Hot to hibernate

Remember the last time you were woken up early? More than likely, you let out a stream of expletives, moaned in agony and reached for the nearest available object to throw at the wall.\nIt's a really good thing, then, that you aren't one of the bears at the Leningradsky Zoo in St. Petersburg, Russia. These bears have had a rude awakening, so to speak, this winter. I'd hate to think what kind of damage a sleep-deprived college student could do with pointy teeth and claws. \nRussian bears typically sleep through the bitter winters, but recently two of the zoo's bears woke up several weeks before they were expected to come out of hibernation, moseyed out to the front of their seasonally closed exhibit and started looking for food.\nBut this bizarre incident is far from the strangest development in the news lately. Last week, in an unprecedented spirit of cooperation, evangelical Christian leaders met with some of America's most respected scientists to sign a statement to call for government action on an issue that both sides perceive as an imminent threat.\nSo what apocalyptic threat has caused science and religion to play together nicely? What earth-shattering, monumental force is has thrown off these bears' biological clocks? \nNo, hell has not frozen over. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Global climate change, which is increasingly manifesting itself in nature, is responsible for these unusual events. All over the world, warning signs arrive daily as deadly heat waves, flooding coastlines, increased drought and wildfires, more powerful storms, mass extinctions and warmer winters. In Moscow it has been so warm that some residents have begun to reminisce about the good ol' days when the mercury used to drop to 50 below zero. Even the most apathetic of individuals cannot help but admit that this scenario is disconcerting. \nBut if evangelicals and scientists can team up to combat global warming in an effort worthy of Captain Planet himself, surely we can do something about it here at IU.\nAs it stands, IU-B burns 68,000 tons of Indiana coal annually, belching carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to the climate change that has thrown the forces of nature out of whack. However, IU now has an opportunity to change the way it uses energy. \nRecently, it was brought to the attention of the University's board of trustees that IU has failed to address our campus's relatively inefficient energy use or to make a substantial transition to cleaner-burning fuels. As a result, the trustees have put this issue on the agenda for the Feb. 1-2 board meeting. \nIf you care about this issue, let them know. Take five minutes away from Facebook-stalking and send them an e-mail saying you support changing our complacent energy use policies. After all, we cannot separate ourselves from the ecosystem we inhabit, and the consequences of global climate change extend far beyond insomniac bears.\nDecades of predications are fast becoming a reality, and now is our opportunity to act.