Where is Our Summer Weather?

I'm sitting here on another cloudy morning, the last day in July. By now I have usually been to the beach a dozen times, boogie boarding or just enjoying the sun. To date I have have been boogie boarding twice, and the water has been so cold I had to wear a wetsuit! What's happening? I heard that this was the coolest July in 77 years. But go back east and it's hot, hot, hot. I just returned from Colorado, known for hot dry, summers, but 101 degrees, that's ridiculous. So the east and middle states swelter, and we're still wearing a sweater. I tried to find out WHY this is happening and all my research cited global warming.

I looked at www.climatechange.ca.gov and found lots of research, statistics and forecasts for the future. What I got did not explain why part of the country is so hot and the westcoast is so cool, but it did give me some good information. California is responsible for producing 1.4% of all the greenhouse gasses in the world. That's pretty significant, so we must be part of the solution. Legislation over the past 10 years has definitely moved toward positive change, but change is so slow. Changing car emissions and factory emissions is necessary, but why make change so slow? Some of the reductions in greenhouse gasses are not mandatory for 10 years!!!

Global average temperatures increased over the past 100 years by about 1.1 degrees F. There is at least a 90% chance that the 1990's was the warmest decade for the planet since 1861 and the beginning of instrumental records. There is strong evidence that most of the warming observed fover the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. Each of the last nine years has earned a spot in the rankings of the 25 warmest years on record.

Rising temperatures will potentially effect California water and forest resources. Warming would raise the elevation of snow levels with reduced spring snowmelt and more winter runoff. Added winter runoff is generally not storable because of flood control needs. Climate change in CAlifornia will result in a higher frequency of large damaging fires. Regional climates that are hotter and drier will result in increased pest and insect epidemic within California's forests. Finally, less fog in the northern part of the state has adversely effect the forests, due to less moisture and humidity.

The answer is not clear or easy, but it seems obvious to me that we should be doing everything humanly possible to convert to electric energy for our cars. If we did nothing more, this would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 33%, according to the EPA. I'm looking forward to the acceptance of several new electric energy cars that will be out this year.

If you haven't already seen it, I urge you to rent the movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" and see how what the government and big business did to the electric car in the 1990's cost of 15 years of development. Just another example of how it's all about money. See the movie and you'll know exactly what I mean.

So back to my original question, why are we having such a cool summer, cool ocean temperatures, while the rest of the country is sweltering? If you have an answer, please let me know. I'm thinking that August and September may be scorchers. We'll see.