The right wing-nuts do not like facts. These temperatures are facts, so...

Naaahhhh, they're working on a way to blame Obama...

Here's some more temperature facts that Michael P. Robb will ignore since they totally go against his agenda, but they are facts nonetheless. St. Louis has reached 110 degrees 5 times in recorded history, all between 1934 and 1954, but has never done so since 1954. They do have a shot at 110 Saturday, which would be the first time in 58 years. But what does that mean when they did it 5 times in 21 years prior to this? Kansas City may exceed 106 Saturday for the first time since the 1970's. Prior to the 1970's, they did it many times, including long consectkive day streaks back in the 1930's. But people like Michael P. Robb ignore the '30s, the 50s, and even 1980 when it comes time to discuss the "facts." Sorry, but the facts of those years count just as much as the 2012 facts do.

Looking at the statistics from the US and around the world, the temperature is creeping up. That is also a fact. Combined with the known factual chemical effects of CO2 in the atmosphere (increasing at about 1,000 times faster than the last time we had a warm climate) the facts simply show that we are causing climate change.

In the mid 1970s the hysteria was about a new ice age coming. Trends happen.

The people who say "it got hot before" miss the point entirely. That is not an important fact. Here is the important fact: greenhouse gases absorb energy; more greenhouse gases absorb more energy.

Consider a tank of water, with a hose pouring it at top, and a hole at bottom. It will find some steady-state level at which the flows balance, and the level will stay there. Now plug up the hole a little bit, so less pours out. What happens? The level rises. More water stays in the tank.

This is the same thing with the earth. For all of recorded history, the sun pouring in on the lit side adds the same energy as that which flies off to outer space on the dark side. Now, however, we have increased the concentration of CO2 by 33% (from 290 ppm to 390 ppm). Now less energy is pouring out the dark side. We must have an increase in energy! It is required by the laws of nature. There is no other option but to see a warming world as certainly as 2 + 2 = 4.

And as to specific locations and peak temps, those are noise and fluctuations. You have to look at global indicators, and long time periods (~10 years) to see it. This heat wave, sure, is a product of wind directions and local effects and is not, by itself, proof. But the theory of global warming is not based on temperature data!! We had the theory long before the temperatures began to rise. Temperature rises seen since 1980 merely verify that the theory is correct. Anyone who tries to prove or disprove global warming based solely on temperatures is not being scientific. What you need to understand is the mechanism and the simple fact - when you create an imbalance between the what-comes-in and what-goes-out, you change the interior state. We have definitely, unequivocally, proveably, measuredly changed the imbalance between the what-comes-in and what-goes-out.

Please keep in mind... When referring to time on a global perspective 100 years isn't "long". It is difficult to argue for or against this theory and use history in terms of hundreds of years.

In my opinion a climate change could take hundreds of years to even reveal itself. Just a thought though.

TypoMonster - normally, you are correct. Our current climate change, however, is not natural. There is nothing natural about the rapid temperature rise since 1980, or the glacier ice melt since then. The energy rise is essentially accounting. We know how much energy comes in each day, and we know how much leaves each night. The difference amounts to many millions of atomic bomb explosions each year in energy equivalency. This is all measured and known to be a fact. The total energy imbalance is huge. So even though the total thermal inertia of the earth is also huge, we have been able to see dramatic effects over the very short period of 30 years. And while the occassional drought or heat wave or tornado or hurricane is a dramatic indication, the real scary stuff is the tiny, incremental but ineluctable changes we see in ice volume, sea level, and average temperature. That's the real proof.

When are you non-believers gonna learn that global warming has nothing to do with localized temperatures, or heat waves.? It has to do with average yearly global conditions. The 12 warmest, not twelve OF the warmest, but THE twelve wamest years since such records have been kept, have occurred in the last fourteen years. In the last thirty years, the average yearly global temperature has risen 1.8 degrees. It is commonly understood that a rise in global temperature of 3 to 5 degrees will be catastrophic. Global warming is not a "theory".

It is a theory in terms of an argument. I believe it is happening as well but.... I have the piece of mind and civility to acknowledge others opinions and listen to them without being judgmental to appease my own self satisfaction.

I was merely making the point that these things take time. That is after looking at thousands of years of deep earth historical markers. I do not deny that we could be speeding the process up.

dumb@ss of course it is a theory. science is based upon hypothesis and theory. both of which can never be proven only disproven. you should spend you time hugging your tree instead of making an idiot of yourself on the internet.

I understand and applaud civility in political discussions. However, deniers are threatening the prosperity of America and the happiness of my kids and grandkids (and they'll make my food costs go up this year). Deniers are doing really bad stuff, and they are doing it largely because they don't take the effort to understand the science and think for themselves. Worse, there are entities out there that profit off of denierism even as those entities know that they are harming our future. It is very frustrating because all our hard-fought science is there, screaming at us - this is what you need to help your children. And the deniers are sticking their fingers in their ears, saying nyah, nyah, nyah, and continuing to do bad stuff to our kids. You can understand, I hope, that if I believe these guys are harming my children, I'm going to get mad and even, at times, uncivil.

