"Feeling the Heat" in Baltimore
There is virtually no scientific debate anymore about whether temperatures are rising around the globe, and little more about whether human activity is playing a significant part in that global warming. The larger debate now is over how much should or can be done to reduce mankind's contributions to a worrisome process that is well underway.
Environment Maryland, a statewide environmental advocacy group, this week released a report on rising temperatures in the United States at the start of the 21st century, and issued a call for action on a list of remedies that could be advanced in the halls of local, state and national legislatures, and at home.
Among the findings in the group's report - "Feeling the Heat: Global Warming and Rising Temperatures in the United States" - is that 2006 was the second-warmest year on record for the lower 48 states. Some 87 percent of the weather stations studied saw average temperatures in 2006 that were at least a half-degree above the 30-year norm.
The average temperature at BWI during 2006 was 2.9 degrees above the 30-year average recorded between 1971 and 2000.
Well, one warm year does not constitute a trend. The report also notes that the years 2000-2006 at BWI also averaged more than the 30-year norm, by 1.4 degrees. That's not conclusive of anything either. But the science behind the reality of global warming is very compelling, so we won't quibble. Environment Maryland is merely trying to make a point, and to make that point relevant to its constituency - the people of Maryland.
Global warming is real, they're arguing, and it will have far-reaching consequences for our society, for our health and our economy, and for the environment of which we are a part. And, there are things we can and should do to reduce our destructive influence on the planet that gave us life and still must sustain us.
Most of it we have heard or read before. But it is well worth a refresher. You can read the report's Executive Summary here. And there is a link on that page to the full report via pdf file.
