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IUPUI ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST TO DELIVER MESSAGE FROM HOOSIER SCIENTISTS TO INDIANA'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION: TAKE ACTION NOW ON GLOBAL WARMING

INDIANAPOLIS - Scenarios of long-term global warming include hotter summers and increases in ozone pollution over Indiana cities.

These conditions will lead to more crop pests and higher food production costs, increases in mosquito- and tick-born diseases, more lung-related illnesses, and higher summertime energy demand and costs in Indiana, concerned state scientists say.

An IUPUI professor will represent Indiana's scientific community later this month during congressional meetings aimed at getting federal lawmakers to push for a national policy to immediately mitigate global warming.

Scientists, including Gabe Filippelli, associate professor of Geology and Associate Director of the Center for Earth and Environmental Sciences (CEES) at IUPUI, along with community leaders, business leaders and church leaders from Indiana and 11 other states, will converge on Washington, D.C. June 23 - 26. During talks with their respective elected officials, the participants will stress the urgent need to address concerns about climatic changes caused by emissions of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide and methane.

"Our purpose is to inform congressional members about the reality of global warming and its possibly profound effects, particularly in light of President Bush's decision to pull out of an international agreement to curb greenhouse emissions," Filippelli said.

The IUPUI professor and the other members of the Indiana contingency are scheduled to meet with Senators Evan Bayh and Richard Lugar, and several state representatives.

The states participating in the campaign are considered pivotal in building strong congressional support for curbing greenhouse emissions and related issues, Filippelli said.

The concerted national effort is spearheaded by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). UCS board members include Mario Molina, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

As of June 13, about 150 Indiana scientists, all of whom have at least a master's degree in a field related to climate science, its impacts, and/or solutions to climate change have signed the "Indiana Scientists' Statement on Climate Change." Signatures are still being collected for the letter that Filippelli is to deliver to Indiana lawmakers in Washington, D.C.

"As scientists from all across Indiana with many years of experience in a wide variety of scientific disciplines relevant to climate change, we urge you to become a strong congressional supporter of immediate action to mitigate global warming," the statement says. "While science is never 100 percent certain, we are convinced that enough is known at this time to warrant bold action to prevent the worst consequences of a warming climate."

The statement cites several likely consequences Indiana faces from global warming, including higher summertime temperatures, drier summers which will require more agricultural irrigation, and wetter (more snow and ice) winters.

Additional likely changes include lower water levels in the Great Lakes, impacting water quality and freshwater ecosystems; increased pest and disease among crops; and economic loss because of decreased agricultural yields.

In talks held two years ago between scientists and Congressional members, similar concerns were expressed, Filippelli said. The need for Indiana lawmakers to become strong advocates is greater now, the professor said.

"It is more pressing now because of the administration's reluctance to act on a policy that will reduce global warming," Filippelli said "Congress needs to take a more active role in the matter."

In a report issued last week by the National Academy of Sciences, 11 leading atmospheric scientists reaffirmed the view that the earth's atmosphere is warming.

According to an earlier report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the earth's surface temperature increased one degree during the 20th century. The temperature is predicted to rise 2.5 to 10 degrees during this century unless greenhouse emissions are decreased.

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