Laurie David visited the University of Wisconsin Wednesday, challenging students to take global warming seriously.

Producer of Al Gore's award-winning "An Inconvenient Truth" and author of the book "Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You," David has used her position as wife of Larry David and writer, actor and producer of "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" to springboard support for her campaign to save the environment.

"We now have less than 10 years to slow global warming down, or else we set ourselves on a course we will not be able to correct," she said.

Recent UW graduate Aileen Strickland said she returned to campus to hear David speak and added that she thinks people need to take an aggressive line with global warming.

"It brought home to me a little bit more about how fast the environment is in its degeneration process," she said. "It makes me, and hopefully other people, aware that they need to make a change now — not five years down the road."

Throughout her speech, David shared numerous environmental facts to support her claims.

"Seventy billion tons of carbon dioxide is put into the atmosphere every day," she said. "From July '05 to June '06 was the hottest 12-month period in the history of temperature measurement in the world — 27,000 heat records were broken in July alone."

David added the natural disasters recently plaguing the globe are destined to become the norm if measures are not taken to reduce pollutants.

"Katrina is just a taste of what's to come if we don't stop global warming," she said. "Nature's ferocity knows no bounds."

And David is not all talk; she has spearheaded campaigns working toward the goals she preaches.

David's Virtual March on Washington was launched in 2005 along with Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as a way to unite the voices of thousands working to increase awareness of the global issue.

"People build movements, and movements move mountains — and this mountain must be moved," she said. "Global warming is a global problem, but it requires serious leadership from the United States. We are the biggest source of the problem and the country doing the very least about it."

Along with the monumental issues facing the globe, David stressed small changes individuals can make to their daily lives to aid in the fight against global warming.

"Make small changes in your lifestyle," she said. "Start taking your own reusable cup to Starbucks. We throw away some 25 billion Styrofoam cups every year, most of which end up in landfills."

These miniscule issues mentioned by David, such as electrical outlets not being used, took immediate impact according to sophomore Erica Efron, an attendee at the speech.

"She talked about leaving cell-phone chargers in the wall, [and] as I was sitting there I thought about my charger still plugged in at home," she said.

David challenged the campus to take a look at their efficiency and shared examples of other campuses giving monetary breaks to those who recycle or drive hybrid cars.

"Which college campus will be the school history points to and says, 'The fight against global warming was galvanized there by those students,'" she said. "What is your campus doing? Is it enough?"

Of the campus comparison, Efron said she has witnessed positive strides by UW to address global warming as a public institution.

"I think the university definitely has options for properly recycling and getting rid of waste," she said.