Robert WalkerJul 6, 2023
Peter Gleick

As a climate scientist who has warned about the threat of climate change for decades, I think the fact that we just saw what was probably the hottest day in recorded history, and probably in thousands of years, is deserving of attention...

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/05/world/hottest-day-world-climate-el-nino-intl/index.html

Jul 5, 2023 at 6:48pmWeb
Show threadPeter GleickJul 5, 2023

Here is my colleague Marshall Shepherd's smart take on this:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2023/07/05/4th-of-july-may-have-been-earths-hottest-day-on-recordheres-the-so-what/?sh=429372b6742b

4th Of July May Have Been Earth’s Hottest Day On Record—Here’s The ‘So What?’

Did Planet Earth just experience its hottest day on record this July 4th? Here is some perspective from climate experts.

Forbes
Show threadBob DavidsonJul 5, 2023

@petergleick

Well, it was just one hot day...

Show threadJeff RohJul 5, 2023
@wa7iut @petergleick
I feel that too!
Show threadrag. Gustavino BevilacquaJul 5, 2023

@petergleick

This one is the coldest of the "hottest days" we'll have in future.

I hope to be wrong.

Show threadStan SchymanskiJul 5, 2023
@GustavinoBevilacqua @petergleick You can't be wrong, as any new hottest day cannot be colder than this one. Did I miss something?
Show threadrag. Gustavino BevilacquaJul 5, 2023

@schymans @petergleick

Good point.
I was thinking on a yearly basis, not on an absolute scale.

Show threadFudruckerJul 5, 2023
@petergleick Damn.
Show threadMark BurtonJul 5, 2023
@petergleick
Tell the #bbc who don't appear to have reported it on thei main news programmes.
Show threadEdgecrusherJul 5, 2023
@petergleick I get depressed just thinking about this stuff, couldn't imagine studying it. Good work sir! Thank you
Show threadKris SamselJul 5, 2023
@petergleick over the years. I’ve noticed that the third week of July is always the hottest, in the central and eastern part of the United States.
This year, I hope I’m wrong! 🆘🌎🔥
Show threadFuck Elon Jul 5, 2023

@petergleick

nah... It is cyclical!

Show threadPointyFluffJul 6, 2023

@petergleick

Look...all we gotta do is redirect a nice, cool, say 5km, comet into our one of our oceans.

Problem solved.

#bouillabaisse

Show threadJPriceJul 6, 2023
@petergleick I live in FL and fear how hot it will be in just a few years during the summer. 😕
Show threadgavinisdie Jul 6, 2023
@petergleick not like the people who can fight this will do anything
Show threadCloutsJul 6, 2023
@petergleick hottest two days :(
Show threadChango369Jul 6, 2023

@petergleick We're going to have to get used to tacking on 'thus far' as a general principle when it comes to climate related statements, like the co2 level in May being the highest ever in modern history.

At least this year it came down slightly in the month of June, instead of plateauing like it did last year,

Show threadolaolarollaJul 6, 2023
@petergleick is it safe to say that there are more people today than yesterday... that's a record too... We are influencing climate change, even accelerating it, but short of killing two thirds of the human population and the fall of civilization as we know it, no chance of stopping what's inevitable brah...
Show threadJohn MeadowsJul 6, 2023
@petergleick The sad things is there will be people who will say “Only 17 degrees C? What’s the big deal?” #ClimateChange
Show threadBentleyJul 6, 2023
@Jgmeadows @petergleick I had the EXACT SAME thought this morning, John 🙃
Show threadHelchoseJul 6, 2023

@petergleick Conversation with my right-wing mom--who lives in Las Vegas and is unmoved by reports of extreme heat because she experiences extreme heat every summer--went like this:

Me: "It was the hottest 3 days in recorded history."

Mom: "Well now everyone knows what we experience."

::headdesk::

Show thread🎓 Doc Freemo  🇳🇱Jul 12, 2023

@petergleick

Agreed, its scary as fuck!

Show threadMichal 🇨🇿Jul 12, 2023

@petergleick

Is this average temperature written down always from the same meto stations over years?

How looks like the average from one single meteo station, from the oldest one?

Show threadRené Moser (resmo) レネJul 12, 2023
@petergleick people don’t realize yet, it‘s not about saving the planet or nature but humans, us.
Show threadJudithJul 12, 2023
@petergleick You would think. Instead eyes are on social media #threads #twitter #mastodon #tiktok #reddit
Show threadGregory SchwarzJul 12, 2023
@petergleick 1/ It annoys me when climate scientists cite extremes as evidence of climate change. Extremes are the noisiest signal of climate change. They can be informative only when there are many such events, and because of their infrequent occurrence and high variability it takes a much longer record than mean statistics to establish a significant trend.
Show threadPeter GleickJul 12, 2023
@gregs I'm sorry (not sorry) you get annoyed when climate scientists discuss extreme events as signals of climate change. But they are.
Decades of modeling and observations definitively show some major climate changes manifest NOT as changes in averages but as changes in extremes.
Example. On average, precipitation in the western and northeastern US hasn't changed, but the intensity of extreme rainfall events has. Read the annual issue of the Bulletin of the AMS on this subject.
Show threadPeter GleickJul 12, 2023
@gregs Another example. Average annual runoff in California hasn't changed since records began, but extreme wet and dry years have both become more frequent.
Looking only at averages can hide changes.
Finally, yes climate scientists must be careful about attributing extremes to climate change, and most are careful about the distinction between "causality" and "influence". But climate change is increasingly influencing the frequency and intensity of a wide range of extreme events.
Show threadGregory SchwarzJul 12, 2023
@petergleick 2/ Notoriety given to extremes comes off as a scare tactic and begs the question why similar recognition is not given when extremes don’t occur. It makes a climate scientist look biased and that is something climate science cannot afford. At the very least a remark concerning an extreme event should come with caveats.
Show threadJesus SanchezJul 12, 2023
@petergleick .keeping cut tree, people
Show threadJS (Science focus)Jul 24, 2023
@petergleick the Club of Rome, in the 60s, layed out optimistic reports showing how technology and innovation could avoid environmental and climate catastrophies. The robber barons running fossil fuel companies, knowing the reports were correct, used the reports to develop misinformation campaigns to delay that mitigation so they could keep their snouts in profits as long as possible. Don’t talk to me about Stalin or Mao, this is the biggest betrayal of humanity in history