Every year without fail, the first major snowstorm to hit the Northeast is greeted by Fox News as  proof  that global warming is a myth. It doesn t matter that the claim is nonsensical, it s picked up and mindlessly repeated by their viewers and reinforced by Republicans in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. But this year might be a little different as scientists announced that 2015 is officially the hottest year on record, not just beating the record set in 2014, but smashing it:Scientists reported Wednesday that 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history by far, breaking a record set only the year before   a burst of heat that has continued into the new year and is roiling weather patterns all over the world.In the continental United States, the year was the second-warmest on record, punctuated by a December that was both the hottest and the wettest since record-keeping began. One result has been a wave of unusual winter floods coursing down the Mississippi River watershed.Those floods have negatively impacted millions and killed dozens, if not more. And don t forget the bizarre spat of unseasonable winter tornadoes that have been ripping through parts of the country, destroying communities and costing more lives. But it s going to snow this weekend so everything is A-OK!Unfortunately, it doesn t matter what we do now. We re locked into some of the worst effects of Climate Change for the next couple of centuries. Our children and their children will be thanking us for the gift of wild and unpredictable weather. Even worse, doing nothing will guarantee that the planet will become completely incapable is sustaining human civilization as we understand it. Yet, Republicans are still fighting even the mildest of measures tooth and nail in pursuit of the short term profits of their fossil fuel masters.Let s hope that future generations will have the luxury of examining the past and not be forced to focus on simple survival in a climate rendered inhospitable to human life.Featured image via the New York Times