I've heard it said Global Warming has changed the Jetstreams of the World to promote more tropical storms and it will only get worse in their seasons....anybody hear that?....
There is a lot of scientific data that supports this and a panel of 99 Nobel Prize winner scientists have already submitted papers on Global Warming to the White House. The problem is, our government, as well as other countries politicians are taking an approach of adaptation to Global Warming rather than reducing or combating it through refocusing our energy usage, and using alternative means.
Here is some info to whet your whistle on this topic:
1) National Academy of Sciences 2001 Report, “Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions”, commissioned by President George W. Bush.
Specifically, the report “originated from a White House request to help inform the Administration's ongoing review of U.S. climate change policy. In particular, the written request ( Appendix A) asked for the National Academies' “assistance in identifying the areas in the science of climate change where there are the greatest certainties and uncertainties,” and “views on whether there are any substantive differences between the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] Reports and the IPCC summaries.”
http://books.nap.edu/books/0309075742/html/
2) US EPA website, some great, general information on climate change.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.html
3) USGS website, more general information on climate change.
http://geochange.er.usgs.gov/
4) NASA website, more information on climate change.
http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/
5) NOAA website, even more information on climate change.
http://www.noaa.gov/climate.html
6) US Global Change Research Program
http://www.usgcrp.gov/
7) Senator Bingaman’s climate legislation link:
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=109&session=1&vote=00149
SEC. 16__. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON CLIMATE CHANGE.
(a) Findings.—Congress finds that—
(1) greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere are causing average temperatures to rise at a rate outside the range of natural variability and are posing a substantial risk of rising sea-levels, altered patterns of atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and increased frequency and severity of floods and droughts;
(2) there is a growing scientific consensus that human activity is a substantial cause of greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere; and
(3) mandatory steps will be required to slow or stop the growth of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
(b) Sense of the Senate.—It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should enact a comprehensive and effective national program of mandatory, market-based limits and incentives on emissions of greenhouse gases that slow, stop, and reverse the growth of such emissions at a rate and in a manner that—
(1) will not significantly harm the United States economy; and
(2) will encourage comparable action by other nations that are major trading partners and key contributors to global emissions.
For draft legislative text supplied to us by Bingaman's staff see:
http://www.climatenetwork.org/uscanweb/Bingamandiscdraft.PDF
http://www.climatenetwork.org/uscanweb/Bingamansectionbysection.doc
This one is very revealing. Especially since it shows both the USA and Australia are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Click on Emissions “How Much we Emit”. I had no idea about Australia. I figured China but they aren’t even on here! Note how European countries are much lower, likely do to their superior infrastructure of mass transit.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/oar/globalwarming.nsf/content/index.html
Regarding Ocean Currents
http://www.whoi.edu/mr/pr.do?id=5098
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0627_050627_oceancurrent.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1602579,00.html
add to the list - increased duration and intensity of fires in drought prone areas - its already happening - shifts in species distributions with high elevation, high latitude species vulnerable to extirpations - potential shut down of the marine currents (the oceanic conveyor belt) by warming and loss of oceanic current mixing - catastrophic on a global scale - melting of polar ice caps and high elevation glaciers and associated increases in sea levels potentially affecting 2/3 of the world's population which is coastal - in Oregon economists are projecting $365 million annual losses attributed to global warming related to increased fire events - need I go on?
