With new data out showing that 2012 was the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States, and with costs mounting due to droughts and other climate-related disasters, will political leaders finally take action to address the problem?
Image:
![](http://www.southernstudies.org/sites/default/files/images/TemperatureAnomaly2012_720.jpg?1357927118)
New data shows that the climate crisis is getting worse. (Map from NCDC.)