Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atm

Whether global warming is caused mainly or partially by human activity, natural cycles, or some combination is not nearly as relevant as preparing for the inevitable changes that are already in progress. Climate change is not coming in the future; it arrived years ago and has been worsening rapidly. Study after study shows that our Earth has been rapidly warming since the mid-twentieth century. The most recent report on the subject was released this week, and its conclusions leave no room for avoiding the inevitable: Climate change and global warming are real and will have severe impact on humanity.

This report is neither Al Gore’s slide show, nor a Green Party press release for a 2008 presidential candidate. It is the exhaustive product of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and represents the work of 600 scientists from 40 countries over 6 years. An additional 600 peer reviewers—other working scientists—scrutinized the research methods and conclusions. The final result (available at ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/) is a unanimous consensus by the people who study Earth’s climate on a daily basis. The consensus: we are all in hot water, it is getting hotter, and humans are largely responsible.

Oh, and it will be centuries before the trend will reverse.

Still, some parties foster the false idea that scientists are in disagreement about the problem. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry held a “debate” on opposing scientific viewpoints. Representing IPCC was Dr. Philip Mote, with credentials that include a Harvard B.A. in physics, University of Washington Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, research with Northwest Research Associates, University of Edinburgh, NASA, and NATO, is Washington State Climatologist and an author of the IPCC report.

Representing a tiny minority position was George Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atmo

ts conclusions leave no room for avoiding the inevitable: Climate change and global warming are real and will have severe impact on humanity.

This report is neither Al Gore’s slide show, nor a Green Party press release for a 2008 presidential candidate. It is the exhaustive product of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and represents the work of 600 scientists from 40 countries over 6 years. An additional 600 peer reviewers—other working scientists—scrutinized the research methods and conclusions. The final result (available at ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/) is a unanimous consensus by the people who study Earth’s climate on a daily basis. The consensus: we are all in hot water, it is getting hotter, and humans are largely responsible.

Oh, and it will be centuries before the trend will reverse.

Still, some parties foster the false idea that scientists are in disagreement about the problem. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry held a “debate” on opposing scientific viewpoints. Representing IPCC was Dr. Philip Mote, with credentials that include a Harvard B.A. in physics, University of Washington Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, research with Northwest Research Associates, University of Edinburgh, NASA, and NATO, is Washington State Climatologist and an author of the IPCC report.

Representing a tiny minority position was George Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atm

rs—other working scientists—scrutinized the research methods and conclusions. The final result (available at ipcc-wg1.ucar.edu/) is a unanimous consensus by the people who study Earth’s climate on a daily basis. The consensus: we are all in hot water, it is getting hotter, and humans are largely responsible.

Oh, and it will be centuries before the trend will reverse.

Still, some parties foster the false idea that scientists are in disagreement about the problem. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry held a “debate” on opposing scientific viewpoints. Representing IPCC was Dr. Philip Mote, with credentials that include a Harvard B.A. in physics, University of Washington Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, research with Northwest Research Associates, University of Edinburgh, NASA, and NATO, is Washington State Climatologist and an author of the IPCC report.

Representing a tiny minority position was George Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atm

the problem. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry held a “debate” on opposing scientific viewpoints. Representing IPCC was Dr. Philip Mote, with credentials that include a Harvard B.A. in physics, University of Washington Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences, research with Northwest Research Associates, University of Edinburgh, NASA, and NATO, is Washington State Climatologist and an author of the IPCC report.

Representing a tiny minority position was George Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atm

Taylor, who holds a University of Utah master’s degree in meteorology, was a meteorologist at North American Weather Consultants, and claims the title of State Climatologist for Oregon. But Oregon doesn’t have such a position. "He's not the state climatologist," Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski said. "I never appointed him. I think I would know.”

The “debate” was a grossly mismatched publicity tussle. A well-positioned representative of some 90% of the atmospheric experts was defending the IPCC conclusions against a far less authoritative representative of less than 10% of his colleagues. Worse, the press perpetuated the myth of non-consensus by publishing a piece about the event.

We do not need culprits and recriminations. Many of us won’t be here to see the severe changes expected in 2050, but our kids and theirs will. Failure to accept reality now and prepare for the inevitable will hurt those we love. Our climate will not return to what it was in the 1960s, so we must prepare for yet another kind of change in our rapidly changing world. One doesn’t wait to see if a bullet wound is lethal before seeking medical treatment. Global warming is the equivalent of a planet-wide bullet wound.

It doesn’t matter now who pulled the trigger—we are all bleeding.

(The P-I published an excellent summary of the climate change situation in 2002. The article can be read at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002549346_globewarm11.html .)