Lynyrd, something tells me people like you will be saying the same thing when the temperature hits 120 in Minneapolis, 125 in Chicago and 140 in Phoenix, if you're still around to say it. Just like the frog in the slowly boiling pot you aren't able - or choose not to - acknowledge that it's getting warmer in here. Maybe after the pot boils over you will see the light.

lynard - spoken like a true tea partier towing the party line - the fact is this change in climate is more severe and more rapid then any other documented - and i guess the RECORD temps , wildfires ,storms and drought is nothing to be alarmed about - lots of people like you out there - but ask the farmer whos crops and cattle are dead or dying or the man whos staring at the pile of ash where is home used to be if they believe in climate change - if they didnt a few years ago they might have a different answer now - stay cool brother the fun is just starting - we all know mr perrys plan of pray worked out well - wahts your plan

Yes!! Soon my Lake Michigan beach front property in Michigan will be worth a fortune. I'll be able to sell it to a developer and he can make a resort on it!! Life is good.

I actually went on a jog yesterday evening when it cooled down to 92. Ran my short route of 4 miles, but it felt pretty good.

the earth wobbles as it makes it journey around the sun, scientists say it happens about every22 thousand years(remember the north magnetic pole is racing toward the west, airports are having to re-number their runway numbers all over the world) it is estimated that by the end of 2012 the wobble will be at it's greatest, then it will slowly return to it axis in about 25-50 years after that, in plain words it is a normal occurrence that happens about every 22 thousand years.

So what are you doing to help Fred? Isolated events do not make a trend. If what the warmist alarmist's are saying is true, it should be much hotter NOW. Greenhouse gases do not make up a a big enough volume of the atmosphere to make a difference when you're talking about PPM.

ok wally so your logic is we are not frying quite fast enough for you to be on board - and one thing i am doing to help is not vote REPUBLICAN - but as long as a certain percentage of us - like you - back them - we are all screwed so whats the difference - thx

The current heat wave has not even risen to the level of the 1995 event. The drought has a long way to go before it's even in the same ballpark as the 30's. The bottom line is, nothing new here folks. I have the feeling Winter 2012/2013 will have us longing for some of this heat. Has our climate changed? I'd have to say yes, natural variation as the historical record is rich with proof of this. Is it human induced? I'd say absolutely not. If the link between green house gases and warming is so irrefutable, then why the wild variation from year to year temperatures, even though CO2 levels remain elevated? Furthermore I question just how much warming has actually occurred. Consider how urban sprawl has affected temperatures due to the exponential growth of cities over the past 100 years which would skew the data higher.

I was merely making the point that these things take time. That is after looking at thousands of years of deep earth historical markers.

These things aren't taking time. That is the problem. People who say "Oh, we've seen this before" just doesn't get it.

Yes, the earth has seen extremes of temperature even wilder than we have today. When these temperatures arrived slowly, life had time to adapt. When they arrived fast, we had mass extinctions and severe unraveling of ecosystems. That is what we are seeing today.

Humans cannot survive in an unraveled ecosystem. Our technology depends on the ecosystem. If it dies, we die. Worrying about the spotted owl isn't a luxury. It is a necessity.

I'd say absolutely not. If the link between green house gases and warming is so irrefutable, then why the wild variation from year to year temperatures, even though CO2 levels remain elevated?

There is no wild variation. From http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120618152733.htm :-

The globally-averaged temperature for May 2012 marked the second warmest May since record keeping began in 1880. May 2012 also marks the 36^th consecutive May and 327^th consecutive month with a global temperature above the 20^th century average.

ScientistX,

Don't waste your time trying to educate idiots who reason with emotions instead of logic, especially those with low regard for scientists. They would probably respond better if you promised to speak personally with Al Gore and try to get him to turn off his global warming hair dryer. They understand that level of talk.

Why would anyone beat on al gore? That thing is way too old now, I think everyone knows how serial al gore is, so why beat
The manbearpig?

And, this doesn't mean global warning is man made. , even if it this were correct carbon taxes will supply little relief yet pose an enormous cost on an economy. So even if man made global warming is true like al gore said it was (inventing tubes and so on) the solution isn't to shut down every coal plant on the east coast and skyrocket oil prices by shutting down refineries. It will do nothing I environmental terms yet cripple markets, while other nations increase the demand with our falling price. So yea, I would guess al gore is still al gore.

In any case this now stops being about what is happening and what to do about it, and I think you'll still have a split along those lines. People who want a carbon tax dictatorship at the UN destroying huge chunks of wealth while doing zero for the environment, or others who want to take that money and invest in the disaster relief and technologies (through the market) that will be needed to withstand any expected climate change in the future.

Two Paths, I think Americans will not like the carbon tax way (if you then want to take a political perspective)"

Why it will do little (according to me);

I'm not an "expert" but if you look at any man made climate model, most of the damage occurs in the first 2\3rds of a temperature increase. Now, If the united states were to cut its carbon emissions by half, this would do nothing (according to the models)to this expected increase, it only starts to take effect after this.

So the amount of climate benefit you are getting is very very small yet the economic cost is catastrophic. The comparative cost could be termed "insanity"

It would be like an exponential curve or cost curve where the more you cut carobon emissions you get like a very very small climate benefit for the equivalent of economic Armageddon or a nuclear holocaust.

However, if you don't do carbon tax and instead invest in things like conservation, nanotechnology and open patents that can the be developed by anyone, then the added economic boost would create infrastructure and technology that could be used to fight these expected climate related problems, and as technology gets better from a robust economy, we will have the technology that actually has a shot at combatting climate change faster. Say, enhanced and cheaper fuel cells, spawning a hydrogen economy and reducing carbon emissions that way.

But if we destroy large chunks of the economy we won't have the economic muscle to explore these technologies and get them on time and we will be badly prepared for the change that will inevitably show up(instead of being naive about it and think cutting emissions will solve the problem)

So from an economic and environmental standpoint, the second option is clearly better. Historically, you can see that when reserves reach a "wall" new technology always comes about due to the market and simply new discoveries that "open up" new reserves, for example, it we are talking about crude, in the 80s recoverables from a site were something like 30 40 percent while today, due to new technology it's approaching around 80 percent. Like an economic organism, when demand rises, the system invests in technologies due to the higher price, and then that is used to recover more of the resource, which in turn lowers prices.

Even it we were to cut our oil consumption through a carbon tax, you have to keep in mind that we live in a global economy, if prices go down, the will mean an increase in demand from India and china which will then likely increase the price to previous levels over a couple years as if we werent even there.....along with carbon emissions....

So even from a man made global warming climate model standpoint, it doesn't make much sense to go with what the left is suggesting as solutions as far as policy (like al gore). That's from the political arguement,

On the actual scientific data, I don't think anyone has proven man made global warming, even in the scientific community. Many groups have put out climate models and have suggested links, but the model of increasing temperatures from man made gasses into the atmosphere is not law. Its not gravity or relativity. It is very well funded science with many policy groups putting up money through the UN. From what I know about solar activity, the sun is approaching solar maximum sometime this year or 2013, so it could very well have to do with that. But im not going to discount man made global warming, im simply not going to take a stand on the issue and instead focus on the practical things we could do on the ground irrespective of whether it's man made or not. And from MY above reasoning, it doesn't make much sense to go with carbon taxes. Higher efficiency standards maybe (little known fact: you increase mpg on trucks by 4 gallons you reduce gas consumption by 1/3rd, if you don't trust my statistic get the current truck fleet and it's gas consumption and see what happens when you play around with their mpg,...If t Boone Pickens replaced that with natural gas, its even more fabulous)

This is one of the strongest solar maximums (expected) we have seen in a long while (14 year cycles).

I don't know, maybe, this has something to do with it (our recent rising temperatures)

The sun is pretty active recently.

How very entertaining. Man has already affected ecosystems, watersheds, and the global atmosphere. Yet, there is no possible way that human activity can affect the climate? That is a simply a losing argument.

Here is the real concern. Those temperature increases in the distant past were accompanied by increases in atmospheric CO2. The question is - did the CO2 cause the increased temperatures - or - did the temperature cause the increased CO2? Where did that CO2 come from? Were dinosaurs driving SUVs?

Common sense suggests that the temperature warmed - and - allowed sequestered carbon (frozen peat - permafrost - even deep ocean methane crystals) to begin melting and decaying. Everyone is arguing about the wrong threat.

Argue all you wish about fossil fuels and money. The extinct will not need either one.

Got a good fix for this argument. Bombard our congressmen and get them to pass a law making it a death penalty to get caught spreading provable lies about global warming. They'd have to get a pretty strong rope to hang fat-ass Limbaugh with.

Last year the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which had commissioned a scientific study of Galveston Bay, excised references to rising sea levels. “You can debate climate warming, but sea level is going up; it’s measured globally, with satellites,” the study’s lead author, John Anderson of Rice University, told reporters. “For them to be so bold as to remove it — they actually omitted whole sentences that mentioned sea level rise.”

A spokesman shrugged off the criticism, noting that the commission had paid for the study (albeit with public funds): “We have the right to make sure it reflects our views.” (See, enough money and you can create facts.)

Last week in Virginia, the General Assembly approved a study on the effects of sea-level rise only after references to “sea level rise” were removed. The phenomenon has been rechristened “recurrent flooding.” References to “climate change” have similarly disappeared from the official Virginia lexicon. ( I'm glad to see the Virginia General Assembly is dealing with climate change proactively!)

A bill was approved in a North Carolina Senate committee last week that would require the state’s Division of Coastal Management to use “historic data,” not these global warming projections, to predict sea levels. (and if you don't have as much money as Texas and you can't buy your own facts, you can always rig the game so it turns out how you want.)

If you can't rationally deny it anymore...then the conservative thing to do is legislate it away. Seriously folks, you can't make this sh!t up!!

Enough talk already, bring on the food and water riots!

Nerm-L does it again! While you are all navel gazing over global warming, we are about to lose our water. The real issue is pollution. We all know it. The real solution is sustainability and innovative technology, we all know that too. When the political and industrial profiteers finally get out of the way (by arrest if possible, but any way will do) and the smart money invests in green tech and free energy, we'll stop raping the planet to listen to our ipods....maybe we'll even stop treating all our relatives like they are just rocks, trees and critters.....we'll see if humans are smart enough to get it in time......

Global warming.

It isn't a matter of two years ago the temperature went down a tenth of one degree, while last year was hotter, and we've set a bundle of new records so far this year. It's a matter of multiple years and trends. Like the one we had recently where most of the warmest years on record happened in the last twenty years. The doubters point out that well maintained records don't go back all that far. They doubt the ice cores, from Greenland, and Antartica, and the mud cores from our oceans. They are right when they point out that in the past, the earth was much warmer, even though nobody kept records then either. We rely on fossil records to determine that. Science is only useful to them when it's on their side. And there's that little hiccup when I was a young man, when a handful of scientists predicted another Ice Age was coming. That was based on the Earths periodic movement further away from the sun, which some scientist say is actually happening. If that's true, shouldn't they boast that releasing more greenhouse gases is a good thing, to keep us from freezing. That's a lot to contemplate already. Please don't bother them with the facts. Don't tell them that the only reason Greenland has that name, because when Eric the Redwas kicked out of Iceland, for bad behaviour, that he decided to give it that name, because moving to "Greenland", from "Iceland" sounds good, and he didn't want to go alone. In fact, tell them nothing. Because they won't believe it unless it is to their benefit. But, let us keep in mind that only time has any chance of convincing them, and vindicating us in their eyes. The more we argue with them, the harder they dig their feet into the ground.

