Comments on: How a changing climate has messed with Texas: a cautionary tale.

By: Seth Kaplan

Seth Kaplan — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:22:33 +0000

I agree completely that you should not get your climate science (or any science) solely from NPR or from any other news organization. That is why I included the links to some very serious peer-reviewed science that show how global warming “loads the dice” to make events like the disaster now unfolding in Texas more likely. Phenomena like this happened in the past – this just makes it even more likely.

Here is another news article, from the Houston Chronicle, about the same “permanent effects of the heat and drought”: http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/09-01-11-more-than-66-million-trees-expected-to-die-in-the-houston-area-city-canopy-will-never-look-the-same/

By: Joseph D'Aleo

Joseph D'Aleo — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:52:41 +0000

Actually 2007 was the wettest summer on record for Texas and this year’s heat wave and drought though very extreme was similar to the 7 year drought of the 1940s-1950s. There is no long term trend in either summer temperatures and precipitation for Texas since 1895.

[http://icecap.us/index.php (see 1895-2010 temperature and precipitation charts)]

This very severe heat wave and drought is related to a super La Nina, strongest since 1917/18 and 1954-56 and given the return of la Nina likely to continue into 2012.

[http://icecap.us/index.php (see Super La Nina PDSI maps)]

As usual; NPR can’t be relied on for providing truth just dogma.