Officials: Warming South at Risk

Sam Hamilton, new director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the South is among the most at-risk regions for global warming effects, with wildlife habitats hit especially hard.
 
"We're seeing sea level rise issues, coastal erosion issues, we're seeing a lot of the sea turtle nesting beaches are stressed and absolutely disappearing," Hamilton said.
 
Tom Strickland, assistant secretary of the Interior Department for parks and fish and wildlife, said President Obama's administration is fighting to catch up after years of abuse.
 
"For way too long in the last eight years of the previous administration, the issue was ignored," Strickland said.
Published: September 30, 2009