Issue: GLOBAL WARMING The spring ice thaw in the Northern
Hemisphere occurs 9 days earlier than it did 150 years ago, and
the fall freeze now typically starts 10 days later. The 1990s
was the warmest decade since the mid-1800s, when record-keeping
started. The hottest years recorded: 1998, 2002, 2003, 2001, and
1997. • The multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment
(ACIA) report recently concluded that in Alaska, western Canada,
and eastern Russia, average temperatures have increased as much
as 4 to 7 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 4 degrees Celsius) in the
past 50 years. The rise is nearly twice the global average. In
Barrow, Alaska (the U.S.'s northernmost city) average
temperatures are up over 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 to 3 degrees
Celsius) in 30 years. The United Nations' Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that global temperatures
will rise an additional 3 to10 degrees Fahrenheit (1.6 to 5.5
degrees Celsius) by century's end. (Source: National Geographic
Society) We pledge to: about g