Though analysts say natural sources of energy may be diminishing, University consumption continues to rise.

Following a 9 percent increase in the campus population in the past decade, University energy consumption grew 11 percent between 1990 and 2000, according to the Center for Sustainable System's Sustainability Report. Conversely, in a presentation earlier this month, analysts said the amount of cheap oil and environmental resources used globally is decreasing.

"As summers in Washington, D.C. get hotter and wetter, (global warming) will get the attention of policy makers," Harvard Director of the Program of Science, Technology and Public Policy John Holdren said at a seminar series. He added that politicians will feel pressure from constituents complaining about effects of global warming, like their coastal property being submerged due to rising sea levels and increasing outbreaks of diseases such as the West Nile virus, malaria and cholera.

"It seems like things are coming to a point where (climate change) matters," University geological science Prof. Lynn Walter said.

The year 1998 was the warmest in 1,000 years and 2001 was the second warmest, Holdren said. He attributes this climb in temperature to global warming, which is mainly caused by burning fossil fuels.

Another implication of global warming is rising sea leveIs, Walter said. If sea level continues to rise at the current rate, New Orleans will be underwater by 2100, she said.

"It took 600 million years to get all the fossil fuels we'll get," Walter said. All supplies will be exhausted by 2600 if people continue to use them at the current rate, she added.

To promote the fight against global warming, Holdren said students can "start harassing (their) representatives in Congress" and work for election campaigns.

"I would encourage students to realize that they are not powerless," he said, advising them to buy energy-efficient windows, insulation and to not drive sport utility vehicles.

Each year, the United States avoids emitting half a gigaton of carbon dioxide emissions due to the use of nuclear fuel, Walter said. This helps to reduce the greenhouse effect, but current levels of nuclear usage are not enough.

"I think nuclear power has been a good thing," said Richard Garwin, a senior fellow of science and technology at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. "But it has saved only a tiny tiny bit of carbon from going into the atmosphere," he said.

Nuclear power is the cleanest, surest and most efficient way to provide energy, he added. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, nuclear power plants produce about 20 percent of the nation's power.

But some experts say nuclear energy, like other forms of energy, has its risks.

"All ways of producing energy have risks ... in terms of health effects, environmental effects and land use," said Hussein Khalil, associate director of reactor analysis and engineering at Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago.