Tiiiiiime Is on Our Side, Yes It Is

Time cover story propels global warming into the mainstream

"Be worried. Be very worried." So warns the latest issue of Time magazine, which focuses on every Johnny-come-lately's favorite topic: global warming. The cover story -- the contents of which will be old news for devotees of scrappy nonprofit environmental magazines that need and deserve your ongoing financial support -- details the role of climate disruption in more violent storms, faster-melting glaciers, crippling droughts, animal and plant extinctions, yadda yadda yadda. Big placement in this most middle-of-the-road U.S. newsmag means that global warming has transcended the green and "liberal media" sectors to become a mainstream American enviro-political issue. Time backs up its editorial choice with a poll on Americans' environmental attitudes: 85 percent believe global warming is "probably happening"; almost half say it's a very important issue, up from 31 percent in 1998; and 52 percent favor government mandates in response, like curbs on power-plant emissions and tax breaks to advance clean energy tech. Welcome to worry, people.