I read this today on Slashdot, and thought y'all might be interested:   
      
   2012 Another Record-Setter For Weather, Fits Climate Forecasts   
   Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 21, @12:17PM   
   from the it-was-cold-today-therefore-global-warming-is-invalid dept.   
      
   Layzej writes "The Associated Press reports: 'In 2012 many of the warnings   
   scientists have made about global warming went from dry studies in scientific   
   journals to real-life video played before our eyes. As 2012 began, winter in   
   the U.S. went AWOL. Spring and summer arrived early with wildfires, blistering   
   heat and drought. And fall hit the eastern third of the country with the   
   ferocity of Superstorm Sandy. Globally, five countries this year set heat   
   records, but none set cold records. 2012 is on track to be the warmest year on   
   record in the United States. Worldwide, the average through November suggests   
   it will be the eighth warmest since global record-keeping began in 1880 and   
   will likely beat 2011 as the hottest La Nina year on record. America's   
   heartland lurched from one extreme to the other without stopping at "normal."   
   Historic flooding in 2011 gave way to devastating drought in 2012. But the most   
   troubling climate development this year was the melting at the top of the   
   world. Summer sea ice in the Arctic shrank to 18 percent below the previous   
   record low. These are "clearly not freak events," but "systemic changes," said   
   climate scientist Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute in Germany. "With   
   all the extremes that, really, every year in the last 10 years have struck   
   different parts of the globe, more and more people absolutely realize that   
   climate change is here and already hitting us."'"   
   --- SBBSecho 2.12-Win32   
    * Origin: Southeast Texas BBS (1:393/31)