Couric & Co.
January 31, 2007 11:19 AM

Katie: Getting Chills Over Climate Change

By
Katie Couric
Topics
Field Notes
(CBS)
It's freezing in New York this week – really. With wind chill, the temperature is practically into single digits. The gusts down 57th Street outside the CBS Broadcast Center can freeze you to the bone.

Which, of course, makes this the perfect time to ponder global warming.

When it's this cold, in the dead of winter, it's hard for a lot of us to appreciate the dire warnings of scientists about climate change. Are they serious? Turns out: yes. They are.

A major reportis coming out this week from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) meeting in Paris. The draft that's been reported on the wires is unbelievably grim, and frightening: droughts have gotten longer, seas have warmed and expanded and carbon dioxide levels have risen sharply. And the forecast for the rest of this century? You better sit down. It's worse. Don't leave home without an umbrella, or lots of sunscreen: it's anticipated that it's going to get hotter, and lot rainier, with sea ice melting and ocean levels rising. There's more and more evidence that much of this is not just a freak of nature. It's man-made.

If that weren't enough to keep you up at night, there's the news yesterday from Washington.

To quote the AP:
"Climate scientists at seven government agencies say they have been subjected to political pressure aimed at downplaying the threat of global warming.

The groups presented a survey that shows two in five of the 279 climate scientists who responded to a questionnaire complained that some of their scientific papers had been edited in a way that changed their meaning. Nearly half of the 279 said in response to another question that at some point they had been told to delete reference to "global warming" or "climate change" from a report."
Democrat Henry Waxman and Republican Tom Davis both say the White House is refusing to hand over documents on climate change.

Said Waxman: "We know that the White House possesses documents that contain evidence of an attempt by senior administration officials to mislead the public by injecting doubt into the science of global warming and minimize the potential danger."

Given the news that is coming out of Europe this week, it seems more urgent that we all know what is happening and why. No one from either party should be playing politics with the planet.

After all, it's the only one we've got.



Add a Comment See all 26 Comments
by bigwhtpony February 1, 2007 4:53 PM EST
That's right...if it's too hot, it's global warming. If it's too cold, it's global warming. It's snowing a lot in Anchorage.....guess what.....global warming.

The earth is warmer. It's cyclic. It has happened before and it will happen again. The people who believe it is a man made calamity are non scientific, misguided liberal leftists.
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by naturaltwo February 1, 2007 12:11 PM EST
I just keep thinking of how history will view this nation in a couple of hundred years. They went after smokers while their addiction to oil caused major rises in asthma in children. They let McDonalds addict their children causing a major rise in the number of diabetics because they were too lazy to cook.

They created cities where the smog is so bad people are alerted to not go outside or if you do wear a gas mask.

This country deserves everything that happens to it.
Reply to this comment
by bildooreilly February 1, 2007 7:48 AM EST
Global warming is just another tax scam, they're going to tax the energy companies who will pass it right back to the consumer... get ready to pay up for your global warming BS fools...

Those ice caps are going to melt by 2012 anyways, it's the sign of the end of the age, it's the end of the age of pisces, and the beginning of the age of Aquarius. The book of revelations tells you this where it says...

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and I giveth thee the water of life...

Well if you go look up a photo of aquarius he's the man with the jug of water, the water of life. Those polar caps are gonna be gone whether you like it or not and there's not a *** thing you can do about it. You see the bible is based upon astronomy, astrology, and the zodiac. The Son of God is the SUN of god that rises every morning. Dec. 25th marks the day the sun begins its return to the northern hemisphere after winter solstice, in ancient times they celebrated it as The Rebirth Of The SUN. Which of course is why our holiest day is on SUNday. Also if you look at Isaiah 14:12 I believe it is you'll see that lucifer is the "Son Of The Morning" the morning star that rises in the east also known as the eastern star.

