Blog About the Weather

globalwarming awareness2007 is surely a joke. It is April 2 in Minnesota, and it is snowing. Yet, it did not snow all through the awareness2007 globalwarming winter, which is like nuclear winter only less radioactive and with less snow.

My cable TV has more snow than Minnesota did during this globalwarming winter.

Will 2007 be the hottest year ever? Globalwarming aware people should start their diets now to be slender enough to wear revealing fashions during the heat of summer, and avoid use of globalwarming causing air conditioning and other causes of pollution in 2007.

Globalwarming awareness2007 just isn’t the same since Anna Nicole Smith’s death.

Globalwarming awareness2007 isn’t all about hugging trees. There may be some good points to be awareness of in 2007 as globalwarming increases:

• more naked chicks because globalwarming raises awareness of 2007’s scanty fashion options and causes them to sweat a lot
• no need to buy cigarettes — can get carcinogens straight from the greenhouses gasses in the globalwarming air
• dead lawns mean no more lawnmowing to distract from globalwarming awareness2007 keg parties and beer drinking
• cactuses with little Christmas ornaments on them instead of Christmas trees, even in ‘northern’ climates, due to globalwarming temperature changes
• skis can be used as doorstops
• potential to use polar ice caps as martini ice cubes, as it’s use-it-or-they-melt

Awareness2007 of globalwarming is very important. You must listen to all sides of the globalwarming awareness2007 debate to make your own 2007 awareness judgements about globalwarming.

Globalwarming may cause famine because it will harm crops and their reaction to climate, but it seems alternative energy may have similar impact.

C|Net reports that use of things like beans to make alternative energy will drive up the costs of these staples. Awareness is needed that the food we use for energy can be used to energize both the bodies of PEOPLE and the bodies of MACHINES, like furnaces and cars and cell phone towers.

Awareness of globalwarming in 2007 must include awareness of globalwarming’s impact on food production — both via climate change, and via redistribution of food resources to power the expensive and exotic toys of the haves, while have-nots starve quietly.

The UN black helicopter crowd has seized on globalwarming skepticism as a new way to spread awareness of their slightly weird views.

Tammy Bruce, a ‘chick with a gun and a microphone,’ claims that the UN will tax everyone to empower their agenda, using globalwarming awareness as an excuse.

It is hard to imagine why so many skeptics exist as to the science of globalwarming. Even if one is suspicious of the UN, many other agencies and academic institutions have researched the phenomena of globalwarming, and have increased awareness of its effects through publication of scientific findings.

Looks like some of these people are using the issue of the day — globalwarming awareness2007 — to tie into their pet paranoiac agendas. Globalwarming awareness is not going away, and it is critical for international bodies and governments of all types of take leadership in regards to preventing famine, climate change, polar ice cap loss, and more killer hurricanes and tsunamis like those that hit New Orleans and Sri Lanka in prior recent years.

In the wake of the Oscar nod for An Inconvenient Truth, conservative critics of the globalwarming awareness2007 superhero have taken to attacking his energy use in blogs. They are relying on a press release by the ‘Tennessee Center for Policy Research.’

It’s even been picked up in the ‘legitimate’ press, such as the Detroit Free Press. However, as journalists, they researched further to find that Al Gore purchases ‘green’ energy credits and carbon-emissions offset credits. He and his wife drive a hybrid SUV.

The basis of much of the criticism is the cost of the Gore’s energy bills. However, part of the expense is allegedly that they are using alternative energy, which may be costing them more.

Nonetheless, it is hard to debate that Al’s globetrotting in the name of globalwarming awareness uses a lot of energy — no doubt more than his three homes do. His homes are also quite large, especially relative to the amount of time he spends in them, and the fact that as former Vice President he undoubtedly has an awesomely powerful security system sucking down juice.

Criticism of Gore’s own energy use is nothing new. USA Today was criticizing his energy use in August 2006. The current flurry of activity is mostly a result of the new attention on An Inconvenient Truth, and continuing angst that the Democratic party retook Congress and can take steps to legislate new energy rules and ideas.

Hopefully, more of the honest media will also look into the background on the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. While they claim to be non-partisan, they are big believers in free-market solutions for social and policy issues. Speakers from the group are popular speakers at Libertarian Party of Tennessee meteings. Like many think-tanks (both conservative and liberal), here’s betting they have a lot of dirty laundry if only someone sniffs.

