71 months and counting … | Andrew Simms | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Roughly, when this blog counts down to zero, the odds of getting "locked-in" to crossing the global warming danger line of temperatures rising by 2C becomes worse than 50/50. Not a number so large that only a savant could imagine it, but something more likely than coming up "heads" on the toss of a coin. With odds like that you might expect a flurry of activity, a rush to save energy, a great crushing of urban 4x4s, a drive to change the nations infrastructure.

Why even skeptics should tackle climate change - CNN

I recently returned to Amsterdam from the latest round of U.N. climate talks in Cancun, Mexico, and found this city of canals covered in snow. It was a beautiful sight. Yet rather than filling me with joy, it caused me concern.

Over the past few years, climate-change skeptics have repeatedly used cold snaps as proof that our planet is not heating up.

AD: ‘A Step-Change in Earth’s Climate Outlooks?‘ by Dennis T. Avery , 1/1/11

“The key question is,” says British Transport Minister Philip Hammond, “if there was a ‘step change’ in the UK weather, what would it look like? The answer is, of course, it would look like what we have seen in recent years. Hence there is no logical case to say there hasn’t been a step change.”

Little Green Footballs - Fox News Stokes the Climate Change Denial Machine

Lott is trying to denigrate the reliability of climate science, a typical denier’s tactic; but the real lesson of his list of “botched forecasts” is that climate predictions are becoming increasingly accurate as scientific knowledge increases, and techniques and models are refined.

Ambulance crews hit by freak rise in 999 callouts (From The Northern Echo)

A spokesman for NEAS said some of the spike in demand can be attributed to an increase in patients reporting respiratory problems, along with slips, trips and falls due to the recent cold weather.