2006 Was the Warmest Year Ever

kpw10 writes "Dr. Jeff Masters from Wunderground has a great summary of this year's rather abnormal weather (his blog is the best source on the net for in-depth weather analysis). The post discusses some of the cyclical climate forces at work this year and compares this year's record temperatures to records from the past. There are some interesting differences, particularly in the extent of the northern hemisphere seeing record highs this year." From the article: "December's weather in the Northeast U.S. may have been a case of the weather dice coming up thirteen — weather not seen on the planet since before the Ice Age began, 118,000 years ago. The weather dice will start rolling an increasing number of thirteens in coming years, and an ice-free Arctic Ocean in summertime by 2040 is a very real possibility..." Here is the The National Climatic Data Center's report announcing the entry of 2006 into the record books.

It's not all bad...

[reklusband]

Think about it...Hot Eskimo chicks in BIKINIS!!! Just give it ten years.

Solution!

[clickclickdrone]

Global warming is making everything hotter, ice is melting, seas are rising. We're all in deep doodo. Now, back in the 80's we were all panicking about Nuclear Winters which would freeze us all in the case of a nuclear war (as if the radiation and big holes in the ground weren't enough hassle).
I notice in the news that Israel is thought to be preparing a nuclear strike on Irans nuclear facilities with Neutron bombs. That ought to kick of a nuclear war quite nicely so we're all saved!
Well, it sort of makes sense...

It's time to point the finger!

[popo]

I'm looking at you Microsoft.

Re:Its not climate change...

[DaveV1.0]

You need to put a new battery in your sarcasm detector.

Re:Its not climate change...

[Captain Hook]

The Southern Hemisphere, in particular, does not seem to be warming noticeably.

That's because heat rises to the top and the southern hemisphere is at the bottom. Any fool knows that ;-)

Re:Its not climate change...

[Anonymous Coward]

The percentage of journalistic articles suggesting that it may not be man's fault: 53%.

They do suggest it may be woman's fault, don't they?

Re:Its not climate change...

[E++99]

i want to remark that we have better technology now, so China needn't pollute as much as we did, and go straight to windpower/solarpower instead of using coal.

Except that window power and solar power impact the climate directly, instead of indirectly like fosil fuels.... and they take heat out of the climate, which is a lot more dangerous than adding heat.

Re:Its not climate change...

[FurryFeet]

I am sitting naked in my spare room in Melbourne Australia, it is about 2:30AM and simply too hot...

That would be an extremely hot opening for an internet forum post.

If only that forum wasn't Slashdot. *sigh*