Head For the Cool

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is about to release its newest edition of its report on global warming. In this AP report, one of the scientists who co-authored part of the IPCC study promises that it will contain much more than a smoking gun. It will contain "a batallion of intergalactic smoking missiles." The IPCC has been strengthening its conclusions about human responsibility for the rise in global temperatures for a few years now. One thing that apparently will set this new edition apart will be a section that looks at the impact global warming is having on nature--plants blooming earlier, species moving towards the poles, and so on. (Here's a sneak preview of sorts from Camille Parmesan at the University of Texas [pdf]) Global warming now raises a new, difficult question for conservation biologists. It may be shrinking the ranges of many species, pushing already endangered species towards ...