Yes keep on polluting the earth and see what trend u ge,t people amaze me to think we can abuse this world the way we have and say it is a natural process, when the price of food soars to where is not affordable and eventually you cant grow it lets see what u think, this global warming will only get worse it will distrupt your life style very soon if it has not yet it , see what else is coming your way, every year it is getting more severe. Money is the problem now i see how it is called the root of all evil, its all people think about eventually it will be worth nothing anyway but yet its the human way, people dont even care if they destroy the earth getting it.

The sky is falling the sky is falling!!! Its summer and there is a heat wave OMG! Where were you sniveling libs when it snowed in Dallas a couple of years ago almost postponing the Super Bowl? Remember when the term was climate change? Now its back to global warming isnt it? haha.

Still getting in your cars arnt you, hypocrites? Still air conditioning your homes arnt you? Set an example for once in your lives if you believe so strongly in this libs. Dont just sit there and bitch, do something!

Global warming AND Al Gore are BS.

The right wing-nuts do not like facts. These temperatures are facts, so...

Michael P. Robb - While I've long been convinced that man-influenced global warming is real and undeniable, no singular weather event, such as this heat wave, or Europe's horrendously cold and snowy winter in 2011/2012, is proof of anything.

To cite a heat wave, or a cold snap, or spate of violent storms as proof that global warming is real, or is a myth is logically unsound.

Sometimes the weather is just the weather. This is one of those times. For once I'd like to see people just write, "God! It is hot!" [or "God! Its cold!"], and move on.

Glad I'm not in St Louis.

First,,I have no doubt my comment will be collapsed because,no one wants to hear it,,but here goes

Last night,in the midst of this nasty heat,and in Ga you can add in the humidity,I was outside doing what I do,,building a race-fuel fed,700 horsepower Chevy engine,,yep,,I turned on the fans to keep the sweat off of me,,and kept on building,,WHY you ask,because that's what I do,,I build monsters.And when I'm doing that during the day,my neighbors are outside cutting their lawns with,,GASOLINE powered mowers.Here's the point,we're all going to keep doing that,just like thousands of others do,every minute,of every day,even during the heat wave,we've all been doing the same thing for years,and we will keep doing that until we all die.

I've been asked,aren't you worried about your children and your grandchildren,and the effects you're having on the o-zone layer,and the global warming,and I answered,,NOPE,not at all,they'll be fine because,I taught them to do the same thing,So I guess what I'm saying is,,after I'm dead and gone,,and all of you screaming about the global warming,are dead and gone,then our grandchildren will keep the argument going.

There are over 4000 publications concerning the automotive world.All around the world,24 hours a day,there is someone building a race engine of some sort,so that every weekend,millions of people can watch their favorite sport,,AUTO RACING,,and I'll bet,if you were to ask them if they are worried about "Global Warming",,they would answer by asking,"who's the driver and what number is his car?"LOOK,,the world is going to keep on spinning with,,or without our help,and at some point,everything,and everyone,is going to die.Is anyone REALLY under the impression,that if they jump up and down and scream long enough,that they are going to stop the production of oil based products.It ain't going to happen,the only thing that the enviromentalists are going to accomplish,is making themselves miserable,for their entire lives,trying to stop huge corporations,,"oil companies" from turning a HUGE profit.SO,,if you've chosen to make yourselves miserable,that's on you.ME,,I'm going to keep on doing what I love to do,,and not really for money,,"there is nothing like the smell of race fuel,,smells like victory",,OK,,go ahead,,collapse my comment,,you know I'm right,don't you?,,but trust me,,the world is going to keep on turning,,long after all of us are dead and gone.

And don't misundersatnd me,,,I have all the sympathy for anyone,who has lost someone,especially children in this terrible weather,,who knows,,I might drop dead from the heat,but it still doesn't change the fact,,that this is "WEATHER"..mother nature,,,I just don't get,how anyone can factor in politics and how it effects the weather,,I guess that means,,the next time I'm sweating while mowing my lawn,I can find a democrat or a republican and blame him for the sweat.

Wow, two weeks. We in Texas went through 100+ days of triple digit weather last summer. Suck it up.

