the buzz log

Searches on climate change and global warming have been simmering year after year, but we've seen an especially dramatic increase of late. In 2006, "global warming" queries had an 82% boost over 2005. This year, searches have nearly tripled, leaping from the top 2,500 to the hot 1,000.

Over the past two years, interest in global warming has expanded from 29 states to 42 states. The focus has also shifted as the Kyoto Protocol came into force, which spurred a renewed focus on the treaty as well as issues like the "ozone layer," "acid rain," "fossil fuels," and "air pollution." Apocalyptic global warming scenarios still lingered with searches for the 2004 film "The Day After Tomorrow." In 2006, the environmental inquiries included "el nino," "deforestation" and "glaciers," as well as the causes and effects of global warmings.

This year, greenhouse gases and the international group "intergovernmental panel on climate change" have been subjects of heated inquiry. As for the poster boy of global warming, Al Gore and his documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" continue to have legs. Interest in the controversial British documentary, "The Great Global Warming Swindle," faded after its March airing.

Filed under: Global Warming