Anecdotal evidence isn’t conclusive. But its lack of conclusiveness doesn’t prove its opposite. Far from it. Anecdotal evidence is still evidence. It becomes more convincing as it aligns with other facts.
That’s on my mind here in northern California, where the drought enters its third year, the Sierra snowpack is 27% of normal, and temperatures are 20 degrees above average. Meanwhile, the East Coast sets record snow accumulation records and is 30 degrees below normal. The temperature difference between here and there is 80 degrees.
I fold these observations into the following facts: 2014 is the warmest year on record. Nine of the top ten warmest years on record have occurred since 2000. The tenth was 1998.
The ocean is warming. Lobsters off the coast of Maine are migrating northward to cooler waters. A few months ago, at the beach in Point Reyes, we saw porpoises that normally inhabit waters near Baja California.
The ice cap is losing its mass and area. The glaciers are shrinking. The jet stream is getting wavier and slower.
The world is whispering to us that something is definitely up, and we might want to keep it from getting out of hand.
What can we do at a planetary scale?
We can harness the economy. It’s simple, and elegant. Here’s a great little illustration of how that can work from Citizens’ Climate Lobby.