If global warming was actually occurring would it not make sense that record hot temperatures for states would be occurring also? And that record cold temperatures would not be occurring? At least the frequency of record hot and record cold temperatures should tilt towards record heat.
But studying the data reveals just the opposite. Far more record cold temperature records per state have been recorded over the last 20 years, or 30 years, or 50 years in the United States.
Global warming proponents will tell you this can be expected as global warming causes extremes in climates. That can certainly be true but it is also a brilliant Public Relations (PR) statement.
The same could be said by proponents of global cooling or the next ice age. How could anyone disagree?
If you were trying to convince people of global warming or cooling and the data disagrees with your argument you try to end the argument by saying that global warming or cooling causes extreme climate changes of all kinds. It's brilliant PR if people accept it.
Here is a breakdown of record hot and record cold temperatures for each state in the United States recorded since the late 1800's by decade.
Hottest Record Dates
pre-1900 - 2
1900's - 0
1910's - 5
1920's - 2
1930's - 26
1940's - 0
1950's - 5
1960's - 1
1970's - 2
1980's - 3
1990's - 4 (note: some sites list June 27, 1994 as the hottest date ever in Oklahoma at 120 degrees but that date ties the original record set on July 16, 1934 in Tishomingo.)
2000's - 0 (note: some sites list July 15, 2006 for the hottest date ever in South Dakota at 120 degrees but that temperature date ties the original record date set on July 5, 1936 in Gannvalley. Also in Arizona the record hottest day is 128 degrees which was originally recorded on June 29, 1994 and then matched on July 5, 2007 both times in the spring break town of Lake Havasu.)
Coldest Record Dates
pre-1900 - 5
1900's - 5
1910's - 4
1920's - 0
1930's - 11
1940's - 3
1950's - 2
1960's - 3
1970's - 4
1980's - 6
1990's - 6 (note: some sites list February 3, 1996 as the coldest date ever in Iowa at -47 degrees but that date simply ties the original record set on January 12, 1912 in Washta.)
2000's - 1
Breaking down the data what do we have?
Last 50 Years
Coldest = 20 Hottest = 10
Last 30 Years
Coldest = 13 Hottest = 7
Last 20 Years
Coldest = 7 Hottest = 4
Any way you want to breakdown the data it's clear that the United States has seen more record cold temperature state records than record hot temperatures state records over the decades since the 1930's.
In the 1930's no less than 26 record hottest days were recorded including an incredible 15 in 1936 alone. Had such record hot data been recorded in the United States over the last decade people in the U.S. would be far less skeptical of global warming.
As it is, these numbers provide a logical reason why Americans are more skeptical of global warming than in many other countries. The data presented here is not intended to prove or disprove global warming and is simply intended to provide a factual logical reason as to why Americans might be skeptical of global warming.
Record temperature data from other countries might provide clues as to why those countries are less skeptical of global warming and climate change.
Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wheat7.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/wcstates.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._state_temperature_extremes
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