Long before we experience protracted, detectable heat waves from global warming, we will experience the effects of a more unstable climate in the form of more violent weather -- altered drought and rainfall patterns, more intense storms, more temperature extremes, unseasonal weather events and more intense and severe downpours. These changes are documented in the peer-reviewed literature: "Climate change leads to more severe weather," (Science, Sept. 2000), "Trends in U.S. Climate during the Twentieth Century," (Consequences, Spring, 1995, and "The Coming Climate," (Scientific American, May, 1997, as well as in a report by the World Water Council (2003) among many others.