The big difference between the heatwaves of 1976 and 2018.
June 1976: the UK was one of the warmest places relative to normal across the globe, with most areas cooler than average.
June 2018: the UK was just another warm blob in a mostly warmer than normal world.
#GlobalHeatwave.
June 1976: the UK was one of the warmest places relative to normal across the globe, with most areas cooler than average.
June 2018: the UK was just another warm blob in a mostly warmer than normal world.
#GlobalHeatwave.
Wow, this got far more exposure than I was anticipating! I’m glad this has made the global warming picture make sense for so many. Data and maps from the excellent @NASAGISS website, where you can plot similar maps (with whatever base period you like!).
Another thing I’ve got out of the response to this tweet: these maps shouldn’t be surprising. And that shows how much better (still!) we, in the meteorology and climate science community, have to be at communication of the data.
To put this into a long-term global context, here's how June has warmed since @NASAGISS data begins in 1880. I've highlighted 1976 and 2018. Lots of variability, but a steep, persistent and, fundamentally, *undeniable* warming.
I've added a few of my thoughts on this to a blog post on @SocialMetwork: socialmetwork.blog/2018/07/24/its….
Imagine a loaded dice. You throw a 6. But you could have thrown a 6 on a normal dice, too, so you can't be sure you threw a 6 because the dice was loaded - but it vastly increased your chances of doing so. The same logic applies to heatwaves and global warming.
For those who ask, "but didn't the UK have record-breaking cold weather as part of the #BeastFromTheEast in March this year?"
Yes we did, but the UK was one of only a few cooler than average places in an otherwise very warm world. Think global, not local.
Image credit @NASAGISS.
Yes we did, but the UK was one of only a few cooler than average places in an otherwise very warm world. Think global, not local.
Image credit @NASAGISS.
