Here’s a question to consider: If last week’s heat wave is the result of global warming and it’s only going to get hotter … what’s up with the weather this week?
Last week about this time, a group called the Union of Concerned Scientists got pretty slick.
They knew a heat wave was approaching and released a new report called “Killer Heat in the United States: The Future of Dangerously Hot Days”.
And during the hottest day of the heat wave — this past Saturday — a group of “journalists” at StateImpact Pennsylvania picked up the story and peddled it on their site and all over social media.
That heave wave, the report says and the media echoed without question, is basically your fault. Well, yours and Donald Trump’s!
But it’s not for the reasons you might think.
It’s not for the air conditioning you’d run 24-7 since last Thursday. And it’s not for the straws you’ve thrown in the ocean. Nope, it’s not for the SUVs you drive, either.
It’s for the action you’re NOT taking. And if you don’t get off your butt and get the government involved, it’s only going to get HOTTER!
The report states:
“If we wish to spare people in the United States and around the world the mortal dangers of extreme and relentless heat, there is little time to do so and little room for half measures. We need to employ our most ambitious actions to prevent the rise of extreme heat … ”
How Hot Is It?
Just how hot can it get in Schuylkill County? Try a month of days it feels hotter than 100! That’s hot. Are there enough memes?
And just a little bit of action isn’t enough, they say. Want to stop these heat waves in their tracks? Take BOLD ACTION … NOW!
What You’re Not Doing to Prevent Heat Waves
So, this bold action? It has nothing with what you’re doing. At least not really.
The only thing you’re not doing is voting for people who would put the U.S. back in or at least aligned again with the ill-fated 2015 Paris Climate Accord.
That’s the deal President Obama signed us up for where we’d follow strict environmental rules and the rest of the world would watch us. Trump removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord and since then, environmental alarmists have really stepped up their game.
That Paris Climate Accord seems to be the gold standard for environmental policy, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“To limit future extreme heat, the United States must contribute to global efforts to constrain climate change and invest in solutions that get us to net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury. Rapidly ramping up zero-carbon energy resources is critical to reach that goal,” they say.
And one sure-fire way to do that is to get legislation passed that funds these solutions, the report suggests.
Their new report attempts to predict the amount of really hot days in the future. The study takes historical data on the National Weather Service Heat Index (since 1971 through 2000) and attempts a stab at the future: How often is it going to be really hot in the future?
They predict the following:
- Days with a Heat Index over 90
- Days with a Heat Index over 100
- Days with a Heat Index over 105
- Days “Off the Charts”
Schuylkill County Burning Up
We decided to take a look at the Schuylkill County data this Union of Concerned Scientists has, and where they think we’re going.
Now, by “where we are currently headed” this group means staying the course on what they consider reckless environmental policy.
But as this graphic suggests, if we get the government heavily involved with some BOLD ACTION, we can really do a lot to reduce the heat.
They break the numbers down a little more on a color-coded map. That’ll put the scare into you.
Here’s where we are now, the average amount of 100-degree days factoring in the Heat Index. This is the historical data. As you can see, we almost never see days when it feels like 100, apparently:
But since we voted for Trump and Trump pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accord, here’s where we are headed.
By the middle of the 21st Century, it’s going to start heating up. If we just continue doing what we’re doing, there’s no escaping it. Instead of an average of 0 days when it feels like 100, count on between 11-25:
And we’re a bit afraid to show you this but if you don’t take BOLD ACTION right now, this is where we’ll be at by the end of this century. It’s not good, people. Basically, Hell on Earth. Look, it’s red … like fire:
The Canary Doesn’t Believe in Science
This will get us labeled as non-believers in science but color us skeptical.
The Union of Concerned Scientists here basically says if you don’t vote in line with the Paris Climate Accord, you’re going to burn in Hell … OK, maybe just burn in Schuylkill Haven or burn in Middleport.
This report is total garbage science. If not believing in this report is not believing in science, then we don’t believe in science.
The Heat Index is a Myth
For starters, the Heat Index is as much of a myth as it is an accurate measurement. What it “feels like” outside when it’s hot is subjective. Everyone feels it differently. So, 98 degrees with 95% humidity doesn’t feel like anything more than a really muggy 98 degrees.
Regardless, let’s assume it is a real thing. The Real Feel, as some call it.
What Could We Do That We Haven’t Done?
For 29 years, we got an average of about a handful of days where it “felt like” 90 and a few less where it felt like 100. Nearly 20 years after that “historical” data cited in the UCS report, we still have about that same weather. It’s summertime and sometimes it gets really hot.
During that time, nearly a half-century, we’ve gone through numerous environmental policy changes. Even before that, during the Industrial Revolution, there was no severe spike in Earth’s temperature that would lead us to believe the predictions in this report are anything more than scare tactics.
Mostly, over time, America’s environmental policy has improved. We’re at least more environmentally aware than in the past.
And again, all this time, almost no change in the amount of days it “felt” very hot.
So, somehow, since Trump removed us from the failed Paris Climate Accord, the weather is going to change drastically.
By the end of this century, they predict a whole month of days when it feels like more than 100 in Schuylkill County. What could we possibly be doing that we haven’t already done to cause this?
But the one way to fix this is to get politicians in places that would get us back on track with that Paris Climate deal. That could reduce the amount of days it’ll feel like 100 by the end of the century from 30 to 6, they say.
We say, what a load of crap.
Garbage Science
The Canary doesn’t want to go back down in the coal mines. That’s for sure. But we’re not about to fall for more environmental activism parading around as science.
Consider the source and the pusher of this report: The UCS started at MIT and supports legislation and a heavy government hand in addressing the environment. And StateImpact Pennsylvania is nothing more than a few reports covering the same beat for several Pennsylvania-based NPR stations. They couldn’t hide their bias in their attempt to report on the study with a just-the-facts approach. But you know they believe government should have a heavy hand in everything, not just environmental policy.
Consider the alarmist behavior: This report was released right before a major heat wave in the U.S. And the NPR report on it came out on the hottest day of the year. If that doesn’t get your attention, the StateImpact report quotes someone at the UCS to really try to get your attention. They said to StateImpact:
“These kinds of dangerous temperatures can exacerbate pre-existing health conditions, like cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. It can affect children. It can affect the mentally ill, who may not be able to protect themselves.”
So, it’s one thing not to believe in science, but to not care about the elderly and children … you’ve got to be a sicko not to believe this report.
Finally, consider the absurdity: These people attempt to predict the weather by using historical data as their guide. Yet, nothing in the past suggests what they predict will happen in the future.
This report is nothing more than an absurd Farmer’s Almanac.
It’s Punxsutawney Phil without the charm.
Featured Image: Licensed via DepositPhotos.com
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