WILL THIS BE THE SUMMER WHEN THE WORLD REALIZES GLOBAL WARMING IS TRULY REAL?

The continuing saga of the Russian mini-revolt is well-explained by Leonid Bershidsky, a former columnist of Bloomberg Europe.   He is a 51-year old Russian journalist now based in Berlin, having moved there in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.  Has previously worked at Newsweek and The Moscow Times.  He has written several books.  

But to the topic of the day, is this that impactful summer that will finally convince decision-makers to take global warming seriously?  Possible, but unlikely, for a key reason to be provided.

The New York Times yesterday said:

Today, New Orleans will reach 113 degrees in the heat index. Houston will reach 111. Mobile, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., will also surpass 110. And those are only a few of the places that will experience dangerous heat this week.

Summer technically just began, and parts of the U.S. are already seeing the unusual heat that experts warned about and that is becoming more common as a result of climate change. About 45 million people — or 14 percent of the U.S. population — live in areas that are expected to reach dangerous temperatures in the coming days.

Today and tomorrow, the heat will be concentrated in Texas, Louisiana and parts of the South. By the end of the week, it is expected to spread in the South and to the West, as these maps show:

Last week India got up to 116 F, and people began to die.  China is sweltering:

• Between 1990 and 2020 Beijing averaged 10.6 days where temperature got up to 95 F or higher.
• June is not over and the city went past this temperature for the 11th time.

Texas has a heat dome, and this week 45 million Americans live where some level of heat alert is in effect.  Several Texas cities were in the range of 115 F, and Corpus Christi might have reached 125 F.  A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area.  Keep in mind that crops and animals also are suffering.

The following heat index factors in relative humidity to indicate the danger point.

Death Valley reached 134 F, but that was in 1913.  Officially the highest world temperature ever.  And, incidentally, 1913 is the year when this area dropped to 15 F, its coolest ever.  But death valley in 2001 reached 110 F or above for 154 days in a row.  The ground temperature at Furnace Creek in Death Valley had an air temperature of 128 F in 1972, but the ground temperature was 201 F!  They had no rain in 1929 and 1953.

The 12 hottest places on Earth:

• #1  Death Valley
• #2  Kebili, Tunisia
• #3  Mitribah, Kuwait
• #4  Turbat, Pakistan
• #5  Dallol, Ethiopia
• The rest are in the Middle East and Africa.  Only been to Death Valley, in the summer, and you worry, a lot, if your car will die on the road getting there and out.

The list of the ten hottest cities in the world is rather surprising, as I have regularly traveled to most  of them, and didn't realize they were so.

• #1  Jazan City (right), Saudi Arabia, with a population of 2 million.
• #2  Bangkok, Thailand, where the temperature routinely rises to 104F.
• #3  Las Vegas also regularly gets to 104 F, and higher.
• #4  Hong Kong, where the humidity makes the difference.
• #5 Mexicali, #6 Melbourne, #7 Kuala Lumpur, #8 Phoenix, #9 Athens, and #10 Cairo.  

However, the past eight years have been the hottest ever.

• 2022 was Europe's warmest, surpassing the previous all-time high, which was in 2021.
• Last year the U.S. surpassed the heat from the 1936 Dust Bowl summer.  But 2022 was only the third-warmest.

So is this the summer that the world finally realizes that global warming is truly real?  Still got two months to go, I think not.  Why?  Only perhaps a hundred died in the recent India heat wave.  Decision-makers won't take note unless millions, and maybe it will need tens of millions, perish.  Until that happens, humanity will be testing Mother Nature awaiting a possible crescending doom.

Don't want to alarm anyone in Hawaii, but our first hurricane of the season, Adrian, just formed off Mexico and is headed our way.  However, the prognosis is for an early weakening.

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