It’s important for people within the globalwarming awareness2007 movement to consider if energy usage is purposeful or proper, and match their actions to their outspoken advocacy for globalwarming awareness. It is almost undoubtedly true that Al Gore’s electric bills aren’t a complete picture of his energy use, and his other energy use is probably also higher than most Americans. However, he seems to be doing more with the energy he’s using. Perhaps a fair trade? Only time and globalwarming will tell; in 2007, we cannot have awareness of the long-term impact of his outspoken advocacy for globalwarming awareness versus his present energy use.

In today’s most exciting cow-related globalwarming awareness news, the California Dairy Industry is facing the challenge of reducing globalwarming emissions.

California farm families are now looking at carbon-credit trading. No mention was made of cow farts (or dinosaur farts).

Oh, wait, it was hidden:

Michael McCormick, policy director for the California Climate Action Registry Protocol, outlined the development of a voluntary protocol to support the installation of methane digesters. The proposed protocol encompasses direct emissions reductions related to manure management.

Globalwarming awareness2007 has a new mantra: ‘manure management for methane reduction.’

Dairy farms may be impacted long-term by globalwarming; awareness suggests that milk production may decrease as global temperatures rise. Agriculture allegedly accounts for 8% of greenhouse gas emissions.

I wonder if there are flex fuel/hybrid farm equipment, or if milking machines might be able to be powered by wind generators?

We get QUESTIONS!

Dear Globalwarming Awareness2007: I read today that meetings make us dumber. To fight globalwarming, many people have meetings, suggest communal living, and carpool in flex-fuel vehicles. Could all of these actions make us dumber, and less scientifically able to fight globalwarming? –signed, clueless in the carpool lane

Dear Clueless in the Carpool Lane:

Meetings making us dumber may explain a lot. However, arguably, starving because globalwarming harms agriculture and the food chain probably isn’t a great way to add to our smarts.

Cows gathering together is almost undoubtedly a bad idea: mass cow farts!

Developing nations, which tend to have big populations, would be bad if they started emitting the average carbon output of an American — Americans are energy hogs.

We would recommend only carpooling with smart people.

In her continuing efforts to be an environmentally attractive candidate for the globalwarming aware crowd, Hillary Clinton toured a clean-coal facility in upstate New York.

As part of her tour, she pledged to wean the US from foreign oil dependency, and as Senator will be introducing a bill in the near future — doubtless in as showy a fashion as possible.

She touts clean coal technology, among others, to combat globalwarming. The US has a lot of coal, although mining coal is frequently dangerous and has long-term health hazards for miners.

Clinton called for more efficient use of electricity and natural gas, expanded use of wind and solar energy, new biofuels, and expansion of technology such as that being refined at Huntley that removes and captures toxic emissions from coal.

These alternative energy sources will help expand fuel options throughout the world, and Ms. Clinton’s campaign appearances will no doubt further the cause of globalwarming awareness2007. She is a polarizing figure, and adopting energy independence and alternative fuel production in her platform for 2008 president will increase awareness of these globalwarming issues.

Globalwarming awareness2007 includes a new research project — the International Polar Year. This exciting scientific expedition will cost more than $1.5 billion and includes globalwarming research at both the arctic and Antarctic poles.

Climates at the poles impact climate worldwide, as well as the environment for polar bears, penguins, and plankton.

Globalwarming is impacting sea life, including cod fishing, snow crab breeding, and shrimp harvests. Gone unstudied and unchecked, sea temperature change may mean the end of shrimp deals at Red Lobster for Americans in flyover states.

Scientists describe the International Polar Year as a ‘grassroots’ effort for globalwarming awareness, although I’ll be damned if I can name any grassroots with $1.5 billion (a BILLION) in funding. While globalwarming awareness efforts may someday be truly grassroots, the funding on this project is pretty large.

The US is involved in the project, both scientifically and in funding. A kick-off ceremony, sure to be a politician photo op dream, will take place in Washington on Thursday. Maybe hugging a furry polar bear will be the new baby kissing in the new globalwarming awareness paradigm?

CBS News: International Polar Year to start Thursday

For those of you who take your political and scientific views of globalwarming and climate change from game show hosts, Pat Sajak says globalwarming is bogus.

