IT’S OFFICIAL: WE LIVE IN HOT TIMES

Earth’s average temperature has been hotter over the last quarter century than during the previous four centuries and possibly much longer, the National Academy of Sciences said in a report Thursday that substantially supports the findings of a controversial 1998 climate study. The report by a scientific panel appointed by the academy backed the most vivid feature of the so-called hockey stick graphic, a chart showing a long-term rise in temperature between A.D. 900 and today.

The result is the 141-page report unveiled Thursday. It is available online at www.national-academies.org.

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