My research indicates that many misstatements and even misleading photographs and movies have been publicized — often, it seems, deliberately to scare people into action. For example, hurricanes and tornadoes have not been worse than before. Most coral reefs that were bleached by ocean hot spots have recovered1, and coral bleaching and recovery have occurred many times before. (However as I write the ocean is hotter than it has been in thousands of years, so I fear that the reefs will not recover.) Reservoirs and ground water in arid areas of the American West have not been receiving less precipitation than during other dry periods (but are being drained by overuse). The dust bowl era of the 1930s was more extreme than recent heat and drought. The western Antarctica ice shelf is melting due to warm ocean temperatures, but the interior of Antarctica has been getting colder2.
Every climatological record or unusual climate occurrence in any locality is publicized as proving impending disaster. However, climate history contains many past extremes here and there. For example, on June 27, 1772, long before massive heat islands the nighttime temperature in Paris was 27.5ºC, still a record.3 Normal or cool temperatures are not news.
However, certainly there have been negative effects and with continued warming they are likely to get worse. For example, the northern hemisphere fire season is longer now, (though many years of fire suppression are the main reason for mega-fires.)4 The sea is now slowly becoming more acid5 and, based upon satellite data, rising at 3.9 millimeters (1/6th inch) per year compared to 2.5 mm in the 1990s and 1.5mm earlier in the 20th century6.
We should not completely discount the probable positive effects for northern regions, such as longer and more fertile growing seasons, and less frigid winters, but most of us will agree that with continued warming the bad effects will greatly outdo the good.
- https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-022-02271-6; https://www.aims.gov.au/information-centre/news-and-stories/southern-reefs-recover-bleaching?utm_source=miragenews&utm_medium=miragenews&utm_campaign=news; https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/12/18/coral-recovery-during-a-prolonged-heatwave-offers-new-hope/#:~:text=Warmer waters can trigger a source within a few weeks. ↩︎
- https://nsidc.org/data ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_of_Paris ↩︎
- https://theconversation.com/how-years-of-fighting-every-wildfire-helped-fuel-the-western-megafires-of-today-163165 ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification ↩︎
- https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/150192/tracking-30-years-of-sea-level-rise#:~:text=Global%20mean%20sea%20level%20has,(0.15%20inches)%20per%20year. ↩︎