|
|
|
|
Scientist
Tue Jul 29, 2003
Listen in RealAudio 
Starting a century ago, scientists suspected that we might be altering nature's own greenhouse
effect by burning coal, oil, and gas. But it was not until 14 years ago on June 23, that the
phrase "global warming" made the front page of many U.S. papers.
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for the Weather Notebook's special weekly segment on global climate
change.
The summer of 1988 was blasting the country like a blowtorch. The Mississippi River hit record
low levels, and much of Yellowstone burned to cinders. In Washington, then congressman Tim
Wirth sponsored a hearing on global climate change. He invited Jim Hansen, a NASA scientist.
Hansen took the stand on June 23, as downtown DC set a record high of 98 degrees. With his
brief testimony, Hansen caused a sensation.
He didn't actually blame the heat wave and drought on global warming, but he did say he was
confident the earth was warming and that this likely was related to an enhanced greenhouse
effect.
Since that hot day in the nation's capitol, a lot more has happened.
A global treaty to limit carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases, is now making its way
around the world. And temperatures have fluctuated from hot to cool, to hot again over the
last decade. It appears we're once again on a warming trend with the first three months of
2002 tied with 1998 for the warmest January to March period ever recorded.
That's well above anything we saw back in 1988, when the words of one scientist set Washington
on fire.
The Weather Notebook is a production of the Mount Washington Observatory. Our global climate
change series is underwritten by the New England Science Center Collaborative and Roy A. Hunt
Foundation. Thanks today to meteorologist and writer Bob Henson of Boulder, Colorado.
|
|
