Everyone was touched by the weird weather during the last 12 months.

No corner of planet earth was spared from extreme weather events and the public has started to take heed of the controversial scientific clamour about our world heating up.

Climate change was never far from the headlines in 2006.

Neither was the debate of what was causing it.

If you think global warming is a myth, here are some reports that will melt away your skepticisms;

2006 was the Earth’s sixth warmest year on record, averaging 0.4°C above the 1961 to the 1990 average, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

The US experienced its warmest January to September on record.

July in Europe was also the warmest on record.

Brazil and Australia experienced heat waves between January and March.

Having suffered its worst drought in a decade this summer, Somalia is now undergoing its worst flooding in recent history.

Extreme rainfall is affecting the entire Great Horn of Africa, where some regions have received more than six times their average monthly rainfall and hundreds of thousands of people have been affected.

The Sahara desert got rare heavy rainfall in February, which damaged 70% of food production and displaced 600,000 people.

Here at home, Vancouver received nearly twice its monthly average rainfall in November, while having had its mildest winter and spring on record.

In China, millions of hectares of crops were damaged by drought in Sichuan province during the summer and in eastern China during the autumn.

China also suffered its worst tropical cyclone season in a decade: more than 1000 people died and the storms cost China $10 billion in economic losses.

In the Philippines, typhoon Durian affected some 1.5 million people in November and December, claiming more than 500 lives with hundreds still missing. Scientists say the ozone hole over the Antarctic in September was the biggest ever recorded.

And, 2006 saw the continuing pattern of sharply decreasing Arctic ice. They say the Arctic ice is decreasing by about 60,000 square kilometers a year because of climate change. That is an area bigger than Switzerland. The good news is that we are taking notice.

More and more believe that the extreme weather patterns are not anomalies in a normal cycle. The body of evidence grows as do the number of scientists who agree that global warming is real.

Their projections of the consequences are catastrophic.

Severe weather in 2006 helped thaw the disbelief about global warming.

Now comes the time to stop the denials and cool down planet Earth.