articles of disbelief

The Republicans are still getting away with claiming that global warming and tobacco's link to cancer are junk science, but creationism should be taught in schools. But if you're closer to the ground than the Beltway, you can feel on your cheeks what is going on: climate change, if not shame. 2004 was the fourth hottest ever recorded and the past decade was the warmest since measurements began in 1861. Global surface temperature increased by more than 0.6 C in the past century. The rate of change for the period since 1976 is roughly three times that for the past 100 years as a whole.

You are not getting this story on television or in the press, even though eventually, it will lead to much starker images than the earthquake of a few days ago. You might check out the RealClimate commentary site on climate science, or stare at the data compiled by the World Metereological Organization. Will you finally believe that the ice changes around earth's frozen caps, and that therefore the sea level is rising, if the source is NASA? Will you begin to consider species extinction before you turn to the universal declaration on cultural diversity adopted by UNESCO?

Just go ask those who can see it all with their own eyes. To the Arctic Indigenous Peoples, the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) could not be more simple - global climate change is happening and accelerating in ways that have widespread consequences. Read their documents for yourself: "Time for Action on Climate Change. A Statement by Arctic Indigenous Peoples", signed by Michael Zacharof (President, Aleut International Association), Gary Harrison (International Chair, Arctic Athabaskan Council), Joe Linklater (Chair, Gwitch'in Council International), Sheila Watt-Cloutier (International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference), Sergei Haruchi (President, Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North), and Geir Tommy Pedersen (President, Saami Council), October 2004.