The Dust Bowl year of 1934 now ranks as hottest ever in the U.S. – not 1998. NASA can't do their math. Too much affirmative action.

Temps only go back 150 years. Mother earth goes in cycles. An ice age is coming, move to New Zealand.

Kiwi,

I saw that. I just took those numbers and graphed them in excel. The trend is still dramatically up. Worse, the trend of the 5 year averages is dramatically up.

As for moving to NZ, how are your immigration laws? I'd seriously consider it. What a beautiful country!! Glaciers would only enhance the beauty of Fjordland. I hope you're right. Unfortunately, I think not.

look, the earth changes...whether or not it is global warming, doesn't matter...here's a fact: nothing will EVER stay the same on earth. It's called cycles...it has happened since the beginning of earth, it will always happen. NO MATTER WHERE YOU LIVE OR MOVE TO, you will be effected. numbers are numbers, you can graph and scale all you want; the simplicity of it all is this: when earth changes, there will be nothing man can do to stop it. you smile, you live, and you wait, because earth is always changing, and it will change again...

cris,

Certainly climate has changed in the past and will change in the future. The differences here are:

A) It is human caused.
B) It is going to be a higher temperature than humans have lived through. The carbon is higher in the atmosphere today than it has been in over 1,000,000 years.
C) Humans have only been here for 200,000 years. We don't know if we can survive this.
D) We are a catastrophic event. We have already caused and are continuing to worsen the sixth great extinction.
E) Anthropogenic climate change will continue to kill many more species, many of which are more beautiful to me than our own.
F) We don't know how many can die and still leave us with a viable biosphere for our own survival.
G) Large warm-blooded species fare very poorly in mass extinction events.
H) Humans are in the top 1% of species by size, making us large warm-blooded animals.
I) Due to human environmental problems including climate change, we are already past peak grain production. The three major crops on which we depend are all being produced in declining quantities year over year.
J) Due to horrible overfishing, pollution, trawlers, and climate change, ocean fisheries output has been declining since 1983, despite improved fishing technology. Estimates state that approximately 90% of the ocean's fish have already been killed off.
K) Over a billion humans depend on fish for their primary source of protein.
L) Human population growth has not peaked yet.
M) We are depleting the underground aquifers on which much farming depends.
N) We are depleting other sources of fresh water as well. Many are also drying up due to reduced rainfall, mostly from climate change, some from deforestation.
O) We are depleting our top soil. Extreme weather, much of which is exacerbated by climate change, including torrential rains are further washing away our top soil.

Many of these are tied to climate change. All are environmental. We need to take our biosphere very seriously and manage it for sustainability if we are to survive. Climate change is one enormous factor in all of this.

So, when you hear the Republican statement on things or the Exxon/Mobil statement on things and you're holding a glass of Kool-aid, if it smells like almonds*, don't drink it!

* Too subtle a reference? Cyanide smells like almonds. The Kool-aid reference pertains to Jim Jones.

Sorry Misanthropic. As you should know, humans are insignificant in the billions of years. Look at the universe. Humans are insignificant. I know that it is hard for a pea sized brain to comprehend this when it is filled with pride. Even when humans destroy some of the earth with nuclear bombs, the earth will recover.

Earth will certainly recover. However, many species, including our own, will likely die. If this does not concern you, yes, Earth will be fine for about 4.5 billion years.

Misanthropic of all people should not be concerned. You should rejoice. In reality, you humans are like worms. You can not do anything. May be a hurricane in NYC will remind you of this. Or may be this winter, a noreasterner.

Earth, I would not be concerned if I thought we could go away peacefully and not take thousands of species I find more beautiful than our own with us. But, you're wrong about not being able to do anything. When we cause a problem, at least in theory, we have the ability to solve it. Whether we can muster the social forces to do so remains to be seen.

BTW, the term is nor'easter, sometimes northeaster.