This post is coming from a Lakota Woman who is working in Pine Ridge and Rosebud to protect the water, land and the people. Please read -

Mitakuyapi
I come to you today in a most sincere and humble manner to speak you about water.
Mni wakan, water is sacred. Mni wiconi, water is life. As Lakota, this is something we have known since we first uttered words and it is evident in our language. Mni. Mi, I. Ni, live. Mni, I live or we live. We all need water to live. It is only from liquid water that all known forms of life exist.
Water is a basic human right, and as a public trust, must not be denied to anyone. However, today, fears over water scarcity and environmental degradation have increased the commodification of water, i.e. the transforming of water from a public good into a tradable commodity. The privatization of water resources and utilities by multinational corporations has led to reduced access for the poor around the world as prices for these water services have risen.
Access to clean, sufficient and affordable drinking water is not only a right but necessary for human health and survival. In some parts of the world, people are still dying from lack of an adequate, clean water supply. Only 3% of the earth’s water is fresh water and much of that, through disrespectful, greedy and wanton use, has been polluted beyond healthy human consumption.
Drinking water quality has been destroyed by oil spills, gold and uranium mine tailings, sewage and industrial waste, chemicals from household products, fertilizers and pesticides, and other contaminants that have been dumped and washed into our rivers, streams and ground waters. And, it is poisoning us.
Here on Cheyenne River and amongst other Lakota tribes, there are elevated cases of normally rare diseases, such as cancer, lupus, heart anomalies, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. which have been linked to the deadly toxins in our waters. The incidents of these rare diseases among Lakota people are off the charts when compared to national averages.

Cheyenne River clean water sources have also been destroyed through poor water management, most significantly, the damming of the Missouri River at the Oahe Dam. This dam, and the five others built along its 2,300 mile course, destroyed the Missouri River watershed by flooding the timber and bottom lands; completely and wholly, interrupting the hydrologic cycle that is vital to the replenishment of our rivers, streams and fresh-water lakes and necessary to the sustainability of our ecosystem. Currently, the nation’s longest river, the Missouri, is number four on America’s Most Endangered Rivers list.

We need healthy rivers for drinking water, natural flood protection, economy and quality of life. The river is the lifeblood of the ecosystem. The basic function of rivers is to carry nutrients vital to the health of the entire watershed. Watershed is the land area from which the runoff drains into any stream, river, lake or ocean. Tree roots and other plant life within the watershed absorb the runoff, thus holding the watershed in place. Take away the trees and so goes the water, with the water so goes the land.
The loss of this vital Missouri River watershed through deforestation has created instant surface runoff, causing the vast desertification of our tribal lands. Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, inappropriate agriculture or soil erosion through overgrazing, winds and flooding. Desertification has resulted in the decrease of the natural water retaining capacity of the Missouri River watershed and an increase of rainwater surface runoff. The consequence is an increase in the risk and frequency of floods, droughts, fires and climate change.
These are not water phenomenon peculiar to Cheyenne River or the Lakota people. There are 50,000 of these huge dams throughout the world. As more and more of the earth’s surface waters are drained without replenishment and polluted beyond use, the world has turned to ground water resources. The human population is now mining the ground water faster than it can be replaced. We pump 30 billion gallons of ground water every day, fifteen times more than is coming back as recharge through the hydrologic cycle. This has created a worldwide water crisis.
We are now in a global struggle for what is increasingly seen as a commodity more precious than gold or oil – water. Hidden behind the current scramble for land is a world-wide struggle for control over water. The value is not in land. The real value is in water. The wars of the world are now being carried out over water.

We really are running out of water but it is not too late. The ability of the earth to heal herself is truly amazing, and she can as long as we, human beings, behave responsibly and do our part to conserve and protect her most vital natural resource, water.

The solution is simple. The best way to fight against water shortages and contamination is to insure there is enough clean water around our homes for our current usage and that of our future generations. Water security can be accomplished by returning water to its natural cycle and irrigating the soil with rainwater through rainwater harvesting.

Today I am asking you to consider and support the implementation of the Blue Alternative (BA) water restoration system on the Cheyenne River Reservation lands and all lands of the Lakota Oceti Sakowin.

The Blue Alternative system involves the harvesting of rainwater by building small dams and weirs on the smaller streams and water courses. These water catchments hold the rainwater runoff, thereby, creating fresh water ponds for pure drinking waters and for the saturation of the soil to recharge the ground waters.
The Blue Alternative project also gives a guide on how to achieve the maximum efficiency and effectiveness of this strategic natural resource, how to address our current water shortages and how to manage our water resources in a sustainable way so as to revitalize our river ecosystem.
The innovator of the Blue Alternative is Michal Kravcik, a Slovak
hydrologist and environmentalist. Kravcik used this technique in Slovakia to restore water resources in the Torysa River watershed. He designed an alternative strategy of small dams and reservoirs that were customized for the region’s topography while still protecting the wetlands. His success with this project won him the Goldman Prize, a $150,000 no-strings-attached award given to grassroots environmental activists.

Kravcik and his Ludia a Voda (People and Water) team have offered to come to Cheyenne River in July, at their own expense, to give the tribe free consultation as to the feasibility and advisability of implementing the BA system in our Lakota homelands in order to conserve, protect and restore our water resources and maximize the potential of our water assets.
In this time of economic crisis, a program of rainwater harvesting or rainwater retention through reservation wide dam constuction, could create hundreds of much needed jobs and will contribute to the long-range environmental health through soil protection, biodiversity protection and regional climate recovery.
It is not just about saving the environment, though, mitakuyapi, it is about saving ourselves and our future generations. We can make this possible with the Blue Alternative.
With the Blue Alternative water restoration system we can not only create a virtual oasis on our Lakota lands but set an example for the rest of the world by taking the lead in the ecological recovery of the earth, ina maka, our mother, the source of all life, and mni, water, the giver of all life.
Tuweni sni
Mitakuye oyasin.We are all related.

This extremely hot weather is all Obamas fault. If his solar panel companies like Solyndra hadn't failed last year, then none of this would be happening right now.

