Earth is getting hot! hot! hot!

That's right-global warming-it's real, it's ugly, and it isn't going away (no matter how much the Bush Administration protests). The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that September 2005 is the hottest on record, ever-globally. For the US it was the fourth hottest September ever with "the average temperature for the United States for September (based on preliminary data) was 2.6 degrees F (1.4 degrees C) above the mean for 1895-2004." Take into consideration that the last recorded ice age was set off by a temperature difference of 4 degrees globally, and you begin to see the significance of the issue.

The average global temperature anomaly for combined land and ocean surfaces for September (based on preliminary data) was 1.13 degrees F (0.63 degrees C) above the 1880-2004 long-term mean. This was the warmest September since 1880, the beginning of reliable instrumental records. The second warmest September was in 2003 with an anomaly of 1.02 degrees F (0.57 degrees C) above the mean. Land surface temperatures were highest on record for September with temperatures more than 5 degrees F (2.8 degrees C) above normal across large parts of Asia and North America. Ocean temperatures were third highest on record.

Add to this, "the four hottest years globally [were]the last four years" and continued melting of the ice caps, things aren't looking good. Unless of course you're part of the Bush Administration or the Fox News network (which are the same thing aren't they?).

With all of the obvious effects of global warming coming to the fore, why on Earth would we reduce environmental protections? Oh yeah, that's right, we still have an oil tycoon in the White House who made sure that the refineries in Texas were protected for a Hurricane, but could care less about the actual people in New Orleans. I'm sure that it'll be much easier for him to continue to gut the Clean Air Act now that he can exploit the hurricane's affect on consumers at the gas pump. And he's doing just that:

The Bush administration proposed new regulations Thursday that could allow the nation's dirtiest power plants to release more air pollutants each year - and possibly undercut lawsuits aimed at forcing companies to comply with the Clean Air Act.

Add to that the damage Republicans are doing in the congress:

But Barton's Gasoline for America's Security Act includes provisions that could weaken clean-air regulations. Among them: a proposal that would allow the government to push back deadlines to comply with federal ozone standards in areas like Dallas-Fort Worth that are affected by pollution from other cities and states.

These provisions sparked fierce opposition from clean-air advocates and Democrats, who accused Barton and others of taking advantage of the hurricanes to try to gut laws protecting human health and the environment.

There's no sign that the planet will be cooling down anytime soon, at least if the US has anything to say about it. Considering that the US produces "about 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions" and we refuse to join in any treaties or programs to reduce our emissions, like say the Kyoto Treaty, we're rushing headlong into our own oblivion.

posted by Sarai @ 3:52 PM