters.  For example, hurricanes have been, and probably always will be, a fact of life; but the reality is that increased temperatures and higher levels of carbon dioxide produce more intense hurricanes.  Overall, since the 1970s, hurricanes characterized by levels 4 and 5 have risen from 20% to 35% in the 1990s.  Furthermore, total precipitation has increased 7% over the past hundred years. 

Most of us have been plagued by the photos of polar bears that are dying as a result of melting ice caps.  Melting glaciers not only lead to the death of polar bears, penguins, and other mammals, but add to a rise in sea level.  There are two problems here: poor, innocent mammals are dying as a result of global warming that has been, in many regards, the fault of humanity; and a rise in sea level that will eventually displace and possibly take the lives of thousands, if not millions, of people. 

Moreover, the melting of the arctic permafrost in Canada, Alaska and Russia has negatively affected many ecosystems.  At first, the melting will create new lakes, but eventually those lakes will evaporate and release methane from peat bogs native in the permafrost. 

Conversely, an increase in temperature has led to an increase in evaporation in many areas.  Because the earth is considered a "closed system," the evaporation will lead to more rain, and more rain can cause greater erosion.  And, over time, a significant augmentation of erosion can lead to desertification.

What will it take for our government to make serious policy changes and actually attempt to fix the global climate change that we have exacerbated by carbon dioxide emissions from our cars, factories, homes, etc.; by deforestation; by the use of aerosols; and many, many others?  Yes, global warming is a natural cycle that has occurred in the past, but there is no denying that human activity has severely affected this natural phenomenon's characteristics.  There have been great efforts by companies to do their part to address these issues with the introduction of hybrid vehicles and fluorescent light bulbs, but more needs to be done at the root of government.  We need to take responsibility for our more than 25% contribution to carbon dioxide emissions by signing Kyoto and making reductions.  We need to allocate money to research and development of alternative fuel and energy - now, not tomorrow or the next day.  This problem is not going to fix itself - serious change must happen today because if we don't take action we'll surely regret it in the near future.

If we don't act, how can we expect, or ask, anyone else to?