Hotter days: does our planet have a fever?

Solar flare composite image by NASA / JAXA

The world did not end in 2012. There was no magnetic pole reversal or solar flare catastrophe. But for one country at least, 2012 was a marked year of solar intensity and extreme weather. The United States (excluding Hawaii and Alaska) experienced its warmest year, by far, in 2012 since records began 118 years ago says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA). NOAA scientists also say the new record significantly sets itself apart from the rest of the data, breaking the last record set in 1998 by a full degree versus the much more typical fractions of a degree. Higher temperatures translate to extreme weather as both record years are also tagged as the United States’ two most extreme weather years.

Winds of change: my doomsday story

It’s January 2013 and I still report to my desk job the same as usual instead of somewhere underground sheltered from nuclear fallout or solar flares or other fantastic cataclysm (not that I have such an underground shelter to go to). December 21, 2012 came and went and the biggest headliner was about a looming fiscal cliff.

The meaning of the Hunger Games

Book cover, 1st edition of The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

Everyone is abuzz about the Hunger Games after apparently all going to the theatres to watch it this past weekend. The movie raked in $152 million domestically in its debut, indicating an appeal on par with that of ‘Harry Potter’, and claiming the number 3 spot on box-office charts.

A friend of mine mentioned he was planning to see the flick on its opening night. Having vaguely heard of the Hunger Games, and still relatively in the dark about the phenomenon, I asked what the movie was about. He said, “It’s about a bunch kids who go in the jungle and fight to the death.”

Severe floods in Louisana, record warm temps in Chicago

It’s a little late in the season for winter floods and a little early in the season for spring/summer temperatures. And yet, here we are in mid-March of 2012 experiencing both. Chicago is at sunny, near record-high temperatures in the upper 70s, while parts of Louisiana is dealing with the aftermath of a 15 to 20 inch deluge of rain.

(c) Louisiana State Police

Together, the occurrences speak of a new balance, albeit a more disruptive one. Like the more disruptive highs and lows of mood swings, this unusual weather is hard to live with. And it signifies that something is amiss.