Could a tropical storm brew before the middle of July in Gulf of Mexico?

Showers and thunderstorms forecast to congeal along the coast of the southern United States next week and could slowly allow a storm to brew that may be tropical in nature.

While much of the Atlantic Basin is likely to remain hostile for tropical development due to large areas of dry air, dust and wind shear, there is a somewhat more likely area where development may take place in the coming days.

The southeastern part of the nation, including parts of the Gulf of Mexico and the western Atlantic, will become an active zone for showers and thunderstorms into next week

Slightly cooler air aloft associated with a developing non-tropical storm, combined with warm and humid conditions, will spur on thundery downpours this weekend through next week.

However, during next week through next weekend, the storm aloft may slowly spin down to the surface.

"At this time, it appears the most likely area for slow development would be over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, perhaps near the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana," according to AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski.

"That development could be tropical or subtropical in nature," Kottlowski said.

A subtropical storm has both tropical and non-tropical characteristics.

Subtropical storms tend to be somewhat lopsided and may contain pockets of dry air near the center. However, in terms of impact, they can also bring heavy rainfall, rough sea and surf conditions and strong winds, just like their true tropical storm cousin.

Development may occur as early as the middle of next week or as late as next weekend. It is also possible that the system fails to develop should all the necessary ingredients not come together.

It is possible that the development zone extends northeastward off the Georgia and Carolina coast next week. This will be a swath where showers and thunderstorms extend over the Atlantic.

In any event, the area around the northeastern Gulf coast may be prone to several days of downpours from a slow-moving storm.

At some point, the more concentrated batch of downpours and thunderstorms associated with the feature, tropical or not, may be pulled inland over the South and then northeastward around an area of high pressure near Bermuda.

There is another area, located in a narrow zone immediately west of Africa, where there is a plume of moisture and slightly lower wind shear.

This area is the source of tropical waves or disturbances that move westward across Africa in the form of gusty winds and locally heavy thunderstorms.

These waves often result in the bulk of tropical storms and hurricane over the Atlantic Basin from August through September and October. This period is the heart of hurricane season with the peak in September.

Any such development through next week off Africa will have to fight against dry, dusty air to the immediate north.

While El Niño conditions may suppress the numbers of tropical storms and hurricane in the Atlantic basin somewhat this year, all it takes is for one or two hurricanes to strike populated areas and result in great risk to lives and property.

This year, AccuWeather will implement its RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes to assist with public safety and understanding, as well as risk of damage should a tropical threat arise.

The Atlantic basin remains quiet for now

There are no organized tropical systems across the Atlantic Ocean, and AccuWeather meteorologists do not foresee tropical development through the weekend.

Much of the basin is being dominated by either high wind shear or large amounts of dry, dusty air. While there are several tropical waves traversing the Atlantic Ocean, the aforementioned factors will continue to inhibit any development through the end of the week.

There are projections showing a few stronger tropical waves emerging from the coast of Africa, one this weekend and a second early next week. These waves may have a higher chance of development than tropical waves we have seen during the past few weeks, but current modeling does not show significant strengthening with these. Wind shear is projected to lessen across the eastern Atlantic during this time, so the main limiting factor may be the dry and dusty air coming from the Sahara.

Later next week, an upper-level low pressure system over the southeastern United States may emerge over the eastern Gulf of Mexico for a couple of days. If this occurs, very warm water and relatively low wind shear in that region may allow a tropical or subtropical system to develop near the Eastern Gulf Coast. Accuweather meteorologists will be closely monitoring this potential over the next several days.

By AccuWeather Meteorologist Max Vido

Typical Summer Hailstorm Causes Climate Change Hysteria

By Chris Martz | July 1, 2019

Follow @ChrisMartzWX

Did you hear about the hailstorm that just recently hit Guadalajara, Mexico (Figure 1)? 

Figure 1. Hail cleanup in Mexico.

You likely did and while impressive in photos, it was nothing out of the ordinary for the region. It's once again, wacky journalism and scientific illiteracy that has you all hyped up and in panic mode. Numerous articles have surfaced, like this one from CBS News describing how "6 feet of hail fell on Guadalajara, Mexico" (Figure 2).¹ Please note that I have nothing against CBS News, I'm just pointing out the simple fact that the article is a bit misleading...

