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The "Central Debate" Over Global Warming Today

Explore the global warming impacts as the debate shifts towards local effects and future risks of climate change. Stay informed now!

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Juliet Eilperin, too, had a front page story in the Post yesterday about global warming. Alas, it wasn't as juicy as the Times piece about James Hansen (though it included a bit about him). It was mainly about the future risk of dangerous or abrupt climate change, but I found myself puzzled by the story framing introduced in the very first paragraph:

Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to whether climate change is progressing so rapidly that, within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend.

Isn't Eilperin missing a step? I agree that the debate about what's happening in the atmosphere is basically over. But doesn't that mean that the next debate will be over how and to what extent global warming impacts--sea level rise, melting glaciers, etc--will be felt locally, and to what extent ...

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