Michael Le Page, biology features editor "Snow chaos: and still
they claim it's global warming." "Snowmageddon delivers another
blow to global warming." "The mini ice age starts here." A few
months ago, these were the kind of headlines that were appearing
in newspapers and blogs. After very cold winter weather in many
parts of the northern hemisphere, the notion of global warming
was ripe for mockery. The family of senator Jim Inhofe - who
called global warming "a hoax", built an igloo in Washington DC,
with a sign saying "Al Gore's new home". And now? The winter
weather has given way to a series of extraordinary heatwaves.
According to meteorologist Jeff Masters, nine countries have
recorded their hottest ever temperatures this year, from the
53.5 °C recorded on 26 May in Pakistan to the 44 °C recorded in
Russia on 11 July. If these records are officially confirmed, it
will mean more national heat records been set in one year than
ever before. So should "global warmists" be crowing about how
this record-brea