Anthro-centric global scare-mongering, VIII

Two items, actually. This morning I saw a blurb from the China Daily, of all places. Stephen Hawking, the noted astrophysicist, was in Beijing giving a talk before a group of 500 students. Besides saying that he thought that Chinese women were beautiful, Hawking opined that he was

"very worried about global warming." He said he was afraid that Earth "might end up like Venus, at 250 degrees centigrade and raining sulfuric acid."

Ooookaaay. Considering that that's the way the earth started out, maybe he's got a point.

Next, a call to arms from ABC News:

Has your life been directly affected by global warming?

We want to hear and see your stories. Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small — altered blooming schedules, unusual animals that have arrived in your community, higher water levels encroaching on your property.

Show us what you've seen. You can include video material of the environmental change, or simply tell your story via webcam.

I can just see it: somebody with a webcam shows a bunch of wilted flowers, or a pool of standing water that, gasp!, wasn't there last year at this time!!!!!

All I can say is, Oh, gawd!