Today the temperature here in the Puget Sound region will hit triple digits--for the first time ever.
The relatives who encouraged us to move out here said that the weather is usually mild: chilly but not freezing winters, damp and cool springs and falls, and warm, sunny but not sweltering summers.
That hasn't been the case this year, when we experienced one of the worst blizzards in the area in years, and now one of--scratch that-THE hottest summer ever.
I happen to believe in human-caused climate change, although I'm not a scientist and can't make a case for it scientifically (that's not to say a scientific case can't be made, just that I'm not the person to do it!). But it seems obvious to me that humans can have a negative impact on the environment, in everything from pollution to overfishing to destroying natural habitats for development.
Also, from what I've read, climate change will create more extreme weather conditions everywhere. Contrary to those who point to really cold winter days as "proof" that global warming is a sham, it makes sense that global warming would cause both warmer and cooler weather in different places and seasons: warmer because things are heating up overall; colder, because as Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets melt, they dump freezing cold water into the oceans.
That's not to say that the extreme weather we've had in the Puget Sound this year is due to climate change. It might be, but I'll leave that to the scientists to determine.
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