Comment by: PT (David Alexander) (Oct-17-2010) Web site
What is needed is to look statistically at objectively defined measures of global weather and climate anomalies, and also to see whether those changes match climate model predictions. If one simply says "Look how bad that drought is" and "See what happened with these hurricanes", there is a major risk of interpreting impressions about climate for one's own preconceived opinions.
There have been articles and observations regarding already-occuring changes. One of the most easily measured, most visible, and often heard observations is the retreat of glaciers steadily, world-wide. There are also broader articles such as this one that point to a wide variety of changes, but are not totally rigorous.
My sense is that most measurement trends are not yet clear, but the two that are clear are temperature increase globally (and in a way that matches model predictions), as well as glacial shrinking.
Comment by: City Worker (Oct-3-2010)
On the topic of global warming, besides the issue of the average global temperatures rising, weren’t scientists predicting, as the result of global warming, incredibly large changes in global weather patterns and violent weather conditions not seen to date? For instance, didn’t they say that although they couldn’t say where, what will happen, they could say that we could expect, for instance, to see droughts where water was plenty and violent storms – hurricanes, tornados, and such – in areas not used to that type of weather? And aren’t we starting to see that? (For instance, not only are hurricanes and tornados and floods increasing in ferocity, but they’re beginning to happen in areas which, until recently, had no records of violent weather like tornados.) I was wondering: is anyone talking about this? For instance, is anyone saying: “I told you there would be wild swings in temperature patterns globally and weather extremes we haven’t recorded up until now. And it’s resulting from global warming, as we predicted.” I would think such talk might help to convince people of the urgency of action. If I’ve got this wrong, well, as Emily Litella from Saturday Night Live from bygone days used to say, “Never mind”.
Peter Sinclair is a long-time advocate of environmental awareness and energy alternatives. An award winning graphic artist, illustrator, and animator, Mr. Sinclair runs Greenman Studio from his home in Midland, MI.
Mr. Sinclair's cartoons and illustrations have appeared in newspapers around the world, and his work has been profiled in numerous publications, including the New York Times, The Utne Reader, and HaAretz of Jerusalem.
Constantly updated information, made vivid with striking, clear graphics and animations, many derived from NASA, The National Snow and Ice Data Center, and top international sources, an expert knowledge of the issues of energy and environment, and an informal, good humored delivery, make difficult concepts easy to see and grasp.