Record heat in northern and southern hemisphere

Average temperatures, United States

If you are one of the 18 remaining climate change deniers, you should stop reading now, because what follows will make you uncomfortable.

Northern Hemisphere:

Average temperatures, United StatesThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is reporting that last year was the hottest on record for the contiguous United States, shattering CRUSHING by a wide margin the previous record set in 1998. The average temperature of 55.3 degrees Fahrenheit was 1 degree above the previous record and 3.2 degrees higher than the average for the 20th century. That is a huge difference.

From the Washington Post:

Last year’s record temperature is “clearly symptomatic of a changing climate,” said Thomas R. Karl, who directs NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. Americans can now see the sustained warmth over the course of their own lifetimes — “something we haven’t seen before.” He added, “That doesn’t mean every season and every year is going to be breaking all-time records, but you’re going to see this with increasing frequency.”

Southern Hemisphere:

Extremely high record-breaking temperatures and “catastrophic” fire danger ratings in Australia are not only contributing to the rapid spread of numerous bush fires, but they may cause some electronic gadgets to stop working. According to Wired, Apple advises that an iPhone should not be used when temperatures reach 95F (35C). In Sydney yesterday the high was 108F (42C).

The extreme weather is also causing problems for meteorologists when they attempt to display the highest ever recorded temperatures on their standard maps.

From Wired:

Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology had to add new colors to its weather map. Now, those unfortunate parts of Australia that achieve temperatures above 122ºF (50ºC) — temperatures that were, until recently, literally off the scale — will be marked in deep purple and terrifying hot pink. It is an interesting moment in data visualization history when climate scientists find themselves in the position of revising the upper bounds of temperatures they ever expected to depict.

It is possible that our electronics and our infrastructure were designed for a climate that we no longer have. When the streets and buildings of lower Manhattan were built, no one expected that they would be flooded by a hurricane. Apple did not design the iPhone for the recent weather in Australia.

 

Thanks go out to Clyde, Kelly, and Dick

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

4 thoughts on “Record heat in northern and southern hemisphere”

  1. I have lived through two previous extreme bushfire periods in Australia, and both were considerably worse than this one. To try and link carbon dioxide with ‘global warming’ and global warming with fire risks, is highly mendacious and opportunistic. In six months, when the fires are forgotten, exactly the same unfounded nonsense will be uttered with regard to floods, tornadoes, cyclones, storms and even snowfalls. Why not just issue a blanket proclamation: “If it’s bad, CO2 diddit!” and leave it at that?

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  2. If you are one of the 18 Climate Change deniers that Bill addresses, you are ONE of the 18 folks that, when I hear from you, I Shout “Watch Out”.

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  3. I just wonder if the same hysterics followed the 1932 high of 54.2 when the previous high in 1921 was 53.8. So temperatures are going up for a century, then they go down. Learn to live with it, climate isn’t a thermostat. Spend the money adapting. not useless and misguided attempts to control. Looking at the lows from 1900 to 1940 you would think a deep freeze was coming…

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