Heat Wave Pt 2
I’m Bob Larson. Is this stretch of extremely warm weather being caused by global warming? With temps 100+ degrees in many areas, it’s seems like we’re hearing a lot of doom and gloom forecasting hype.
But, Cliff Mass, University of Washington atmospheric sciences professor, says media accounts referring to our heat wave as the “new normal” don’t add up …
MASS … “I think the interesting thing is, the extremes that we’re going to be equaling are, some of these things are really old, you know, like over 100 years. So, there really isn’t the huge trend to having warmer extremes.”
Unfortunately, Mass says that doesn’t stop some …
MASS … “Some people blaming the whole thing on global warming, which is ridiculous. We’re going to be 30 degrees above normal, let’s say. And so, maybe one or two degrees of that will be global warming. I mean the heat wave would have happened without global warming, but it’s just, you know, a little bit more serious.”
So, Mass says let’s ease up on the shaming and blaming ...
MASS … “You don’t blame the whole 30 degrees on global warming. That doesn’t make any sense, and that’s what people do. It’s not like everything is 100% global warming. I mean, it’s natural variability PLUS, you know, a small component the global warming going on. So, you just can’t give global warming credit for the whole thing. It’s just not right, and that’s people are either stating or implying, and that’s not right.”
Mass says, fortunately, today’s forecasting capabilities allow us to prepare for temps like these days in advance.
