Various mainstream media outlets are claiming Antarctica is on fire, registering unusually hot temperatures due to climate change, citing a new study as the source of their story. These stories tell the story of research and science. The peer-reviewed paper referenced in the title clearly states that short-term weather events are the cause, not climate change. Also, contrary to media claims, there was no “heat wave,” because the official meteorological criteria for calling this event a heat wave was not met.
The photo above shows the SciTechDaily headline: Earth Burns Last Frontier: Record-Breaking Heat Hits Antarctica This Winter. elsewhere, Economic Times weighed with Record Antarctic heat waves: Threats to global sea level and ice integrity, when CNN blared ‘Astonishing’ Antarctic heat wave sends temperatures 50 degrees above normal.
First, let’s state the obvious. As the SciTechDaily headline photo above makes clear, nothing is burning in Antarctica despite the “burning continent” claims.
SciTechDaily says this:
In March 2022, the strongest heat wave ever recorded on Earth hit Antarctica, as organisms in the southern region prepare for a long and harsh winter. Extreme weather has raised temperatures in some parts of Antarctica to more than 70°F above average, melting glaciers and snow even in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the coldest and driest regions on the planet.
Putting these paragraphs and titles in proper perspective, we turn to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) definition of a heat wave:
A heat wave is a period of unusually hot weather that usually lasts two or more days. To be considered a heat wave, temperatures must exceed the historical average for a given region.
Despite the fact that there were colder than normal temperatures in Antarctica during the one-day weather event, the temperature was only briefly above freezing, so there was no measurable melting. The practice of labeling the event a “heat wave” is wrong.
The newspaper cited by the media as a source of alarming headlines said, “Record high temperature was documented in the McMurdo Dry Valley, Antarctica, on March 18, 2022, exceeding the average temperature for that day by almost 30°C.”
Furthermore, the data given in figure 1 shows the temperature in several locations in Antarctica:
As can be seen in the temperature graph to the right of figure (b) in March 2022, there are several one-day temperature spikes (circled in red), at a freezing temperature of 0°C (32°F). ) has approached or exceeded. After that, the temperature immediately returned to normal in the area.
So in the context of NOAA’s definition of a heat wave above, the minimum two-day criteria is not met in order to refer to a brief temperature spike as a “heat wave” as false or fake news.
The peer-reviewed paper said the cause of the event was, “(a) atmospheric river caused extreme weather in the Antarctic Dry Valley in March 2022 with temperatures 25°C above average conditions.” Even the peer-reviewed paper’s title, “Terrestrial Polar Ecosystem Responses to the March 2022 Antarctic Weather Anomaly,” and referred to as weather anomalies.
A one-day weather event that briefly causes temperatures to rise above normal does not fit the meteorological definition of a heat wave, or a signal of climate change because it does not represent a 30-year temperature trend across the continent. .
Despite these scientific facts, the mainstream media reporting on the event described it variously as “(a) threat to global sea level and ice integrity,” “a staggering heat wave,” and “the burning continent of Antarctica” in their eyes. the media.
The level of exaggeration, to use CNN’s words, is amazing.
The “news reports” about this study and the weather anomalies discussed are very typical of media organizations’ efforts to blame every weather event that is slightly out of the norm, even for a short period of time, on climate change. – even though the basic research has nothing to do with it. Weather is not climate. They operate on a completely different time scale.
This kind of reporting is unprofessional, a disgusting disservice to the public that the media should be reporting, misleading and indoctrinated.
Anthony Watts
Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at the Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and now does a daily radio forecast. He has created a weather graphic presentation system for television, specialized weather instrumentation, as well as peer-reviewed papers together on climate issues. He operates the world’s most viewed website on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.
Originally posted on ClimateREALISM
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