Lyles challenges global warming

Lionel Lyles, a Southern University professor of political science, addressed students Sept 21 about global warming and its impact on catastrophic weather conditions, such as those brought by Hurricane Katrina.
“They just need to be educated so that they can make a choice in their life about where they are going to live,” Lyles said. “They need to be informed because as they form families and establish homes and take vacations, they could be impacted.”
Lyles said scientists and government officials do not take the impact of global warming seriously and as a result people are faced with devastating weather conditions.
“Many scientist know about global warming,” he said. “But the tendency politically is to deny global warming and attribute what is happening to a continuing weather cycle.”
Lyles attributed the strength of hurricanes to rising temperatures in oceans that is brought about by global warming.
“Fifty years ago, you would expect to get a Category 5 hurricane once every five years in a normal weather cycle,” Lyles said. “However, since October 2002, we have had Hurricane Lilly and several other hurricanes — Ivan in particular — and this year with Katrina and Rita – all happening within a span of three years.”
“Now every three to five years we are getting as many as three or four, maybe five Category four hurricanes due to increases in ocean temperature in the tropic.”
According to Lyles, the United States has made no effort to combat global warming and has continued to allow industries to produce products that could potentially worsen the problem.
“Keyoto is a United Nations framework convention on climate change spearheaded as a way to get industrialized countries around the world to voluntarily work to reduce greenhouse gases,” Lyles said. “The U.S. and Australia are the only two major industrialized countries that have not signed on. This creates the impression that it’s not serious and that it’s nothing people should be concerned about.”
Lyles said that while signing on to the treaty would not completely solve the problems, it would serve as a rallying point for the country.
Tonya Isom, a senior political science major from Baton Rouge, said she appreciated the information and it made her pay more attention to what has happened and what could possibly happen.
“I think it was very informative,” she said, “More people were inclined to pay attention because of what has happened in New Orleans.
Lyles said it could be expected that Rita would bring tragedy and devastation.
Hurricane Rita is going to be devastating no matter where it hits land,” he said. “There will probably be a storm surge of at least 20 feet – it’s going to bring in its wake a lot of property damage and also further loss of life if people don’t take it seriously.”