DFW Sets Record For HEAT!

We're number one!  Well at least for the number of days over 100° F.  Back in 1980 I thought the summer could never get hotter.  That year we had 68 days of 100°+ weather but this year we broke the record.  Today will mark the 69th 100°+ day and counting.  I expect to see at least a couple of more before we cool down into the 90's.

More troubling is the overnight low temperatures.  Not only did we have a record number of highs, but the low temperature sometimes never dropped below the 80's and that will add toward making 2011 the hottest year on record for DFW and most of the country.  According to some reports parts of the country haven't had heat this bad in 140 years of reporting.

Now the question is, what is causing it?  Well, even though our kicked-in-the-head idiot Governor doesn't believe it, man-made factors contributing to global warming are the most likely cause of the trend.  Meanwhile, the power companies are playing blackmail games by threatening to shut down plants if they don't get laxer emissions regulations. 

The coal burning power industry has seen the handwriting on the wall for decades and has refused to modernize or innovate with any real results.  Our power companies have reluctantly moved into wind and solar, but lacking a real kick in the butt, they will continue to pollute, since it makes the most profit in the short term. 

Meanwhile, I am enjoying the soul searing heat and trying to decide how best to landscape in sand and desert plants.  I get the feeling we are seeing a desertification of our state, and it will not be pretty, especially for agriculture.  Good thing we built that new bridge over the Trinity, of course that river might just dry up before long.