European winter the warmest since the year 1289

NewScientist.com is reporting that Europe's autumn-winter season last year was the continent's warmest in 700 years:

The last time Europeans saw similar temperatures to the autumn andwinter of 2006-07, they were eating strawberries at Christmas in 1289,according to Jürg Luterbacher at the University of Bern, Switzerland,and colleagues.

Still though, studies like this one do not stop so-called pundits such as The Village News from calling global warming "phony."

Maybe the conservative activists that choose to ignore the overwhelming majority of scientists should consider the worldwide economic impacts that temperature change will have.  Due to global warming, countries that rely so heavily on tourism -- Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain in particular -- could lose a chunk of the $100 million that they attract annually.

Also, 84% of businesses in the Bay Area support the California Global Warming Solutions Act, a bill that if passed would require the state to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the year 2020.  Although the law passed last year with the support of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California needs a federal waiver in order to enforce it.  The EPA will make a decision by the end of the year.  But the very idea that a Republican governor would agree to take action illustrates how many of our leaders are beginning to grow up and face the scientific consensus.