Weather watch: Drill, baby, drill!

Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it - attributed to Mark Twain (1835–1910)

Just last week Gustav slammed the Gulf coast - luckily, we dodged a Katrina. This morning, I heard that other named storms like Hanna (heading fast for the Carolinas), Ike (a category 3 storm) and Josephine are coming up fast from the mid Atlantic. A new study finds that the strongest of hurricanes and typhoons have become even stronger over the last two and a half decades. Today, the Canadian Ice Service has declared as navigable the northerly, deep-water route of the Northwest Passage. It is only the second time in recorded history -- and the second year in a row -- the corridor opened enough to let regular ships safely through the Arctic Ocean. Last week, a chunk of ice nearly the size of Manhattan broke away from Ellesmere Island in Canada.

Admist all of this din, one hears a steady drumbeat of Drill, baby, drill! And drill now! - for more oil. We have been hearing it almost daily from both campaigns. It sure is confusing, but it is clear that climate warming is a real and present danger, regardless of what people might say... and more drilling is definitely not going to help.