Warmer weather might have made Al Gore president — study
Each degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming increased turnout by 0.14 percent, researchers found.Voters were also more likely to cast ballots for third parties or independent candidates, but the party currently in power stood the most to gain from the warm weather.In terms of electoral significance, those results rank pretty low, said Justin Holmes, a University of Northern Iowa political science professor who was not involved in the study. How many voters a campaign contacts one on one matters much more, he added.And because states have generally expanded early and absentee voting, the weather on Election Day might matter even less, he said.
Still, even tiny shifts can tip an election result, the researchers wrote.
“Based on our model, an increase of only 1 degree Celsius … may have made Al Gore the 43rd United States President instead of George W. Bush, as Gore would have won in Florida,” they said.
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