For the US, July was the warmest month we've ever seen

[jayfish]

Source: Ars Technica

NOAA has released the numbers on July's temperatures within the US, and they continue the trend of what's been an exceptionally scorching year. With temperatures a full 3.3°F above the twentieth century average, it was the hottest month ever recorded within the US. While only one state (Virginia) set a record high monthly temperature, 32 different states across a broad sweep of the country had months that were in the top 10; combined, that made for an exceptional month.

But July is only the latest in a string of exceptionally hot months. The first seven months of this year were the hottest on record, and the 12-month period that includes it also set a record (narrowly beating out the 12 months that ended this past June). But simply describing records doesn't truly convey what an outlier this year is for the US; fortunately, NOAA has provided a graph that does so. As it clearly shows, every month since February is a serious outlier from historic conditions.

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/08/for-the-us-july-was-the-warmest-month-weve-ever-seen/?comments=1#comments-bar

[yardwork]

1. The comments section of my local news station is surprisingly subdued in response to this article.

With even the Koch brothers acknowledging man-made climate change, we may be seeing the end of the denial.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. The republican party can't change course.

The koch brothers pay lip service to rational thought on this issue, but their play in this remains the fossil fuel endgame, from which they will make even larger fortunes, and a hedge in geo-engineering, which is how the plutocracy will turn global disaster into a financial asset.

[yardwork]

8. If they can figure out how to make money by acknowledging global climate change, they will abruptly

change their tune. The propaganda will swing the other way, and I've lived long enough to know that the sheep will turn around and baahhh in the other direction without any hesitation. Approximately half the country seems very comfortable following authoritarians right over a cliff.

[Hydra]

13. More than half, sadly

Look how many people are defending domestic spying, torture and other wonderful jewels of democracy simply because some people told them it was "necessary and legal."

If they human race gets flushed, it's because we followed the wrong people too well.

[Berlum]

2. Well, this will occasion the usual barrage of Republican lies

[Warren Stupidity]

3. At some point 'every month an outlier' becomes not an outlier.

We may have, in fact we likely have, fallen off the climate change cliff. That is the good news. The bad news is that because of the enormous inertia in climate change effects we likely did so quite a few years ago and it would take (assuming we actually start right now doing something effective) approximately an equally long time to start slowing down, let alone reversing, the plunge we are taking.

[harun]

5. Surviving a CO2 400 ppm World

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/

These trends are all accelerating. Even if they level off the CO2 isn't going anywhere.

Political capital needs to be spent on helping people survive this. All the political capital spent to stop or reverse this has been in vain.

[Ter]

6. That's why July's my favorite month

n/t

[tabasco]

12. "People like warmer weather."

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

7. Climate change is only one of the serous problems we have look to forward too.

There's a long list of ecological and sociological issues that need to be solved holistically to avert a global die off.

[GliderGuider]

14. Yes indeed. Here's an article that lists a lot of them

A 50,000-Foot View of the Global Crisis

[Uncle Joe]

9. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, jayfish.

[Dkc05]

10. global warming is here and next year instead of 105 in Kansas it will be 112 or higher

eom

[itsrobert]

11. doubt it

n/t