Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
I keep reading that the freezing cold weather in Houston, Dallas, and the central US is the result of “global warming”.
When I heard that, my first thought was, … “Whaaa?? How would that work, that getting warmer would make it colder?”
Following up on that logic, my next thought was, “I wonder just how much colder the world would have to get in order for Houston to never freeze again?”
That sounded like a great thing to me, no more ice and snow, because I’m a tropical boy. After two decades of living on lovely warm Pacific islands, when I see the ice jumping out of my nice drink with the little umbrella in it and running around covering up the landscape, I call that “Water behaving badly!”.
So I thought I’d take a look and see just how cold the globe would have to get for the US to stay warm all the time. I figured I’d see how many days of the year it’s been freezing in Houston, to see just how much “global warming” was increasing ice and snow there. Here’s that graph:
Hmmm … doesn’t look like “global warming” has increased freezing in Houston. But undeterred, I kept looking. I figured that Dallas must show some sign of the dreaded “global warming” making icy streets and frozen pipes more common …
Well, it was starting to seem like the theory that “global warming” makes things colder wasn’t looking all that good. But I reckoned that surely, in the heart of the US this mystery phenomenon could be found. So I looked to Oklahoma City to show me the truth …
Sixty days a year below freezing? As a tropical boy, I can only say YIKES! But I digress …
Now, to be clear, this is just three cities. So I suppose it’s possible that “global warming” is making some city somewhere icier, making frost and burst pipes more common someplace … but it sure isn’t happening in Houston, Dallas, or Oklahoma City.
Here on our Northern California hillside with a tiny bit of the Pacific visible in a gap between the hills, I live in a climate anomaly. The area between about 600 to 800 feet (180 – 240 m) elevation on the western face of the first range of hills in from the ocean in this stretch of the coast is called the “Banana Belt” because it stays warm. We’re at about 700 ft elevation, and we can grow guavas and avocados on our land.
But a mere quarter-mile (half a kilometre) from my house, on the eastern side of the ridge, it routinely freezes every year. Me, I can’t recall the last time it froze where I live … go figure. The world of climate is a weird and wonderful place.
My warmest and least icy regards to all, and good will and prayers for the afflicted folks in Texas.
w.
PS—Misunderstandings are rife on the web. So when you comment, PLEASE quote the exact worlds you are referring to, so we can all understand who and what you’re discussing.
via Watts Up With That?
February 19, 2021 at 08:02PM
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