Saturday, August 11, 2012

History in the Heat

It turns out we experienced history.

While we were in Florida last month, the lower forty-eight American states endured record-breaking heat! Scientists are now reporting July temperatures broke records set during the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.

Lucky us.

The sun rises on another Florida scorcher

The average temperature last month in the southern US was 77.6 degrees (25 Celsius), breaking the record set in July 1936 by two-tenths of a degree.

Each morning, as we lined-up with other hotel guests for the waffle grill at breakfast, we’d hear the meteorologist on the television screen say the high would be 97 degrees and feel like 105! They attribute the heat to a combination of weather and climate change. They say longer-term higher night temperatures were the result of global warming, while the short-term effects of localized heat and drought caused daytime temperatures to spike.

Lucky us.

Our favorite way to beat the record-breaking heat
The climate analysis chief for the National Centre for Atmospherice Research, Kevin Trenberth, is quoted as saying global warming from human activities is rearing its head in a way that can only be a major warning for the future.

Unlucky us.

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