Tag Archives: Los Angeles Times

No, Los Angeles Times, Climate Change Is Not ‘Supercharging’ the Latest Winter Storm

By Anthony Watts

An article in the Los Angeles Times (LAT) by Hayley Smith and Grace Toohey, titled “El Niño and climate change are supercharging incoming storm, SoCal’s biggest this winter,” falsely claims the present storm is being caused or exacerbated by climate change. While it is true the present storm will be the biggest storm so far in 2024, there is no evidence it is unique historically or driven by climate change. Smith and Toohey write:

But the powerful atmospheric river — worrisome enough on its own — is being supercharged by climate change and El Niño, which together are warming ocean waters, upping the odds of significant downpours and offering a preview of the state’s future in a warming world, experts say.

The incoming storm is feeding off unusually warm waters between California and Hawaii where a significant marine heat wave has persisted for months, said Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA.

As is typical for many media outlets these days, the authors of the LAT story are conflating short term weather patterns with long term climate change. As defined by the World Meteorological Organization, and referenced in Climate at a Glance: Weather vs. Climate, climate is an average of weather over 30 years. So, “a significant marine heat wave has persisted for months” is part of a short-term weather pattern, not an indication long-term climate change. For example, it is unlikely to be there next year. Only a long-term trend of increasing significant marine heat waves or marine heat waves of greater strength would suggest a signal of climate change, cut no such trend can be found in the record.

Further, while the current moderate El Niño might certainly have an effect on weather patterns, it too is a relatively short-term event. For example, last year there was a La Nina pattern and California saw record amounts of snowfall. Back then, the LAT claimed that “California drought, Australia floods: Two sides of La Niña amplified by climate change,” which was thoroughly debunked by my colleague Linnea Lueken in the ClimateRealism piece Los Angeles Times Ignores Science, Claims Climate Change is Amplifying La Niña. In that article, Lueken provided data showing that neither flooding or drought had increased in California.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): “El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern associated with warming of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, which can significantly influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and marine fisheries worldwide.” Furthermore, El Niño events in the Pacific Ocean are natural patterns that have been going on for millions of years.

The supposed human driven climate change has been noted for a century so you can’t really claim that El Niño or La Niña events spanning millennia are being driven by the recent noted warming, especially if they change from year to year from warm to cool.

The LAT quotes Daniel Swain, a climate scientist with UCLA, saying,

“As ocean temperatures warm, and as atmospheric temperatures warm, those rates of evaporation of water vapor into the lower atmosphere are going to increase quite quickly,” Swain said during a briefing Friday. “A few degrees of warming of nearshore and offshore water temperatures means that there’s more moisture in that lower atmosphere.”

In other words, extra heat and moisture from the warm sea surface are moistening the atmospheric river storms as they approach California, making them more likely to deliver heavy rainfall.

But that doesn’t explain how in the winter of 2022 and 2023, when California had a record snowfall year during a La Niña event, that extra evaporated moisture made it into the atmosphere when the ocean surface was cooler.

You can’t have it both ways when trying to blame climate change for weather events.

Because La Niña and El Niño cycles often span multiple consecutive years, the last La Niña event impacted the Pacific during the winter of 2020-2021 and then again in the winter of 2022/2023, as shown in this analysis (figure below) by Meteorologist Paul Dorian, “La Nina Conditions Continue Across the Equatorial Pacific.”

Figure from Paul Dorian’s analysis of UAH global temperature anomalies, data from Dr. Roy Spencer, University of Alabama at Huntsville (UAH). From https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/02/10/la-nina-conditions-continue-across-the-equatorial-pacific/

Then in June 2023 the pattern switched to El Niño, and now the LAT is flip-flopping the climate blame game for weather events, based mainly on opinion from one scientist.

The most damning evidence against the flip-flopping LAT claims comes from the latest climate report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). On table 12.12 on Page 90 – Chapter 12 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Emergence of Climate Impact Drivers (CIDs) seen below, there is no evidence in the present that climate change is affecting heavy precipitation or marine heat waves, highlighted in yellow.

Table 1 from Page 90 – Chapter 12 of the UN IPCC Sixth Assessment Report. Emergence of Climate Impact Drivers (CIDs) in time periods, for the present-day, 2050, and 2100. The color corresponds to the confidence of the region with the highest confidence: white colors indicate where evidence of a climate change signal is lacking or the signal is not present, leading to overall low confidence of an emerging signal.

