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)