Figure 2. Freak hailstorm dumps up to 6 feet of ice on Guadalajara, Mexico - CBS News.

Social media (i.e. Twitter) started to jump on the bandwagon train after articles like this were published, and it didn't take long before people began to blame global warming, climate change, the ecological breakdown, climate crisis, global heating, global change, or whatever they call it nowadays on the "freak" hailstorm. 

The governor of the Mexican state Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro, suggested that climate change may be the cause of the hailstorm.¹ The entire problem with that mindset is that climate change — regardless of the main cause — does not actually cause [extreme] weather events. Climate change itself may amplify or reduce extreme weather intensity or frequency to a degree, but it most certainly does not cause extreme weather to occur. It is unknown whether or not a certain weather event would occur in a warmer or colder world, considering that events like hailstorms have occurred for as long as we know.

What Causes Hail?

Hail itself is a common occurrence during summertime, as they form from frozen water droplets that collide with supercooled water droplet suspended in the air by thunderstorm updrafts.² ³ ⁴ The stronger an updraft is, the longer the hailstone stays in the air colliding with more supercooled water droplets, and as a result, the larger the hailstone grows.² ³ ⁴ Eventually, it along with other hailstones become too heavy, and fall to Earth's surface from the thunderstorm updraft.² ³ ⁴ (See Figure 3).

Figure 3. Hail formation - original image from Brad Panovich.

Hailstorms in NW Mexico Are More Common Than You Think

Like hail, lightning is a good indicator of thunderstorms. The map below (Figure 4) shows the average annual number of lightning strikes per square kilometer across the globe.² As you can see, western, mountainous Mexico — where Guadalajara is located — sees a high number of lightning strikes per year, as compared to other areas.² This is a good indicator of frequent hailstorms.

Figure 4. Lightning flashes per year.

A 1977 study of North American Hail by Stan Changnon Jr. found that hail is most likely to occur during the Spring and Summer months in the Central Plateau and high mountains of Mexico, while simultaneously less common around coastal mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula.² ⁵ Moreover, mountainous regions experience on average, four or more "hail days" annually.² ⁵

While average annual lightning strikes — as previously stated — are a potential indicator of more hailstorms as Dr. Marshall Shepherd noted, it's certainly not applicable to all locations. For instance, Florida has the most annual number of thunderstorms in the U.S., but at the same time less hail than Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming — commonly referred to as "hail alley."² Those three states on average have seven to nine hail days per year according to NOAA.² The reason for this is because the freezing level in the atmosphere — where temperatures fall to freezing — is closer to the ground due to mountainous terrain as compared to Florida's flat terrain.² The same can be said about Guadalajara, which sits at an elevation of 5,138 feet.² ⁶ This high elevation, once again means that the atmosphere's freezing level is closer to the ground, thus it should be to no surprise that hailstorms are a somewhat common occurrence.

Meteorologist Dr. Roy Spencer, of University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), found this hand-drawn map (Figure 5) of global hail frequency from a 1973 study.⁷ The map clearly shows that Guadalajara receives a great number of hail days per year.⁷ Somehow, journalists completely omitted this.

Figure 5. Global hail frequency.

What About That "6 Feet of Hail?"

This simply didn't happen. Six feet of hail did not fall out of the sky onto Guadalajara. When major hailstorms occur, heavy rain is often present, and as we know, heavy rain causes flooding.⁷ This flooding causes currents of water to flow through streets, in which hail becomes deposited into large, scattered piles.⁷ 

The Summary of It All

It should be eye-opening to you that people actually think every weather event is this existential crisis. It should also be eye-opening to you that people think every weather event that occurs has "never happened before." Perhaps it's just me, but I have seen a frightening rise in this mindset among people, that's politically motivated. 

As I have been saying for quite some time now, it's very important that people take a step back and look at the mechanisms and causes, rather than assuming it's climate change at work. This narrow view of catastrophic climate change continues to advance down a very dark path that needs to have it's brakes applied on immediately.

REFERENCES

[1] Brito, Christopher. "Freak hailstorm dumps up to 6 feet of ice on Guadalajara, Mexico." CBS News. July 1, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-hail-storm-up-to-6-feet-of-ice-dropped-guadalajara-north-mexico-city-in-summertime-freak-hail-storm-sunday/.

[2] Shepherd, Marshall. "Why Caution is Needed With Those Hail Pictures in Mexico." Forbes. July 1, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/07/01/why-caution-is-needed-with-those-hail-pictures-in-mexico/#759936502cf5.

[3] "How Does Hail Form?" NASA Precipitation Education. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://pmm.nasa.gov/education/content/how-does-hail-form.

[4] "Thunderstorm Hazards - Hail" NWS JetStream. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://www.weather.gov/jetstream/hail.

[5] Changnon, Stanley. "The Scales of Hail." Journals of Applied Meteorology. April 22, 1977. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/pdf/10.1175/1520-0450%281977%29016%3C0626%3ATSOH%3E2.0.CO%3B2.

[6] "Guadalajara." Wikipedia. June 23, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadalajara.

[7] Spencer, Roy. "The 'Freak' Guadalajara Hailstorm wasn't So Freakish." July 1, 2019. Accessed July 1, 2019. http://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/07/the-freak-guadalajara-hailstorm-wasnt-so-freakish/.

Show Your Stripes? I'm Not So Sure

By Chris Martz | June 22, 2019

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June 21 was not only the summer solstice for the Northern Hemisphere, it was also #MetsUnite day; a day for broadcast meteorologists to #ShowYourStripes.¹ Ed Hawkins, a climatologist at the University of Reading, created these banner-like graphics (Figure 1) that are colored to show how Earth has supposedly warmed since 1850.¹ Each vertical stripe represents one year of average temperature.¹

Figure 1. "Show Your Stripes" banner depicting global temperature trends.

Hawkins has a new interactive website dedicated to these banners, of which you can choose any country you'd like and one of these banners will pop up.² In the U.S., you can further select any state of your preference (Figure 2).²

Figure 2. Warming stripes for Virginia from 1895 - 2018.

So, how accurate are these #ShowYourStripes banners? Are they spot-on accurate, or are they a total waste of website bandwidth? Let's find out.

Before I discuss the temperature data, let's take a look at the number of Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) stations over time. As you can see in Figure 3 below, the number of stations reached a peak sometime between 1960 and 1980 with nearly 5,500 stations globally.³ In 1880, when temperature records began, there were only about 500 GHCN stations across the globe, and that number didn't cross 1,000 until the mid-1890s.³ The number of stations steadily grew from approximately 1,000 to nearly 3,000 from the 1890s leading up to the end of World War II.³ After World War II, only then did the number of stations skyrocket.³ Following a "boom" in station count, the number has been dropping consistently since the 1980s.³

Over that entire time period, the only country that has had an excellent temperature record is the United States, although there are a handful of other countries that have decent long-term records too. This is because the U.S. had and still has the most station coverage relative to it's landmass as compared to any other country. Thus, one can only conclude that temperature records from almost any other country are essentially worthless, let alone a global temperature record. 

Figure 3. Number of global GHCN stations.

Over 6,000 stations have records shorter than 20 years, which isn't even long enough to officially calculate a "climate normal," which is 30 years.³ More than half of the GHCN stations have records no longer than 50 to 60 years, which is barely long enough to show cyclical changes in the climate on multidecadal time scales.³ (See Figure 4).

Figure 4. Station record length.

I find it very suspicious that we "have" an accurate global temperature record if there is a lack of long-term data and station coverage on a global scale. Because of these conditions, I want to lastly direct your attention to the United States, which without comparison, has the best temperature record in the world.

According to Ed's website, U.S. temperatures (Figure 5) are the warmest that they have ever been just in the last decade. 

Figure 5. U.S. warming stripes.

Actual raw data says otherwise. Since 1895, U.S. temperatures have seen no significant trend (Figure 6), yet the stripes at the end are showing that the U.S. is seeing it's warmest ever past few years (Figure 5).⁴

Figure 6. Average mean temperature vs. year for the U.S.

I have no doubt in my mind that global temperatures have indeed risen since and much prior to 1880, there is plenty evidence of it. However, exactly how much warming we have seen globally since official records began in 1880 might not be 1°C (1.8°F), it could very well be a bit less, and without sufficient long-term data, nobody really knows. For example, there are only 522 GHCN stations (Figures 7 and 8) that have been active since 1900, and most of those are in the United States.³

Figure 7. NASA map of GHCN stations active in both January 1900 and May 2019 (NH).

