SI Chimes in on Global Warming

Sports Illustrated is officially in on the global warming campaign. Alexander Wolff writes this week's (March 7) cover story about how global warming is affecting sports – from Texas high school football two-a-days to its physical effects on baseball bats – and its effect on the future of our games. SI even went as far to have an architectural firm draw up an environmentally-friendly stadium that draws its power from the sun and wind. Here is an interesting excerpt:

Global warming is also leading to more dramatic swings in the weather in some areas. Since the early 20th century, the amount of rain dropped in the biggest 1% of storms each year has risen 20%. A warming planet doesn't create hurricanes, but it does make them stronger and last longer. Tropical storms become more powerful over a warmer Gulf, turning a category 4 storm, for example, into a category 5, like Katrina, which transformed the symbol of sports in New Orleans, the Superdome, into an image of epic disaster.

I'm sure SI will get plenty of criticism over running this story, particularly a cover story on such a hot topic, so to speak. I've already heard one radio hosts say that the magazine is simply picking up on a liberal political agenda. I'm not sure SI has an agenda other than relating the issue of global warming to the topic it covers: sports.