Climate change is now

Summer is here, and in many places people are feeling the heat. But a Stanford study says it will get worse. The study says that in the near future, in many places, the coolest summers will be hotter than the hottest summers of the past. They have created an interesting video of a computer simulation showing where those superhot areas are. Also, two interesting little articles this week highlight how global warming is not something that is happening in the future–it’s happening right now in measurable ways. One study shows that Mount Ranier has lost one-seventh of it’s ice and snow since 1970. Another study shows that the density of forests worldwide is increasing, sopping up at least some of the extra CO2 we are pumping into the atmostphere. What the release doesn’t say, but what I imagine might be happening, is that the density is increasing because of what could be thought of as the positive effects of climate change: more plant growth because there is more CO2 in the atmosphere.