Up in the High Sierra of Yosemite National Park today, a monstrous wildfire is racing through 200 square miles of dense piney forest. The "Rim Fire" is only one of about fifty major wildfires across the American West today, but everyone has at least heard of the majestic Yosemite Valley with its glacier-carved Half Dome and summer traffic jams of vacationers seeking waterfalls and hamburgers, so this is our official Natural Disaster of the week.

In 2007, scientists were only "90 percent to 100 percent certain" that man-made global warming was real. Now, they're "95 percent to 100 percent" sure about it. Expect global warming deniers to begin apologizing any minute now.

When Hurricane "Superstorm" Sandy hit New York, a large part of Manhattan— the wealthiest place east of the Taj Mahal— was without power for weeks. At least it wasn't unfashionable. According to a new report, blackouts are becoming the new normal.

With all the talk these days of a "global warming crisis" and "looming planetary disaster," it may sometimes be hard to know what to think. Relax: our global warming crisis and looming planetary disaster are going exactly as scheduled.

Carbon dioxide levels in our atmosphere are at a three million year high. Scientists tell us that global warming is leading to "the worst of all possible worlds." And don't imagine this is all your grandchildren's problem. Doom is coming soon. So soon.

A jaunty road sign on the path to apocalypse was passed today, as the level of carbon dioxide in our planet's air reached a level last seen long before mankind existed. Take a deep breath. Enjoy that air. Soon, you'll be breathing water.

Amid all of the hustle and bustle of daily news headlines, useless celebrity minutiae, and the mundane workaday distractions of our own lives, it can be useful at times to take a step back, get some perspective, and remember the "big picture:" we're all doomed.

What will Boston look like a few hundred years from now? It will look like... water, probably. Inspired by The New York Times' "What Could Disappear," photoillustrator Nickolay Lamm has put together some amazing images of American cities as they might appear in coming centuries, depending on how much humanity manages to reduce its carbon footprint. Above, Boston's Back Bay under 25 feet of water—a worst-case scenario for the year 2300, if no pollution controls are instituted.

Welcome to an important new Gawker feature, "Hey, Science," in which we will have our most provocative scientific questions answered by real live scientists (or related experts). Never let it be said that reading this blog is not the educational equivalent of sitting in a Ph.D.-level classroom, not paying attention. This week, experts answer the question: Can we fix the problem of rising sea levels by constructing massive man-made lakes on useless land?

As heat records continue to be shattered with every passing day, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has updated its weather forecasting chart to reflect rising temperatures.

Considering 2012 was the hottest year on record pretty much anywhere, this should come as no surprise but: over the past 50 years, temperatures in West Antarctica have risen almost twice as much as scientists previously believed. According to a new paper released by Nature Geoscience, the average annual temperature at the Byrd research center in central West Antarctica has increased by 4.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1958, which is not only twice as much as previous estimates but also three times the average change worldwide, making the area "one of the fastest-warming regions on earth."

With just a couple weeks left in December, it's looking like 2012 is going to go down as the hottest year on record here in New York City (average temperature 57.2 degrees—balmy!). Coincidentally, it looks like 2012 will also be the hottest year on record in Dallas. And in Houston, and in the rest of Texas. And in Detroit. And in Cleveland. And in Missouri. And, fuck it, in the entire United States of America.

Global warming (or "climate change"), the well-documented rise in our planet's temperatures due to the heat-trapping effects of carbon dioxide, is a completely accepted phenomenon among people who—due to their fundamental rationality and common sense—are not idiots. But among our nation's idiots, it has always been a controversial idea. No longer.

Jan Brewer, Arizona's MIA governor, is not afraid of confrontation. So when KTVK reporter Dennis Welch asked her about global warming this weekend, Gov. Brewer let him have it, and the video of her response instantly went viral.

It only took a handful of freak killer storms devastating our economic and cultural capitals for Americans to get real about the perils of global warming. You know who is the most interested in figuring out exactly how bad global warming will be? The people with all the money, who have the most to lose. That is a good reason to tremble in fear at this new World Bank forecast.

New evidence indicates that our recent bouts of Extreme Weather might be caused by global warming, and not by sick BMX tricks as previously thought. And climate change is apparently increasing the amount of ice in Antarctica. Sure, everyone's ("everyone's") concerned about the plight of equatorial island nations in the face of rising sea levels and the annual die-off of the elderly and indigent during the summer heat waves along the Atlantic seaboard. But there are a great many more sinister changes that should be giving us pause. Such as:

Yes, sure, global warming is leading us inexorably down the path to all-out global war due to massive human displacement and destruction of resources. But let's focus on the real problem: what about ski resorts? What if people were forced to go skiing later in the season? Absolutely unacceptable. Fortunately, America is ready to tackle this problem head-on.

Leading scientific expert Peter Wadhams warned this week that it may be only four years until the Arctic—a place once known for its ice—experiences a total melting of its sea ice in the summer months. Wadhams called this a "global disaster" with "terrible" implications. Well Prof. Wadhams, perhaps you should change your name to Prof. Deborah Downer? Because it looks like you forgot about all the money$$$??

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have confirmed what many in America had already suspected: For the lower 48 states, last month was the hottest month on record.

Are you enjoying this July we're having? Yeah you should because it's probably going to be America's HOTTEST MONTH EVER.