Record high and low temperature records are of particular interest due to the major impacts they have on society and the environment. Bruce Hall has completed an analysis of record temperatures on his website Hall of Record that is a very valuable resource for this climate metric.

Al Gore’s feature documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” has given the global warming issue considerable public exposure since its premiere 15 months ago. Global warming’s image as a “cause celeb” may have been secured when Gore accepted an Academy Award for his film last month before an adulatory crowd. Have Gore’s and Hollywood’s association with global warming done anything for the cause?

Joan Feynman of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California in an article published in the Journal of Geophysical Research noted that “Since the time of the pharaohs, the water levels of the Nile were accurately measured, since they were critically important for agriculture and the preservation of temples in Egypt,” she said. “These records are highly accurate and were obtained directly, making them a rare and unique resource for climatologists to peer back in time.” The researchers found some clear links between the sun’s activity and climate variations.

Proponents of the catastrophic effects of global warming on the Earth’s climate often point (somewhat contradictorily) to either heat-related clear-sky drought or evidence of increased heavy rains when discussing global warming. 

The number of households facing a choice between heating and eating has almost doubled in the past two years.