Because they are no longer producing solar panels, this heat wave is upon us this year. Only if Solyndra was still in Business, and only if Obama had given them more money, none of this would be happening.

Like I said, this is all obamas fault.

Climate Change: Just the facts.

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

No John, this is all the fault of shortsighted, profiteering old white men and their fathers......

'No one's beating up on Al Gore?" There's a lot of ole Al to beat up on.

I understand and applaud civility in political discussions. However, believers are threatening the prosperity of America and the happiness of my kids and grandkids (and they'll make my food costs go up this year). Believers are doing really bad stuff, and they are doing it largely because they don't take the effort to understand the science and think for themselves. Worse, there are entities out there that profit off of believism even as those entities know that they are harming our future. It is very frustrating because all our hard-fought science is there, screaming at us - this is what you need to help your children. And the believers are sticking their fingers in their ears, saying nyah, nyah, nyah, and continuing to do bad stuff to our kids. You can understand, I hope, that if I believe these guys are harming my children, I'm going to get mad and even, at times, uncivil.

Arthur-348233,

Kudos! You get my vote for most sensible post of the day. No make that the year. Thank you.

Another 'conspiracy' nut. Not to worry though, Glenn Beck loves ya. BTW, Beck admits he's an entertainer. What ever happened to the Beckster?

yupp ...beck...loser...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcjz8czb81s&feature=related

You must have missed the sarcasm. I'm very firmly grounded in reality.

This extremely hot weather is all Obamas fault. If his solar panel companies like Solyndra hadn't failed last year, then none of this would be happening right now.

Because they are no longer producing solar panels, this heat wave is upon us this year. Only if Solyndra was still in Business, and only if Obama had given them more money, none of this would be happening.

Like I said, this is all obamas fault.

Yup living in it here in the mid west. Benn a good week at least. It's hot, sticky and when the breeze kicks up, its hot n sticky too. Thank goodness its moving on. The lawns sound like you're walking on potato chips, the crops look really sad. The poor cattle & barn fowls are soooo hot. Our power thankfully has remained on :D

And I thought it was hot here in the mountains, which it is compared to our normal temps, but at least I don't have to try sleeping in 90+ heat and humidity. We've been getting thunderstorms in the afternoon that cool things off quite a bit. Now if only that lightning just doesn't start any more forest fires!

Yeah, because the title of the article doesn't begin: Record-Breaking Heat Bakes MIDWEST"! Not to mention, the heat wave around the entire country has been the headline for DAYS now. Your comment is completely false.

it depends where you live,its been hot on the west coast but we've had thunder storms and nice breezes which cool it off here and until the past week we have had one of the coldest summers here.

Well, I'm out here on the Left Coast and unless they're growing corn in New York City, we're getting a lot of news regarding the mid-west.

My heart goes out to you truly. I live in San Diego where our summer may actually get started next week. If the High to the east of us plays nice this will be a pleasant experience but if it decides to sit on us the way it did to you ...well you have seen the results of that. Believe me, the Midwest is getting plenty of attention along with the places in the west that are on fire. A little advice on how you have coped would be welcome.

your 100% right Dana

I thought it was mexifornia?

I highly commend people that live in the middle of the country...Under normal circumstances when I visit there I can hardly stand it, the air doesn't move its almost like there is no air, now with the heat they're having I don't know how they cope, but you have my regards and I hope relief comes soon.

I bet you live in an air conditioned compound too. Seriously. STFU.

I believe someone else posted something similar before.

I am SHOCKED, totally SHOCKED I say!

It is hot in July. Next thing you know therre will be SNOW and COLD in January

And when its snowing, and cold in january, people will be crying about "climate change" and how Rush Limbaugh is sitting in his florida compound with the heat on and by doing so is creating global warming when the summer comes back around.

LOL libs are so stupid.

Isn't CNN,MSNBC and FOX centered in New York? Maybe the networks to. Lol. I don't want to wish anything bad on the people of New York but if it does get stinky hot there, Dana could end up being right. There won't be news about anything else.

It is already HOT in the East. It has been hot for days now. All you have to do is turn on the news and they are talking about this wave of heat ALL OVER THE COUNTRY!!!

Sheesh get over yourselves, everyone is feeling it and I am praying that we all make it through. I love summer, I just am not crazy about 100+ heat waves days in a row.

We'll have to adapt to it anyway because it's painfully obvious we aren't going to do anything about it. Guess we'll get population control after all, one way or another.

Singe, thank you for putting this in such a perspective. I was getting really glum reading the deniers babbling about the wobbling axis and solar flares, but reading your post gave me the much needed shot of sarcastic humor.

I am sitting here by the open window, with the thermometer showing a pleasant 62 F in Seattle, and thinking how lucky we are here in WA state for the time being. Looking on on the rest of the country baking alive, and STILL finding people arguing against the fact that we are in the midst of a man-made, disastrous climate change that starts as a Global Warming, and who knows what Armageddon will follow - and just shaking my head in disbelief and exasperation. In a few very short years, when the temps go to 130F in Chicago, and 160 in Dallas, they'll still be pointing back to the 1930s, or 1950, or the Cambrian period, or the Jurassic period, and saying it's all happened before, nothing new here, all is good... If they are still alive, that is, and there is somebody around to hear them babble.

Two thirds of the US below average temperatures.

