Global warming warning

In doing a profile on one of our candidates for Packer 25 leadership series, I had a interesting visit with a international marketer of produce. I asked him what industry issue keeps him up at night.

He mentioned climate change-global warming. I was somewhat surprised, because that is a topic that doesn't come up a lot in industry discussions. Yet clearly the evidence is around us. Even on the site today, there is mention of climate change in Peru.
Here is an excerpt.

Peru's Cordillera Blanca, the largest glacier chain in the tropics and one of the country's major tourist attractions, may have to be renamed to Cordillera Marrón in the near future. Rising temperatures let the glaciers melt rapidly and may turn the snowy and icy mountain tops from white to brown. Glaciologists consider the health of the world's glaciers an indicator of global warming, and they warn that what is happening signals trouble. Lonnie Thompson, a geologist from Ohio State University in the United States, warned that the melting has accelerated to a level that the ice cannot replenish itself. And this means trouble for Peru because it endangers future water supplies to the arid coast where most Peruvians live. The scientist used the Quelccaya in Southern Peru, the world's largest tropical ice cap, as an example which is retreating at about 60 meters (200 feet) a year, up from six meters (20 feet) a year in the 1960s. Peru's tropical glaciers feed the rivers that provide water to the cities on the desert coast line, not only for consumption but also for agriculture and electricity. Two third of Peru's 28 million population lives in an area that produces only 1,8% of the country's overall water supply. In the last ten years the ice layer of the Mt. Pastoruri, located south of the city of Huaraz, has reduced by almost 40% and since 1970 the Peruvian mountains in general lost 22% of their glacial surface.


At the same time, this article provides a skeptic's view.
From the story:

So one awkward question you can ask, when you’re forking out those extra taxes for climate change, is “Why is east Antarctica getting colder?” It makes no sense at all if carbon dioxide is driving global warming. While you’re at it, you might inquire whether Gordon Brown will give you a refund if it’s confirmed that global warming has stopped. The best measurements of global air temperatures come from American weather satellites, and they show wobbles but no overall change since 1999.
That levelling off is just what is expected by the chief rival hypothesis, which says that the sun drives climate changes more emphatically than greenhouse gases do. After becoming much more active during the 20th century, the sun now stands at a high but roughly level state of activity. Solar physicists warn of possible global cooling, should the sun revert to the lazier mood it was in during the Little Ice Age 300 years ago.



TK: If global warming is indeed happening, what do we do about it? Can we do anything about it? A higher level of awareness about this issue among the general population may well feed other consumer social responsibility trends, such as "food miles" and local produce. How much will we be sensitized - or in turn, desensitized - to this issue over the next few years? I think we will feel both in ample measure at different points in time.