April Showers (Snow?) Bring May Flowers

With snow in this week's forecast, it's possible that we may have jumped the gun sporting new sparkling flip-flops and crisp cargo shorts.

Could this be just another unpredictable New England winter weather season or could it be...global warming?

If you are interested in learning more about global warming, its short and long-term effects and what you can do to help, take the time and read The Heat Is On-a series of articles, featured in The Daily Collegian, written by University of Massachusetts Amherst journalism majors just in time for Earth Week.

U.S. is number one contributor to global warming

By: Lauren Modisette

Global warming seems to be the last issue on the minds of the American college student. But a recent report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found two things: one is that global warming is real, and two is that our generation is likely to see big changes in the world in the next century.

They estimate a 90 percent probability that humans are the cause of the climate change, and it is doubtful it is occurring due to known natural causes.

University of Massachusetts Resource Economics Professor Barry Field said that college students have a good reason to learn all they can about global warming.

Already the global temperature has increased a degree or two. But the IPCC predicts that if it increases by 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, up to 30 percent of the planet's species are at risk of dying out and will be forced to relocate in search of more suitable environments. Out of the top 12 warmest years that have been recorded with scientific instruments, about 92 percent of them have occurred in these past 12 years.

Al Gore's film, "An Inconvenient Truth," also mentions potential hazards that global warming and climate change can instigate. It is mentioned that the current running from the African coast and up by Northern Europe will begin to slow and eventually stop. Rising sea levels will cause the currents from the equator to stop and, in turn, will discontinue the warming of the northern oceans. The decrease in temperature in the northern hemisphere could cause a new Ice Age.