Global warming: We’re at the tipping point

So says a meta-analysis of climate change studies just done by the World Resources Institute.

The WRI says that global warming would continue even if we cut off the greenhouse gases flood:

“It would keep on warming even though we have stopped the cause, which is greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels,” David Jhirad of the Washington-based World Resources Institute said on Wednesday.

The rate of warming would be slower, Jhirad said in a telephone interview, but a kind of thermal inertia would ensure that global temperatures continue their upward trend.

He referred to a report released by the nonprofit institute this week that analyzed research reports on climate change for 2005.

“Taken collectively, they suggest that the world may well have moved past a key physical tipping point,” the institute wrote.

We know BushCo still won’t do anything; but, as WRI works with industrial as well as environmental groups, how much will big business speak up? And, will another climate-driven hurricane season, coming just before midterm Congressional elections, ramp up national political dialogue?