Another big lie. Just like saying we have a people friendly government insteadof a corporate friendly one or Mitt Romney is for the people instead of oil and corporations.

economykiller.......you post this stuff all the time. You don't seem to understand that Global Warming does not ONLY mean HOT temperatures. It also means wild swings in all weather.....Colder than normal, Wetter than normal, Drier than normal, More Tornadoes than normal, More violent storms and more frequent. The whole spectrum of weather. Not just how HOT it is or how cool it is.

Ice cores tell scientists what has been going on for thousands of years. Ice doesn't lie. It's all the PROOF most people need.

It's your right to believe Global Warming is a lie. Your entitled to your own opinion. Just because it's wrong doesn't matter.

But what is "normal"? What you are probably referring to are yearly averages. How are those averages computed; 10-year, 100-year? If the climate is constantly changing then how can there be anything called "normal". I think that people are highly mistaken if they believe that the climate should be "normal" year in and year out and if it is not "normal" then something is wrong or we are causing it.

Corn Fed, you are one funny hoaxter. Let's review: If it is hotter than normal, it must be global warming. If it is colder than normal, it must be global warming. If it is wet or dry, it must be global warming. Too many hurricanes, global warming. Five years with few hurricanes, it must be global warming. Can you begin to grasp the stupidity of the the global warming crowd?

With lies like these, who needs facts and research? Suggest you read the kids book " The emperor's new clothes" . You might begin to grasp the irony. You might also want to grab a statistics book as long as you are at the library.

Yes it is hot. Funny we have to go back to the 1930s and 1890s to look for records to break. Long before SUVs and Al Gore.

This winter it will be cold. Betcha you will blame global warming.

Please see my post under thread one. The theory of global warming is not based on temperature data. You might be surprised to discover that chemists recognize that changes in CO2 would cause global warming as early as the 1890s (Arrhenius). It is not really difficult science. I'll try one more time here. Stand in front of a fire, and you feel heat. Shade your face with your hands, and the heat decreases. That is call thermal radiation, and it consists of photons emitted as electrons in the hot fire cool a little bit (conservation of energy is such that something must cool if the photons fly away).

CO2 and other greenhouse gases prevent the photons from leaving the earth. That's why at night on the moon, the temperature drops rapidly to more than a hundred below zero, while on earth we stay relatively warm at night. (That's also why the desert, with less water in the air, cools fast at night.)

So if we increase CO2 (as we have, from 290 ppm to 390 ppm), we must trap more heat energy in the atmosphere. This is not exotic theory. This is measured fact. We have even measured the photons leaving earth with satellites. This is proven. Fewer photons leave the earth at night due to mankind's impact.

However, GHGs do not impact incoming solar radiation (which have much higher frequencies and slip through). So the net impact is that we receive the same energy as always, but we lose less energy at night. We've upset the balance from what it has been for all of recorded history. This we know will warm the earth. We got good, as early as the late 1970s, in predicting how fast the earth will warm, and we've been pretty true to those predictions ever since, proving that the science is correct. One thing we did wrong is that we failed to see how much energy would go into ice melt (more did than we expected; go to Alaska and you can see the rapid and unexpected ice melt in retreating or disappearing glaciers). But the basic theory is based on the mechanism that fewer photons leave the earth. That basic theory is never addressed by the smart deniers (those who know that they are not telling the full story) and is, unfortunately, apparently beyond the grasp of the dumb deniers.

Gary 420

You need to go stick your head back in the sand and watch your a$$ get burned. 4/5ths of the planet know it's happening and your still in denial. You sound like an alcoholic that can't recognize they've got a problem.

Repeat after me: Gary 420 is a dumb denier.

This winter it will be cold. Betcha you will blame global warming.

Stop using the term Global warming and replace that with Climate Change. Then it might make sense to you. 9 of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 2000. But ignore that. The idea that a warming trend means no snow or cold temperatures is just wrong headed. A few degrees rise in average temperature can mean disaster.

You were warned this would happen several decades ago but those like yourself put your head in the sand. We pump 40 million tons of pollutants into the air daily but in your mind that has no effect. Maybe we do not know if this is cyclical (because the data is incomplete) or just a bad pattern but America is going to suffer for fools like yourself regardless. You wrote hundreds of words there but managed to say absolutely nothing of worth.

And the worst part is that if the GOP takes control in November we may see a similar occurrence to what once occurred in the Middle East. That being scientific and intellectual regression. And of course this is almost always driven by religious fervor. Then we will really be in trouble.

Ignore the scientists. Mock them if you like but that still changes nothing. They know far more about this than yourself.

More and more (real) scientists are becoming skeptical of this theory. Perhaps you true believers could provide data and facts instead of hurl insults like first graders do.

Gary,

Hate to break this to you, but at this moment all weather on earth is happening within the parameters of global warming.

Wally,

Really stupid or maybe just malinformed post you just made. How many "real" scientists do you personally know?

Ok Wally etc,

I'm sorry to call you and your pals "dumb deniers". Hmmm, what term to use...

"T" is for temperature and...

You guys like to Party, lets say "T Partiers".

I'm afraid that "Scientist..." and his example is a little too abstract for you Party Boys.

Heres an example a little closer to home for you Party Boys...

Hope you have a smart phone with you. Take your Escalade and roll down all the windows.

I'm assuming a day of about 96 to 104 outside. Drive out and park in a nice sunny spot.

Play with your phone for about an hour and then hit the temp app and notice the temperature.

This represents the world about the time you were born.

