Back in December, I wrote about British gamblers having the chance to wager on global warming. Now, global warming wagers have come to the U.S. One wager is whether Manhattan will be submerged before New Year's Eve, 2011. Four years? Mighty long odds of that happening.

I have no idea if this letter to the editor was facetious or sincere, I only know that it's worth a good laugh - something that's always welcome on a Friday!

Where can you go to watch global warming in action? Greenland, of course! Now Air Greenland (who knew?) has begun commercial flights from Baltimore, Maryland to Kangerlussuaq, a former military air strip in southern Greenland. From there, tourists are traveling north to Ilulissat, a town of 5,000.

It's been a popular spot for politicians seeking a global warming photo op, and has also become a hot-spot for rich tourists, who apparently find watching ice melt fascinating.

Katie Fehlinger talked a little about some of the other recent impacts of warming in the most recent edition on Headline: Earth, which I published here on Friday.

It's Friday - a good time for a little odd global warming news. Seems the number of cats and kittens being brought to animal shelters in the United States has spiked by about 30 percent over the past couple of years.

Why? Kathy Warnick, president of a national adoption organization called Pets across America says "Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders. However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding."

With no "reproductive lull," more kittens are being brought to animal shelters during the winter months.

College students have been challenged to come up with digital games based on the theme of global warming. The winners will get cash, but even more than that - an invitation to visit Microsoft and present their entry to the Microsoft games management team for possible inclusion in Xbox LIVE Arcade. The first place prize is the opportunity to become an apprentice at Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business as part of its internship program.

I have to say when I first read the blog entry that I linked above, the thought crossed my mind that this might be a joke. But no! It's real. Microsoft is teaming up with Games for Change (G4C) to bring together the worlds of gaming and of social change. Gamers aren't the first group that comes to my mind when I think of the environmentally conscious, but G4C president and co-founder Suzanne Seggerman says, "We know from experience that young people are looking for ways to help make the world a better place, and who better to support this effort than an industry leader like Microsoft?"

Even though the above worm may look innocent enough (certainly slimy enough!), a German study has found that worms produce greenhouse gases that are 290 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The Materials Recycling Network (UK site) has more information in a recent post titled Worms are killing the planet, says top researcher.

Maybe we should start talking about WGW (Worm-opogenic Global Warming) instead of AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming)!

We've all heard about the potential disastrous consequences related to global warming, but no one seems to be talking about the possibility of global warming causing higher pizza prices, at least that I know of. Let me be the first (and probably the last).

I know this is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me. Many people are promoting the use of ethanol (alcohol made from corn) as a possible partial solution to global warming. A whyfile.org article (Alcohol: Cool Solution to Global Warming?) explains the logic. Not everyone agrees that ethanol will not help to ease any global warming concerns as is explained in this Reuters article (Ethanol May Not Ease Global Warming: UN) that was found in the Sydney Morning Herald indicates; however, more ethanol is being produced.

According to a recent article on ABC News (How More Ethanol Means Pricier Pizza), an increase in production of ethanol has resulted in higher dairy prices since more corn is being used for fuel rather than food for cattle. So, there you have it: more ethanol to try to combat global warming means higher dairy prices, which means more expensive cheese and more expensive pizza. That's right--global warming is causing higher pizza prices!!

The Onion posted an interesting little story not too long ago about addressing the Global Warming Crisis. Here is the Link.

By the way, have a safe and enjoyable holiday! Brett

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The 7-Eleven Slurpee has made a comeback across northern Taiwan, according to an article in the Taipei Times. After sluggish sales in the north, the Slurpee was only sold in southern Taiwan starting in 1998. Last year, the Slurpee was brought back to the north. Why? According to Ray Chen, the Chief Marketing Officer of President Chain Store, which owns the worlds third largest 7-Eleven franchise, "As many consumers outside southern Taiwan complained about having no Slurpee to drink and as we think global warming effects will continue, President Chain decided to relaunch the product nationwide last year."

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The White Ash Tree is in danger of being wiped out, and that could threaten a long baseball tradition. The wood from the ash tree has been used for decades to create a majority of the nation's baseball bats, including those for Major League Baseball. The main threat to these trees since 2002 has been the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle, which has been accused of killing 25 million ash trees from Michigan to Maryland, according to the article by Monica Davey of the New York Times. In late June, there were signs of the ash borer's arrival in northwestern Pennsylvania, where most of the wood comes from. What does this have to do with global warming? Some, but not all scientists believe that a warmer climate could aid the beetle's invasion by creating stressed trees and a quicker reproductive cycle of the Emerald Ash Borer. A warmer climate would also mean a longer growing season for the tree, making the wood softer, instead of ideally dense and flexible.

Photo courtesy of MSU Extension

One scientist, Dr. Dan Herms of the Ohio State University disputes any link between climate change and the beetle, saying the beetle has survived a wide range of temperatures in Asia.

I read in the article that maple wood is already another alternative to baseball bat making. My son, who is a big Yankee fan, made a baseball bat out of maple in woodworking class and there is no way you could swing that thing with any speed in a game since it was so heavy. Maybe I need to give Sammy Sosa a call. Brett

Japanese scientists have concluded that producing just 2.2 pounds of beef generates more carbon dioxide than the average car does every 160 miles, according to an article titled "Study Links Beef Production to Global Warming", on the Cattle network website. The study was published in the Animal Science Journal. The amount of energy needed to produce that same amount of beef is equivalent to leaving a 100-watt lightbulb on for 20 days, according to New Scientist Magazine. As I stated in an earlier post, livestock themselves produce a large amount of methane, which is considered a greenhouse gas.

Scientists have claimed that they have found the "missing carbon sink", which is a billion tonnes of human-generated carbon. The carbon was initially thought to be absorbed by northern forests, but unaccounted for in field studies, according to the report posted on Nature.com.

Now, scientists believe they have found the missing carbon sink in tropical forests, which are removing much more CO2 from the atmosphere than previously realized.

Lead researcher Britton Stephens from the National Center for Atmospheric Research also said "tropical forests are essentially in balance, absorbing as much carbon dioxide as they give off." But he also states "Cutting down tropical forests not only increases carb