Forgive me, but I missed the course on which parts of meteorology were liberal and which parts were conservative. I mean that all of this talk of climate change has become highly politicized. If you believe that global warming is man-made, then you're part of a liberal conspiracy to destroy the economy. If you believe it is simply a natural cycle, then you are nothing more than a pawn of the oil industry.

First of all let's get it straight. The earth's global temperature at the surface is getting warmer by every measure we use as scientists. Even that is now conceited by the skeptics. The debate is not that global warming is occurring, but rather on what is causing it.

There is a liberal contingent that claims that all of the warming is being created by man. Furthermore, that this warming is on the verge in the next few years of possibly being a run away greenhouse effect. Unless something is done immediately on a drastic scale, the planet may be doomed.

On the other hand there are conservatives that make the claim that nothing that man does is having any effect on climate change. The warming is entirely due to solar cycles since the sun is by far the driving force of weather on this planet. Their claim is that global warming is being used by anti-capitalists which threaten to send us back to the Stone Age.

The liberal argument that the warming taking place today is entirely due to man ignores the fact that there has been a warming taking place since the last ice age. In fact, a little ice age occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries due to what was postulated to be a solar minimum in sunspots (a measure of solar activity). In deed, the earth's climate was colder, but it resumed a warming early in the 19th century before the industrial age. What is different now is that the warming may be accelerating.

Conservatives argue that man-kind does not posses the ability to affect the earth on a global scale. However, this ignores the recent fact that man-kind, not nature, did significant damage to the ozone layer. I would argue that had it not been the result of a global effort to stop the production and use of chlorofluorocarbons the ozone layer would be it much worse shape. We would be seeing far worse effects from this. In fact, the ozone layer has only recently stabilized and seems to be starting a recovery. This recovery will take much of the rest of this century assuming we don't do something stupid again to attack ozone in the upper atmosphere.

PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Do not insult my intelligence. Liberals and conservatives are both right and wrong. They seem to have taken extreme views in order to be heard. Their thinking about climate change has become one-dimensional and therefore irrelevant.

Ladies and Gentlemen: It is not global warming we need to be talking about, it is climate change. We have experienced both global warming and cooling during the past one hundred years. We need to understand the process and how to adapt to the changes. In fact climate change is not just a gradual change, but can be a catastrophic change. I encourage you to read Climate Crash by John D. Cox.

In the past I have taught a course called Weather Science for Teachers at the University of South Carolina. I have often made the statement in this course that global problems demand global solutions. Kyoto fails this test. Governments, business leaders, scientists, and environmentalists have to come together and forge solutions.

It is naïve to believe that politicians are going to purposely destroy the economy to satisfy environmentalist claims. This is political suicide. Likewise, it is irresponsible on the part of corporations not to think of the environment. To simply exist for profit motive is a recipe for disaster, just ask the Chinese.

At present I see no comprehensive plan for managing the energy resources needed to drive our economy. Keep in mind that fossil fuels are finite and at some point in the future we will exhaust them. Nor do I see a plan for environmental management from farms to factories. Keep in mind that everything we do impacts the environment, just look at our problems with watersheds.

What is needed is a comprehensive environmental energy plan. One that manages both our environment and energy needs. Many say that this cannot be done. If this is the case, then we may be doomed. However, I believe it can even though it will be difficult. Hard choices will have to be made and it will take time to adjust. Protecting and managing the environment is the right thing to do no matter which side of the debate you are on.

That is one reason why we have a Go Green page on wltx.com. Climate change is just one aspect of this. I will have much more to say about climate change in the future. Stay tuned!