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Early 2007 saw record-breaking extreme weather

flooding.jpgThe weather is getting more extreme thanks to human-caused climate change (as I’ve pointed out many times, see here, here, and here).

Now the World Meteorological Organization reports more evidence:

In January and April 2007 it is likely that global land surface temperatures ranked warmest since records began in 1880, 1.89°C warmer than average for January and 1.37°C warmer than average for April. Several regions have experienced extremely heavy precipitation, leading to severe floods. The Fourth Assessment Report of the WMO /UNEP Intergovernmental Group on Climate Change (IPCC) notes an increasing trend in extreme events observed during the last 50 years. IPCC further projects it to be very likely that hot extremes, heat waves and heavy precipitation events will continue to become more frequent.

The start of the year 2007 was a very active period in terms of extreme weather events,” said Omar Baddour of the WMO’s World Climate Program.

Here are some of the extremes that have been happening around the globe in 2007 as reported by Reuters and the WMO:

Read more

Climate News Roundup

Brazil, Alarmed, Reconsiders Policy on Climate ChangeNew York Times. “The factors behind the re-evaluation range from a drought here in the Amazon rain forest, the world’s largest, and the impact that it could have on agriculture if it recurs, to new phenomena like a hurricane in the south of Brazil.”

Have you driven a Fjord lately? – CNNMoney.com. The electric car is back!

Beware GE’s new ‘green’ card – CNN Money. “Spending money to save the planet doesn’t make sense…. It’s a small example of a bigger problem: the belief that there are painless solutions to fixing global warming and that it can be a win-win for business, consumers and the planet. In fact, the solutions will be painful for some, they will involve sacrifice for others and they will be developed in Congress and state capitols, not at the mall.

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