From the NY Times' Green blog, I learn that, according to NOAA July was the fourth warmest on record for the United States. [Really? Was it hot? I wouldn't know anything about it here in Oregon]
The nation’s average temperature was 77 degrees, almost 3 degrees above normal, and states like Oklahoma and Texas had the hottest July ever, with average temperatures of 88.9 and 87.1 respectively. Oklahoma’s statewide average temperature was the warmest for any state for any month on record.
Temperatures in Dallas exceeded 100 degrees on 30 of the 31 days in July. Over all, 85.4 percent of states in the continental United States experienced July temperatures exceeding the long-term average.
NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center maintains temperature records dating back to 1895.
July’s extreme heat exacerbated the plight of the rain-starved South, leading to conditions dry or drier than those that prevailed in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Exceptional drought now afflicts more than 75 percent of Texas; 100 percent of Oklahoma is suffering from moderate to exceptional drought conditions.
***
The area affected by exceptional drought conditions is now the largest in the 12-year history of the United States Drought Monitor.
While the South withered, the upper Midwest and the Gulf and Pacific Coast had unusually soggy summers. California had its fifth wettest July and Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota all got enough rain to place this July on the “top ten wettest” list.
For this fair-skinned, weak-willed and fey economist of English descent, the current summer is as ideal as they come. So can we just stop climate change right here, because it suits me fine!
Seriously, when do you think it is time to take the threat of climate change seriously? Carbon tax anyone?
No comments:
Post a Comment