New global temperature data are packed with alarming signs of a world in crisis

(CU)_Back in 1988, NASA researcher James Hansen stood before the US Congress and declared the undeniable scientific truth: “The greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now.” Although he made this statement following the hottest 12-month period scientists had ever seen, it was a time when global temperatures were about 0.6°C above the preindustrial average, and the planet will never experience a year that cool again.

Last year, global temperatures were between…