Folks,
First off, apologies for the radio silence over the past week. We were slowed down a bit by the heat wave that struck the Northeastern United States but which seems to have passed, at least for now.
Maxing out 103F on Tuesday, these temperatures may not have been so surprising to our visitors from more tropical climes but for a city and a society not really used to such extremes the heat was rather disruptive.
In commenting with a former a colleague, we were reminded of Climate Change predictions issued some years ago by the Union of Concerned Scientists who foretold of summers with increased number of days with the mercury in record territory, which is exactly what happened this last week.
The number of days over 90°F in large northeastern cities is projected to increase in the coming decades until, by late-century, some cities could experience nearly an entire summer of such days under the higheremissions scenario. Projections under this scenario also show a dramatic increase in the currently small number of days over 100°F (as depicted in the inset boxes).
In addition to the heat, we were also reminded about how Climate Change is about extremes — extremes in hot and cold temperatures, and in precipitation. Walk around TriBeCa in Manhattan and you will see new, elevated subway ventilation grates which now sit on platforms that are about 12 inches off the ground. The new design is intended to keep the record volume of precipitation from flooding subway tunnels designed decades ago to handle “normal” volumes of rainfall.
There is a side of us that despairs when confronted with increased number of extreme weather episodes as predicted by the UCN, IPCC, and others. But the other side our brain, the “half-full” side, if you will, tells us that the weather event may just be the necessary club over the head that the population and policymakers need to address Climate Change with the seriousness it deserves. Think Katrina or the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster.
Our recent heat wave pales in comparison to the summer of 2003 in Europe, and especially in France, where more 15,000 people died. The heat wave (combined with a drought) helped create a crop shortfall in Southern Europe. More than 30,000 Europeans died as a result of the heat wave. Perhaps Europe’s more evolved approach to Climate Change today is an indication that 30,000 people did not die in vain?
Ok. Enough with the sturm und drang.
We’ve got business to attend to, so stay tuned for our next post after this commerical break!
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