UPDATE Global Warming

from CNN

It has been 2,000 years and possibly much longer since the Earth's temperature has been this high. The National Academy of Sciences reported that the recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.

A panel of top climate scientists said that Earth is heating up and that human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming. The report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century.

Other new research showed that global warming produced about half of the extra hurricane-fueled warmth in the North Atlantic in 2005, and natural cycles were a minor factor.