"Washington is the new North Carolina"

Please keep in mind that global warming does not exist and has nothing to do at all with changing weather patterns. We know this because Republican leaders tell us so and we should believe them instead of a bunch of scientific studies, which are probably just a bunch of liberals anyway because changing weather patterns are simply a bunch of lefty conspirators.

Fifteen years ago, a section of the Washington area fell into Zone 6, an area from Massachusetts to Kansas where the lows were between zero and 10 degrees below. The other part was in Zone 7, which spans the upper South, where temperatures were between zero and 10 degrees.

Now, all the Washington area now lies in Zone 7, which has taken over parts of the District and suburbs in Virginia and Maryland. Zone 7 has crept northward to take in most of Tennessee and Virginia as well as parts of North Carolina, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

The National Arbor Day Foundation uses the same format and the same source of climate data as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which last put out its hardiness-zone map in 1990. Since then, the foundation has provided its own updates.

The warming trend here was also taking place in other parts of the country.

In sections of Michigan, the weather was warm enough to suit southern magnolia trees, said Arbor Day Foundation spokesman Woodrow L. Nelson. The southern species Arizona cypress also seemed to be better adapted for some parts of the Northeast, he said.

"I mean, who would have thought that an Arizona cypress would be a choice for someone in New Jersey?" Nelson said.

Weather experts there's no single reason why the winter temperatures are higher. However, most scientists say the gradual warming of the planet -- due to carbon dioxide and other pollutants preventing heat from escaping the atmosphere -- has played a role.

Of course, I would be very keen to hear the names of the scientists that do not make the connection with global warming so we could then do some research on their studies that say otherwise. Something tells me they either don't exist or they're funded by some wingnut crazy group.