Cold Summer, Hot Winter

It's been a coolish summer in much of North America, though, alas, here in Texas, not so much. And while a swath of Texas has been flirting with records for hottest and driest summer, and while Texas is big, it's smaller than the area experiencing unusually cool weather up north. But North America is not, despite appearances, the universe.

Australia has experienced an extraordinarily hot winter. Here's the big picture, from Barry Brook's Brave New Climate blog.



Note the size of that swath of record seasonal warmth. That's not just unusual. That's unusually unusual. (Australia is about the same size as the mainland US, or "lower 48" as the Alaskans would prefer.)

There's much more at Brave New Climate. Check it out, and put that in the hopper, if you'd be so kind.