Vanna’s getting older. Does Pat really want to live on a planet with her still wearing skimpy evening gowns? Globalwarming awareness2007 is all about keeping the global climate in check so that agriculture and fashion stays sane. There’s already a major clothing company advertising skanky hoochie wear with the slogan ‘globalwarming ready!’ Do we need to encourage people to wear bad clothing? Can’t we keep naturists in their little niches instead of having them prance about for all to see? Do we really need to see dudes with droopy nutsacks on our streets? Do we need to see Pat Sajak’s droopy nutsack?

We think not!

Popular pastor Jerry Falwell has joined the globalwarming awareness2007 skeptics by proclaiming globalwarming a myth.

Falwell claims that:

• Globalwarming activists want to destroy America’s economy
• Globalwarming awareness2007 is meant to distract everyone from the moral bankruptcy of America
• If there is globalwarming, it’s caused by gay people

Meanwhile, other people of conscience and religious mien, including Catholics, believe that globalwarming is a threat that will harm many, and that Christians should worry about the science of globalwarming and take action in 2007.

More: Falwell: Global Warming a Myth

At last night’s Academy Awards, Al Gore’s film, An Inconvenient Truth, won an Oscar as Best Documentary.

While the award was really won by the director, the director threw praise and a speaking opportunity to Mr. Gore. Naturally, he used it to promote globalwarming awareness2007 and beyond.
Mr. Gore also spoke with Leonardo DiCaprio earlier in the evening and made jokes about running for president. Melissa Etheridge performed her Oscar-nominated theme song from the film, as well.

The continued focus on this film will increase the cause of globalwarming awareness2007. Even at an event like the American Birkebeiner — North America’s largest ski marathon race — multiple showings of An Inconvenient Truth were held on Thursday and Friday, and many skiiers sported bumper stickers and pins proclaiming SKIIERS FOR GLOBAL COOLING.

The globalwarming awareness2007 message is catching on more and more each day. Hollywood’s recognition of Al Gore’s documentary will encourage more popular entertainments on the subject of climate change, and spread the message further. Globalwarming awareness2007 uber alles!

Online intelligence providers HitWise reported that in mid-February, interest in globalwarming heated up online, with people seeking awareness2007 up more than 173%.

They credit some of this increase to the UN Report on globalwarming, and a search for more awareness of the many problems that can be caused by globalwarming and climate change.

Al Gore’s continued campaigns on behalf of globalwarming are also a contributing factor.

“When you examine the actual search terms and the end destination of those search missions, you can also discover intent behind those searches,” said Tancer, adding that people are eager to learn more about global warming.

Globalwarming awareness2007 is on the move. Many people are seeking out truths, or seeking out support for their skepticism about the science of globalwarming. Hybrid vehicles, as well as searches for alternative fuel transportation information, are also hot search terms according to major SEO services like Keyword Discovery and WordTracker.

On this very blog we see many people interested in the environmental positions of top political candidates.

People fear floods, famine, tsunamis, and other horrors as a result of melting polar ice caps and atmospheric warming due to globalwarming. Awareness in 2007 may lead to action by many.

More: Online interest in globalwarming heats up

Coverage of the issues facing winemakers worldwide as globalwarming harms their crops and damages wine quality is getting big-time coverage from USA Today, aka the McPaper of the McMasses.

Italian experts are sounding a warning on behalf of globalwarming awareness2007: continued climate change will turn Scandinavia into a vintner’s paradise.

Some vintners are downplaying risks, though, fearing that alarmism will hurt the current market for their product.

Meanwhile, olive trees are also feeling the effects of globalwarming. Globalwarming awareness2007 must fight to keep bread, olive oil, and wine production high and of high quality. Globalwarming impacts our way of life, the food we eat, and the happiness we feel at Italian restaurants.

More: USA Today coverage of globalwarming and wine

Catholic Online today offers timely commentary on the past and future role of persons of faith in fighting globalwarming and raising awareness in 2007 and beyond. The article is in response to the recent UN report on globalwarming, as well as the words and actions of globalwarming dissenters.

The article cites numerous popes, from Pius XII to John Paul II, on the subject of global climate change, globalwarming, and the need for stewardship of the earth and its bounty.

