Having already run through our own alphabet and now
just into the Greek alphabet, more hurricanes have been named in 2005 than
any other year since the naming system started in 1953. And while politicians may be blamed for their
aftermath, some scientists postulate that the storms themselves are the
manifestations of global warming. Others don’t. “It makes sense,” says Alexander J.
Casella, Illinois coordinator of Union of Concerned Scientists and
professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Global
warming heats up the oceans, he says, which fuels hurricanes — but
it’s hard to tie a specific event, such as Hurricane Katrina, to
climate. The real evidence of global warming, says Casella, who
has researched and taught international energy issues, environmental
ethics, energy resources, and oceanography, lies in rising sea levels and
periods of unusually warm weather over past several years. “Also, you find that spring is arriving earlier
everywhere in the world,” Casella says. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m. Casella joins Colleen
Sarna, global warming conservation organizer of the Illinois chapter of the
Sierra Club and Sharon Therese Zayac of Jubilee Farm to talk about the
science of global warming. Sarna will provide some hints on how individuals can
reduce their contributions to greenhouse gases and Zayac will discuss
global warming’s impact. “Clearing of tropical rainforests accounts for
20 percent of global warming. The science is pretty clear. What’s
unclear is what the long-term effects will be,” Casella says. The Sangamon Valley Group of
the Sierra Club hosts the panel, held at Lincoln Library, 326 S. Seventh
St. According to Pax Christi Springfield’s Diane
Lopez Hughes, the panel leads up to an international day of vigil on Dec. 3
coinciding with a meeting of Kyoto Treaty participants taking place in
Montreal.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2005.
