Cedar Rapids, Iowa ? On a day when the temperature didn’t reach double digits, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas called for reductions in greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

Speaking with reporters Tuesday, the Republican presidential candidate said most scientists agree that rising levels of carbon dioxide have caused a rise in global temperatures. Brownback said levels of carbon dioxide, or CO2, have increased since the industrial revolution but have risen more quickly in recent decades.

“It seems to me just prudent that we recognize we have climate increase and temperature change,” he said. “We have CO2 loading and we need to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.”

Brownback was in Iowa for the first time since officially launching his candidacy Jan. 20. He spent most of Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, where he met with conservative activists and took questions from reporters on a variety of topics.

Although Brownback said global temperatures had risen and climate change needed to be addressed, he declined to use the term “global warming.”

Although early polls indicate Sen. John McCain, former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney are favorites in Iowa’s precinct caucuses, which launch the presidential nominating process, Brownback said he wasn’t concerned. Brownback said time and more visits across the state would enable him to solidify his standing as a true conservative contender.