This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Remember these guys from a couple days ago?
This very expensive GLOBAL WARMING bullshit has got to stop. Our planet is freezing, record low temps,and our GW scientists are stuck in ice— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2014
"Global warming" isn't so warm these days. http://t.co/gOqr2RiuNJ
— John Fleming (@RepFleming) January 2, 2014
With an "extreme" and "historic" cold snap bearing down on the US, it's easy to forget that it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere. And our friends in Australia are experiencing some rather, umm, warm temperatures.
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The Guardian reports:
Temperatures in parts of Australia are set to reach almost 50C in the coming days, with total fire bans in place in northern regions of South Australia and a week-long heatwave enveloping Queensland. The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast the temperature to hit 49C in the South Australian town of Moomba on Thursday, while Oodnadatta, which reached 47.7C on Wednesday, will warm to 48C. South Australia’s Country Fire Service has rated fire conditions for the north-west and north-east regions of the state as “catastrophic”, with winds from former tropical cyclone Christine exacerbating conditions.
50C is a little over 120F. Global climate change works both ways. There are extreme cold and hot weather events (along with a host of other indicators and effects).
Weather map: Bureau of Meteorology