- Many adults in the United States believe climate change is responsible for recent transformations to their environment, according to a poll by Zogby International. 69 per cent of respondents think global warming has a major or some influence in the occurrence of more frequent droughts in parts of the country.

In addition, 68 per cent of respondents think climate change is completely or partly to blame for more intense hurricanes like Katrina, more wildfires and less snowfall. 65 per cent of respondents think global warming is responsible for this summer's heat wave.

The term global warming refers to an increase of the Earth's average temperature. Some theories say that climate change might be the result of human-generated carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

In 1998, several countries agreed to the Kyoto Protocol, a proposed amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The agreement commits nations to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The U.S. signed the protocol but has not ratified it.

In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. More than 1,500 residents died as a result of the storm and its aftermath.

In December 2005, Harlan Watson, the chief climate control negotiator for the U.S. State Department, dismissed the link between global warming and recent crises, saying, "There's a difference between climate and extreme weather. Our scientists continually tell us we cannot blame any single extreme event, attribute that to climate change."

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