An April Reminder of the Anthropocene

DC's had an odd spring - stretches of cool, damp weather mixed with record highs. After Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport set a record high of 81 on March 18, Monday's forecast of 88 threatens the records of 91 at National, 87 at Dulles and 85 at BWI. Then we're right back down to lows in the 40s on Tuesday & Wednesday.

Globally, the trend remains clear - NOAA's National Climatic Data Center reports January-February temperatures were 0.72 degrees F above the average for the 1900s. That means that the first 2 months of 2011 tied for the 17th-hottest on record.

The March edition of National Geographic took an in-depth look at the Anthropocene: Age of Man. This NOAA graphic highlights some of the extreme weather events around the world in February: