Well, guess what? Since then, it’s only gotten worse. And politicians are still doing nothing. I don’t have to tell you how hot it is. We’ve all suffering.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, more than 3,000 temperature records were broken the week of July 4. Since the beginning of the year, more than 40,000 daily heat records were broken. According to an analysis by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, “Global surface temperatures in 2010 tied 2005 as the warmest on record.” And 2011 currently ranks as the 10th warmest year ever, and it looks like 2012 will top that record. Already, January through June 2012 has been designated the hottest six-month period in history. And the United Nation’s World Meteorological Organization reports that “the 13 warmest years have all occurred in the 15 years between 1997 and 2011.”
And that extreme heat is taking its toll. The evidence is all around us. Just less than 56 percent of the contiguous United States is experiencing moderate to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Witness this year’s devastating wildfires in Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Crops are burning up, too. Prospects for the 2012 corn crop are grim, sparking a 30 percent jump in the price of corn over the last month — which already means higher prices at the supermarket for corn-fueled beef, chicken, and dairy products.
If we don’t burn up, we might well drown. Scientists report that Greenland glaciers are melting at a rate 30 percent faster than a decade ago, though not at the fast pace scientists once predicted. Still, we’re experiencing the impact. The U.S. Geological Survey warns that sea levels on the Atlantic Coast are rising 3 to 4 times faster than the global rate. “Since about 1990, sea-level rise in the 600-mile stretch of coastal zone,” reports the USGS, “has increased 2 to 3.7 millimeters per year; the global increase over the same period was 0.6 to 1.0 millimeters per year.” Compare that to Norfolk, Va., fighting to deal with a 4.8-inch higher level. Philadelphia has experienced a 3.7 inch hike in sea levels; New York City, 2.8 inches. At this rate, predicts the USGS, Atlantic Coast waters will be 8 to 11 inches higher by 2100 — which means significant portions of Miami, Norfolk, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston will be under water.
Does any of this have anything to do with global warming? Not if you believe the media. In a survey of media coverage of Western wildfires between April 1 and June 30 Media Matters found a stunning silence on the subject of climate change. Only 6 percent of all print stories on wildfires made any mention of a possible connection to global warming. And only 1.6 percent of all TV news broadcasts.
I repeat: Do these extreme temperatures have anything to do with global warming? Yes — if you believe the scientists. For the very first time, a government report, released this week by NOAA, affirms a link between today’s severe weather conditions and global warming caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions. Climate scientists were careful not to blame every severe storm or extreme weather condition on climate change, but they did conclude that last year’s record drought in Texas was made 20 times more likely to happen because of global warming.
The connection between global warming and record high temperatures is clear, says Thomas Karl, director of NOAA’s Climactic Data Center. It’s like a baseball player on steroids. “With someone on steroids, the likelihood of hitting a ball over the fence and hitting a home run increases. And that is what we’re seeing. The increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to warmer global temperatures.”
This time, the media could no longer ignore it. ABC News led the way, with Diane Sawyer reporting: “Hot planet. The world is heating up. And for the first time, a U.S. government-backed report ties that searing heat, those epic storms, to man-made global warming.” The significance of which was quickly pointed out by Sam Champion, ABC New’s weather editor: “If you want my opinion, Diane, now is the time we start limiting man-made greenhouse gases.”
Indeed, now is the time. Instead of 33 votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, maybe Congress could find time to take just one vote — on climate change.
Bill Press is host of a nationally-syndicated radio show
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Kevin, your utterances are deteriorating into childish school playground antics. Be careful, the MDJ is going to make you Bill Press's sidekick, or worse yet, trade you off to MSNBC.
These two deserve each other. I wish they would go to wherever that place is and allow us rational people to have a reasonable, informed discussion, sans their fact-challenged garbage.
You're mommy and daddy must be very proud that you read grown up newspapers! But they probably also told you it's not nice to call people names just because you disagree with them. Adults call that "uncivil."
Your friend,
Kevin
Pot....meet kettle.
Signed,
Your happy detractor, Evan
PS...I really liked the "mommy and daddy" thing. It made you sound sooooo grown up.
That said, tying weather to climate is a bit more problematic, so whether this precise extreme weather is related to overall global warming is a subject that requires more research and scientific rigor. Again, it’s how science works. The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy is an easy trap for all of us; but fortunately we have a tool that mitigates that fallacy and all the rest.
OK professor, twice you admonished us with some slogan about this is how science works. So, enlighten us, how does science work? We already know only the loons on the left have bought into the global warming myth, and now you pass judgement on everyone being willfully guilty of something? Please professor, do share your vast knowledge of the global warming myth with us neophytes. Next, you'll be quoting something about millions of years ago such and such. That one always get a huge belly laugh. Personally, my favorite liberal left loon conspiracy theory of all time was the one they spewed out in the 60s about how all the world's oceans would boil away in five years.
Lesson 1: First you need to understand the difference between a myth and a fact. A myth is made up, a fact is backed by evidence.
Lesson 2: Science is the best tool we know of to understand why something is the way it is, so we use it as such.
Lesson 3: Start with an observation or a big question - think of a falsifiable premise that will shed light on your observation or question - design an experiment that will test your premise - do the experiment - record/publish your results that says either your premise is rejected or it is not rejected and be sure to show your data, controls, methods, etc. (This is called the scientific method. You should have seen this really take shape in 6th grade science class unless you went to a private parochial school in which case critical thinking is frowned upon – see lesson 1).
Lesson 4: Your premise is not rejected so it gains a bit of credibility, so other experts design experiments to test.
Lesson 5: Rinse and repeat
no charge for that :-)
Yes, over the last 30 years the GLOBAL average temperature has gotten warmer....by about 2 degrees Fahrenheit , but there is NO correlation with CO2. If anything, much of the rise is due to both solar activity and reporting station locations biased by the UHI effect (not to mention raw fraud in data manipulation).
It is a shame that such uninformed and irresponsible writing gets into print -- creating hysteria over a non-event. But that is how Bill Press operates.
By the way, Bill, have you been to Europe this summer. You might want to check into temperatures there before you write such drivel implying GLOBAL warming. Stop by Antarctica as well.
Oh....and you think politicians can have an impact on this terrible problem? Please tell me how. They are just as inept as you, Bill.
They know deniers will accept their big lie that a conspiracy exists among the thousands of climatologists around the world who have overwhelmingly and independently concluded the earth is getting warmer and CO2 is one major reason why.
It's a PR ploy borrowed from the tobacco industry that, for decades, cast doubt on the mountains of scientific data that showed smoking could kill you. It's easy to trick people who know little and think less.
Already, January through June 2012 has been designated the hottest six-month period in history...."
The latter is only for the US - not globaly. Leastways I'm almost certain it is.
That type of juxtapositioning is exactly the kind of thing the denial industry will latch on to to try to divert the debate.
Good article apart from that.