Here is a list of weather events occurring in the recent past:
-Australia is experiencing the worst drought on record.
-Southwest US and Southeast US states experiencing worst drought
in 100 years.
-The strongest thunderstorm in recorded history (sustained winds of 65
mph) last year near St Louis, Mo.
-The first ever hurricane hit Brazil last year.
-2005 saw extremely large and numerous Atlantic hurricanes ( Katrina
and Rita).
-2006 saw extremely large and numerous typhoons in the west Pacific.
-2006 record year for wildfires in the US.
-In May a tornado over two miles wide wiped a town in Kansas off the map.
-This year Canada is experiencing record breaking wild fire season because
of record breaking drought during winter months.
-The first ever hurricane to hit Iran last month.
-Texas had 14 inches of rain within a 24 hour period, and this was in the
middle of a 20 day period of storms that hovered over the area causing massive
flooding.
- The current heat wave that stretches from coast to coast.
-And lets not forget snow in South Africa…
The deniers will note the snow in Africa and the cold snap that made headlines
this spring are proof that there is no global warming. But that is a naive thought
of someone who does not understand that global warming has not gotten to
the point that there won't be any cold weather anywhere.......although that is
the direction it is heading very quickly.
These odd and record breaking weather events of late are occurring with increasing
frequency.
That is what the climatologists told us years ago to expect. They said the
weather will push the envelope to extremes in every direction- droughts, floods,
cold snaps and snow events, heat waves....all of it.
No one can prove that any of these events are caused by global warming,
although you must admit that there is a strong possibility.
The climate change that the scientists are discovering is barely noticeable
except at the poles. Some are finding plants that are flowering several weeks
early and pine beetles are moving northward, but in general, people are
wondering what all the hype is about.
Undeniable-
There is another thing happening in the weather that is undeniably caused
by global warming. That is the increase in global and regional mean temperatures.
Global and regional mean temps are breaking, if not very close to breaking, nearly
every record last year and this year. This data is an average, so the increase in
temperature is not felt by us, and most people are vulnerable to the junk science
coming from the energy giants' confuse-the-public-campaign-so-we-can-continue-
making-these-astronomical-profits.
-Alps experiencing warmest time in 1,300 years.(1)
-2005 was the warmest year on record for the globe.(2)
-2006 WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD FOR U.S.(3)
-2006 was warmest year [for England] since 1659 records began.(4)
-Warmest April on Record in U.S.(5)
-Global September Temperature Fourth Warmest on Record.(6)
-October Global Temperature 4th Warmest on Record.(7)
-Jan. 2007 was Warmest January in Netherlands in 300 years.(8)
-Jan. 2007 was the world's hottest January on record.(9)
-March Temperatures Second Warmest on Record for U.S.(10)
-Global April Surface Temperature Third Warmest on Record(11)
-Winter 2007 tied with 1998 as the warmest January-May period.(12)
-2007, The global average temperature was the second warmest on
record for the January-June six-month period.(13)
-11 of the 12 warmest years globally were the past 11 years.(14)
These news items and many, many more like them (15) are not being distributed by
the American corporate media. And so what we have in the US is a public who is so
uninformed and confused about the future of the climate that they don't take any
interest at all in the subject.
After seeing some disturbing reports a few years ago, I subscribed to google alerts for
"climate change" and "global warming". I must tell you that it has been quite alarming
to see the amount of reports from around the world like the ones listed that have never
made it to the US corporate media and consequently to the American Public's
understanding of the climate crisis.
It really is astonishing......and frightening when one sees that the glaciers that supply
fresh water to over 2 billion people are predicted to be mostly gone in a matter of a few
decades. The lead up to that event will be devastating and if CO2 is not in decline by
then, that is only the first havoc that will befall us from the slowly changing climate.
Sadly, it looks like it will take that calamity to happen for the American Public to
realize what those small numbers the scientists are telling us about, mean for the
world (i.e. 384 parts per nillion CO2 and 1.4 degree Fahrenheit warmer Global Mean
Temperature).
Don Beck
***********
1) Alps experiencing warmest time in 1,300 years
http://www.sciencenewsblog.com/cgi-bin/snblog.pl?snblog=1208061 2) NOAA REPORTS 2006 MARKED BY SEVERE HEAT WAVES, WIDESPREAD DROUGHT, WILDFIRES
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/dec06/noaa06-094.html 3) NOAA REPORTS 2006 WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD FOR U.S.
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2007/jan07/noaa07-001.html 4) This year will be Britain's warmest since records began, say scientists
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1971637,00.html
5) Warmest April on Record in U.S
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/may06/noaa06-058.html 6) ....GLOBAL SEPTEMBER TEMPERATURE FOURTH WARMEST ON RECORD
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/oct06/noaa06-075.html 7) ....OCTOBER GLOBAL TEMPERATURE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/nov06/noaa06-085.html 8) Warmest January in Netherlands in 300 years
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1077238 9) Tokyo sets snowless record
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Tokyo_Sets_Snowless_Record_999.html 10) MARCH TEMPERATURES SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD FOR U.S.....
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2007/apr07/noaa07-018.html 11) .... Global April Surface Temperature Third Warmest on Record
12) The global land-surface temperature was the highest for the month of May.....
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2007/jun07/noaa07-033.html 13) ...GLOBAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURE SECOND WARMEST ON RECORD SINCE JANUARY
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2007/jul07/noaa07-038.html 14) World Meteorological Organization, Page 7
http://www.wmo.ch/pages/publications/showcase/documents/WCN31_E.pdf 15) Why the Recent Climate Report Was So Harsh
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/2007/04/85020.shtml