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Climate Change; Something to Get Hot Over - Page 2

© Kenneth Friedman

the equator) warming is greater in winter and spring, and sea level has risen 4 to 10 inches as glaciers melt. Scientists know the glaciers are melting because they measure them.

While scientists can measure glacial melt, CO₂ and ocean temperature, they can't exactly measure weather changes. But they can be suspicious--and are. Weather data confirm that droughts and floods have increased in the United States, China and former Soviet Union by more than can be blamed on "natural variability," says the Media Guide. El Ninó, the warming of the Pacific Ocean off Ecuador and Peru that affects much of the world's weather, has been dominant over the past 20 years instead of cooling at its normal three-year intervals, the Media Guide adds.

"Okay. So all of this is long term. What do I have to worry about," you're thinking. Plenty. As the earth becomes warmer, animals, insects, microorganisms and plants that transmit disease move out of traditional zones. Medical professionals already know that yellow and dengue fevers and malaria have spread to higher altitudes and latitudes than before. Mosquitoes that carry yellow and dengue fevers used to be confined to below 1,000 meters in Colombia, now are found at 2,200 meters. Mosquitoes carrying malaria have been reported from New Jersey and even Queens.

Mosquitoes aren't your only worry. Lucky you. Answer this. "What grows best in your garden?" Weeds, right? That's because they are more adaptable than other species and can accept relatively rapid change in climate, soil and moisture conditions better than other species. So can rodents, insects (cockroaches. Ugh!), bacteria and viruses. Not happening? Don't bet on it. Some scientists point to the virulent outbreak of Hantavirus in the U.S. Southwest linked to rodents as an example. Still want to confine your worry only to the local weather? [More information]

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