Slashdot Mirror
July Heat Set U.S. Record
gollum123 sends this excerpt from CNN:
"The July heat wave that wilted crops, shriveled rivers and fueled wildfires officially went into the books Wednesday as the hottest single month on record for the continental United States. The average temperature across the Lower 48 was 77.6 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.3 degrees above the 20th-century average, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration reported. That edged out the previous high mark, set in 1936, by two-tenths of a degree, NOAA said. In addition, the seven months of 2012 to date are the warmest of any year on record and were drier than average as well, NOAA said. U.S. forecasters started keeping records in 1895. And the past 12 months have been the warmest of any such period on record, topping a mark set between July 2011 and this past June. Every U.S. state except Washington experienced warmer-than-average temperatures, NOAA reported."
Since the temperature isn't any hotter than it was in 1936, I'm not seeing any evidence that temps are climbing. The global alarmists said (in 2001) that we would soon never see snow. They people wouldn't be able to go outside. And yet July 2012 was not really any higher than July 1936 when my great-grandparents were alive. So what gives???
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
Deniers are not only sociopaths, they're also crying terrified babies. For some reason, they've forgotten what a properly primed market can do. We are seeing adoption of renewable energy sources far in excess of predictions just 8 years ago. Why's that? Some governments are properly incentivizing the research and development of transformative technologies.
Meanwhile, the entrenched interests continue to muddy the situation with studies from the Heartland Institute and other wholly self-serving tools. We _can_ turn things around, and still have a very good standard of living. But the people who profit from the status quo aren't interested in seeing their golden goose fly away.
Amory Lovins of the rocky mountain institute has been teaching businesses how they can save energy and money _at the same time_ since the 70s. He's just published a new book ( a must read for anyone who doesn't want to wring their hands and whimper ) called "Reinventing Fire". It shows how we can transform our economy and enjoy GDP _growth_ - by eliminating inefficiencies, and rewarding new technologies and systems.
We made this mess. If we are willing to try without fear, we can certainly clean it up.