Energy and Changes in the Environment - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 67

The question is not if the greenhouse effect exists, it pivots on the
theory that emissions have an effect on global warming. Many reports
concern the effects of global warming, many of these go unchallenged
but some are questioned and reported on. Tanzania's minister of tourism
has disputed claims by a group of American scientists that a third of
Kilimanjaro's ice fields has disappeared during the last 12 years and that
the rest will be gone by 2015. Climatologists blame the melting on global
warming and deforestation at the base of the mountain. The melting of
the ice field could affect the water supply and also reduce the amount of
tourist dollars that benefit the country.
There has been concern that another major hurricane hitting New
Orleans could prompt legislation on global warming that may do nothing
about tropical storms but would damage the American economy. This
became clearer when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. connected Hurricane Katrina's
severity to President Bush's opinion on carbon-dioxide emissions.
Katrina's strength was not affected by global warming as many contend
and there is no proof that any such warming will lead to more frequent, or
more intense storms.
Hurricane damage may seem to be increasing, but this may not be a
sign of global warming. The 2004 hurricane season may only partially be
due to climates change.
Several factors contribute to hurricane formation, including El Niño
cycles, upper stratospheric circulation patterns and the rain in the Sahara
area of Africa. The 2004 hurricane season was mostly due to the alignment
of these critical elements. The general agreement on climate change and
hurricanes is that hurricanes may not become more common but that they
may increase in intensity.
In 2005 the floating ice cap on the Arctic Ocean was at its smallest
size in a century of recording keeping. This development was explained
by global warming and a likely rise in ocean temperatures.
The theory and hypothetical effects of global warming have become
a reality to many. In 1979 the National Academy of Sciences undertook
its first rigorous study of global warming, through the nine-member Ad
Hoc Study Group on Carbon Dioxide and Climate. The panel concluded
that if carbon dioxide continues to increase there was no reason to doubt
that climate changes would result and that these changes would not be
negligible. Since then, global carbon-dioxide emissions have continued
to rise, along with the planet's temperature. But in 2007 temperatures
appeared to decrease, still most major glaciers in the world are shrinking.