As can be seen from the IPCC Table 1, there is no evidence of any increase or decrease, globally or by region, in the frequency, severity or extent of frost, mean precipitation, river floods, heavy precipitation and pluvial floods, landslides, aridity, hydrological drought, agricultural or ecological drought, fire weather or wildfires, mean wind speed, severe wind storms or tornados, tropical cyclones or hurricanes, sand and dust storms, snow glacial or ice sheets, heavy snowfall and ice storms, hail, snow avalanche, relative sea levels, coastal floods, coastal erosion, marine heatwaves, ocean acidity, or air pollution enhancing weather.

In other words, climate change isn’t driving current weather patterns at all.

There’s no evidence supporting the LAT claim that climate change enhancing El Niño in a way that would cause heavier precipitation during the present storm in California. Instead, what this story really reveals is just another couple of low-information journalists’ efforts to blame every negative weather event on human caused climate change.

The post No, Los Angeles Times, Climate Change Is Not ‘Supercharging’ the Latest Winter Storm appeared first on ClimateRealism.

Los Angeles Times Misrepresents California Central Valley “Weather” as “Climate”

Weather is only temporary. For example, a blizzard can turn into a flood after just a few warm spring days. Climate, on the other hand, is more than just a few warm or cool days. Climate describes the typical weather conditions in an entire region for a very long time— 30 years or more.

From Watts Up With That?

Guest essay by Larry Hamlin

The LA Times article shown below addresses recent heat, drought and flood weather related events of California’s Central Valley and falsely portrays them as being cause by “climate change” (code actually intended to mean “man-made climate change”) while at the same time using climate alarmist hyperbole to mischaracterize these weather events.

Climate is defined by the World Meteorological Organization as representing the variability of average weather conditions including temperature, precipitation, wind, etc. over long time periods which WMO typically defines as an interval of 30 years.

The LA Times article starts with a discussion of recent March 2023 rainstorms in Tulare County which it portrays with alarmist hyperbole as:

“Outside, torrential downpours — the likes of which some lifelong residents of his small Tulare County town had never seen — filled rivers, clogged storm drains and sent water gushing through streets and into people’s homes.”

This anecdotal hype is cast as representing a “climate change” driven result impacting the California Central Valley without, of course, providing any actual measured weather data to support its hype which is typical of the LA Times climate alarmist propaganda campaign articles.

The NOAA graph below displays the precipitation data for Tulare County California showing annual rainfall levels over the period from 1895 through September 2023.

This readily available NOAA scientific measured data ignored by the LA Times shows that the March 2023 Tulare County rainfall of 8.89 inches is well within the normal range experienced by Tulare County and far below the maximum recorded rainfall year of January 1969 of 16.84 inches. This normal rain outcome (based on historical data records) is certainly not, as the LA Times falsely portrays, an event “the likes of which some lifelong residents of this small Tulare County town had never seen”. 

More alarmist hyperbole is used later in the LA Times article where claims of excessive “climate change” driven rainfall and heat are also inferred for the San Joaquin Valley where the LA Times article notes: 

“The floods arrived following three years of severe drought, while extreme heat, lung-searing smog have become all-too-common occurrences.”  

“Experts say it’s not just bad luck that has made the San Joaquin Valley one of the front lines of climate change in America.” 

Again, as usual the LA Times article provides no measured scientific data to support its alarmist hyperbole concerning the rain, drought, and temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley.


The graph shown below presents NOAA precipitation data for the San Joaquin Valley for the period 1895 through September 2023. 

The NOAA data shows that the recent San Joaquin Valley rainfall is well within normal ranges experienced by that region with the January 2023 amount of 7.09 inches (with that amount having occurred in numerous prior years including January 2017 at 7.44 inches) well below the peak of 10.59 inches in January 1911 meaning the 2023 resulting floods that occurred clearly have also been experienced in prior time periods.  

Neither the Tulare County nor San Joaquin County NOAA measured rainfall data shows anything supporting phony “climate emergency” claims driven by “climate change” as hyped by climate alarmists regarding this region.

The LA Times article completely fails to address the very well established and long history of significant drought and flood weather events in California and the Western U.S. (as discussed in the article shown below ) which occurred well before the “blame every weather event on climate change” politically contrived incompetence became in vogue as falsely portrayed by climate alarmists.

The Lithograph image displayed in the photo above represents the Great Flood of 1861-1862 that affected the Western U.S. including California, Oregon, Idaho. Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico and shows the City of Sacramento in the middle of the resulting “Great Flood” river. 

The floods were created by atmospheric rivers of rain coming off the Pacific Ocean (as illustrated below) which of course continues in present times as well. These “rivers” have been around the Western U.S. for centuries.

There were no climate alarmists around back then to blame these natural climate events on man-made climate change as would be the case today.

