Website design By BotEap.comThe temperature is a bit warm.

Website design By BotEap.comThe forecast for this day in early August 2012 called for 111 degrees in Fresno/Clovis, California. where I live. That’s relatively common in this region, where 40 or more days above 100 is common for summer. But it looks like more of the United States will get similar treatment.

Website design By BotEap.comThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Climatic Data Center says July was the hottest month in recorded history.

Website design By BotEap.comIn fact, its State of the Weather report says that January through July were the first seven warmest months of any year on record in the contiguous United States. The national temperature of 56.4 degrees was 4.3 degrees above the long-term average, with only the Pacific Northwest, which was close to the average, bucking the trend.

Website design By BotEap.comAnd of course Alaska is a little cooler. My friend Steve likes to post facts about his runs in Anchorage’s picturesque Kincaid Park. The last one was 55 degrees. Suffocating.

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Website design By BotEap.comThis temperature issue is more than fodder for oblique climate discussions. The ramifications are enormous and most scientists predict dire consequences if the trend is not reversed.

Website design By BotEap.comAuthor and climate activist Bill McKibben explains the scenario in stark terms. In an article for Rolling Stone, which has some of the best investigative journalism in the country, he highlights three numbers to watch.

Website design By BotEap.comThe first is 2 degrees Celsius, which refers to the window the world has before succumbing to the significant effects of climate change. The second is 563 gigatons of carbon dioxide, which refers to the amount of climate-warming pollutants that can be released before we hit that two-degree threshold.

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Website design By BotEap.comMcKibben’s third number, and perhaps the most important, is 2,795 gigatons of carbon dioxide. That’s the amount of carbon locked up in all known reserves of oil and coal. If those reserves are exploited and the fossil fuels burned, we will be well on our way to universal environmental destruction.

Website design By BotEap.comThe cost would be astronomical, the devastation unprecedented.

Website design By BotEap.comThe way to deal with this seems obvious. Or relatively. Fossil fuels stand out as the most expensive fuel on the planet. But society would rather kick the can to the next generation.

Website design By BotEap.comWho is the bad guy?

Website design By BotEap.comBoosting fossil fuels

Website design By BotEap.comMcKibben says it’s obvious: the bad guys are the coal and oil executives.

Website design By BotEap.com“Climate change operates on a geological scale and time frame, but it’s not an impersonal force of nature; the more carefully you do the math, the more you realize that it’s ultimately a moral issue.” We have met the enemy.” and they are Shell,” he says.

Website design By BotEap.comUnfortunately, the oil companies are in the enviable position of having more money than their critics. Although BP reported a loss of $2.2 billion for the second quarter of 2012, it is still doing well. That compares with net profit of $5.7 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Website design By BotEap.comThe Associated Press reports that BP’s revenue for the quarter fell 9 percent and the company set aside another $847 million for the Gulf of Mexico oil rig disaster and cleanup, “bringing the total provision to just over $ 38 billion.”

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Website design By BotEap.comIt is not a problem. BP can afford it. In fact, he has created an advertising campaign that portrays the company in such beneficial terms that its past fades into a state of distant memory. Says Hamilton Nolan of gawker.com: “Remember how BP’s relentless pursuit of profit at the expense of safety caused the Gulf of Mexico to be flooded with oil a little while ago? No. I don’t. Do you? Hmm. What I do remember is BP’s absolutely incredible Olympic spirit.”

Website design By BotEap.comOn the earnings side, Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon Mobil fared better: Shell posted second-quarter profit of $5.7 billion, down 13 percent from the same period a year earlier, and Exxon showed $ 8.4 billion, down 22 percent, according to the New York Times. Reporter Clifford Krauss quotes Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson as saying, “Despite global economic uncertainty, we continue to invest throughout the business cycle, taking a long-term view of resource development.”

Website design By BotEap.comTalking like that drives McKibben crazy. “There is not a more reckless man on the planet,” he says of Tillerson. He adds that Tillerson told Wall Street analysts that he plans to spend $37 billion a year on exploration through 2016.

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Website design By BotEap.comThe problem is that the oil companies have the future of the planet in their hands, and as long as they continue to make lots of money, they will not stop extracting, refining and burning as much of their fossil fuel reserves as possible. McKibben says the only way to deal with this is to tax carbon, making alternative energy cheaper.

Website design By BotEap.comOf course, alternative energy is already struggling to reach parity with fossil fuels. But I could use a boost.

Website design By BotEap.comIn the meantime, McKibben says the best recourse is moral outrage for those who would like to stop this messy drive toward global warming. Enemy #1 isn’t Jimmy Cagney, or Snidely Whiplash (both personal favorites). It’s a bunch of rich executives ruining the world for a few more dollars.