Get ready fools the whole world's about to change, and it isn't because of greenhouse gases.
Reply to this comment
by djsoyuz January 31, 2007 11:20 PM EST
Dear %u201Cilikeitwarm,%u201D

It%u2019s a fair point to question whether climate change (which is more than just warming) is good or bad for society. Unfortunately, many of your suggestions are wildly inaccurate. Growing seasons will improve for some crops in places, but get worse for others due to changing rainfall. Severe droughts will negatively impact some of the most impoverished areas in the world, such as Central America and Southeast Asia, where people are dying of starvation. Most species are shifting their ranges causing increasing numbers of endangered species (Parmesan and Yohe 2003 [journal Science]). You%u2019re right that warmer winters decrease heating costs, but last year the Department of Energy (www.doe.gov) found that increased air conditioning usage outweighed this significantly, and overall utility costs went up. Finally, you%u2019re also right that a process%u2014actually called %u201Cglobal dimming%u201D is occurring. It is also caused by human pollution (of aerosols and other particulates that make up smog). However, you%u2019re completely wrong about its effect on the overall warming trend. Dimming is a minor component, and temperatures are still increasing since 1998. 2006 was the warmest year in US history, and the Earth has not gone through a multi-decade cooling trend since before the industrial revolution. I repeat my dare for you and other doubters to read the IPCC report. You absolutely do not understand what you are talking about.

Joe
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by ilikeitwarm January 31, 2007 9:24 PM EST
GW and CO2 increase over the past 200 years has been good for life. A greenhouse is where things grow. According to Hansen%u2019s prediction the rate of warming will not be all that bad. Warming and the increase in CO2 should be good for life by extending the growing season and growing areas, feeding plants, lowering utility bills, decreasing the death rate (cold kills more people than heat), etc. But we need to worry about global cooling. Since 1998 the warming has leveled off or decreased slightly and the oceans are cooling. The solar scientists say we are going to see global cooling starting in a few years if it has not already started.
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by lars008-2009 January 31, 2007 9:09 PM EST
gee that explains all the previous global warmings and ice ages......when there was no human influence...................................................... hmmmmmm which is worse? glaciers covering most of the northern hemisphere or a little rise in sea level?.........................................................i guess you should be in favor of reducing world population by say 90% then and punishing china, india, africa, muslims, catholics, etc for creating the population explosion than caused the co2 problem we are in..............................
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by January 31, 2007 8:49 PM EST
Fascinating how the paranoid crazies view dire reports of climate change as an "attack on America." In fact, the greatest single threat comes from new coal-fired plants in China, which are being built at such a pace that, every year, those new plants dump the equivalent of the entire CO2 output of Great Britain into the atmosphere. The media, including Katie Couric, has been played like a fiddle by the global warming deniers by presenting the issue as a "debate," which it isn't in any serious way. The science has been solid for many years. It really isn't necessary anymore to involve people in serious discussion who can't form a complete sentence or spew dittohead drivel because an echo is all their thick skulls can accommodate. You had your heyday, know-nothings. It's over.
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by annyp January 31, 2007 8:10 PM EST
Could someone replay "Dimming the Sun"? Enough info there to make the situation very clear.
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by natedmyers January 31, 2007 6:28 PM EST
Good point, Joe. Lost in all this political wrangling is the central need for human beings to take care of the world they live in...to protect the health and safety of generations following.

Our narcissism (global warming or no) will ensure our children and children's childrens' fate: lower quality of life. All because I want what I deserve, and I want it now. And I'm not a granddad. I'm 25.

Nate Myers
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by djsoyuz January 31, 2007 6:13 PM EST
Katie,

I%u2019m an ecologist that studies climate change. I applaud your statement about the significance of this challenge. In a throwback worthy of the network of Edward R. Morrow, you%u2019ve exposed the fundamental political and media blunder in this whole discussion: climate change should not be a political issue at all. I dare anyone who doubts the evidence to read the IPCC report to be released on Friday (www.ipcc.ch). To those who would scoff at such a prospect, know this: the surest why to win an argument is to have the truth on your side, and the surest way to lose is to not understand. I%u2019ll be watching Friday, Katie, and I dare you to tell the truth. I dare you to present a report that contains this unequivocal message: humans are altering the climate of Earth. Don%u2019t say the IPCC says so, or that democrats say so. Just tell it how it is.

Joe Mascaro
Hilo, HI
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