Will global warming lead to stronger, more frequent hurricanes? That’s a question that’s been dividing scientists, with recently published papers reaching different conclusions. Many scientists have concluded that warming oceans are producing more severe storms, and that the relatively mild hurricane season of 2006 is the result, at least in part, of slightly cooler sea surface temperatures this year. Other scientists have argued that there is no indication storms have become more intense in recent years, and that any changes are just the result of natural fluctuations. The Washington Post looked at the science on both sides in a story last weekend.

Last month, we had a week or so of summer-like weather here in Boulder - temperatures in the mid-70s, which felt unseasonably warm for early spring. (The following week it snowed.) But it turns out we weren't alone, here in the foothills of the Rockies. April 2006 was the warmest April in the U.S. since record-keeping began back in 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Across the country, the average temperature was 4.5 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.