"So what on Earth is going on?"

This is the "obligatory" post on the One's winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Huh? What were they thinking?

Ok. On to another topic.

The BBC reports in "What happened to global warming?" that there indeed was no significant warming for the past 11 years, and that the hottest year in recent years was 1998. This even as the level of supposedly "deadly to the environment" carbon dioxide has increased in the last several years. She asks: "So what on Earth is going on?"

This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.

But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.

And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.

So what on Earth is going on?

Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming.

They argue that there are natural cycles, over which we have no control, that dictate how warm the planet is. But what is the evidence for this?

Oh, by the way, the One promised (again) that he will do away with the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in the military, as well as the Defense of Marriage Act. Spurned on by a crowd with Lady Gaga. Already his allies in Congress have passed "a hate crimes legislation attached to a military spending bill," which "critics have argued its provisions create “special rights” based on sexual behavior and could threaten religious freedom."