Figure 8. NASA map of GHCN stations active in both January 1900 and May 2019 (SH).

The question isn't whether or not each individual station's data is accurate (more than likely is), it's a question of the global temperature record. Without sufficient long-term data from any other country except for the U.S., I remain skeptical of the accuracy of such graphs.

REFERENCES

[1] Shepherd, Marshall. "Why TV Meteorologists Will 'Show Their Stripes' For Climate on June 21st." Forbes. June 19, 2019. Accessed June 23, 2019. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/06/19/why-tv-meteorologists-will-show-their-stripes-for-climate-on-june-21st/.

[2] Hawkins, Ed. "#ShowYourStripes." #ShowYourStripes, University of Reading. Accessed June 23, 2019. https://showyourstripes.info/.

[3] Schmidt, Gavin A. "GISS Surface Temperature Analysis." NASA GISS. June 12, 2019. Accessed June 23, 2019. https://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/stdata/.

[4] Heller, Tony. "UNHIDING THE DECLINE For Windows." The Deplorable Climate Science Blog. August 14, 2017. Accessed June 23, 2019. https://realclimatescience.com/unhiding-the-decline-for-windows/.

Remaining Quiet Across the Atlantic Basin

By Ricky Chen | June 18, 2019

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There are no organized tropical features across the Atlantic basin at this time. While there are several tropical waves traversing the basin, a large area of dry air and dust covers the eastern Atlantic. This continues to suppress the development of these westward-moving waves.

In addition, a ribbon of moderate to strong wind shear that often prevents robust tropical development extends from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic basin. Long-range computer forecast information shows no support for tropical development of any of these tropical waves through at least next week.

Original post by AccuWeather senior meteorologist Bob Smerbeck.

My Top 8 Annoyances in the Climate Change Debate

By Chris Martz | June 15, 2019

Follow @ChrisMartzWX

As an aspiring meteorologist, I take my passion far beyond what many weather enthusiasts do. Rather than just giving a weather forecast, I like to explain why something is happening, and likewise with the climate. 

Earth's climate system is very dynamic, meaning that it's prone to change due to any number of reasons, it's not uniformly controlled by atmospheric carbon dioxide, contrary to what you hear in the press.

Instead of talking about why climate changes, I want to do something different. Whenever I go to debate someone on climate change, they do one, two, or all of three things; that is call me a "denier" and hurl personal attacks at me, question my credentials, or use straw-man arguments rather than trying to prove me wrong. 

In the process of weather forecasting, I look at different forecast models which lay out different solutions for how the weather will play out in the days and weeks ahead. I choose certain models which I think have the best solution to make my forecast, but also look at models that may provide a different solution; that may actually work better. In my few years of spending hours a day studying climate change, I have sided with the "skeptics." However, as an open-minded individual, I seek for information that may prove me wrong (and in some instances, I will admit that I have been wrong). 

With that said, let's take a look at some of my biggest annoyances in the climate change debate.

8. Climate activists skew the term "climate change." This isn't necessarily an annoyance per se, but it is a little aggravating at times. Decades ago, the term "climate change" would mean a change in climate, not necessarily a result of man-made processes. Nowadays, it's simply assumed as if climate change is man-made.

7. Politicians using the media to distort scientific research. This one's a no-brainer. We all know that politicians lie regardless of their political party affiliation. We also know that media outlet ratings are heavily weighed on politics, thus politicians use the media in order to spread their messages in hopes of gaining support for when election time rolls around. Climate change is a hot topic in politics and is very partisan among Democrats and Republicans. Politicians will often take scientific research and only read the summary at the beginning, known as the "abstract" without looking at the different different scenarios of what may happen further down the road as a result of negative and positive feedbacks in the climate system, and use the summary and worst-case scenario in proposed legislature.

6. Climate activists questioning my credentials. At some point in a debate (if it even makes it that far), the opposition will ask me about my credentials. In other words, they want to see if I am "credible enough" to be talking about climate change. 

