Global warming taking center stage

Air pollution
Steam and exhaust rise up from the smokestack of a coal-burning electric power plant. Coal is blamed by environmentalists as a leading source for carbon dioxide, one of the three main gases causing the "greenhouse effect" and warming the earth's temperature.
Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

It seems the issue of global warming is getting a great deal of attention lately, on a state, national and even international level.

In his State of the Union address, President Bush referred to global warming as an established fact, and said we need to "confront the serious challenge of global climate change."

The World Economic Forum is meeting this week in Switzerland, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the group that battling climate change has to be among the planet's key priorities.

In the Minnesota House, Speaker Margaret Kelliher is hosting a global warming forum for legislators next Tuesday. Among the speakers will be several scientists, religious leaders and polar explorer Will Steger.

Steger will depart shortly on a trip to the Canadian Arctic, in part to keep the attention focused on global warming.

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