If you needed further proof of impending disaster... (Phoenix: how much, high school)

[Voebe]

A projected high of 80° - in January?

This does not bode well.

[Ponderosa]

Nah. The average first day of 80 over the past 30 years is February 3. So, it is only a couple days earlier than that. If it's too hot wait till the weekend where we will be struggling to get out the 50s.

[KurtAZ]

Oooo....you mean it gets warm in Phoenix? THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!

[exit2lef]

Last July was a disaster. What's occuring now is pretty normal. As mentioned above, this is only a few days ealier than the mean, and temperature will go back down in a few days. I'm more concerned about it recently being 80 degrees in Washington D.C. than I am about that temperature being reached here.

[Potential_Landlord]

The Climate Cult is the MAGA of the left. Equally annoying and idolatrous.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

The Climate Cult is the MAGA of the left. Equally annoying and idolatrous.

The earth is warming. That's a fact. Greenhouse gasses are rising and that's an indisputable reality. Now, the only question that remains is how much of the temperature change is related to natural phenomena like volcanic eruptions, fluctuations in solar radiation, or tectonic shifts versus burning fossil fuels, farming livestock, or cutting down forests.

Most of the technical people who study this topic for a living are concerned. But for whatever reason, some people with barely an ounce of technical aptitude think it's 100% B.S.! Because their political team tells them that it is B.S. IMO, the truth is somewhere in the middle (partially a natural phenomenon and partially manmade).

My frustration comes with the tree huggers on the other side who refuse to embrace the new generation of nuclear power plants. Because most of them are equally as non-technical as their MAGA counterparts. So while one side thinks it is 100% B.S., the other tofu-eating-deodorant-free-sandal-wearing tree huggers aren't smart enough to figure out how to manage the mandatory need for fossil fuels (by way of nuclear power). Hell, that same camp doesn't want to modify the rivers via dams for hydropower either!

Meanwhile, 90%+ of the people without the capability of understanding the needed math and science to make an informed decision, are giving their worthless opinions. We will eventually find out where the truth lies. Not this 58-year-old because I will be dead. But my kids and pending grandkids will be suffering.

All that said, 80 degrees in PHX at the end of January is a single meaningless data point.

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by Potential_Landlord

The Climate Cult is the MAGA of the left. Equally annoying and idolatrous.

You mean people who understand science?

[Lodestar]

Originally Posted by NDak15

You mean people who understand science?

No, the people who understand science and think they are powerful enough to alter universal law if they can force their zeal onto others.

January thaw is an expected event for those of us who have lived in MN long enough. I remember a coatless walk in the country at seventy-two degrees. Another is the late March High School Basketball Tournament blizzard.

You know who I feel sorry for? All those hardy folks who lived through the Ice Ages. If they had sufficient historical perspective they must have wondered what in the heck they did wrong and probably sacrificed a lot of stuff trying to set things right again.

[Burning Madolf]

Must be all the swimming pools.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

No, the people who understand science and think they are powerful enough to alter universal law if they can force their zeal onto others.

January thaw is an expected event for those of us who have lived in MN long enough. I remember a coatless walk in the country at seventy-two degrees. Another is the late March High School Basketball Tournament blizzard.

You know who I feel sorry for? All those hardy folks who lived through the Ice Ages. If they had sufficient historical perspective they must have wondered what in the heck they did wrong and probably sacrificed a lot of stuff trying to set things right again.

What the temp is specifically today in MN or PHX right now is irrelevant. The average temp of the earth is "warming"! That's an indisputable fact. Many people who study this topic for their vocation have models that show that at least part of the warming of the earth is from greenhouse gases. What should be semi-obvious is that the weather patterns are becoming more extreme. Overall warming does NOT mean that every place in the world goes up by X amount of degrees.

If someone has an opinion, I'd hope they can understand the previous sentence listed in bold. When someone says "it's freezing in _____________, so much for global warming" proves they don't understand that a warming earth (for whatever reason) == wider variations in weather patterns.

Or saying it another way:
"As carbon dioxide, methane, and other gases increase, they act as a blanket, trapping heat and warming the planet. In response, Earth's air and ocean temperatures warm. This warming affects the water cycle, shifts weather patterns, and melts land ice — all impacts that can make extreme weather worse." Source: NASA. https://climate.nasa.gov/extreme-wea...eather%20worse.