Heat wave

Now that it's finally warmed up (by 70 degrees!) I've finally had the chance to enjoy the ski trails around our cabin. That's one of the best parts about life in Fairbanks: I can literally put my skis on in the driveway and start skiing into a relatively pristine forest. And, from those trails, I can connect to a whole network of dog mushing trails and frozen rivers that would take me to Nome, Barrow, and beyond. Of course I haven't done that, but I could, and it's a nice thought to know that such opportunities still exist in the world.

As Fairbanks comes out of its coldest January in 35 years, maybe its an appropriate time to talk about human-induced global warming. A friend of mine (Joe) was curious to hear what I might have to say about the subject, since I am a scientist-in-training in a related field. I could quite easily ramble on about global warming, but he was hoping for an objective response, which means I should spend some time thinking about what I say. Plus I should warn that, although my research is related to climate change, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about how humans influence climate. I do hear about these things at conferences and seminars -- I just need to review my facts.

I think I'll start by reviewing evidence for global warming and the uncertainities with those observations, and then I'll get into the more controversial stuff (depending on who you talk to). If you have certain topics to be addressed, questions, or problems with what I've said, then post away!

To be continued...