A 2.5-degree rise in the temperature today would be difficult to note, but the permanent and slight increase in temperature over a span of 40 years would produce severe consequences for the environment, said the dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at a Friday discussion on global warming.
A packed auditorium in Welch Hall fell silent as geosciences dean Eric Barron began his lecture, explaining the relationship between an increase in greenhouse gas emissions and a rise in the overall temperature of the earth.
But Barron admits there are some "facts" about global warming that should be ignored by the general public.
"There's an awful lot of misinformation out, and that makes discussing global warming difficult," Barron said before his lecture. "A lot of things look glitzy and look professional, but don't have the scientific foundation they need."
For example, blaming global warming for stronger tropical storm systems is a difficult prediction to prove because, according to some experts, there are limits to what temperature can be maintained in the eyewall of a hurricane, he said.
Some other uncertainties include exactly how much the earth will warm due to an increase of greenhouse gases emitted by humans and how fast the temperature will rise.
Coincidentally, the United Nations also discussed climate change this weekend in Valencia, Spain.
"We need to set the stage for a comprehensive agreement that tackles climate change on all fronts, including adaptation, mitigation, deforestation, clean technologies and resource mobilization," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at the High-Level Event on Climate Change this September in New York.
But some experts think global warming doesn't exist.
John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, recently released a letter calling global warming "the biggest scam in history."
"Some dastardly scientists with environmental and political motives manipulated long-term scientific data back in the late 1990s to create an illusion of rapid global warming," Coleman wrote in an opinion letter posted on the Internet. "Other scientists of the same environmental wacko-type jumped into the circle to support and broaden the 'research' to further enhance the totally slanted, bogus global warming claims. Their friends in government steered huge research grants their way to keep the movement going. Soon they claimed to be a
consensus."
Global warming became a popular topic in the media due to a partnership between politicians and "liberal, environmentalist journalists" who want the public to "adhere to their radical agenda" to evade the "civilization-threatening environmental consequences" of global warming, Coleman said.
Presidential nominees have responded to the attention climate change has received by forming substantial platforms on what they would do to reduce the effects of climate change on the
environment.
The University is also responding to the hot-button issue by promoting scientific research through a lecture series hosted by the Environmental Science Institute.
"We wanted to have a way that scientists at the University could disseminate their results to the public in a way that was understandable, fun and interesting," said Jay Banner, director of the institute. "We really wanted to target the public in general, but we wanted to focus particularly on [kindergarten through 12th grade] science teachers, because we feel that that's a really critical segment of the whole educational system. If kids can get interested in science at a young age, then there's a good chance that that interest will continue for the rest of their life."
Barron's presentation was the 51st lecture given in the series. The institute began the series in 1999, and Banner predicts thousands have seen lectures over the years.
Teachers who attended the lecture were given a CD of materials breaking down each slide Barron's presented, specifying how the slides satisfy state curriculum requirements and mini lesson plans designed for particular ages and grades.
Attendees were able to watch different science experiments and listen to several environmentally friendly organizations present information before the lecture.
Austin CarShare, a local nonprofit organization that provides access to vehicles without the cost of car ownership, was represented by public affairs graduate student Megan Sembera.
"We allow people to rent cars for $4 an hour and 44 cents a mile so we can reduce traffic and the overall effects of emissions on the environment," Sembera said. "We have 135 members and we're adding about five to 10 a month."
The ultimate goal of the lecture series is to increase people's interest in sciences, Banner said.
"The number of U.S. citizens who are choosing a career in science and technology is dwindling, and we want to turn that trend around," he said. "This is just one small drop in the bucket for doing that."
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