Guest Essay by Larry Hamlin
The L A Times article and headline shown below exaggerate the March 2024 U.S. and global temperature outcomes by cherry picking and misrepresenting data that mischaracterizes what the data actually shows.
The Times article makes the following claims regarding the U.S. for the period January through March 2024:
“In the United States, March was the 17th warmest in the 130-year data record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The average temperature in the contiguous U.S. was 45.1 degrees — 3.6 degrees above average.”
The Times article does not present readily available NOAA measured Maximum Contiguous U.S Temperature for the month of March from 1895 through 2024 as shown below.
The NOAA March data clearly shows that maximum temperatures across the contiguous U.S. have been consistently declining since March 2012 – a highly significant point which is unmentioned in the Times article.
This NOAA measured historical U.S. March temperature data behavior, as shown above, does not support “the heat just keeps coming” hype in the Times article.
The NOAA data shows, as indicated below from NOAA’s website, that the March 2024 temperature is only the 22nd highest temperature measured during this period with the highest measurement in March 1910 and many other prior years.
The Times article claim that March was the “17th warmest in the 130-year data record” is incorrect because that claim it is based on the Average versus Maximum NOAA Temperature data for the Contiguous U.S.
The Times continues to mischaracterize “average temperatures” instead of “maximum temperatures” in claiming “warmest“ and “hottest” temperature outcomes as they did regarding their flawed claim that the summer of 2023 was “The Hottest Summer Ever” as addressed here.
The “hottest” or “warmest” temperature in March 2024 was 56.61 degrees F (shown in NOAA’s March temperature data above) versus the “average temperature” of 45.1 degrees F in March 2024.
The Times article claim that “January through March marked the fifth-hottest start to the year in the U.S., NOAA said.” is discussed below.
NOAA’s maximum contiguous U.S. temperatures for the period between January through March 2024 are shown below.
This NOAA data again shows the declining trend in the January through March 2024 Contiguous U.S. temperature period beginning in 2012 – a highly significant point again unaddressed by the Times.
Additionally, this NOAA data, as shown below, indicates that the January through March 2024 year are only the 11th highest (49.97 degrees F) in the period 1895 through 2024 and not the 5th highest as noted in the Times article which is again based on average instead of maximum temperature anomaly data.
The NOAA January through March 2024 Contiguous U.S. maximum temperature data does not support the Times theme that “the heat just keeps coming”.
Furthermore, NOAA’s USCRN March 2024 maximum temperature anomaly data for the Contiguous U.S., shown below, clearly establishes there is no increasing maximum temperature anomaly trend during the period 2005 through 2024 with the March 2024 value at 1.28 degrees F far below the year 2012 maximum March peak value of 7.72 degrees F.
The Times conceals the clear failure of NOAA’s data to support alarmists claims of increasing maximum temperature anomaly trend outcomes across the contiguous U.S. as readily apparent in the NOAA graph above and unaddressed by the Times.
These measured NOAA values of maximum temperature anomaly outcomes in March 2024 do not support the Times theme that “the heat just keeps coming”.
Also, hyping monthly and annual NOAA measurement temperature differences as representing “climate change” (which is properly evaluated over periods from 30 to 100 years) is politics not science.
The Times article provides NOAA global average temperature anomaly data updated through March 2024 but conceals that the global average temperature anomaly value significantly varies throughout the world.
Even though global CO2 levels are ubiquitous in the atmosphere the average temperature anomaly values associated with the world are not homogeneous but a highly heterogeneous patchwork across the globe contrary to the flawed claim by climate alarmists that the global average temperature anomaly value can be used alone to characterize global climate.
This patchwork discrepancy clearly demonstrates that multiple nonuniform natural weather and climate causalities dominate the global climate behavior versus the data unsupported hype that man made climate change is dominant – a highly significant outcome unaddressed by the Times.
The Times articles concealed highly significant global average temperature anomaly data regional differences that are presented and summarized below.
NOAA’s Global Land area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing a decline from March 2023 (2.09 degrees C versus 2.19 degrees C respectively) with year 2016 (an El Niño event year value of 2.46 degrees C) remaining the highest measured anomaly outcome.
The Global Land area is where Earth’s 8 billion+ people live. Based on NOAA’s measured average global land area temperature anomaly data there is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in NOAA’s Global Land regions in March 2024.
NOAA’s Northern Hemisphere Land area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (2.39 degrees C versus 2.62 degrees C respectively) with year 2016 (an El Niño event year value of 3.12 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcome. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in the March 2024 in the Northern Hemisphere.
NOAA’s Asia Land area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (2.52 degrees C versus 4.01 degrees C respectively) with year 2008 (4.20 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcome. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in Asia in March 2024.
NOAA’s Oceania Land area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (0.93 degrees C versus 1.10 degrees C respectively) with year 2016 (an El Niño event year value of 1.85 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcome. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in Oceania in March 2024.
NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Land and Ocean area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (0.95 degrees C versus 1.51 degrees C respectively) with year 2020 (1.63 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcome. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in the Gulf of Mexico in March 2024.
NOAA’s Hawaiian Region Land and Ocean area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (0.31 degrees C versus 0.61 degrees C respectively) with years 1947 and 2017 (1.11 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcomes. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in the Hawaiian Region in March 2024.
NOAA’s Arctic Land and Ocean area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (2.42 degrees C versus 2.85 degrees C respectively) with year 2019 (4.33 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcomes. There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in the Arctic in March 2024.
NOAA’s Antarctic Land and Ocean Antarctic area average temperature anomaly measured outcome is shown below for March 2024 revealing the decline from March 2023 (0.24 degrees C versus 0.50 degrees C respectively) with the year 1966 (1.18 degrees C) remaining the highest measured outcome which occurred 58 years ago with a clearly declining trend over this more than five-decade period.
There is no “the heat just keeps coming” theme in the Antarctic in March 2024.
These March 2024 U.S. and global average temperature anomaly regional outcomes presented above reflect climate reality based on climate science data versus climate alarmism hype and politics.
Unfortuanately, California and the U.S. (thanks to Governor Newsom and President Biden’s climate alarmist polices) electricity prices have exploded upward through the roof, as shown in the graphs below, driven by climate alarmist politically mandated use of highly unreliable and hugely costly renewable energy.
The reality of climate alarmism is that the “hype (not heat) just keeps coming” resulting in huge and unnecessary increases to California and U.S. electricity costs creating economic hardships for all citizens, businesses, educational, medical, and other necessary organizations that support the creation of economic benefits for our society.