Catholic Online states the following about the impact of globalwarming, and the need for 2007 awareness:

Together these gas emissions have raised air and ocean temperatures worldwide and amount to catastrophes in the making. They are already melting the arctic sea ice and adjoining ice sheets, leaving puzzled polar bears stranded on ice floes. Rises in sea levels may sweep away the homes of people living on seacoast plains, scientists warn, and heat waves are expected to disrupt agriculture.

The articleurges persons of faith to take heed of the danger and be aware of globalwarming in 2007. Recommendations include using less energy through various means, including air-drying dishes, driving smaller vehicles and hybrid autos, and even sharing rides via car pools.

Articles like this show that persons of faith are increasingly linking globalwarming awareness2007 to their religion and their holy doctrine. This is a great sign for the future of the globalwarming awareness movement.

Wisconsin — a state full of cow-emitted methane — is proposing legislation to make the state the midwest’s front-runner in globalwarming awareness2007 action.

Governor Jim Doyle has proposed a globalwarming task force to be formed in 2007. The assembly bill demands action and awareness of greenhouse gas emissions, and looks for a significant decrease in globalwarming contribution from state residents and businesses. It is modelled after a California law with similar goals.

Not all Wisconsin legislators are on board to vote for the globalwarming awareness bill:

“I am not one of those who is rushing to join the bandwagon of accepting as indisputable fact that we have man-made global warming that puts the planet in jeopardy,” Ziegelbauer said. “I think that’s grossly overstated and most importantly, far from scientifically decided.

Ziegelbauer promotes nuclear energy as an alternative to coal. Shockingly, he also proposes new plants be built in his legislative district.

Watching the progress of this Wisconsin bill may be very telling of the ongoing progress of the globalwarming awareness2007 movement in shaping national globalwarming policy.

It is important to have awareness that ‘heat waves’ or ‘cold snaps’ do not indicate the onward march of globalwarming. Warm weather is purely incidental to globalwarming awareness, even if unseasonal weather snaps can make globalwarming skeptics more aware of the potential issue.

Globalwarming awareness requires a recognition that climate change takes place a degree or a fraction of a degree at a time. Temperature changes are gradual. A winter heat wave of 15 degrees above average is not an indicator of globalwarming, although it may be a result of systemic changes that are affected by globalwarming.

Climate is not weather. If it were, unseasonally cold snaps would indicate that globalwarming is not a problem. Does the recent cold snap in Minnesota indicate that globalwarming is not an issue? Of course not.

Weather can help people understand the long-term impacts of climate change, and can create globalwarming awareness in 2007. If short-term weather causes people to change behavior to show their globalwarming awareness2007 and fight global climate change, it is not to be discouraged completely. But it is important to be sure that they maintain the changes even if the weather returns to ‘normal.’

Debate continues over the role of globalwarming on Atlantic and Gulf hurricane activity. Awareness of the increased severity of hurricanes rose to new levels after New Orleans was leveled by Hurricane Katrina.

Many scientists believe there is a link between increased hurricane activity and an increase in sea surface temperatures. A one-degree increase in ocean temperature can make hurricanes more serious and long-lived.

However, other scientists scoff at the globalwarming awareness of these scientists, claiming that there is no known reason why the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) changes speeds and temperature cyclically.

Arguments between the two sides is increasing in the wake of the 2007 Globalwarming Report from the United Nations, and will undoubtedly continue through the 2007 hurricane season.

For my part, I’m glad we’re living in Minnesota. We may get the odd prairie tornado, but damned if we’ll see a tsunami in Minneapolis any time soon.

Article: Scientists debate the impact of global warming on hurricanes

…or is that walrii?

In any event, today’s Valentine’s Day story of love focuses on several Californian groups who are suing the US government to protect polar bears and walruses in Alaska from the ravages of globalwarming.

Per the International Herald Tribune:

The groups say the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not fully consider the effects of global warming, such as diminished sea ice, when it wrote regulations allowing for incidental harassment of polar bears and walruses by the oil and gas industry in the Beaufort Sea and nearby coastal areas.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday, February 13, 2007 by globalwarming activists at the Center for Biological Diversity and Pacific Environment. It’s an attempt to force the United States government to greater awareness of globalwarming issues in 2007 and beyond, and protect polar bears from big oil companies.

The activities of big oil companies disrupt the environment for polar bears and walruses, and may disrupt pregnancies and life cycles. Melting sea ice has already impacted the breeding grounds and homelands of these Alaskan and arctic species. Globalwarming has hurt the polar ice caps on which these species depend.

