Warmest Decade on Record Brings Record Temperatures and Weather Extremes

Earth Policy Institute - February 13, 2013 - Janet Larsen

There are twelve trends, called Eco-Economy Indicators, that the Earth Policy Institute tracks to measure progress in building a sustainable economy. 'Global Temperature' is one of these indicators.  Taking the earth's temperature tells us about the relative health of the planet.

In recent years weather events have whiplashed between the extremes of heat and cold, flooding and drought. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases—largely from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas—have loaded up in the atmosphere, heating the planet and pushing humanity onto a climatic seesaw of weather irregularities. High-temperature records in many places are already being broken with startling frequency, and hotter temperatures are in store. Without a dramatic reduction in fossil fuel use, we will veer even further away from the “normal” temperatures and weather patterns that civilization is adapted to.

... The more the world heats up, the harder it will be to avoid off-the-charts weather catastrophes.

Read entire article