The collective answer of the scientific community can be boiled down to a single word: probably.

“The climate is changing,” said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. “Extreme events are occurring with greater frequency, and in many cases with greater intensity.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/science/earth/15climate.html?ref=globalwarming

Venture capitalists predict that a growing awareness of conventional agriculture’s contribution to climate change and concerns over its consumption of water and energy are creating markets for technological innovation to minimize those effects.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/business/energy-environment/22AG.html?ref=start-ups

http://www.newseedadvisors.com/

http://www.investeco.com/

Beat the unpredictable global weather this summer by growing your own food and baking your own bread.http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/bread-making/index.php

http://vodpod.com/watch/4018941-2010-hottest-year-so-far-on-record

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/07/2010717132048381555.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/7895681/Worlds-hottest-year-on-record-expected.html

http://climateprogress.org/2010/07/10/nasa-hottest-year-solar-minimum/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100716/wl_nm/us_weather_hottest_record

http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/hottest-year-on-record/story-e6frg12c-1225892772028

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/World+simmers+hottest+year+record/3290162/story.html

70% of plants are threatened by extinction as a result of climate change

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1VYmpTikgw&feature=related

It is inviting the world to take action in order to safeguard the variety of life on Earth and the natural living systems that provide us with food,fuel, health,wealth, and other vital services.There are events taking place all over the world which aim to highlight the value of biodiversity and encourage a celebration of life on earth.

http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/ has more information about the objectives and how  you can support this in your own country.

Time to get in a spot of  indoor gardening. My chillis, peppers and tomato plants sheltering in the conservatory are definitely in need of some tlc . Time to put them into bigger pots for planting out in a couple of weeks after the frosts have finally gone.

Indoor gardening for me also includes watching videos on the internet. Making videos about you how you garden is such an easy thing to do and everyone seems to have caught the bug.Just spent an amusing time checking out what what is going on in other parts of the world as I sit here on a miserable Bank Holiday Sunday in the UK.

Much bigger tomato plants than these growing outside in Florida http://www.youtube.com/user/growingyourgreens#p/u/0/0ZElzx6X-is

Australian children growing and cooking organic food http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fud1GzwX54I

Totally adorable view of square foot gardening from Canada http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHZZVJUs9Ts

UK Container gardening  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUXP1c9dkNQ

Window farming in New York http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjHGS1nirF0

Trees are vital to the future of our planet as they soak up carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/26/trees-to-combat-climate-change

Wherever you live in the world please  think about where you can plant more  trees - they are beautiful and easy to look after as long as you choose the right tree for the right soil and position.http://www.treecanada.ca/publications/guide.htm

Use these sites to find out more and make your selections:

http://www.tree-shop.co.uk/

http://www.fast-growing-trees.com/

http://www.ewburrownursery.co.uk/

Whilst the UK and much of the USA shivered in freezing temperatures this winter, the usually snowy white scenes in Canada were absent and the current opinion is that winter in Canada was cancelled.

Environment Canada scientists report that winter 2009/10 was 4 C above normal, making it the warmest since nationwide records were first kept in 1948. It was also the driest winter on the 63-year record, with precipitation 22 per cent below normal nationally, and down 60 per cent in parts of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/technology/Wacky+winter+signal+years+come+Climatologist/2663423/story.html#ixzz0k2FdenUD

This has caused major advancement of the growing season and many gardens are at least a month ahead.This garden blog from Toronto talks about the rare experience of not having any snow at all in March and how it has affected her garden http://feverishthoughts.com/garden/

Let me know if  you live  in Canada and have been enjoying an early spring in the garden?

He recently expressed his belief that man is not clever enough yet to tackle climate change. He told the Guardian”I don’t think we are evolved to the point where we’re clever enough to handle a situation as complex as climate change. The inertia of humans is so huge that you can’t do anything meaningful”.

 There are certainly enough people in the world who do have the desire to tackle climate change but it is just taking too long to get things organised. The Copenhagen disaster is evidence of that.  Mr Lovelock believes that declaring the fight against climate change as a war might be the vital key to any future success “Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as war.”

I  hope that whoever is governing the UK after the May elections will tackle the pressing issue of climate change as a battle to be fought now - rather than in the future. What are your thoughts on this?     http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/29/james-lovelock-climate-change