It's not your imagination. It's carbon dioxide.

This entire summer has been a litany of catastrophic weather: punishing heat in the south and eastern areas of North America, storms and hurricanes, floods throughout the Midwest. And even though climate change deniers are still at work, even they have modified their message some. These days, they say, "Okay, yes, the planet is getting warmer. And it's heating up because of human activity. And it's carbon dioxide. But the results won't be as bad as those warning against climate change say they will be."

So, are the so-called "hundred year floods" in Ohio and Indiana and Wisconsin, and the storms hammering Illinois "not as bad" as people say? And if, as the deniers would have it, they're "not as bad," what's it going to be like when they really get bad?

Last year was one of the hottest years ever. And greenhouse gases are the reason. Don't take our word for it. Take the word of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) via the Associated Press.