NASA scientist links climate change, extreme weather. James Hansen argues that rising global temperatures are fueling an increase in extreme weatherHe cites a 2010 heat wave in Russia and last year's Texas drought as examplesHansen, an activist, directs research at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (CNN) -- What do the 2010 heat wave in Russia, last year's Texas drought, and the 2003 heat wave in Europe have in common?
All are examples of extreme weather caused by climate change, according to a new study from NASA scientist James Hansen. "This is not a climate model or a prediction but actual observations of weather events and temperatures that have happened," he wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece meant to accompany the study. Where it's hot at the North Pole. Global Warming's Terrifying New Math. If the pictures of those towering wildfires in Colorado haven't convinced you, or the size of your AC bill this summer, here are some hard numbers about climate change: June broke or tied 3,215 high-temperature records across the United States.
That followed the warmest May on record for the Northern Hemisphere – the 327th consecutive month in which the temperature of the entire globe exceeded the 20th-century average, the odds of which occurring by simple chance were 3.7 x 10-99, a number considerably larger than the number of stars in the universe. Meteorologists reported that this spring was the warmest ever recorded for our nation – in fact, it crushed the old record by so much that it represented the "largest temperature departure from average of any season on record. " 4 feet of hail in Texas? Reports, photos cause quite a storm. Devin Singleton / KAMR Meltwater rushes past hail several feet thick on Wednesday off Highway 287 north of Amarillo, Texas.
By Miguel Llanos, NBC News Sure, everything's bigger in Texas. But 4 feet of hail from one storm? That's what the National Weather Service, the Texas Department of Transportation, a local sheriff and others say happened Wednesday in an area north of Amarillo when hail piled up in drifts so wide they cut off a major highway.