January - July 2006 Warmest Ever Recorded In California

[hatrack]

The first seven months of 2006 were the warmest start to a year in California since climate record-keeping began in 1895, according to a report released Thursday by Environment California in a press conference on the steps of City Hall.

Scorching temperatures in July, particularly strings of hot nights, were almost certainly related in part to the continuing buildup of heat-trapping smokestack and tailpipe gases linked to global warming, stated the report, which cites scientists from the National Climatic Data Center.

During the press conference, leaders of the group read a statement by Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, who has written legislation that would curb greenhouse gases in California. The bill is awaiting action by the governor.

In Santa Cruz, the legislation was a top priority for more than a dozen canvassers working for Environment California, the new environmental wing of California's Public Interest Research Group. Having knocked on 28,000 doors since May, the group sent thousands of signatures to Sacramento in support of Laird's bill, called the Global Warming Solutions Act.

EDIT

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/September/15/local/stories/09local.htm