We’re Having A Heat Wave (Australian Edition)
Those of us who believe in science were very grateful that President Obama emphasized climate change in his inaugural address yesterday. And it’s a good thing, as evidence continues to come in that it is getting warmer faster than expected.
Between Jan. 3 and Jan. 6, an amazing 18 different weather stations recorded all-time temperature highs, according to a special climate statement from the country’s Bureau of Meteorology. Those included a mark of 118 degrees in Eucla, Western Australia, and an unheard-of 107 in Hobart, Tasmania, which bills itself as the gateway to Antarctica.
But the bureau’s forecasters believe the worst is yet to come – which is why they have added a new color to their official weather maps, for temperatures up to 54 degrees Celsius (129 Farenheit). In other words, they believe the country’s all-time high temperature of 123 degrees set in 1960 is about to go down and hard.
Adding a new color to the weather map! You don’t have to understand the science to understand that means it is getting hotter quickly.
Copyright 2013 Liberaland
By: Stuart Shapiro
Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.