One interesting item of the research is a finding that back in the good old days before the combustion engine, Northwest Indiana’s climate was a lot warmer than it is these days — a lot like Arizona’s climate, according to the professor.

This supports the new theory among some scientists that man migrated to North American from Europe rather than Asia over the Bering Strait. We used to think, how could Europeans come over the ocean when it was all ice here, but now we know, it wasn’t ice then,” (VU Professor Ronald) Janke said.

In fact, North America, and this region specifically, was rather balmy.

“The climate then would be like Arizona is today. So not only was there no glacier here then, but it was warm,” he said.

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Technorati Tags: climate change, global climate change, global warming, Indiana Dunes

A report predicts in 2050 that rising temperatures could cause Lake Michigan’s water levels to plummet because of evaporation and diversion.

That concerns scientists behind a new report: “Climate Change and Great Lakes Water Resources.” The report predicts lake levels may drop by as much as 4.5 feet by 2050 as a result of less precipitation and more evaporation.

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Technorati Tags: climate change, evironment, Lake Michigan, water

It might be a good thing for Chicago and Northwest Indiana.

Could the weather changes be la nina or el nino?

I don’t know.

I do know that driving home from work this evening, I was enjoying the balmy 59 degree weather.

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Technorati Tags: global climate change, global warming

The government is studying the global warming issue with an eye toward its impact on future wars and other national security concerns.

Writes the Boston Globe’s Bryan Bender:

The bipartisan proposal, which its sponsors expect to pass the Congress with wide support, calls for the director of national intelligence to conduct the first-ever “national intelligence estimate” on global warming.

The effort would include pinpointing the regions at highest risk of humanitarian suffering and assessing the likelihood of wars erupting over diminishing water and other resources.

The measure also would order the Pentagon to undertake a series of war games to determine how global climate change could affect US security, including “direct physical threats to the United States posed by extreme weather events such as hurricanes.”

Next spring, a national intelligence estimate will be issued detailing what the next president will need to do to combat the threats presented by global warming and all of the horrible things that could happen if we don’t prepare ourselves. Of course, part of our preparations will mean beefing up national defense because it is expected that many of the critical events in global warming will take place in many areas of strategic importance to the United States.

Because global warming will be seen as a national security threat, look for recommendations for increased defense spending.  That could be a good thing for local industries, especially for Northwest Indiana’s steel mills and Chicago’s Boeing.

Predicts Bill Becker, Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project:

I predict that concern about global warming will get even more intense next spring. The National Intelligence Council will issue a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that details the security implications of climate change. It will look ahead 30 years to address the safety of people and property in the United States, the possibility of worldwide humanitarian crises that require military response, the impact on the U.S. military at a time it already is stretched thin, the likely impacts of extreme weather and other factors. The NIE will start with the assumption that the conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are based on outdated science and that climate problems will be larger and will occur sooner than the IPCC has predicted.

Just as we’ve seen how going green can be good for Northwest Indiana, combating the effects of global climate change will ultimately be good for the defense department and various defense contractors including Northwest Indiana’s businesses.

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Technorati Tags: defense, global climate change, global warming