Most analysts did not expect climate change to be one of the subjects highlighted by moderator Chris Wallace. But Wallace dropped a bit of a surprise by bringing global warming into the debate. While the Amazon rainforest does indeed absorb a tremendous amount of carbon dioxide, its estimated annual total of two billion metric tons of absorbed annual carbon dioxide is less than half of the estimated 5.1 billion metric tons of energy-related carbon dioxide produced by the U.S. every year. There is no questioning that the Amazon is very important in taking in carbon dioxide, but it does not by itself offset the total U.S. carbon dioxide emission. (RCC-ACIS)Hopefully, the upcoming vice presidential and presidential debates will provide more insight into the candidates' thoughts about Earth’s unnaturally warming climate, the ramifications, and what they propose to do (or not do) about it.