Dec . 4, 1997 Contact Ross West (541) 346-2060 Special for Tokyo Global Warming Summit "The buildup in the atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that contribute to global warming can be compared to going into debt," says University of Oregon chemistry professor Paul Engelking. "You can stop spending, but you still have to dig yourself out of the problems you've already caused. In the case of carbon dioxide, its half-life is such that much of what we have already placed in the air will remain there for most of the next century." In addition, he notes, the Tokyo summit is addressing only the issue of limiting--not eliminating--carbon dioxide producing practices. "That means that we will continue to add to the debt--the spike of greenhouse gasses we've already produced. In other words, the summit is not addressing the question of how to stop going further into debt or how to get out of debt; rather, it is looking into ways to slow our spending." SOURCE: Paul Engelking, UO professor of chemistry, (541) 346-4656. E-mail: <engelki@oregon.uoregon.edu> THINKING GLOBALLY, BLINKING LOCALLY? "Forest management plans in the Pacific Northwest generally ignore the effects of global warming on forest ecosystems," says Cathy Whitlock, UO professor of geography, who studies the long-term effects of climate on vegetation. "In mountainous regions, such as the Pacific Northwest, modeling of future conditions has shown that the potential changes in vegetation arising from global warming are greater than anything observed in the past 10,000 years. In addition, increases in fire frequency will likely accelerate the rate at which forests change. This raises questions about current efforts at ecosystem management. It is as if there are different communities of scientists who are not talking to each other: on the one hand, forest ecologists, on the other, hand global climate researchers. These two groups need to come together and look at future changes on a regional scale." SOURCE: Cathy Whitlock, UO professor of geography, (541) 346-4566 or 346-2698. E-mail: <whitlock@oregon.uoregon.edu> UO EXPERT IS LUKE-WARM ON CLINTON'S GLOBAL WARMING PLAN Americans aren't doing nearly enough to prevent a projected climate change due to global warming, according to John Baldwin, director of the UO Institute for a Sustainable Environment. "Even if we're wrong, even if global climate isn't a major problem, we need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. If we don't begin to conserve now, the next generation will be burdened with astronomical energy costs as oil supplies dwindle," Baldwin says. Government subsidies to oil corporations contribute to America's huge and wasteful consumption of fossil fuels, he adds. Baldwin believes that the federal government should stop giving breaks to American oil companies to keep gas pump prices artificially lower than prices in the rest of the world. Instead, he argues, the U.S. should subsidize efforts to build a modern high-speed surface rail system. Such a system could move both people and freight in a more efficient way than superhighways. The public transit system in Japan, for example, is more than twice as efficient as the U.S. truck and rail system is at delivering products for export. Baldwin says the U.S. response to global warming needs to focus on developing renewable energy sources and eliminating sloppy and wasteful use of fossil fuels, and moving Americans out of their cars and onto public transit. SOURCE: John Baldwin, director, UO Institute for a Sustainable Environment and UO associate professor of planning, public policy and management, (541) 346-389, (541) 346-0675. E-mail: <jbaldwin@oregon.uoregon.edu> -30- #T-7314/Daybook,OrSCI