Getting warmer

Published on 07/08/2012 00:00

A STATISTICAL analysis of the recent data relating to climate, led by Nasa’s James Hansen, has concluded that the recent extreme weather the Earth has been experiencing can only have been caused through anthropogenic global warming.

Hansen explained that what is happening is not natural or normal but is down to climate change pure and simple.

His study, which looked at the past six decades, revealed a stunning increase in the frequency of extremely hot summers, with deeply troubling ramifications not only for our future but also for our present.

The difference with this study is that it is not a climate model or a prediction but is based on actual observations of weather events and temperatures that have occurred. The analysis shows that it is no longer enough to say that global warming will increase the likelihood of extreme weather and to repeat the caveat that no individual weather event can be directly linked to climate change. Analysis shows that, for the extreme hot weather of the recent past, there is virtually no explanation other than climate change.

Alan Hinnrichs

Gillespie Terrace

Dundee