Friday, January 14, 2011

Let it snow - it's winter

Okay climate change deniers - here you go...

An amazing, though clearly little-known, scientific fact: We get more snow storms in warm years!
Scientists have been predicting for decades that increased greenhouse gas emissions would lead to an increase in many kinds of extreme weather events, especially more intense precipitation and more brutual heat waves. So it’s not a big shock that what is likely to be the hottest year on record has witnessed so many blow-out extreme weather events from Nashville to Moscow to Pakistan...


Indeed, “The first nine months of the year have seen the highest number of weather-related events since Munich Re started keeping records,” according to Dr. Peter Hoeppe, Head of the Geo Risks Research Department at Munich Re. He said “that a clear pattern of continuing global warming was contributing to the natural disasters.”


Recently, some December precipitation records have been falling — in Seattle and Portland, Oregon. These weren’t the 1000-year extremes that I typically write about — or the statistical aggregation of U.S. record highs vs. record lows — but I merely point them out because the anti-science crowd, led by discredited former TV weatherman Anthony Watts, persists in shouting about precipitation primarily when it comes down in solid form, even when it isn’t record-breaking. Snowstorms are pretty much all the disinformers have left to shout about now, at least to those who don’t pay close attention to the science.


Since we’re entering the snowy season and can expect a blizzard of disinformation in this area, I’m updating this post from February, “We get more snow storms in warm years!”
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