Climate News The myth of global warming blizzards
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23 February 2010
Faced with the embarrassment of record snowstorms this winter, global warming apologists are now telling us such blizzards prove the existence of global warming.
Global warming computer models, we are told, predict a higher frequency of extreme weather events, such as heat waves, drought, floods, violent storms, and, yes, blizzards. The problem with this theory is that there is no such increase in extreme weather events in the real world.
High temperature extremes are not becoming more frequent. The all-time high temperature in Africa was set in 1922; in North America, 1913; in Asia, 1942; in Australia, 1889; in Europe, 1977; and in South America, 1920. In the United States, 30 of the 50 states experienced their all-time high temperature between 1910 and 1940. Fully 40 of the 50 states had their all-time high temperature before 1980.
Flooding events likewise show no sign of increase. National Climatic Data Center records show U.S. precipitation has increased nearly 10 percent in the past 115 years, but fully half of this increase occurred during the fall drought season, when the least amount of precipitation happens and an increase in precipitation would be most beneficial.
A study of stream flows and flooding events published in the April 2009 peer-reviewed Journal of the American Water Resources Association confirms this. “There is broad evidence … for increased magnitudes of low and moderate flows both regionally and nationally,” while “trends in high flows have been much less evident,” the study concluded.
Nor is drought becoming a problem. Not only is precipitation—particularly precipitation during the fall drought season—becoming more dependable, but drought as a whole is in sharp decline. A study published in the May 2006 peer-reviewed Geophysical Research Letters reported, “Droughts have, for the most part, become shorter, less frequent, and cover a smaller portion of the country over the last century.”
A study in the March 2006 peer-reviewed Journal of Hydrology reached a similar conclusion. “Evidence indicates that summer soil moisture content has increased during the last several decades at almost all sites having long-term records in the Global Soil Moisture Data Bank.”
The oft-repeated claim that violent storms are becoming more numerous is also demonstrably false. National Weather Service records show the number of strong (F2 and higher) tornadoes in the United States has been declining for the past 35 years. Roughly twice as many strong tornadoes struck the nation during the 1960s and 1970s, when the globe was cooling, as struck in the 1990s and 2000s.
The hurricane record is similar. National Weather Service records show hurricanes struck the United States far more frequently in the late 1800s through the 1950s than has been the case since the 1960s. In fact, global hurricane frequency during the past two years was lower than at any time since at least the 1970s.
Which brings us back to blizzards. Global warming apologists are claiming this year’s frequent blizzards and record snow amounts are evidence of global warming because warmer temperatures allow the air to hold more moisture, which in turn leads to heavier snow events. The problem with this theory is that North America has experienced one of its coldest winters in decades. It is certainly not warmer air this year that is causing more blizzards.
Moreover, prior winter snow records, such as Washington DC’s prior record snowfall in 1899, were set during unusually cold winters, not unusually warm ones. The winter of 1899 was one of the coldest U.S. winters on record, especially during February when most of the record blizzards occurred.
Global warming apologists seek to blame anything and everything on global warming, but the assertion that global warming is causing more blizzards and extreme weather events simply does not stand up under objective analysis.
James M. Taylor (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) is senior fellow for environment policy at The Heartland Institute
Comments
The public are furious at the lack of action by Obama on the global warming hoax, the biggest scientific scam in history. From hero to lame duck in less than two years.
Lisa Jackson said the science is settled. She did, she said.
We're not talking about record temperatures, hot or cold, or specific storms; this is all anecdotal evidence. Just because it snowed a lot doesn't mean Climate Change isn't happening, it means it's winter. The converse is also true, yet you don't see a bunch of people crying we're going to melt within a week when it gets hot in the summer. Average global temperatures recorded at one time during the year are comparable (on a long enough time scale (think 100's of years)), not winter vs. non-winter.
Not to be pedantic but technically what you describe is "Climate", always has, always will be.
"Climate Change" is marketing speak to infer the fact that change in climate is in itself problematic and man made.
Climate is change
OverPopulation - Selling Fear
Lack of Fresh Water - Selling Fear
Lack of Food - Selling Fear
Tipping Points - Selling Fear
Rising Sea Levels - Selling Fear
Melting this, melting that - Selling Fear
Swine Flu - Selling Fear
Fearonomics is huge business. But we are thankful for people like gullible ProfBob, he drives this part of the economy. The only issue I take with him is that us ordinary folk who know about fearonomics fraud should not have to pay for it through carbon taxes or other wall street fearonomic scams. If they target only Fearful ProfBob I do not have a problem with this. This is why the climate changes scam is backfiring, they need to spend less time on the public at large and more time going after Fearful ProfBob types through mechanisms like JPMorgans Carbon offset program where you can even apologise for living. But targetting us less gullible people is going to backfire.
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