The 2000s were the warmest decade on record.

The 2000-2009 decade was the warmest on record, easily surpassing the previous hottest decade — the 1990s — researchers said Tuesday in a report providing fresh evidence that the planet may be warming at a potentially disastrous rate.

In 2009, global surface temperatures were 1.01 degree above average, which tied the year for the fifth warmest year on record, the National Climatic Data Center said.  And that helped push the 2000-2009 decade to 0.96 degree above normal, which the agency said “shattered” the 1990s record value of 0.65 degree above normal.

The warmest year on record was 2005 at 1.11 degrees above normal.

The findings follow years of gradually rising global temperatures which atmospheric scientists attribute to the warming effect of gases released into the air by human activities, including burning fossil fuels.

Balance is incredibly important for earth’s ecosystems because they have been found to be extremely sensitive to even the slightest changes.  This super-sensitivity causes both expected and unexpected reactions.  Climate scientist James Hansen has been saying this for years: Our weather is out of balance, the warming climate is out of balance, and life on earth is getting out of balance as a result.

Everyone should be concerned about this from an environmental standpoint; and anyone who cares about the economy and jobs should be very concerned about climate change.  Sudden climate disasters that get the public’s attention, which may occur either before or after tipping points are reached,  could have a devastating effect on world economies.  The situation may require sudden changes in energy sources, which we are not ready for at this point.  Our economy is based in large part on our energy sources, especially fossil fuels.   Ultimately, climate change will affect every aspect of our economy, from consumerism to energy to the insurance industry (especially the insurance industry).

Recently,  businesses and government have noticed that climate change is going to be bad for the economy and bad for business and bad for our national security — and the national security of every country on earth, for that matter.   It’s notable that even major financial publications are worried about climate change.   Business and government know climate change is going to drastically change the world. Why don’t our media and politicians know this and act upon it?  The article below is from a major financial publication, the Financial Times:

World Weather Shifts off Balance

Trains, planes and cars halted by snow and ice. Gas and electricity supplies rationed. Sensitive crops ruined. Boats frozen into waterways. . . .

For weeks, images of the coldest weather for decades have filled the media across Europe, Asia and North America.

But there is an alternative weather story. In much of the Canadian Arctic – and across north Africa and the Middle East – temperatures have been 10°C above the midwinter average. The southern hemisphere is experiencing some extreme [...]