I have said repeatedly: the best way to communicate about climate change is with facts, logic and well made arguments. Repeatedly crying wolf is not an effective strategy, but that is what the nation’s entire media has done the past two weeks.
Saturday, July 15, 2023:
The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth is expected to happen in Death Valley today (msn.com)
(When published “today” referred to “Saturday” July 15, 2023)
Inside the text of the CNN story, the “close to 130 degrees” refers to high temperatures in Death Valley and only in Death Valley, but that is not clear from the headline.
Saturday, July 15, 2023:
Actual NWS maximum temperature recorded at Furnace Creek, CA was 125 degrees.[1]
At 5pm, the temperature reported at Badwater Basin, Death Valley was124 deg F. Accuweather said the maximum was 125 deg F.
The high forecast for July 16 was 129 degrees; last year it hit 125 degrees on this date.
Actual temperature on July 16: 127.6, rounded up to 128 deg F or 53.3 deg C.
Most people who follow the news will remember the “hottest temperature ever on earth” claim, even though it was not true. Of course, it was very hot, but not the hottest ever.
Official temperature data is available from NOAA here. In several past years, a maximum daily temperature reached 125 to 128 but there was no contemporary news coverage about it nor reports saying it was due to climate change. Why are these stories appearing now, only in 2023, from all media, simultaneously?
A column falsely claimed Death Valley reached 56.6 deg C or 134 deg F this past week. This was bizarre since it is written by a climate scientist who should know better.
California’s Death Valley recorded 56.6 C temperatures, and rather than reflecting on the obvious effects of global warming, tourists flocked to the area.
Temperature records shattered across the world as tourists flock to experience the heat
56.6 C is 134 deg F. Death Valley did, in fact, record a 134 deg F temperature in 1913. The maximum temperature reached last week was 128 deg F (rounded up from 127.6).
To report that Death Valley recorded 56.6 C and “tourists flocked to the area” implies he meant that this temperature occurred contemporaneously. That column was written by Prof. Andrew Weaver, a Canadian climate scientist. Inaccurate information does not inspire confidence in climate science and was unnecessary to making his basic points. So why the exaggerated and untrue claim?
Media Exaggerated Claims about Heatwaves in the Summer of 2023
It’s called yellow journalism – using hype and exaggeration to sell eye balls to advertisers. Very few people give thought to the inconsistent and contradictory news reports, just as happened during the Covid pandemic.
Dr. Mass is a professor of atmospheric sciences and explains why heat waves have occurred in some areas: Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Is Global Warming Causing Massive Heatwaves?
Separately, Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort in southern California announced it will remain open until … August 6, 2023. This is the 3rd time in the resort’s history that it remained opened for skiing into August, the first time occurring in 1995, and again in 2017.
Footnote [1]
For what it is worth, which is not much, my daughter, who is a geologist/geochemist/microbiologist, once had responsibility for the official temperature and weather instrumentation at the Furnace Creek visitor center when she worked at the park. She was also responsible for sampling and testing the water at Badwater Basin (and at other points in the park), across the road from the “hottest temperature” gauge (but not responsible for that temperature station).
Note – In the 21st century it is tough to practice factfulness, to ask reasonable questions, and to try and understand the actual details. Unfortunately, noting inconsistencies and contradictions is, in the 21st century, forbidden and results in being name called as a “denier”, even if that is not the case.
