Planet Watch

2005: north hemisphere's warmest year on record

A question raised by scientists four months ago—whether 2005 would be the planet's warmest year on record—has now been answered: almost. From BBC News, Dec 15:

2005 warmest on record in north
This year has been the warmest on record in the Northern Hemisphere, say scientists in Britain. It is the second warmest globally since the 1860s, when reliable records began, they add.

Meanwhile, the frogs are dying...

So global warming is just a myth, eh? Somebody forgot to tell the frogs. From the Washington Post, Jan. 12:

Study: Global warming killing frog species
Rising temperatures are responsible for pushing dozens of frog species to extinction in the past three decades, according to new findings being reported today by a team of Latin American and U.S. scientists.

Glimmer of hope: SUV sales down

This may be bad news for Detroit, but given fast-growing evidence of global climate destabilization, it's damn good news for the rest of us. From the New York Times Nov. 2:

DETROIT, Nov. 1 - October, which is the start of the new model year, used to be a month for the auto industry to celebrate. This year, it was a month for Detroit to forget.

Big oil rakes in historic profits, keeps alternative energy off market

While the idiot left is busy blaming the Jews, the people who really run the planet are laughing all the way to the bank.

Big oil rakes in historic profits
While drivers have been paying up at the pump, profit has been gushing in to oil companies.

Thursday, ExxonMobil became the starkest example yet of how much big oil companies benefited from the huge run-up in oil prices in the third quarter even as two hurricanes ripped through the industry's Gulf Coast infrastructure. Exxon reported:

2005 warming record hinges on Siberia

2005 will be the second or third warmest year globally on record. The prediction comes as climate concerns build among people in polar and low-lying areas and in the insurance and utility industries. "Whether it is second or third depends on how Siberia reacts between now and the end of the year," said Wayne Elliott, a spokesman for Britain's weather service, the Met Office. "1998 was the warmest ever, 2005 is looking at being second. It will be another very warm year generally, which is in line with global climate change research."

Bicycle sales overtake cars

More bicycles than cars were sold in the United States over the past 12 months the US Chamber of Commerce reports, with rising gas prices prompting commuters to opt for two wheels instead of four. Not since the oil crisis of 1973 have bicycles sold in such big numbers, according to Tim Blumenthal, executive director of Bikes Belong, a Colorado-based industry association.

Oil shock: denial in the New York Times

The new resident reactionary on the New York Times op-ed page, John Tierney, boasts in his Aug. 23 column, entitled "The $10,000 Question," that he has made a five-grand wager with Matthew Simmons, author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, against the latter's predictions quoted in the Aug. 21 Sunday Times Magazine ("The Breaking Point" by Peter Maass) that oil prices will hit the triple digits by 2011.

Siberian permafrost melting

An Aug. 11 story from NewScientist.com notes recent findings by scientists that the world's largest frozen peat bog is melting. An area stretching for a million square kilometres across the permafrost of western Siberia is turning into a mass of shallow lakes as the ground melts, according to Russian researchers just back from the region. The sudden melting of a bog the size of France and Germany combined could unleash billions of tons of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere.

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