The Gaurdian is reporting the melting of an extensive region of Siberian permafrost:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1546824,00.html

As the article points out, this is bad news, not only because it's an indication of warming, but because the permafrost is a reservoir of greenhouse gases which are likely to be released into the atmosphere, exacerbating the problem.

Alan Moore

Summers in Europe's cities getting hotter -- WWF
By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

OSLO (Reuters) - Summers in European cities have grown up to 2.2 Celsius (4.0 Fahrenheit) hotter since the 1970s and global warming may cause ever more sweltering temperatures, the WWF conservation group said on Thursday.

The rises, above U.N. estimates for average world temperature gains, could further strain health services in Europe's cities, a WWF report said. A heat wave in 2003 was blamed for killing 40,000 people, mostly in Italy and France.

The WWF survey of 16 capitals from Stockholm to Rome showed average temperature rises of at least 1.0C in all cities except Dublin (0.7C), Helsinki (0.8) and Copenhagen (0.2) in summer months of 2001-04 compared with 1970-74.

At the top of the range, average temperatures in Madrid had risen by 2.2C to a 24-hour average of 23.7C, London and Luxembourg were 2.0C hotter, with Athens and Lisbon trailing with gains of 1.9C.

"There has been a very significant increase in the average temperatures during summer for most of the cities," said Imogen Zethoven, head of the WWF's PowerSwitch campaign that encourages a shift to renewable energies.

The WWF said temperature rises could only be partly explained by "heat islands" caused by growing urban populations.

A build-up of heat-trapping gases from fossil fuels burned in power plants, cars and factories was more likely a main cause but the exact reasons were unclear, Zethoven said.

VICIOUS CIRCLE

"The outlook for cities is grim," she told Reuters. "Global warming means this trend will keep on and there may be a vicious circle."

Wider use of air-conditioning, for instance, might help curb health risks but would raise demand for electricity -- much of it generated from fossil fuels. - Reuters.com


For more 'discussion' on global warming, see this thread on AnswerPool.

And???

I'm sorry if that appears jaded, but for years now people have been begging and pleading for real action, and all along there is the foot dragging and plain stupidity going on. (Read: Politics)

Though this "domino effect" has been theroized for years, nobody appears to care - at least not enough people care. When the Stuff hits the fan are they going to do something then?

Vicious Circle, Domino Effect, chain reaction, what ever you want to call it, it is a system out of balance and falling apart at the seams.

We need to drastically change things NOW - not these minor Kyoto long term not all nations signed agreements. We need to do some serious retooling of nearly every aspect of our civilization and we need to start about 20 years ago.

I think the Tipping Point should be translated to "The Point of No Return". This is a very serious sign that we have passed into the deep waters and going up the creek without a paddle.