Greg Retallack shows a
500-million-year-old
trilobite found off the
coast of Australia. The
excellent condition of
this fossil indicates that
it formed during a
period of global
warming.
Zane Rrrr | Photographer
Global warming: Recent
conditions are unprecedented
Continued from page 3
gotten wildly out of control.”
Research is currently in progress to
determine the causes and length of
global warming episodes, but some of
the effects are already known. They in
clude more stormy weather, increased
weather variation between seasons, in
creased prevalence of fungal diseases,
increased insect predation on plants
and the depletion of soils.
Retallack said some of these effects
are appearing today.
“It’s pretty clear now that we’re be
yond the envelope,” Retallack said.
University geography professor Pat
Bartlein, while not involved with Re
tallack’s recent study, also researches
global warming.
He said in an e-mail that there are
many signs of global warming today.
The last couple of decades have
been the warmest to date, and the
warming is unprecedented when com
pared with the last 1,000 years,
Bartlein wrote.
“Most importantly, the pattern of
temperature change is consistent with
what we would predict as the response
to the human-produced increase in
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,”
Bartlein wrote.
Bartlein said the Earth is already on
track for decades and probably cen
turies of increasingly warmer weather.
Current problems with coral reefs
and wetlands are another sign that
global warming is taking place, Retal
lack said. ^
“With many of these crises in the
past, coral reefs and wetlands have re
ally fared the worst,” Retallack said,
explaining that organisms that don’t
use lungs and muscular diaphragms to
breathe are less equipped to handle air
with a lower oxygen content than or
ganisms that do.
Retallack said human activities such
as using fossil fuels, tilling soil and
burning forests for fuel are at least part
ly responsible for the current level of
global warming.
Approximately 6.6 tons of green
house gases are emitted per person
per year in the U.S., according to
the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Web site.
However, global warming has been
occurring naturally since before hu
mans existed and is not entirely caused
by humans, Retallack said.
“Getting worried about (global
warming) is like getting worried about
an earthquake or asteroid,” Retallack
said. “It’s not really something you
can prepare for.”
Contact the business, science and
technology reporter at
esylwester@ daily emerald, com
IN BRIEF
Midwest search continues
for tornado survivors
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Rescuers
scaled heaps of rubble to listen for
survivors trapped in debris left by a
tornado that ripped through com
munities in Indiana and Kentucky,
killing 22 people.
The tornado, the deadliest to hit
Indiana since 1974, struck a horse
racing track near Henderson, Ky.,
then crossed into Indiana, triggering
emergency sirens that many people
fast asleep early Sunday did
not hear.
At least 17 people, including three
children, died at a mobile home
park in Vanderburgh County and
five others died in neighboring War
rick County, east of Evansville. More
than 100 people were taken
to hospitals.
Cranes lifted toppled mobile
homes, and forklifts moved
smashed cars into organized rows.
Other heavy equipment rumbled
through the debris as night fell and
the air became crisp and cool.
All the dead were in Indiana. The
youngest victim was a 2-year-old
boy who was killed along with his
61-year-old grandmother, the coro
ner’s office said.
jos was a leader in trying to move
along negotiations for the FTAA at the
weekend talks.
Central America is proving to be
one of Bush’s biggest success stories.
The Central American Free Trade
Agreement, or CAFTA, was recently
ratified by Congress in a narrow vote
after tough lobbying by the White
House.
— The Associated Press
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