For more info: California groups sue to protect Alaskan species from globalwarming

Ceres, a group of shareholder activists with an interest in globalwarming and the environment today released a list of the most nefarious environmental villians among US companies.

These companies are responsible for soil and water pollution, as well as air pollution that may be leading to global climate change and globalwarming. The ten companies named in today’s report are specifically targeted for their activities impacting the climate and globalwarming in 2007.

Companies included in the list include big oil and energy companies, such as Exxon and ConocoPhillips, but the list also includes low-cost manufacturers of household goods like Bed, Bath & Beyond, who may be valuing low production costs over sustainable production that does not result in pollution in third-world and developing nations. Many developing nations are used as low-cost producers of consumer goods, in part because these countries have low industry standards and low wages. Banking giant Wells Fargo is also on the Ceres list,

Some investors are looking at the environmental practices of companies with an eye to not investing in them, or voting as shareholders for sustainable energy and production standards. Other investors, however, are focused solely on the bottom line of profitability, with no eye to long-term globalwarming impacts. Ceres believes that CEOs need to take a long view and plan their business relative to environmental issues and globalwarming awareness.

For more information: Ceres Names 10 Climate Watch Companies

As the world continues its around-the-clock reporting of Anna Nicole Smith’s untimely death (update: she’s still dead), we continue to look for lessons in her life and her passing. In our case, we look at what Anna Nicole can teach the globalwarming awareness2007 movement:

• Rumors abound that Anna Nicole died choking on her own vomit. Globalwarming and its deniers make US vomit.
• Millions of kilowatt hours of electricity are being wasted on powering televisions tuned to around-the-clock coverage. Coal plants are spewing more greenhouse gasses in the air each minute of this.Of course, if it weren’t Ms. Smith, it would likely be American Idol gossip. So while this may not be a net loss to the planet, it does indicate to us that people arewasting a lot of both personal and global energy on watching crap on TV.
• News stations are adding to the carbon debt of the planet flying reporters to various sites to do stories on Anna Nicole.
• Her body has been ordered to be preserved for future court cases. This is unnatural, just like globalwarming.

Truly, celebrity deaths are the opiate of the masses. People should rise from their sofas, and push away the cheez doodles. Globalwarming awareness2007 needs every citizen to reduce their energy usage and increase their political involvement. For those who cannot rise from their comfy chair and who must have televised stimulation, NetFlix can deliver Al Gore’s masterpiece An Inconvenient Truth right to their doors.

Globalwarming awareness2007: Anna Nicole is dead. Let’s get on with the fight against global climate change and terrestrial catastrophe!

As of this weekend, Barack Obama has officially declared for the US presidency. His environmental stance, and his stance on globalwarming, is well defined, as previously explained on this very blog.

Senator Obama’s Senate web site contains lots of information on his views of the environment, including his April 2006 speech on globalwarming and climate change.

Obama’s 2007 declaration of candidacy, which comes close on the heels of the 2007 UN Globalwarming Report, is sure to be excellent for globalwarming awareness. His environmental record makes it plain that globalwarming advocacy is sure to be a big part of his campaign, and that outspoken environmental advocates will flock to his organization.

Already his campaign site  offers insight to his globalwarming policies:

• encourage hybrid auto development by helping auto companies with retiree health costs
• encourage fuel efficiency
•  increase E85 and ethanol development and use
• encourage technology growth to allow clean-burning use of coal, which currently emits many greenhouse gasses in its use

Senator Obama also believes in maintaining clean water and avoiding radiation release. His environmental goals are in accord with many of the aims of globalwarming awareness2007, and we can hope that his campaign remains a friend of this critical cause for the future of life on earth.

Noted adventurer and explorer Ann Bancroft, of Minneapolis Minnesota, and her expedition partner Liv Arneson of Norway, are to spend 50 days in the arctic starting in February. Their goal? To walk more than 850 kilometers (528 miles) while towing sleds to raise globalwarming awareness.

As with past Bancroft-Arneson expeditions, people around the world will be able to follow the expedition online, with daily updates on progress and location of the explorers, as well as regular online chats, blog postings, and photos.

Unlike prior expeditions, this trip is not to be ‘first’ at anything, but is solely to help teach the world’s children about the impact of globalwarming on the polar ice caps.