Here is my response to that: 

As of the time this article was written (June 15, 2019), I am an aspiring meteorologist. I am not currently a "degreed" meteorologist, but I am planning on going to college to major and get a Masters of Science (M.S.) in meteorology. In addition, I have had very good email (and Twitter DM) discussions with various meteorologists and climatologists. Some of them agree with me, some of them don't. It should also be noted that at 16 years old, I have been able to write articles for Watts Up With That?, Climate Change Dispatch, and Climatism, a proud achievement that many my age (and older) have and will never get the opportunity to do.

So, just because I am not currently a scientist, doesn't mean I don't know what I'm talking about. 

5. Climate activists appeal to authority and citation of a consensus. Over and over and over again, people who preach the climate crisis appeal to authority. Appealing to authority does nothing to propagate the advancement of science, as it's an argument that people use to claim that something "must be true" just because it's believed by someone who is considered to be an "authority" on a subject. Just because the majority of scientists may say "ABC," whereas contrarians say "XYZ" does NOT make the consensus correct!

4. Climate activists unwillingness to debate. Tony Heller has proven this one to be true time and time again. One of the best examples was when he asked Keith Carson to debate, then Keith backed down a few hours later. I too will often try to debate people, and they end up backing down, refusing to debate, or blocking me on Twitter. Michael Mann, Katherine Hayhoe, and Peter Gleick are notorious for this (it's their accounts and their choice, so they can do what pleases them, but it isn't very professional to block someone when they are trying to debate you).

3. Skeptics constant use of cold weather and snow to try and disprove global warming is happening. Day in and day out, I see fellow skeptics (some of whom I look up to) use cold weather events or snow days as evidence against global warming. Single weather events can not be used as evidence against global warming.

2. Climate activists say weather does not equal climate, then turn around and use a single heat wave to try and prove global warming. While I agree with climate change activists reminding skeptics that weather and climate are not the same, these climate activists constantly do an about-face and blame hot weather on climate change. This too, is foolish because one day's worth of record heat is not part of a long-term trend. 

1. Climate activists use the use of the term "climate [change] denier." Last, but definitely not least, this is my all time biggest annoyance in the climate change debate. I have seen the words "climate denier," "climate change denier," or simply "denier" used all too many times. As far as I'm concerned, there is nobody on Earth who denies the fact that climate changes at the very least naturally. Even those who call themselves "deniers" are not really deniers. Climate has been in a constant state of change for over 4.5 billion years, and will continue to do so in the future. 

What Were Those Horizontal Rainbow Stripes Stretching Across the Sky on Wednesday?

By Chris Martz | June 12, 2019

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Numerous people (including myself) have come forth to share some photos of colorful rainbow stripes spotted within the clouds over the Washington, D.C. area on Wednesday. A handful of photos of these strange, yet mesmerizing optical phenomena have been shared on Twitter from people in various locations throughout the area, including Frederick, MD, Loudoun County, VA, and Berryville, VA.

Check out this cool rainbow cloud I captured on camera today in Berryville, VA. This is the first time I have seen "cloud iridescense" like this. @spann @StormHour @WeatherNation @JimCantore @capitalweather @BigJoeBastardi @verz pic.twitter.com/33SLfocX65

— Chris Martz Weather (@ChrisMartzWX) June 12, 2019

While many refer to this optic as a "fire rainbow" due to it's colorful, flame-like appearance, the technical term for this is a "circumhorizontal arc."¹ ² ³ Often spotted during the spring and summer months, circumhorizontal arcs arise when sunlight is refracted (bent) through hexagonally-shaped ice crystals while the sun is simultaneously at 58° above the horizon (usually between noon and 2:00 p.m.).¹ ² ³ ⁴ When the sun's rays strike ice crystals composing high, thin, wispy cirrus clouds (which form at elevations greater than 20,000 feet),⁴ the rays are split into a wide array of colors.¹ ² ³ ⁴ Unlike regular rainbows, these clouds have nothing to due with rain.² ³

@capitalweather Spotted in Loudoun VA. Any idea what causes this? pic.twitter.com/nMlMkkflTU

— Tyler Koontz (@1TylerKoontz) June 12, 2019

Circumhorizontal arcs are not to be confused with circumzenithal arcs, which are upside-down rainbows that occur when the sun is anywhere from 5° to 32° above the horizon.¹ ³

Of course! And here's another view from a vertical perspective. pic.twitter.com/ZIPuPvqtRE

— Adam Van Grack (@WhitewaterAtty) June 12, 2019

This was just earlier today at Lansdowne in Leesburg pic.twitter.com/7Xa1eHN5Yj

— William Gessaman (@willygmanVA) June 12, 2019

@dougkammerer interesting rainbow cloud formation over Frederick, MD this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/HCgRomSUb0

— nchomycia (@chomycia) June 12, 2019

REFERENCES

[1] Lam, Linda. "Fire Rainbow Appears in Kentucky Sky." The Weather Channel. May 8, 2018. Accessed June 12, 2019. https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/2018-05-08-fire-rainbow-circumhorizontal-arc-kentucky.

