Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming, NASA's Hansen Says

[웃 910]

Texas Heat Wave Caused by Global Warming, NASA's Hansen Says

Temperature data shows the Texas heat wave wouldn't have occurred without warming, Hansen claims. Others aren't ready to draw such a definitive conclusion.

JANUARY 31, 2012

For three months last summer, temperatures in Texas soared higher than at any time in recorded history, and the state is still coping with the most expensive drought in its history. But can the 2011 Texas heat wave be attributed to global warming?

Most scientists are careful not to link specific weather events to climate change trends, but NASA's James Hansen and two colleagues from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Columbia University have taken that plunge. They've gathered data they say shows that the 2011 Texas and Oklahoma heat wave—as well as a deadly Moscow heat in 2010—were "a consequence of global warming because their likelihood was negligible prior to the recent rapid global warming."

Their conclusions are based on more than 50 years of temperature data, Hansen told InsideClimate News. By comparing the recent shift toward extreme high summer temperatures with that data, he said his group was able to demonstrate that the record-breaking 2011 Texas heat wave wouldn't have occurred without global warming. This data also provides a broader context for the summer of 2011, which across the United States was the second warmest on record, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Extremes Index twice the historical average.

READ MORE: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120131/texas-heat-and-drought-caused-global-warming-climate-change-james-hansen-nasa-science-skeptics-oklahoma-moscow

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I know it's easy for NASA to say these things being down in Houston (of course this division was at Columbia which explains a lot), but perhaps they don't understand that Texas only has ONE ( 1 ) natural lake. This is a dry state. It's a HOT state. Droughts are a way of life for this state and it's thanks to MAN that we are able to live here.

I'm sorry but this is a load of bullshit like no other, especially coming from NASA. It's almost if they are REACHING for a way to be relevant again because well, frankly, they aren't.

They should learn a little more about the state of Texas and our climate before spouting off such hogwash.

[Dan and Judy 614]

if this damn rain don't stop the whole state will be a lake soon

[Ban Hammer 13,530]

i remember a drought in texas in 72 and no one was screaming global warming back then. cracks in the ground over an inch wide - and that was the dallas area.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

i remember a drought in texas in 72 and no one was screaming global warming back then. cracks in the ground over an inch wide - and that was the dallas area.

Algore hadn't invented the internet yet.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

This is a dry state. It's a HOT state. Droughts are a way of life for this state and it's thanks to MAN that we are able to live here.

I thought it was Sam Houston, Darrell Royal, and God that made Texas possible, in that order.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

We set a record in this town for coldest January ever recorded...same for Anchorage, and a few other places up here. I can count the days on one hand the days were the temps have reached above 0 in the past six weeks.

These were the temps around the state two days ago.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Why_Me

[웃 910]

We set a record in this town for coldest January ever recorded...same for Anchorage, and a few other places up here. I can count the days on one hand the days were the temps have reached above 0 in the past six weeks.

These were the temps around the state two days ago.

That's weird cause today it was over 50 and we still have not had more than 1 inch of snowfall this year.....Usually it's blistering cold and a blizzard this time of year...

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Well, we didn't have a summer, and this is one of the driest winters I have experienced in the SF Bay Area, which sorta contradicts the NASA data, especially since several of the major data points they used to allege global warming over the last few decades are in the greater San Francisco area. However, something unusual is happening. I haven't seen anything like this in a couple decades.

[natty bumppo 297]

isn't nasa looking for a way to retain headcount?

or finding a new way of retaining budget money .....

[luckytxn 2,265]

isn't nasa looking for a way to retain headcount?

or finding a new way of retaining budget money .....

NASA like all Fed agencies are under an order to assume GW is happening and to act accordingly.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

isn't nasa looking for a way to retain headcount?

or finding a new way of retaining budget money .....

Maybe they can get jobs building a colony on the moon when Newt becomes president.

[MyLittlePony 340]

I was planning trip to the snow this year but not enough snow in lake taho to make me interested this year sucks.

[natty bumppo 297]

NASA like all Fed agencies are under an order to assume GW is happening and to act accordingly.

we hired a few nasa engineers ...

give me an old school .... got my hands dirty .... been there done that .... here is the information you need so you can make business decisions ... and i'll give you the nasa engineers plus "funds to have a good time without telling your spouse" in exchange.