MPR: Grand Forks Conference Tries to Put Brakes on Global Warming

Grand Forks Conference Tries to Put Brakes on Global Warming
By Bob Reha
November 16, 1999

Across the globe, the average temperature has been slowly but steadily rising. For years now, scientists, citizens, and industry experts have argued about the problem of global warming; first of all whether it exists, and then what to do about it. This week in Grand Forks, people from around the region have gathered to talk about climate change in the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain region and how people can change the global warming trend.

What You Can Do
Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Use the energy-saving setting to dry the dishes. Don't use heat when drying.

Wash clothes in warm or cold water, not hot.

Turn down your water heater thermostat; 120 degrees is usually hot enough.

Don't overheat or overcool rooms. Adjust your thermostat (lower in winter, higher in summer).

Clean or replace air filters as recommended. Cleaning a dirty air conditioner filter can save 5% of the energy used.

Buy energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs for your most-used lights.

Wrap your water heater in an insulating jacket.

Install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water.

Caulk and weatherstrip around doors and windows to plug air leaks.

Ask your utility company for a home energy audit to find out where your home is poorly insulated or energy-inefficient.

Whenever possible, walk, bike, carpool or use mass transit.
Source: Environmental Defense Fund

SAY "NORTH DAKOTA" and most people get an image of a cold, windy place. Yet studies show that even as the global temperature is increasing, the rate of warming in North Dakota is twice as fast as the global average. People from across the region, some from as far as Idaho, are in Grand Forks discussing global warming, with special attention to whats happening in their backyard.

Sighelstad: The idea is within a national framework, to assess how climate change could impact this country and, of course, it varies with regions..

Doctor George Sighelstad is one of the coordinators of the Grand Forks conference. He says the conference is not so much about the gloom-and-doom aspects of the global warming issue, but how regular folks can make a difference. He uses the example of farmers using more climate-friendly farming practices, including using more efficient machinery and irrigation systems. And according to Doctor Tony Janetos of the Goddard Institute of Space Studies, that's significant.

Janetos: Because the consequences and what people do won't end up being decided in Washington, it won't end up being decided in geneva or Buenos Aires or Kyoto. They're going to end up being decided in your backyard, and by you and the people you work with, and by which the communities in which you live, which is really where the rubber is going to hit the road

Janetos says failure to address climate changes in the region will have severe consequences. There could be huge effects on farming, on wildlife, and on other natural phenomena.

Faygree: Glaciers at Glacier National Park have been reduced to one-third of their previous size.

Dan Faygree is a scientist with the U.S. Geological survey. He's been working in a field station in Glacier National Park in Montana, monitoring warming trends.

Faygree: As these glaciers disappear one by one from these valley systems, stream temperatures go up and that affects all the cold water aquatic organisms, and so you start having problems with warmer water; you have problems even with water at all.

A major aim of the conference is to foster a better understanding of the impact of climate change on the region. Organizers hope to help ordinary people realize there are strategies for mitigating unwanted consequences of climate change.

Doctor Rosina Bierbaum is with the White House Science Advisor's Office. She says there are simple things people can do that don't call for drastic lifestyle changes.

Bierbaum: One can get by with much less when one thinks about it; everything from using the high-efficiency light bulb to using mass transit if it's possible instead of driving your own car; to using less water, which in many cases is related to electricity use.

Organizers of the conference say they are optimistic that the conference will lead to discoveries of solutions the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain region can contribute to the problem of climate change.

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