This Last August was the hottest August ever on record

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest for any August on record, and the warmest on record averaged for any June-August (Northern Hemisphere summer/Southern Hemisphere winter) season according to NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. The preliminary analysis is based on records dating back to 1880.

NCDC scientists also reported that the combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for August was second warmest on record, behind 1998. For the June-August 2009 season, the combined global land and ocean surface temperature was third warmest on record.

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/2...lobalstats.html

It's not about the "weather", it's about the "climate"!

Geez!

Global warming, although the usual suspects will be around soon enough to argue otherwise.

of course, that's why we just had the coolest and wettest summer since i've been here.

It's not about the "weather"! It's about the "climate"!

Geez!

[Pooky 3,847]

I wonder what both sides would say, if the outlook really was "Cloudy, With A Chance of Meatballs" ???? B)

[NickD 203]

Whether it's weather or climate, either is irrelevant, but the two are related in some obscure way. Key point is climate change due to nature or is man affecting it, and if man is affecting it, to what extent. Variations in computer models predict anywhere from 1 to 5% depending on who wrote the software, tend to forget that humans write software. But even these numbers are worthless in that nobody really knows to what effect mans contributions would be detrimental to civilization and the planet itself. Could only be 0.000001% as an example.

If we go back just a short 600 years, this planet at that time could not support the population we have today of over 6 billion people. Some estimate the current capacity of the earth is only 8 billion people. Some predict through no fault of ours, yet another ice age is due, some say the earth as a 25,000 year climate cycle with or without the effects of man.

A catastrophic event would be demise of the worlds population, won't be quick, but a slow death due to starvation that will more than likely break out in major wars that would further escalate the demise of the worlds population. Or may be caused by some new unknown virus or disease.

To further complicate any resolutions, if a man made caused problem is proved to be the cause, is that man divided this world into 201 different countries that would never agree on a common, if even an obvious solution. For all we know, the earths human population could have been greater than it's today as little as 200,000 years ago with some natural event that removed all traces of it.

The key point is, that we don't know, we know very little about our home, but the only solution our leaders can come up with is taxation. That is all they know.