It's Getting Hot in Here

Average temperature is slowly but steadily increasing at a rate of around 1.4º F each year. This is causing more extreme weather patterns, and the range of temperatures that cities experience is getting larger every year. Records for highest average monthly temperatures are routinely being broken all over the U.S., indicating that our climate is becoming both warmer overall and more extreme.

A couple of degrees of increase might not seem like a lot, but consider that over the last 400,000 years, the Earth’s average climate has oscillated within about 10º Celsius. Problem is, the Earth is approaching the peak of this range, with no sign in sight of stopping. Also, this global warming has occurred much faster than previously. 2º C of change will increase sea levels by 20 ft, putting New York City, Boston, and Sacramento under water. Since many dense urban centers are coastal, the number of people displaced would be in the hundreds of millions.