Sure is Hot Outside, Ain't It...


The increase in temperatures is the result of human activity...and not just the hot air emanating from the halls of Congress, where once again the GOP confuses cheerleading with leading (they could put on a show: Cheerleaders in Charge).

But I digress:

The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer.

The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming." Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century.

The report was requested in November by the chairman of the House Science Committee, Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New York, to address naysayers who question whether global warming is a major threat.

Last year, when the House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, launched an investigation of three climate scientists, Boehlert said Barton should try to learn from scientists, not intimidate them.

The Bush administration also has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls that the White House says would have cost 5 million Americans their jobs.

Climate scientists Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes had concluded the Northern Hemisphere was the warmest it has been in 2,000 years. Their research was known as the "hockey-stick" graphic because it compared the sharp curve of the hockey blade to the recent uptick in temperatures and the stick's long shaft to centuries of previous climate stability.

What does it mean? Well, for one it demonstrates that Joe Barton, if pressed, would probably torture his own grandkids if it'd win him a few extra votes. More seriously, Schroeder's got a good post up illustrating an uncertain, but potentially unpleasant future for the region--that is to say, the United States of America.

Because we're not just talking about the Gulf Coast. This is a global condition, with global ramifications. If traditional climactic patterns are disrupted, well, it's not just gonna be a goddamned shame. And aside from the real possibility for human catastrophe, which I realize doesn't bother the twitnuts unless they're personally affected (and I do mean personally--they don't give a hoot in hell beyond their own generation)--but aside from that...if you think business and global trade WON'T be affected, well, let's talk, because maybe I can interest you in some "oceanside" condos.