Is there room for sanity in the global warming debate?

A piece I posted here on Weatherplus.com shortly before the one-year anniversary of Katrina presented some of the different sides of the debate on global warming.

Since then, global warming has become an even “hotter” news story, if you pardon the pun. Visiting some of the online sites the last week or so, it’s been a virtual blitzkrieg of stories, opinions, and frothing from activists on each side.

Don’t expect it to stop any time soon. The report that came out last week from a leading group of international scientists set off a firestorm of reaction from pundits, politicians and environmental groups around the world.

In Europe last week, several cities went dark when environmental groups pressured their governments to address the issue of global climate change. In London and Los Angeles, a group of celebrities, politicians, and business leaders have started a movement called ‘Global Cool," (www.global-cool.com), aimed at reversing global warming. The movement includes big names such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Harnett, singer K.T. Tunstall and the rock music group The Killers.

Who needs science, when these A-list celebs have it all figured out? Josh Harnett, playing global climate expert, was quoted in the article as saying, “I grew up in Minnesota which is usually a cold place, but we’ve seen abnormally warm winters the last couple of years, which is unnerving …If water levels continue to rise at this rate, my house in New York will be underwater, and I’ll have to get a gondola to get around. It’s frightening.”

Passions are boiling from proponents and skeptics alike. In an article in New York Times, Oklahoma Republican Senator James M. Inhofe called the report a “corruption of science” and previously called the idea of human-induced warming as a “hoax.” Timothy Ball, an environmental consultant and former climatology professor based in Canada, wrote in the right-wing journal Canada Free Press, “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. We are wasting time, energy and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification.”

Meanwhile, folks in the Northern U.S. and Canada are locked in a frigid cold wave having people saying “So much for global warming!” But over the next few years, with hurricane seasons and political elections ahead, this story may become the biggest yet. Hold onto your hats when it does.