New study links global warming to human activity

New study links global warming to human activity

SOURCE: Various News

August 30, 2004 -- A new report from the Bush administration says that warmer temperatures in North America since 1950 were probably caused in part by human activity. While many contend there is no clear scientific proof on the causes of global warming, the new report underlines a long-term threat that many experts say should not be ignored.

Among the findings of the Bush administration report, emissions from the oil and natural gas industries in the Southwestern United States raised quantities of ethane, propane and butane in the near-surface atmosphere of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in autumn and spring that were comparable to urban smog. Also, a portion of the Arctic Ocean covered by perennial sea ice has declined by about 9 percent per decade since 1978.

A letter signed by Bush's secretaries of energy and commerce and by his science adviser accompanies the new report, which can be found online at www.climatescience.gov.

Many experts claim that global warming will cause climate change and extreme weather phenomenon around the world. According the Portsmouth News, desperate English farmers are facing losses of tens of thousands of pounds because heavy rains have stopped them from harvesting crops. They blame global warming for this summer's extreme weather - said to be the worst in decades. Martin Bazeley, of Offwell Farm, Southwick, said it was the wettest summer in his 22 years of farming. He said he was facing the loss of 230 acres of unharvested wheat - valued at nearly $50,000 - because the damp conditions were causing the grains to germinate, rendering the crop almost worthless.