A quick note on global warming in Virginia

It was 63 degrees down in Richmond today, while we got to around 55 here in the DC area (the normal high is 44). It was 55 degrees yesterday, and the forecast high for tomorrow in DC is 68, and 75 in Richmond. The average low for tomorrow in DC is 28 degrees. Tomorrow's forecast low is 59 degrees (that's 15 degrees above our average high temperature. The forecast high for DC on Wednesday is 70 degrees. SEVENTY! On February 6!! And it's not like an isolated event either, we hit 70 degrees here three times last month.

The problem is so undeniable, and so alarming, that last week Governor Tim Kaine called it "beyond debate" and said "this is the environmental issue of this and the next generation."

"This is the environmental issue of this and the next generation," Kaine told his Commission on Climate Change during the panel's initial meeting.

Rising sea levels caused by global warming, as well as other effects, threaten Virginia's coastal communities, farmers, ports, military installations and tourism industry, Kaine said.

"The economic issues are very real."

Virginia is one of nearly 30 states fighting global warming on their own, largely because the federal government is doing little, said James D. Marston, director of the state climate initiative for Environmental Defense, a national environmental group.