OK, quick question: What do these weather phenomena have in common?

  • Air Pollution Weather (temperature inversions)
  • Aridity
  • Avalanche (snow)
  • Average rain
  • Average Wind Speed
  • Coastal Flood
  • Drought Affecting Crops (agricultural drought)
  • Drought From Lack Of Rain (hydrological drought)
  • Erosion of Coastlines
  • Fire Weather (hot and windy)
  • Flooding From Heavy Rain (pluvial floods)
  • Frost
  • Hail
  • Heavy Rain
  • Heavy Snowfall and Ice Storms
  • Landslides
  • Marine Heatwaves
  • Ocean Alkalinity
  • Radiation at the Earth’s Surface
  • River/Lake Floods
  • Sand and Dust Storms
  • Sea Level
  • Severe Wind Storms
  • Snow, Glacier, and Ice Sheets
  • Tropical Cyclones

Give up? So would I.

What these phenomena have in common is that the IPCC says that there is no significant evidence that these phenomena have changed (either increased or decreased) in the “historical period”.

In other words, there’s no evidence that “global warming” has changed the strength or frequency of those weather phenomena.

So when folks claim things like “We’re already seeing the effects of global warming in storms/cyclones/floods/fire weather/sea level/etc./etc.”, feel free to tell them that the IPCC and reality itself beg to disagree.

And when Yale 360 reflects on the 2017 Hurricane Harvey by saying ” If not for climate change, 2017’s Hurricane Harvey might have flooded half as many homes in the Houston area, a new study finds.” and “Climate change is happening right now with real and substantial costs”, you can feel free to point and laugh.

Don’t believe me? Here, with a large hat tip to a Substack post by Dr. Roger Pielke Jr., is Table 12.12 regarding “Climate Impact Drivers (CIDs)” from Chapter 12 of Working Group 1 of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, the most recent report:

So … what weather phenomena does the IPCC say have actually changed? Well, they say global average air and ocean temperatures have increased by a few tenths of one percent. No news there.

Then they say “extreme heat” has increased. But they’re not talking about actual temperature. Instead, they’re using something called “Health Heat Index (HHI)”.

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