America's new normal: A degree hotter than two decades ago

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SETH BORENSTEIN

America’s new normal temperature is a degree hotter than it was just two decades ago.

Scientists have long talked about climate change — hotter temperatures, changes in rain and snowfall and more extreme weather — being the “new normal.” Data released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration put hard figures on the cliche.

The new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier.

Meteorologists calculate climate normals based on 30 years of data to limit the random swings of daily weather. It’s a standard set by the World Meteorological Organization. Every 10 years, NOAA updates normal for the country as a whole, states and cities — by year, month and season.



FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, the remains of a carp are seen on the dry lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, the new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-science-environment-and-nature-414a77846631e50d3c528204b8beb3d9

[Initech]

1. Go ahead, keep calling climate change a hoax, Fox.

In the end it's going to kill lots of people and change the planet for the worst, and there's no vaccine that will pull us out of this one.

[progree]

2. It also means that weather forecasters etc. will less often be saying "above average" temperature

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2021/04/07/npr-your-weather-forecast-update-warmer-climate-will-be-the-new-normal

After the NOAA update in May, with the baseline for normal shifting to higher temperatures, forecasters in Phoenix and many other places might not be pointing out as many "above normal" days as before. In fact, some days considered warm now may become officially "cooler"

"We're going to have to remind people, especially this year, 'Hey, if we're at 115, that is 5 degrees above the average. But remember that this average has changed," she says.

Research shows that as unusual weather events happen more frequently, people simply reset their perception of what's normal. One study found a common reference point for "normal conditions" was only two to eight years ago.

Frances Moore, a co-author of the study and professor of environmental policy at the University of California, Davis, has seen this speed of "normalization" in her own state. After five years of extreme smoke events from wildfires, she says people now simply say, "'Oh, fire season's coming, I guess we'd better get ready for it.'"

From the link in the OP, https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-science-environment-and-nature-414a77846631e50d3c528204b8beb3d9

Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann said he prefers a constant baseline such as 1951 to 1980, which is what NASA uses. Adjusting normal every 10 years “perverts the meaning of ‘normal’ and ‘normalizes’ away climate change,” he said in an email.

[Mysterian]

3. One degree in 20 years is a huge increase

Like my wife says, "I'm glad I'm old."

[BigmanPigman]

4. I remember reading that Bitcoin is more harmful to the

environment than some countries, just by the amount of energy their megacomputers require non-stop.

"By 2024, mining of the cryptocurrency in China alone could use as much power as the entire nation of Italy uses in a year".

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/03/09/bill-gates-bitcoin-crypto-climate-change/?sh=6a20e0016822

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/14/climate/coinbase-cryptocurrency-energy.html

[Ramsey Barner]

5. It's 1.7F hotter, not 1 degree. Headline is very misleading!

"The new normal annual U.S. temperature is 1.7 degrees (0.9 Celsius) hotter than the first normal calculated for 1901 to 1930."
[link:https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-science-environment-and-nature-414a77846631e50d3c528204b8beb3d9|

Scientists use Celsius, US reporters use Fahrenheit, and often neglect to report results accurately. Intentional or not, it results in watered-down climate change reporting.

[dalton99a]

6. Kick