Global Warming

I have done some research on climate change. In temperature paper we analyse the global temperature data and show (as have many other authors) that there is evidence to suggest that the temperature has been increasing over the past several decades. We continue this investigation in Antarctic Peninsula paper, where we analyse the minimum/maximum temperature data in the Antarctic Peninsula. We were rather suprise to learn that there was a significant increase in the maximum temperatures, whereas vert little change in the minimum temperatures. Further when we included the ozone levels as regressors into the model we found that this was a significant factor.

Okay that's enough of the self-promotion, lets get onto the real issue. There is unanimous agreement that the average global temperature is increasing and at a unprecedented rate. This is not an issue that is contested. The so called `issue' is whether the warming that we see is due to humans. There is huge body of evidence that at least a part of the warming is due to the greenhouse gases. The evidence is so huge, that most of the experts unanimously agree that humans have contributed to the change. The IPCC report (Intergovermental Panel of Climate Change) contains a summary of all the evidence. What is uncertain is the amount of change we will see in the future, the impact it will have on the environment etc.

I am not certainly not an expert on the subject of global warming, but you don't have to look far to find them. In fact here in College Station Dr. Andrew Dessler, a professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, has for a long time been a proponent of making the general public understand the science behind global warming. A nice argument he has for human caused global warming is "given that we produce so much greenhouse gas, it would be suprise if it did not have an impact on the climate".

Btw. This is a very nice `alternative' solar power station. It would probably work a treat in Texas (but it may not be sufficient to power some of the huger vehicles I see roaming around).

Some institutes which monitor the impact of global warming and data sets

NSIDC and British Antarctic Survey etc. monitor the decline of sea ice in the polar regions.
NCAR and East Anglia Climate Research Unit are both sources of information and data on the subject.
CO2 emissions for motor vehicles. But this is only a summary of the CO2 emissions, no information is given about the amount of energy required to produce a vehicle. But I guess a good rule of thumb, is the bigger the vehicle, the more energy that is required!