We're going to need more than an umbrella

Climate change doubters, take note.

Oh, never mind, you won't believe it anyway.

But, for the rational among us, this week's news from a Nobel Prize winning-panel of climate scientists is not for the faint of heart. In a report headlined "Killer weather to touch all," the Associated Press reported that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change forecasts more violent "deadly and costly weather disasters."

The nearly 600-page document warns us of "stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges and droughts." The world's poorest regions are most at risk though, as the scientists add, none of us will be immune.

One doesn't need to be an award-winning scientist or a television weatherman, for that matter, to observe that our weather has been gradually tilting toward the extremes. Storms are more violent. Temperatures are more severe. And it's taking a toll on human life and on the world's economy. It's a serious problem that's not being taken seriously by politicians or policymakers.

Climate change should be a major issue in this year's presidential campaign, with a non-partisan commitment to address it. Instead, so far anyway, we're hearing about birth control and pornography.

As the young people text: SMH.