{"id":122031,"date":"2023-07-13T08:04:16","date_gmt":"2023-07-13T12:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=122031"},"modified":"2023-07-13T17:15:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T21:15:28","slug":"nyt-david-wallace-wells-global-warming-is-accelerating-and-its-starting-to-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=122031","title":{"rendered":"(NYT) David Wallace-Wells–Global warming is accelerating, and it\u2019s starting to show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is always comforting to believe disasters are far away, unfolding elsewhere, but increasingly doing so means defining ever smaller increments of space as distant. In this case, New Yorkers drew comfort from the fickle path of a single local storm system. The rains had pulled just a few miles west, on Sunday, sparing New York City and\u00a0instead<\/a>\u00a0pummeling<\/a>\u00a0Vermont<\/a>, where government buildings acquired new moats, Main Streets\u00a0became canal towns<\/a>, and ski resorts were\u00a0flattened by brown by muddy rubble<\/a>. People were kayaking through Montpelier, and the\u00a0Winooski River<\/a>\u00a0rose<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0levels not seen since catastrophic flooding in 1927<\/a>. The governor had to\u00a0hike his way to an open road<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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It didn\u2019t even seem that freakish, all things considered \u2014 we see so many more climate-fueled disasters now, with global average temperatures breaking records every day recently. There were\u00a0terrifying<\/a>\u00a0floods<\/a>\u00a0this week<\/a>\u00a0in Himachal Pradesh, in India, where several bridges collapsed and others carrying dozens of cars and trucks seemed about to. Japan\u00a0experienced the \u201cheaviest rain ever,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and in\u00a0Spain<\/a>, floodwaters carried cars backward through traffic at rapid speeds, their drivers simply watching powerless from the roof, where they\u2019d taken refuge when the water began filling the cabin. A monthslong heat wave centered on Texas and Mexico and spread outward as far as Miami, which, as of Monday, had reached heat indexes north of 100 degrees\u00a0for 30 straight days<\/a>. In Death Valley in California, this week temperatures may reach or surpass the global record of 130 degrees Fahrenheit, set just in 2021. In El Paso, there hasn\u2019t been a day that didn\u2019t hit 100\u00a0for weeks<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n
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Off the coast of Florida, the water was\u00a0nearly as warm as a hot tub<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 95 degrees according to one buoy, 97 degrees according to another. It was just last month when life-threatening heat indexes as high as 125 simply\u00a0parked in Puerto Rico<\/a>\u00a0for days on end. According to a coral bleaching\u00a0forecast<\/a>\u00a0published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there is\u00a0likely to be bleaching across the entire Caribbean this summer<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear\u00a0how much will survive<\/a>. According to some estimates, as much as 50 percent of the world\u2019s oceans\u00a0will experience marine heat wave conditions this summer<\/a>; normally the figure\u00a0is about 10 percent<\/a>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Read it all<\/a> (subscription).<\/p>\n

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Floods, Heat, Smoke: The Weather Will Never Be Normal Again
Global warming is accelerating, and it\u2019s starting to show.
By David Wallace-Wells https:\/\/t.co\/QBhqZoInnW<\/a><\/p>\n

— Stuart Falk (@stufalk) July 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n