Photo courtesy of Atlanta Intown Lofts

Even though the nation’s real estate market has been suffering a painful “correction” in recent months, the condos in the second phase of Decatur’s Artisan building are going like hotcakes! And its still being built!

According to Atlanta Intown Lofts, condos in the building are nearly 50% sold even though the building won’t officially open until March 2008. See their posting for more details on layout and amenities.

Don’t forget that the Artisan II made news a few months ago when the top floor penthouse sold early in its construction for over a cool million.

By all measurements, the Artisan development continues to be a huge success for the city. Certainly a greater one than the Renaissance building up near the east edge of downtown, which never seems to have filled. And though I will sorely miss the ugly, grassy parking lot that use to stand on the corner of Ponce and Commerce, I must concede that I enjoy the new building a whole lot more.

Fresh Loaf quotes an article from The Economist about our drought crisis, which suggests that Al Gore’s global warming might be to blame for recent EXTREME weather. I did a little rummaging to see if experts support this theory.

NASA seems to agree.

“Continued global warming could have many damaging effects. It might harm plants and animals that live in the sea. It could also force animals and plants on land to move to new habitats. Weather patterns could change, causing flooding, drought, and an increase in damaging storms. Global warming could melt enough polar ice to raise the sea level. In certain parts of the world, human disease could spread, and crop yields could decline.”

So do environmental groups like the NDRC.

“Warmer temperatures could also increase the probability of drought. Greater evaporation, particularly during the summer and fall, could exacerbate drought conditions and increase the risk of wildfires.”

NOAA is a bit more reserved, but admits that extreme conditions are more prevalent in recent years.

“On a global scale there is little evidence of sustained trends in climate variability or extremes. This perhaps reflects inadequate data and a dearth of analyses. However, on regional scales, there is clear evidence of changes in variability or extremes.

In areas where a drought or excessive wetness usually accompanies an El Niño [does this also apply to La Nina?], these dry or wet spells have been more intense in recent years. Other than these areas, little evidence is available of changes in drought frequency or intensity.”

So, each one of these sources agrees that in an instance of global warming, drought would be one of many extreme weather symptoms attributed to it. Unfortunately, this acknowledgment does little to quell the never-ending debate over global warming’s existence.

Some will write off this drought as another isolated event that can’t be attributed to a broader pattern, while others will eagerly add it to the list of “recent evidence” that already includes the recent torrential rains in the Northeast and the 2005 Hurricane season. Though films like An Inconvenient Truth and comments from the G8 summit have recently had some impact on influencing public opinion on the subject, it is the “consequences” of these extreme conditions that are really beginning to change people’s minds.

A light(-hearted) news day thus far.

People.com is posting pics of people’s pets in Halloween costumes. This Jack Russell from Decatur made the front page in a sexy little number made out of a baby doll bear costume. See 104 other severely annoyed pets here.

(That’s one very tolerant dog. Our golden retriever would probably flip out if we ever tried to put something like this on his head.)

UPDATE: The AJC also has snapshots of dressed up pets.

DMNews has the details…

“For a minimum of $1, new readers can sign up and old readers can renew their subscriptions, which include 11 issues of Paste and the Paste sampler CDs that come with the magazine each month. Gift subscriptions are also available in the offer. Those who pay more than the usual cost of $19.95 will be thanked by name in a later edition of Paste.”

The offer is targeted towards college age students, who don’t want to pay $19.95 for an 11 issue subscription, but anyone can take advantage of it.

I love Paste and would probably feel too guilty to pay only a buck for it. However, this is an excellent way to promote a Decatur business to friends and family. Buy $1 gift subscriptions for everyone you know! I’m sure your Gramma and Pop-Pop are huge Iron & Wine fans!

Click here to take advantage of this wicked awesome deal! (Apparently when I get this excited, I start talking like a Red Sox fan)

Big ol’ Hattip: InDecatur