U. lectures to discuss global heat

A man who says human activities are causing global warming and are making hurricanes more intense will deliver two lectures at the University of Utah this week.

Kevin Trenberth, head of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., will speak at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the auditorium of the Intermountain Networking and Scientific Computation Center on the role of tropical storms in climate change. He will also speak at noon Wednesday in the S.J. Quinney College of Law on observed changes in climate and what is causing them.

Trenberth's lecture on Wednesday will include conjecture on how global warming might affect Utah, including the impact on water resources as the snowpack is diminished and increased risks of wildfire.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson will speak after Trenberth's lecture Wednesday, urging action to ease global warming and discussing barriers to climate change and actions being taken by mayors across the country.

Trenberth has been a leading advocate of the view that evidence shows that the warming of Earth's climate is caused by the emission of carbon dioxide in the combustion of fossil fuels.