If it has seemed to you that this summer has been hotter than previous summers in the Greater Palm Springs area, you are right (and sweaty). In a New York Times article detailing the many fires blazing across the west, it’s noted that the previous half-year have been the warmest since they started tracking these things.
More important from the perspective of climate change are temperature records over time. For instance, Palm Springs this year has had the warmest previous six months in its historical record, dating back 68 years. There are similar examples across Southern California and Arizona.
“They’re baking out there,” Greg Carbin, a meteorologist with the service’s Weather Prediction Center, in College Park, Maryland told the newspaper. “That’s a climate signal,” Mr. Carbin said.
Riverside County has not only seen fires in the area, but also six heat-related deaths this month due to the heatwave, which a county official says is unlike anything he has ever seen.
“We can’t recall seeing a stretch like this,” said Jose Arballo, a spokesman for the county health department. “We’re seeing next-level heat for prolonged periods — when it gets cool we’re still going to be in the 90s. We would not be surprised if we see more deaths from this.”
The entire article is worth a read. You can check it out here.
