Reuters July 25 2006 at 09:16AMLarge parts of the Europe, United States and Canada have seen record high temperatures this month.The heat has already killed at least 23 people in France, including a 15-month-old baby, prompting fears of a repeat of the European heatwave in 2003 in which at least 15 000 people in France and 20 000 in Italy died."We are cooking," said meteorologist Dennis Feltgen of the US National Weather Service.Many scientists reckon the globe is warming and will continue to do so due to the "greenhouse effect" caused by emissions from fossil fuels trapping heat in the atmosphere.But they say we should not read too much into a single hot spell."As ever, you cannot say any one weather event is caused by global warming," said Asher Timms of Britain's Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research."But globally, it seems that there's quite a shift in our weather patterns."Sceptics of the global warming theory, which predicts droughts and floods this century unless greenhouse gas emissions are curbed, say the media plays up hot summer days for dramatic effect.Bill O'Keefe, a board member of a Washington think tank, the George C Marshall Institute, and a consultant to the oil industry[/b], said the record heat could be seen as part of a natural cycle of highs and lows."I don't think there is any climatologist or meteorologist that would say you could draw a conclusion about any given year. There have been hotter periods in the past and we will have them in the future," O'Keefe said."If this persisted for a long time then you might be able to conclude that human activities had an impact," O'Keefe said.But US space agency Nasa says 2005 was the warmest globally in more than a century and that the preceding three years were also the warmest since the 1890s.The US National Climatic Data Centre said the first half of 2006 was the warmest six months since records were first kept in 1895."Nasa's averages for the world and what we produce here are far more informative than looking at the extremes in Britain, France or Italy like the summer of 2003," said Philip Jones, climate research professor at Britain's East Anglia University."It's the global averages that count."Ten of the past 12 years were the warmest since 1850. The global temperature (since then) rose 0.7??C and most climate models suggest it's going to continue to warm by 2 to 5??C this century," Jones said.The sceptics say any warming over the last century can be explained by the fact that the planet was coming out of a cold period known as the "Little Ice Age" and not due to a massive build-up of greenhouse gases after the Industrial Revolution.Jones said the rate of temperate change in the 20th century had been at least three times that in other centuries - evidence that this was more than a natural cycle.And although a couple of hot summers do not prove climate change, if global warming is happening, heatwaves are inevitable."Obviously, if you continue to warm the climate you get more extremes at the end of the spectrum," said Jones.There is other evidence, aside from temperature figures, to suggest the Earth is warming, particularly a rise in sea levels, believed to be due to water expanding as it warms and additional melting mountain glaciers adding to sea volumes.Globally, sea levels were rising by around 1,5mm a year and had risen about 20cm since the late 1800s, Jones said.Less snow on mountains, changes in precipitation patterns and an increase in the intensity of hurricanes, possibly due to warmer seas, are also potential evidence of global warming.A United Nations body was established in 1988 to collate and check the data, and its findings are a major influence on politicians deciding what to do on climate change.The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish its fourth report next year, updating a 2001 paper which said temperatures were set to rise by 1,4 to 5,8??C from 1990 to 2100 with potentially devastating consequences.Jones, who is working on the report, declined to predict its finding, but suggested it would be one more step in hardening the evidence for global warming.
I don't know about you, but it's hot as hell, South Dakota hit 120 the other day and public oil companies made a record $100 billion last year. Something is not right.
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Fuck it, the world is getting warmer and I really don't care what some Oil company mouthpiece has to say on it, he ain't making up my mind.
I've started driving less, walking more. Even found myself hoofing it over Las Vegas during the weekend.
Bottom line of all this should be that we don't need to wait for some officials to tell us or not tell us whats going on, let your own judgement be your guide and once you've reached your conclusion try your best to work towards a solution.
HAWLA
Now, I know this is sensationalism to sell magazines and I know Paul is going to say "they said the same thing about 'The Next Ice Age' in the 70's", but this shit has got to mean something. Especially when coupled with all the data that's been collected and the fact that everywhere[/b] is breaking records with heat within the last decade.
I guess this is a moot point really. I just don't want the power to go out.
I got your message when I got back in town. I'd call but I got my wisdom teef pulled out today so all I can do is offer you a vicodin.
bottom line $125...ya smell me?
SMELT IT, I WILL DEALT IT.
THX
Like I said, we souldn't wait for an official declaration on global warming. Sadly it seems like political and financial interests mean more to the rich than the idea of having a future on this planet.
Magazine covers like this are actually pretty important IMO. This is an issue that affects everyone. Hopefully John Q Magazine-browser will see this and maybe be motivated to make sometihng happen
maybe this is the kind of initiative we need in order to help get the ball rolling on saving the earth? real world worries need real world solutions
I would think the sun searing his asscheeks off would be a good motivator too.
Of course he is. He and the leftist cabal have been planning this for years to sell movie tickets and magazines. It's all a conspiracy.
our best bet right now is to drive way more, creating a thick billow of smoke that blankets us from the harmful sun
Already said it.
Yeah. Like, It's hot.
Well I was 10 during the blizzard of '78 and that was a motherfucker I'll never forget.
Other than that, I don't remember.
I grew up in NY. Winters were cold. Summers were hot.
I certainly do remember people making a fuss about the "coming Ice Age" though.
We're in it right now I believe.
I guess people are not ready yet to change anything in their habits... Individually, we can be good, ask ourselves tons of important questions in order to be better people and have a better life. But it seems that all together we are nothing than fucking bacterias for earth! When I see people driving, I can only see selfishness, angryness and wild animals behaviour. I also understand that the change we need to get involved in about global warming is an utopy. We selfish people are looking for some kind of official declaration... I'm looking for presidents who will establish tons of environmental laws! You know how we do? We can't change without these fucking laws... I guess politics will never be really operative on this topic, too much involved into economy and power... Our situation on earth really SUCKS... Like we have ONU, we need an impartial and strong environmental police, we need to be punished otherwise we'll never change.
Before we can prove that global warming is in the place with any official declaration, people please educate your children, vote clever, act clever... Be good, time is now, if it isn't even too late.
I'm actually illustrating a children's book about the global warming... There's no doubt, earth will know major changes in the next 50 years. Mass population flows around Egypt and Bangladesh because of the rising of the seas level... I doubt this will happen in peace and brotherhood. Man is too selfish, I guess there will even be more stupid wars...
The question is definitely not if the global warming is officially happening, if it already began or if it will be for next year. The question is are we able to change... And when I take a look at our leaders, I don't doubt in anyway, the answer is a fucking NO.
Mmmh, I'll try to give a positive tone to this post... 19th and 20th century heroes were almost doctors who discovered vaccines or people who made major discoveries in the medical field. The hero of the 21st century is the engineer who will find the best clean energy and the politics who will make it happen even if nations will loose tons of money by leaving petroleum and nuclear energy. But I can't help beeing pessimist, I think it's an utopy to think politics will act before it's too late. I think it's too late.
Like a good friend says: the beautifulest stories always have a bad end...
I drawed this like 8 years ago. Nothing changed, "don't worry be happy"...
SSSHHHHHHH!!!!! Ixnay on the Ore-Gay.....