The ongoing heatwave is breaking enough records to be considered outside the range of normal variation. The Womerlippis are certainly having an interesting time in our part-time jobs as a small-time farmers this spring break. We've been able to get annual chores done that normally wait until late April or even early May.
For students in this semester's Environmental Sustainability, we'll be talking about this first thing after the break.
These are statistical questions, and require an understanding of some basic statistical theory: the mean, the median, the variance, and the difference between changes in mean, changes in median, and changes in variance, and what happens if all three act together.
In the meantime, although they probably will add to the confusion of some, these articles popularize the current trends. Advanced students should follow the links to the original primary works.
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/17/446621/blow-out-march-heat-wave-meteorologist-masters-this-is-not-the-atmosphere-i-grew-up-with/
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/01/06/399350/hansen-extreme-heat-waves-texas-oklahoma-moscow-were-caused-by-global-warming/
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