This press release from Phys.Org has an image that is worth, as they say, “a thousand words.” ( See here. ) The color-coded temperature divides on the right-hand side of the chart should not deceive you. Instead, simply move your eyes to the left. You’ll notice that we’re looking at a continuous plot of temperature, for the most part (except for the gap in the Pleistocene Era) and which continues on into the Holocene (present era). So, then, look at how the left side of the chart is characterized: Hothouse, Warmhouse, Coolhouse, and Icehouse. Now notice that our present temperatures fall in the ICEHOUSE portion of this 60 million year history of earth’s temperatures. Shouldn’t this chart alone be enough …

Many of us here were greatly influenced by Phillip Johnson’s books, articles, and lectures. Indeed, if not for Johnson, this blog might never have come to be. Like so many, I was saddened to learn of his death on November 2nd. While several of Johnson’s fellow academics and colleagues have written some wonderful tributes to him, I wanted to give one from the perspective of a layman. My tribute was published in The Stream last week and republished today over at Evolution News.