Changes

{{climate change}}U.S. President-elect [[Barack Obama]] stated during the election campaign that "global warming is real, is happening now and is the result of human activities. The number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes has almost doubled in the last 30 years. Glaciers are melting faster; the polar ice caps are shrinking; trees are blooming earlier; oceans are becoming more acidic, threatening marine life; people are dying in heat waves; species are migrating, and eventually many will become extinct. Scientists predict that absent major emission reductions, climate change will worsen famine and drought in some of the poorest places in the world and wreak havoc across the globe. In the U.S., sea-level rise threatens to cause massive economic and ecological damage to our populated coastal areas."<ref>[http://obama.3cdn.net/4465b108758abf7a42_a3jmvyfa5.pdf "Barack Obama's Plan to Make America A Global Energy Leader"], Obama)*, accessed November 2008.</ref>

In November 2008 Obama delivered a video statement to the Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles, California. In it he stated that "Few challenges facing America – and the world – are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear. Sea levels are rising. Coastlines are shrinking. We’ve seen record drought, spreading famine, and storms that are growing stronger with each passing hurricane season."<ref name ="Governors">Barack Obama, [http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/president_elect_barack_obama_to_deliver_taped_greeting_to_bi_partisan_gover/ "President-elect Barack Obama to deliver taped greeting to Bi-partisan Governors Climate Summit"], Statement to Bi-Partisan Governors Global Climate Summit in Los Angeles, California, November 18, 2008.</ref>