The results of these storms in the California Central Valley created a massive lake with the entire Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys being inundated in a 300 mile long and 20-mile-wide lake with a depth of up to 30 feet.

The same article also presents the results a study evaluating the more than 1,000 year long pattern of drought climate event history of the Western U.S.as shown below with 100 year+ long drought periods determined to have occurred in the past with present major droughts far less severe.

None of this prior extensive flood and drought climate behavior in the Western U.S. is addressed by the LA Times article since these events don’t fit into its alarmist “climate change” driven hyperbole.

The LA Times hyperbole of “extreme heat” and “severe drought” in the San Joaquin Valley being all to “common occurrences” implies that this is something new to this region and of course it must be because of “man-made climate change”. These claims are also false as shown by NOAA measured data which is, of course, unaddressed by the LA Times. 

The NOAA graph shown below shows the history of all monthly maximum temperatures for the San Joaquin Valley from 1895 to September 2023.

The data clearly show that the pattern of maximum temperatures is consistent throughout this entire period with the highest maximum temperature occurring in July 1931 during the “1930s dust bowl era” then followed July 2017, July 1906, July 1926, etc. and spread out over the entire 1895 to 2023 period.

Likewise NOAA data showing the history of drought in the San Joaquin Valley (provided below) for the period from 1895 to September 2023 does not support the LA Times inference of increasing drought severity in the San Joaquin Valley which is clearly a region having a long history of extensive occurrences of droughts.

The PDSI index (where wet is colored green and drought is colored orange) shows significant San Joaquin Valley drought durations of over 7 years between 1927 to 1935, over 4 years from 1946 to 1950, 4 years from 1958 to 1961, 7 years from 1986 to 1992, 3 years from 2006 to 2009, 4 years from 2011 to 2015 and 3 years from 2019 to 2022.

The LA Times article also hypes “climate change” driven extreme heat in the Central Valley and notes that “Already, Fresno saw 65 days over 100 degrees last year” but again fails to provide any readily available NOAA measured temperature data records over the last 100 years.

Provided below is NOAA monthly maximum temperature data for Fresno over the period from 1895 to September 2023.

The data show consistent maximum temperature patterns over the entire period with monthly temperatures over 100 degrees F occurring for the last 43 years between July 1981 to July 2023 with the highest temperature occurring in July 2021 at 103.3 F which was only 0.1 F above the prior high in July 2006 of 103.2 F. This pattern of maximum temperatures does not represent a “climate emergency” driven by alarmists flawed claims of “climate change”.

The NOAA monthly maximum temperature data for the state of California shown below also shows a consistent pattern of outcomes during the period from 1895 to September 2023.

The highest maximum monthly temperature for California occurred in July 1931 during the dust bowl period of the 1930s at a temperature of 95.6 degrees F which is 1.4 F above the next highest California maximum temperature of 94.2 F of July 2006. 

The LA times continues its climate science measured data deficient alarmist propaganda campaign which is devoid of readily available NOAA long time period temperature and other highly relevant measured climate science data which the Times ignores because this data does not support its alarmist propaganda campaign claims.

The LA Times article discussion regarding excessive San Joaquin Valley and other Central Valley areas water use, agriculture development, land use, ground water pumping, etc. are consequences of population growth and inadequate state and local community political oversight that further aggravate the regions available water, land use capabilities and other limited resources. The LA Times article attempts to portray these issues as being driven by “climate change” which is incorrect and unsupported in the article.

The LA Times articles failure to even mention the monumental “Great Flood of 1861-1862” with its 300-mile-long river covering the entire Central Valley as well the Western U.S. extensive and century long droughts from the past is incomprehensible.

The LA Times prior articles falsely claiming that July through August 2023 was the “hottest summer ever” is addressed here and shown below.

These flawed summer of 2023 claims have been shown to be false based on NOAA maximum temperature data measurement that climate alarmists failed to address and evaluate as was the case with the many claims of “extreme heat” that were claimed in the LA Times California Central Valley article discussed in this post.    

Another Stupid Los Angeles Times Climate Alarmist Propaganda Claim

From Watts Up With That?

Another Stupid L A Times Climate Alarmist Propaganda Claim

Guest essay by Larry Hamlin

The L A Times published yet another false climate alarmist propaganda article (shown below) claiming that the Panama Canal is running dry because of man-made climate change.

The data driven Fact Check reality disputing this flawed claim is shown below that addresses the same phony and flawed claim from the New York Times.

The L A Times can always be counted upon to hype false climate alarmist propaganda devoid of any connection to climate data driven reality.