POPLAR RIDGE - Many people attribute the warmer winters within the past few years to the effects of global warming.

And according to doctoral students Ishi Buffman and Sam Simkin, the idea isn't that far off.

“The global greenhouse affect has become the biggest issue within the scientific community worldwide,” Simkin said during the “Science Behind Climate Change” lecture given at the Friends Meeting House in Poplar Ridge Saturday evening.

Both Buffman and Simkin grew up in the southern Cayuga area and were home visiting friends and family for the holidays.

“The weather has been a topical issue with people,” Buffman said. “We knew that many people have an interest on this subject.”

Buffman, a student of Forest Ecology at The Swedish University of Agricultural Science, has focused his studies on the effects that organic carbon and carbon dioxide in streams have on the environment.

“Over the past 30 years there has especially been significant changes in the weather,” he said. “People joke about the warm weather during the winter months being global warming but it's essentially true. Every year is just warmer than the last.”

Simkin, a student of Natural Resources at Cornell University, has focused his research on the effects that sulfur has on the plant species grown in wetlands.

According to a graph and other scientific findings displayed by the pair, in 1986 there were less than 1,000 scientific articles on climate change and global warming per year compared to more than 6,000 in 2006.

“There are over 50,000 published peer-reviewed scientific articles dealing with the issue of climate change and global warming,” Buffman said.

Buffman said that there is a gap in the communications of this topic within all levels.

“There is a need for better communication between scientists, politicians, and laypeople,” he said. “This is a problem for all of us at every scale from personal to global.”

According to Buffman, the United States in responsible for emissions of more than 30 percent of the world's greenhouse gasses.

And the pair were more than ready to offer advice to those who would like to make small changes in their own daily lives.

Things such as turning out lights when not in use and lowering your homes thermostat just a few degrees can be very helpful Buffman said.

“Driving less or buying a fuel efficient car can help a lot too,” he said.

Buffman also said that an interested person should write to Congress to urge local political involvement.