I recently attended two national conferences concerning global climate prediction, and what I learned has motivated me to become more active in my community and to work for change right here in Norman.

For the last year, I have been employed at the National Weather Center working as a graduate research assistant in mathematics.

There, I have heard the facts about global warming, and I am definitely convinced that the earth is getting warmer and that humans have an important role to play in both the warming and the solutions.

What will help the most is being informed.

It is important for all of us to differentiate between weather and climate. Weather is what we experience day-to-day, and climate is the average of those day-to-day events over a 30-year period.

Climate scientists are interested in how the averages change over longer spans of time. They look at changes in the measurements of things like temperature, pressure, humidity and cloud cover.

They also simulate past, present and future climate using the laws of physics. Over the last several decades, amazing strides have been made in the study of climate prediction.

Large computer simulations, based on the results of scientific experiments and theory, have been developed as a way of “forecasting” the climate 50 to 100 years into the future.

The results of this research show our planet indeed is gradually getting warmer.

A lot of research is being done to explain the causes of this warming. An overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree that the major cause is increased levels of certain “greenhouse” gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, which is believed to be due to human activities.

Though human activities like industry and automotive emissions have contributed, this is not meant to place blame because researchers and climate experts know this information was not available when industry and cars were being developed.

While the jury is still out on all of the natural effects involved, the evidence is clear that humans are impacting climate.

Many climate scientists have proposed alternate theories for the warming of the planet that have not held up to scientific scrutiny, and our national experts have convened on numerous occasions to discuss these very theories. They have concluded that greenhouse gases are impacting our climate.

The International Panel on Climate Change, a group of scientists and national experts working on issues pertaining to climate science and climate change, has released four reports since 1990.

The most recent report states, “Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic [greenhouse gas] concentrations.”

So, what should we do now?

The first step is to learn about global warming.

Do not stop reading here.

The Internet is full of information on this very subject, complete with tips on stopping global warming.

A great place to start is the International Panel on Climate Change’s most recent report, available on the group’s Web site at http://www.ipcc.ch.

It stresses the effects of increased temperature on the world economy and the planet, including how North America will be affected as compared to other parts of the globe. These facts are important because they are the consequences of not doing anything.

The most important thing we can do is contact our representatives and let them know that this is an issue we are concerned about. It will take major change at the state and federal levels to fight off the worst effects of climate change.

Some people might think their individual actions cannot help, but it is only by everyone working together that we will be able to preserve our way of life for the future.

Sean Crowell is a mathematics graduate student and a guest columnist for The Daily.