From Extreme Heat Waves to Deluges: Are We Seeing Global Warming?

NYTimes' recent article on weather extremes thus far in 2010 gives us all something to ponder. In some of the worst flooding we've seen in 80 years, Pakistan is currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis with more than 1,300 dead and around 20 million affected. Last month, Russia experienced its worst heat wave on record and saw 1.9 million acres burned. Anyone in DC in the last couple of months saw an insane record number of days above 90F, warmer than tropical countries like Bangladesh!

Thermometer measurements show that the earth has warmed by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit since the Industrial Revolution, when humans began pumping enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. For this January through July, average temperatures were the warmest on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Friday.

We'll have to wait a year or two to see if the Russian heat wave and Pakistani floods can be blamed on global warming. Let's just say I won't be surprised at the report in 2011-2012.