Think it's bad now?

It's probably going to get worse a couple of years from now. Even with heatwaves killing people in Europe, snow in South Africa and South America, floods out west and the eastern half of North America baking and broiling under a record-setting temperatures, things are heating up.

Climate scientists say that 2009 will mark a tipping point and the start of acceleration in global warming.


One of the more interesting aspects of this story about forecasting temperatures over the next decade is the forecasters' methodology. They checked their accuracy by also doing "hindcasts," looking at what they thought would happen in the past, then collating that with what actually occurred. And they discovered a pretty good record of accuracy.