Bancroft and Arneson traditionally focus their educational efforts on school-age children, a perfect group to receive the message of globalwarming awareness2007. Ms. Bancroft hopes to specifically encourage youths to combat the effects of globalwarming, and fight worldwide climate change.

Due to globalwarming, Bancroft and Arneson expect to find bad ice in their arctic travels. They are equipped to handle it when necessary. Globalwarming is most evident in the arctic, where temperatures are rising faster than the global average.

Ms. Bancroft, in an interview with Canadian TV, encouraged people to take small steps to fight globalwarming, including using public transportation, turning down the home thermostat in winter, planting trees, and take political action. Globalwarming awareness is a cause dear to her, due to the amount of time she has spent in the arctic and Antarctic regions.

Read more of the interview.

Thursday’s US House of Representatives Science Committee meeting degenerated into massive silliness when several House Republicans decided to take their time on CSPAN to make completely ridiculous statements to downplay the risk of globalwarming and mock those whose awareness of the problem have resulted in the UN Report on Globalwarming, as well as these Congressional hearings on the danger of climate change.

Proving that breathing Wisconsin’s legendary ‘dairy air’ may have touched his wits, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) asked one scientist the following doozy:

Does (it) mean to stop this increase in methane we’ve got to put catalytic converters on the backs of cows?

Meanwhile, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) proved a dissenting voice against that of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Ms. Pelosi is a noted friend of the globalwarming awareness movement, and since taking the post of Speaker of the House in 2007 has made it an important cause. However, Rep. Rohrbacher questioned if globalwarming might be cyclical:

“We don’t know what the other cycles were caused by in the past,” he said. “It could be dinosaur flatulence. Who knows?”

As these Republicans blame cow farts and dinosaur toots for the globalwarming of today, many others are increasingly aware of the problems caused by human use of such things as oil — which is in fact a byproduct of dead dinosaurs. Friends of globalwarming must continue to pepper their Congressional delegations with their concerns about global climate change, and encourage US investment in new energy technologies.

Iowa, a state with great potential to use wind, manure, and ethanol in response to energy needs, still breeds another type: the globalwarming skeptic. Despite massive communities of activist students at universities who are raising globalwarming awareness, and many scholars and scientists har at work here in 2007 to find globalwarming answers, skeptics still exist, as shown in the Des Moines Register.

In an Op-Ed letter, a Des Moines man touts the cause of Big Oil, proclaiming:

Believing that people are the primary contributors to CO2 in the atmosphere is silly. Compared to the CO2 and other gases produced naturally by volcanoes, both on land and under water, and from the surfaces of the oceans, man’s contribution is miniscule.

Throughout his letter, he proclaims oil as an answer:

It’s obvious an ample and dependable supply of oil is the answer. It’s cheaper, more efficient and plentiful.

Seeking cheap answers to energy needs is both short-sighted, and shows ignorance to the cause of globalwarming awareness2007. Even if we make use of cheap answers, their supplies are finite. The ingenuity of scientists researching globalwarming and alternative energy is infinite! While this guy from Des Moines may want to drill in Alaska and harm the wild habitat of fuzzy polar bears and frolicking caribou, many oppose such action. The Inuit people claim that globalwarming is a violation of their human rights. Even in Iowa, globalwarming may hurt important cash crops and the livelihoods of Iowans.

Thought processes like those displayed by this individual — who may or may not be a minority voice — is but one reason why Americans have such low stature in the world globalwarming awareness community. We must think beyond our pocketbooks, our SUVs, and our Wal-Marts and think of the good of humanity and our animal friends. The well-being of all is at the heart of globalwarming awareness2007.

Link: Des Moines Register: More oil is the obvious answer

In an act of support for the globalwarming awareness movement in 2007, British tycoon Richard Branson — owner of the Virgin Group — is offering a $25 million prize to any scientist who can devise a way to scrub greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.

This is Branson’s response to the UN report on Globalwarming released in February 2007.

Branson teamed up with globalwarming superhero Al Gore to make his announcement. Branson has also committed $3 billion of his personal fortune to the globalwarming fight, including all profits from his global travel companies. His new Virgin Fuels business is investing more than $400M in alternative energy technology in the next 3 years.

