John Williams of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, lead
author of the report, says some climate zones will disappear
entirely, to be replaced by climates that are unlike any in the
world today. That is particularly true in the tropics and
subtropics, as well as the polar regions where great changes are
already taking place, he noted. Consequences could be far
reaching. For example, Williams and his colleagues see more
fires and loss of forests in the Amazon region, further
desecrating an area that now soaks up a lot of carbon dioxide.
"The potential for ecological surprises in the tropics adds
urgency to current conservation efforts," the study concluded.
Not long ago scientists thought climate changes were going to
come very slowly, and that made it easier for us to ignore the
possible consequences. Why worry today about something that may
happen in a hundred years or so? But it turns out that the
changes are coming much more quickly than had been thought.
Scores of Native American villages along the nort