As if any further proof was needed that climate change is under way, as North America broils in brutal heat, South America is experiencing one of its coldest winters on record.

When researchers studied core sediments from a shallow boreal lake, they found that storm activity has increased substantially over the past 150 years. This rise in storm frequency appears to be linked to solar activity, but also may be linked to higher global temperatures resulting from increased amounts of greenhouse gases.

Other research indicates that routine weather events such as rain and cooler-than-average days can add up to an annual economic impact of as much as $485 billion in the United States. Some areas of the southern United States are suffering from the longest dry spell since 1887 and a new study shows that could prove problematic for aquatic organisms. Drought conditions make some chemicals in the environment more toxic to fish and other aquatic life.

Geoscientist Sonja Hausmann says, "We don’t really know if it is solar activity or if it is greenhouse gases because what we found correlates with both."

In 1998, Whitley Strieber had never heard of climate change, but the Master of the Key burst into his hotel room in Toronto and told him all about it.

Image Credits:
News Source:
Dreamland Video podcast
To watch the FREE video version on YouTube, click here.

Subscribers, to watch the subscriber version of the video, first log in then click on Dreamland Subscriber-Only Video Podcast link.