Notable figures like Mr. Branson show great commitment to the globalwarming battle by committing their personal fortunes and notoriety to the globalwarming awareness cause. It is to be hoped that his incentive helps encourage scientists to pursue globalwarming reduction, as such a reward helps prevent other science from seeming more profitable.

More: British tycoon offers $25 million prize to fight global warming (Star Tribune).

In a news report that seems to buck recent globalwarming trends — and that will doubtless be used by globalwarming nay-sayers to support their skepticism — the conservative Washington Times reports that thick pack ice is clogging the Icelandic fjords and reducing the nation’s traditional winter fishing harvest.

Polar bears often live on pack ice in the Arctic Ocean. When pack ice breaks, polar bears often drift with it. It’s been some years since this occurred, but this winter there have been numerous reports of polar bears making landfall in Iceland. Unfortunately for the polar bears, this ends up being a pretty fatal vacation, as the locals aren’t especially welcoming.

The melting of pack ice has been cited as a long-term effect of globalwarming. The 2007 winter incidents are not sufficient cause to disbelieve the risk that globalwarming awareness advocates claim exists relative to the loss of pack ice. Should pack ice disappear, this would be disastrous for the polar bear, which is already considered at risk in North America due tto environmental change and danger from human settlement.

Al Gore, former presidential candidate and poster child of the anti-globalwarming movement, is everywhere right now:

• In Madrid, Gore says that the globalwarming fight needs China, in the wake of China’s statement that globalwarming action was the responsibility of major nations, not China.
• Gore is scheduled to testify before the US Congress next month as their globalwarming awareness hearings carry on.
• Gore has been nominated for a prestigious Spanish award for his globalwarming work, as well as for the Nobel Peace Prize.

To date, Mr. Gore has not declared for the US presidential race in 2008, but given his recent stature, it is not hard to imagine him doing so. Many in the globalwarming awareness community are spending 2007 encouraging Al Gore to run, holding community events and bake-sales to raise funds and awareness.

However, we really have to wonder if Gore’s recent global advocacy work is enough to win him the White House. As well, if he were to run for president, would the many demands of that race and position in fact distract him from globalwarming work? It is true that as president, he would work for Congressional acceptance of the Kyoto Protocols and try to get the United States a leadership role in alternative energy development. Tax breaks for hybrid vehicles and alternative fuel sources would also undoubtedly be part of the agenda.

Either way, Gore remains a figure to watch as 2007 shapes up as a year of globalwarming awareness.

Voice of America News reports today that China is pinning blame for greenhouse emissions on other industrialized nations.

In particular, China points to its low per-capita emissions, although the country is the second-highest contributor of greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere among world nations. As a ‘developing nation,’ China claims to be unable to devote resources to reducing their emissions.

Increased scrutiny on China and other nations comes in the wake of a 2007 United Nations report on the growing impact and danger of globalwarming.

China also suggests that other countries should adopt the Kyoto Protocols, although Bejing has not agreed to reduce any of China’s emissions. Developing nations, such as high-producing China and India, are exempt from caps set in the Kyoto Protocols. The United States, the largest globalwarming culprit, is not a part of the Kyoto accords.

China, and other high-emitting nations, needs to take responsibility for their contributions to globalwarming. As a nation proud of their technological advancements, China should not rely on foreign technologies to move forward, but should pioneer new ideas that work in their culture and economy — and that may become exportable. Awareness of globalwarming is a first step; taking responsibility for it and acting to create scientific solutions to this scientific problem is critical for the success of the globalwarming awareness movement in 2007 and beyond!

Arctic explorer Will Steger was featured on Minneapolis’ KSTP News discussing why the science of globalwarming should no longer be under debate — his view is that the only debate should be how we can best fight its effects in 2007.

His appearance at the Minnesota State Capitol was a part of the 2007 legislative session, in which the Minnesota Legislature held meetings to raise awareness of globalwarming issues. While the last week in Minnesota has been seasonal, with below-zero temperatures, snow, and dangerous wind-chills, the winter has been less snowy and cold than usual. This has harmed many Minnesota industries — especially those related to tourism. Makers of snowmobiles, cross-country skis, ATVs and ice houses — and resort owners who welcome users of these products — must be saddened by the winter’s weather thus far. They surely support the cause of globalwarming awareness2007, as their incomes and livelihoods depend on it!