"More proof of global warming?" Indeed.
So, what do you think the right-wing, science-hating, climate change doubters might say about last year's weather?
Climate Experts Worry as 2006 Is Hottest Year on Record in U.S. (Washington Post):Maybe we here in the normally-frozen climes of Minnesota and elsewhere are paying less in home heating costs, but I think what comes around goes around. Prepare to shell out more for your air conditioning this summer when we have those 100+ degree days.
Last year was the warmest in the continental United States in the past 112 years -- capping a nine-year warming streak "unprecedented in the historical record" that was driven in part by the burning of fossil fuels, the government reported yesterday.
According to the government's National Climatic Data Center, the record-breaking warmth -- which caused daffodils and cherry trees to bloom throughout the East on New Year's Day -- was the result of both unusual regional weather patterns and the long-term effects of the buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
"People should be concerned about what we are doing to the climate," said Jay Lawrimore, chief of the climate monitoring branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Burning of fossil fuels is causing an increase in greenhouse gases, and there's a broad scientific consensus that is producing climate change."
The center said there are indications that the rate at which global temperatures are rising is speeding up.
Average temperatures nationwide in 2006 were 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the mean temperatures nationwide for the 20th century, the agency said. It reported that seven months in 2006 were much warmer than average, and that last month was the fourth-warmest December on record. Average temperatures for all 48 contiguous states were above or well above average, and New Jersey logged its hottest temperatures ever.
Many researchers are concerned that rising temperatures could lead to widespread melting of the polar ice caps, resulting in higher sea levels and more extreme droughts and storms. But NOAA also pointed to one silver lining: The unusually warm temperatures from October to December helped keep residential energy use for heating 13.5 percent below the average for that period.
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I just hope our grandchildren won't have to run the A/C in December 2050.
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1 comment(s):
I have finally come to terms with the skeptics by remembering what my family went through when my mom got cancer. The first stage of grief is "denial". Denial isn't like you decide to deny it. The shock just makes your brain act funny. So, I've come to realize that the climate skeptics can't help it.
By Tim, at Saturday, February 03, 2007 8:16:00 PM
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