GLOBAL WARMING GONE TO THE DOGS

Al Gore and his minions have been desperately trying to rally public consciousness around the impending threat of global warming. But much to their chagrin, the "man on the street" apparently has yet to buy in to the concept. (See "Common Sense," page 8, for yet another federal attempt to sell panic.) Gore’s dialogue with the American people seems to proceed along these lines:

Gore: The future of your grandchildren is at stake!

Man-on-street: So what, I’ll be dead...oh, and I don’t have any grandchildren.

Gore: But ocean waves will be lapping at the base of the Washington Monument.

Man-on-street: Good.

Gore: Glacier National Park is melting!

Man-on-street: Yeah, but it melts every summer. Don’t you know summer daytime temperatures there haven’t changed a lick in the last 100 years_ You could have looked it up on your beloved Internet!

Well, Al’s pet issue may be saved. By pets. Indeed, we may have just identified an angle on global warming that will finally rouse the public. In an April 24 story, UPI linked the dreaded 1998 El Niņo scourge to our lovable dogs and cats. Because of our wet winter, said Gary Clark of the American Mosquito Control Association, "This could be a banner year for mosquito production."

Here’s the buzz. Mosquitoes spread heartworm to cats and dogs, which means El Niņo is threatening Fido and Raoul (Virginia’s official Weather Cat).

Now, you won’t hear us saying El Niņo and global warming are related. But you will hear that from National Center for Atmospheric Research scientist Kevin Trenberth (as UCAR Quarterly reported recently): Even though "the models we have are not really good enough" to link El Niņo to global warming, he said, "...There’s got to be a connection."

Can’t you hear the Vice President now_

Gore: Do you realize that global warming will cause more and stronger El Niņos, which will cause a mosquito plague, which will cause your dog or cat to be infested by heartworms_

Man-on-Street: Oh, no! Please tax my hard-earned wages to prevent this. We need your leadership.

Woof! Row-oul!

References:

El Niņo and global warming: What’s the connection_ UCAR Quarterly, 24, Winter 1997.

El Niņo aftershocks may harm pets, UPI, April 24.