Meanwhile, Outside...

The science, from the scientists at NOAA:

Averaged as a whole, the global land and surface temperature for August 2018 was the fifth highest August temperature since global records began in 1880 at 0.74°C (1.33°F) above the 20th century average of 15.6°C (60.1°F). This was the smallest global land and ocean surface temperature since 2013. Nine of the ten warmest August global land and ocean surface temperatures have occurred since 2009, with the last five years (2014–2018) comprising the five warmest on record. The record warmest August occurred in 2016, with a temperature departure from average of +0.90°C (+1.62°F). August 1998 is the only 20th century August among the ten warmest Augusts on record, ranking as the seventh highest on record at +0.68°C (+1.22°F). August 2018 also marks the 42nd consecutive August and the 404th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th century average.

And:

The period of June–August is defined as the Northern Hemisphere's summer and the Southern Hemisphere's winter.

The seasonal global land and ocean surface temperature for June–August 2018 was the fifth highest such period since global records began in 1880 at +0.74°C (+1.33°F). The last five years (2014–2018) comprise the five warmest June–August global temperatures on record, with 2016 the warmest at +0.90°C (+1.62°F).

And:

The first eight months of the year have been extremely warm, giving way to the fourth highest January–August in the 139-year record at +0.76°C (+1.37°F). The value is 0.26°C (0.47°F) less than the record set in 2016. Nine of the ten warmest January–August periods have occurred since 2002, with the last four years (2015–2018) among the four warmest such periods on record. January–August 1998 is the only 20th century January–August among the ten warmest years on record, ranking as the seventh warmest such period on record.

Meanwhile from the combed-over vulgarity currently infesting the oval office we have this:

Warnings about potentially severe consequences of climate change were deleted from a Trump administration plan to weaken curbs on power plant emissions during a White House review.

Drafts had devoted more than 500 words to highlighting the impacts -- more heat waves, intense hurricanes, heavy rainfalls, floods and water pollution -- as part of the proposal to replace Obama-era restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. That language was left out of the Trump administration’s final analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency proposal, when it was unveiled Aug. 21.

Among the abandoned assertions: an acknowledgment that “the climate has continued to change, with new records being set” for global average surface temperatures, Arctic sea ice retreat, carbon dioxide concentrations and sea level rise, all markers of the phenomenon.

The administration also scrapped a reference to numerous “major scientific assessments” that “strengthen the case that GHGs endanger public health and welfare both for current and future generations.”

And, since all politics is local, and I live in Western PA:

• Scott Wagner, GOP candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, on climate change:

  Wagner said he thinks there are too many redundant restrictions on the oil and gas industry that need to be studied and pared down–a popular position among the rural county commissioners
  
  He also took the stance that climate change is probably happening, though–citing scientifically unsound evidence–he maintained that the US shouldn’t worry too much about emissions.
  
  “I haven’t been in a science class in a long time, but the earth moves closer to the sun every year–you know the rotation of the earth,” Wagner said. “We’re moving closer to the sun.”
  
  He added, “We have more people. You know, humans have warm bodies. So is heat coming off? Things are changing, but I think we are, as a society, doing the best we can.”

  The planet's getting warmer because it's moving closer to the sun and/or since there's more people on the planet all that human body warmth is the cause (nope, neither is the case).


• Lou Barletta, GOP Canidate for Senator of Pennsylvania, on climate change:

  Like most conservatives, he is unconvinced of the existence of global warming, despite overwhelming scientific evidence.
  
  "You know there's arguments on both sides. I'm not convinced that there's scientific evidence that proves that. I believe there's some that can also argue the opposite," he said. (No, there aren't "arguments on both sides." The science is clear.)

Keith Rothfus, GOP candidate for Congress, on climate change:

I do not believe it's man-made. And I am not convinced that it's a fact. I think the science is still out. I think for the last 15 years we haven't had any warming. I think you go back, we had a Medieval warm period where we were growing crops in Greenland. We could do that, maybe if we kept the warming up. (He's wrong about "the last 15 years" and the warming in Greenland a thousand years ago was not a global warming but a local one - so he's wrong there, too).

 And yet, the planet is still warming up. And we're the cause. The science says so.