[2] Samenow, Jason. "Colors 'purer' than those of the rainbow' painted skies near Washington Wednesday. Here's and explanation." The Washington Post. June 12, 2019. Accessed June 12, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/06/12/colors-purer-than-those-rainbow-painted-skies-near-washington-wednesday-heres-an-explanation/?utm_term=.390ed2306f4c.

[3] Erdman, Jonathan. "The Science Behind the Odd Rainbow Stripes Everyone Saw in Western Wisconsin." The Weather Channel. June 8, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2019. https://weather.com/science/weather-explainers/news/circumhorizontal-arcs-wisconsin.

[4] Williams, Ashley. "Beachgoer captures rare, colorful phenomenon decorating the afternoon sky." AccuWeather. May 27, 2019. Accessed June 12, 2019. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/beachgoer-captures-rare-colorful-phenomenon-decorating-the-afternoon-sky/70008372.

Climate Crisis, Breakdown, Emergency: All Nonsense and A Climate Madhouse!

By Chris Martz | June 1, 2019

Follow @ChrisMartzWX

It's been nearly three weeks since The Guardian, a news organization, published an article detailing their overhaul of environmental stories and the "language" used in them. In their articles on climate change, they are 'advancing' their climate change terminology. Instead of "climate change" and "global warming," the company is now going to use "climate crisis" and "global heating" (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Why the Guardian is changing the language it used about the environment.

According to Damian Carrington, the author of the piece, The Guardian has updated it's style guide with terms that "more accurately describe environmental crises facing the world. Instead of 'climate change' the preferred terms are 'climate emergency, crisis or breakdown' and 'global heating' is favoured over 'global warming', although the original terms are not banned." The editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner stated that she wants the articles published to be more "scientifically precise."

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure no serious scientist (hence the word serious) is calling climate change a crisis, breakdown, or emergency. It should also be noted that all three of those terms don't really sound very scientific to me; they sound more like something from a pre-schooler. 

According to the May 17th article, these changes in terminology are in light of the notion that carbon emissions need to be cut by 2030 in order to avoid the dangers of droughts, flooding, and extreme heat, not to mention accelerating the extinction of animal species. (I'm not a biologist here, (I'm actually an aspiring meteorologist) but I think the only thing that's becoming extinct is common sense and brain usage.)

The Guardian's new vocabulary was also inspired by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager who has invoked controversy, as she has caused who 'knows how many' students to skip school and protest against climate change. In a statement this past May, Thunberg said "It's 2019. Can we all now call it what it is: climate breakdown, climate crisis, climate emergency, ecological breakdown, ecological crisis, and ecological emergency?"

No, Greta, we aren't going to call it a climate crisis because there is simply no evidence to suggest that there is one. As meteorologist Joe Bastardi has been saying for a while, climate (weather) related deaths have been plummeting for nearly 100 years, while life expectancy has gone up (of which both are due to various reasons, including the less extreme weather we've seen since the Dust Bowl era).

Dear @realDonaldTrump when someone gets in your face about the climate catastrophe, show these 2 charts, Climate related deaths have plummetted in the fossil fuel era, personal GDP, people alive and life expectancy has skyrocketed. This is opposite of climate catastrophe missive pic.twitter.com/Nv6EUwyUv7

— Joe Bastardi (@BigJoeBastardi) March 16, 2019

Despite The Guardian's 'powerful' use of language (sarcasm), this aspiring meteorologist is somehow still not convinced we're in impending climate doom!

REFERENCES

Carrington, Damian. "Why the Guardian is changing the language it uses about the environment." May 17, 2019. Accessed June 1, 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/17/why-the-guardian-is-changing-the-language-it-uses-about-the-environment.