There really couldn’t be a nicer trail marker this Sunday than this:

Parade Magazine, the ubquitous Sunday filler in millions of newspapers around the US, has as its cover story: How Climate Change Affects You Right Now.

Look Outside: The Weather Already Is Changing
Every year since 1997 has been in the Top 10 list of hottest years, and 2005 set a record. The Earth has warmed about 1.4°F since the late 19th century, and the warming has accelerated during the past four decades.

The article, written in Parade’s trademark ready-for-Junior-Scholastic-Readers style, is from Eugene Linden, author of The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations.

The article is short, and worth a read. One Sunday’s Parade will start more little ear-worms about climate change than ten months of obscure blogs ever will. You can get your two minute elevator speech right here and now!

Why You Can’t Ignore The Changing Climate

Parade also has a list of things folks can do. Of course it doesn’t include sit-ins at the local Chevron station but it’s a good beginners list — something your vaguely interested neighbor could deal with.

Even better, at the bottom of the list are links to other resources, including this CO2 Footprint calculator which is better than the BP version I have posted.