Heat Wave Conundrum
Heat Waves Were Worse 90 Years Ago
The Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled, “As Heat Waves Grow Deadlier, Power Becomes a Must” (5-Aug-24). The gist of the article was that heat is a growing, deadly problem.
The article leaves the reader with the idea that heat waves have gotten worse as the atmosphere has warmed. And to think otherwise would be counter intuitive. Why wouldn’t heat waves be getting worse as the world warms? Duh.
But the data belies this assumption. Heat waves in the U.S. were far worse in the 1930s, long before atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were considered a problem and long before we experienced appreciable global warming.
Consider the following graph from the EPA.
The frequency of heat waves appears to have little to do with CO2 concentrations and overall temperatures, both of which have increased since 1930.
An idea which seems intuitive and logical, that heat waves are increasing, breaks apart when it crashes against the rocks of hard data. Don’t expect the media to change its dire heat wave message.
When humans have a strongly held religious belief, such as CO2 is evil and responsible for controlling the climate on earth, facts rarely influence them.