Posted by Marc Morano

Extreme weather expert Dr. Roger Pielke Jr.: "I can’t get over how egregiously wrong this NYT article is. Vulnerability to weather extremes is currently lower than it has ever been - in rich and poor countries — ever! This is one of the most significant science, technology & policy success stories of the past century. The idea that 'no one is safe' (NYT) Is as much misinformation as anti-vaccine propaganda. People around the world have never in all of history been more safe in the face of weather and climate extremes."

Self-described "Aspiring Marxist" Davide Mastracci, the managing editor of Passage, "a Canadian publication of thoughtful political, economic, and cultural ideas from a left-wing perspective." Mastracci is a former reporter for Huffington Post and Vice.

July 13, 2021: "Drastically cutting emissions from the transportation sector is of the utmost importance for a successful climate strategy. One way to help do so is to ban the sale of pickup trucks to all consumers unless they’re able to meet strict requirements to prove it will be used primarily for work purposes."

The transportation sector’s problems go well beyond the pickup truck — we need to shift away from relying on private vehicles entirely, regardless of if they’re a Toyota Prius or a Ford F-250. ... "They put us all in danger due to their emission levels." ... "I’ve moved once every couple years or so for the past decade, but I haven’t purchased a moving truck. I just rent one when I need it. There’s no reason these drivers can’t do the same." ...

"Reducing further climate destruction and harm from needlessly fatal road accidents is more important than corporate or consumer freedom." ...

"It’s time to ban sales of pickup trucks for non-work purposes, for all of our sakes."

NYT: "The study is the latest in a growing body of research termed “rapid attribution” analysis, which aims to establish if there is a link between climate change and specific extreme events like heat waves, heavy rain storms and flooding. The goal is to publicize any climate connection quickly, in part to thwart climate denialists who might claim that global warming had no impact on a particular event. The study, which took a little more than a week, is not yet peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal.

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Extreme weather expert Dr. Roger Pielke reacts: "This is such an odd and troubling motivation for doing scientific research - to win the daily news cycle over your political opponents."

Charles Rotter also noted that climate activists also promote "pre-event attribution science."

Disturbingly, some scientists dependent on global warming funding also suggest only global warming explains that heatwave. However, they ignore the fact that the heatwave’s clear skies reduce the local greenhouse effect driven by water vapor. Additionally, global warming can’t explain cold events such as Europe’s record cold just 2 months earlier. So, beware! The media is promoting misinformation.

“Attribution” analysis is specifically criticized by former Obama administration climate scientist Steven E. Koonin in his new book, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters.

Koonin: "Practitioners argue that event attribution studies are the best climate science can do in terms of connecting weather to changes in climate. But as a physical scientist, I’m appalled that such studies are given credence, much less media coverage. A hallmark of science is that conclusions get tested against observations. But that’s virtually impossible for weather attribution studies. Its like a spiritual adviser who claims he influence helped you win the lottery — after you’ve already won it.

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The bottom line is that the science says that most extreme weather events show no long-term trends that can be attributed to human influences on the climate. (What models might project for future extremes is quite a different matter, though its often conflated with what the observational record shows.) Yet the popular perception that extreme events are becoming more common and more severe remains."

According to the University of Washington, the hottest temperature recorded in the state was 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Wahluke reached this temperature on July 24, 1928, and the ironically named Ice Harbor Dam tied the record on August 5, 1961.

The university lists other extreme weather events and their dates, including lowest temperatures in 1968, record rainfall in 1986, record snowfall in 1994, maximum snow depth in 1956, etc. These weather extremes don’t suggest a pattern, although perhaps another 200 years of record gathering might provide a degree of statistical certainty.