http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-694664.mp3
Albany, NY – TEACHING A BALANCED APPROACH TO GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE -
Global warming. It's one of the most visible and most controversial topics
of our day. Just try an internet search. Global warming will return you
hundreds of thousands of hits. The topic has completely permeated our
culture. Our interest in the subject is to find out what millions of children
in classrooms around the world are being taught about global warming.
Spearheading the international movement to warn people about the
dangers of global warming is of course former U.S. Vice-President,
Al Gore. Gore became so passionate about the issue that he made the
movie, An Inconvenient Truth. The Hollywood community liked the film
so much, Al Gore received an Academy Award. Then last year, he won
the Nobel Peace Prize for his crusade to make the world more aware of
man's role in global warming. Most recently, Gore was featured in the
lead segment of CBS's 60 Minutes weekly magazine show.
But the media campaign doesn't end there. Just a few days ago, PBS host, Charlie Rose, interviewed environmentalist and CNN founder, Ted Turner.
Rose asked Turner what will happen if global warming is not addressed immediately? Ted Turner replied, Not doing it will be catastrophic. We'll
be eight degrees hotter in..30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops
will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down. The few people left will be living in a failed state - - like Somalia or Sudan - - and living conditions will be intolerable.
While Ted Turner is known to make outlandish statements from time to time,
there are others who also subscribe to this theory. But it's fair to say there is
wide-ranging disagreement on this contentious topic.
This comes at a time, where according to scientists at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA's) National Climatic Data Center, the average temperatures across North America and the globe this winter were
the coolest since 2001. The report also shows the average temperature was
cooler than the 20th century average from 1901 to 2000.
According to a National Post article, Ontario and Quebec experienced a
larger than normal number of snow and ice storms this winter. In just the
first two weeks of February, Toronto smashed the snow fall record for the
entire month which was set back in the pre-SUV, pre-Kyoto, and pre-carbon footprint days of 1950. And Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the
Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the arctic winter has been so severe,
that the ice has not only recovered, it's actually 10 to 20 centimeters thicker
in many places than at the same time last year. And there is more evidence challenging the climate change dogma.
Another provocative movie is playing called, The Great Global Warming
Swindle , which protests the prevailing political understanding that global
warming is caused by man-made activity. The movie argues that it is in
fact the sun that is responsible for the current changes in the Earth's temperatures. The film is replete with testimony of many scientists
and climate experts.
Timothy Ball, one of the first Canadian doctors in climatology, recently
wrote an article addressing the issue of why no one seems to be listening
to scientists who claim that global warming is not man-made. Ball says
Believe it or not, global warming is not due to human contribution of carbon dioxide - CO2. This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science.
Dr. Karen Hitchcock reports. (3:55)
THE SKY'S NOT FALLING!:
WHY IT'S OK TO CHILL ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING
We also discovered another less reactionary approach to the problem in the
new book titled, The Sky's Not Falling! TBOOK speaks with the book's
author, Professor Holly Fretwell. She's an authority on natural resources
and teaches resource economics at Montana State University. She's also
a Research Associate at the Property & Environmental Research Center in Bozeman, and the parent of two grade schoolers herself.
Glenn Busby reports. (10:40)
TIBETAN RALLIES REACH NORTH AMERICAN CAMPUSES -
From the subject of global warming, we go to global protests against
the Chinese over Tibet. The disruption of the Olympic torch lighting
ceremonies in Greece, London, and Paris a few days ago is apparently
only the beginning of many protests planned to coincide with the torch's
trip around the world...and eventual lighting of the flame at the Olympics
in August in Beijing, China.
Several groups have condemned Communist China's policies,
particularly regarding Darfur. But political scientists and advertising
consultants say the pro-Tibet network is more organized, and its
influence could keep the issue of autonomy and violence in Tibet
front and center for weeks.
And now some of these protests are finding their way to college and
university campuses across the nation. Berea College has a long
history of social activism. It was Kentucky's first college to admit
African-American students. And the first co-educational institution
in that state. These days, that reputation is being enhanced by the
efforts of students from halfway around the world.
Ron Smith reports from Kentucky. (4:03)