The Tipping Point

They believe global warming is melting Arctic ice so rapidly that the region is beginning to absorb more heat from the sun, causing the ice to melt still further and so reinforcing a vicious cycle of melting and heating.
The greatest fear is that the Arctic has reached a"tipping point" beyond which nothing can reverse the continual loss of sea ice and with it the massive land glaciers of Greenland, which will raise sea levels dramatically.
...
There could be dramatic changes to the climate of the northern region due to the creation of a vast expanse of open water where there was once effectively land," Professor Wadhams said."You're essentially changing land into ocean and the creation of a huge area of open ocean where there was once land will have a very big impact on other climate parameters," he said.

I should also mention the insanely scary [and well-written] three-part series in New Yorker by Elizabeth Kolbert. The first part is online. I don't know about you, but I am ready to.

We are still watching the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina to one of our city. While the President acknowledged the effects of racial discrimination in this country:

As all of us saw on television, there is also some deep, persistent poverty in this region as well. That poverty has roots in a history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action. So let us restore all that we have cherished from yesterday and let us rise above the legacy of inequality.

Is it possible that this President can also acknowledge that global warming is R.E.A.L? Is that not another immediate threat to our nation? Kyoto Treaty is dead for various reasons - and post-Kyoto looks a shamble as well. So, what is the alternative?