Washington is finally acknowledging that global warming exists. Not long ago this Administration would not confirm that something called global warming exists.

But now even the feds can't ignore what everyone else on the universe already knows: global warming is real and needs to be taken seriously, today. There is little doubt, at least in my mind, that much of it has been caused by human activity.

According to the US EPA, new climate studies suggest that global sea levels may rise faster than previously thought. Teams of researchers have evaluated how sea levels might respond to a warming climate over the next 140 years.

They have concluded that warming, coupled with other factors, may lead to an eventual sea level rise of as much as 20 feet. Listen to this: according to the EPA much of coastal Louisiana and South Florida would ultimately disappear if sea levels rose in this manner.

Now this is a theory, and in all likelihood, no one reading this will be around to know whether this is correct one way or another.

But usually predictions of this type suggest more subtle changes over much longer periods of time. Here, the EPA is only talking about less than 200 years. And it is suggesting, just suggesting, that we might lose large areas of land that are now occupied by millions of Americans .

Isn't this a very large prediction? Why aren't main stream media organizations reporting on this fairly recent EPA study.

We spend weeks talking about fantastic possibilities: such as a meteor wiping out Houston. This, it seems to me, is even bigger.

Its bigger because the earth feels warmer now. Summers seem warmer. Storms seem more violent and frequent. Climate patterns already seem odd and extreme.

Maybe this is just perception, but lately I have seen little of Spring. It seems to me that we go from Winter right into Summer.

The EPA seems to agree with some of my perceptions. It also reports on studies indicating that hurricane seasons as of late have produced stronger storms than before. And the EPA refers to decades of increased ocean temperatures:

"Precise measurements of temperature within the ocean confirm that the Earth is absorbing more energy from sunlight than it emits back to space, providing perhaps the strongest evidence to date that rising concentrations of greenhouse gases and other pollutants are the primary cause of the current global warming trend." The findings are reported in the April 28, 2005 issue of the Journal Science."

As my kids might respond. Heeellllllo!! Is any one listening?

Washington needs to wake up. And so does the rest of the world. We need strong international conventions on global warming and everyone must take this seriously.

Maybe this was science fiction or mere conjecture yesterday. But it seems more like a fact today.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.