Now roll up all the windows and sit there for another hour. This is the 2012 world.

Do you feel better or worse?

Check the temp app again. Like it or deny it, THATS CLIMATE CHANGE!

Voxatonis,

Climate change is a redundant term because CLIMATE IS ALWAYS CHANGING!!! It always has and it always will. It is either getting warmer or it is getting cooler. It is getting drier or it is getting wetter.

Drive out to West and take a look at the fossils of fish skeletons imprinted in the rocks. Guess we had some pretty big climate change thousands of years ago.

MSNBCers, learn some math, learn some statistics, learn some science, learn some perspective. You libtards see the world as the last 80 years. The truly intelligent see the world as billions of years old going through yet another cycle.

If you will excuse me, I am going to turn up my air conditioner, eat meat for lunch, and drive around in my SUV.

Wally-1853299

More and more (real) scientists are becoming skeptical of this theory. Perhaps you true believers could provide data and facts instead of hurl insults like first graders do.

Better yet why don't you provide a list of the legitimate scientists to whom you refer? Because the overwhelming majority of scientists are certainly not changing their minds. Rather seeing confirmation of their theories. And it isn't one theory of course but multiple theories at play. No one claims to know the exact future and there are so many variables that a certain view will never likely occur. This is the weather after all. Something we do not have a complete history of on this planet.

Wally - ...and who funds these "scientists"?

- Mercatus Center ($9.2 million) a George Mason University think tank. Charles Koch sits on the board.

- Americans for Prosperity Foundation ($5.2 million) a DC non-profit "aimed to educate and mobilize citizens on behalf of 'limited government and free markets." (Koch brothers)

- The Heritage Foundation ($1.62 million) Well-known conservative think tank. (Koch brothers)

- Cato Institute ($1.03 million) Another well-known conservative think-tank. (Koch brothers)

All funded directly or indirectly by the Koch brothers, who contribute more than twice as much money to climate change deniers and corporately sponsored "scientists" as Exon-Mobile.

Any questions?

"When they show you who they are...believe them!"

OK Global warming people. EXACTLY what are YOU going to do about the change???? Some of you talk of threats to "However, deniers are threatening the prosperity of America and the happiness of my kids and grandkids (and they'll make my food costs go up this year)." I got news for you SCIENTISTX your food costs already went up the past three years and it is not global warming that did it, it is the people in charge that did it. If you do not see the real threat is them then there is not much else I can say.

So you all really think leaving it up the elite who will never cut down on their travel and fossil fuel use is a good idea? You ant tyranny then leave it up to the few to decide your fate. They are no better than you or I but they feel they are worthy of imposing their beliefs and will on you no matter what it will cost the AVERAGE person.

WTF does this have to do with Republicans ? You must be an Obama Bucks Receipient.

Your stories are so far fetched Bill, that they can be looked upon as fiction, hence you're not worth reading or listening to.

Republicans move to Mars? Thought you knew that's where they all came from. After cooking away that planet's atmosphere they hopped over here. Of course after cooking this planet the next hop is more suited to them. Sulfur and brimstone, 700 degree atmosphere. Just what they deserve. Rest of us will have to explore re-incarnating to a better corner of the universe.

And the Polar Ice Sheets melting like NEVER before ( according to ice cores ) mean nothing ? Enjoy your meaningless high temp. records.

Actually they expanded last year....look it up. Crab fisherman never saw so much ice and so far south.

Wally,

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/07/01/508782/greenland-ice-sheet-melt-nearing-critical-tipping-point/?mobile=nc

And the shotgun blast putting holes throughout your argument is the following: http://www.skepticalscience.com/antarctica-gaining-ice.htm

Of course neither one states what you are "feeling", but that is the problem with people who reason with their emotions.

Good response to Corn-Fed-Up

I don't have an "agenda". Jimmy Crack Corn.......

That is the political side to this. The facts and science are one thing, and let me assure you, almost everyone who bases their science on facts agrees that global warming is occurring. But with politics, we enter into a no-fact zone. Please note: we see argued here not that warming is natural and repetitive, but that warming is not occurring at all!

This is one of the more disproven denier arguments (deniers also argue that the warming trend is real, yeah, I guess so, but it is caused by magic, or a hotter sun, or something else). Let me assure you guys - warming is occurring. It is not so much the peaks and the dramatic events, it is the slow ineluctable increase in average temperature, and decrease in ice volume, and increase in sea level, and changes in rainfall, and changes in eco-systems that proves it. Even the worst of the smart deniers have given up trying to prove that warming is not occurring at all. You are approximately 10 or 20 years behind in your anti-science dogma.

Are you using air conditioning to stay cool ? The power used to run that probably came from a dirty coal or oil fired power plant. Hypocrites !

stop confusing us with facts and science.

It's the humidty that makes it feel hotter in the east. It feels alot different when it is dry like Arizona.

What did people do before everyone had an air conditioner?

They suffered.

Are you advocating that we return to those days?

If true, it is already too late. Sorry about your progeny.

Nice generalizations, but completely wrong. Here's a clue regarding climate models: garbage in - garbage out! 80 or 100 years of temperature records does not make for a good sample!

herehere-3491708

Nice generalizations, but completely wrong. Here's a clue regarding climate models: garbage in - garbage out! 80 or 100 years of temperature records does not make for a good sample!

How would ice cores covering a 420,000-year period do? Garbage in-garbage out all right...political garbage courtesy of Koch Industries.