How Hot was It?

It was hot, but not bad hot.

Maybe not so surprisingly, I think about the language of climate change discussions, news reports, arguments—okay, brouhahas. And our—at least my—experience of a climate and the daily weather.

The recently ended month of July as recorded at the Greenville-Spartanburg airport weather station was above average for the daily high. Now what I experienced was not atypical for a summer month around here, some hot days, some hotter days, some humid days, some less humid days, some cloudy days, a rainy day or two. 

What can I tell you given it was above average historically? Well, didn’t strike me as anything too extraordinary. Let me free the cat from the bag: Average daily high for July since 1943 around here, 90.258. Average high this year, 90.333. 

Technically it was, uh, hotter or maybe more accurately warmer. Maybe it helps to look at the lowest high (great stuff right there) and the highest high, 81 and 96. I figure most of us would comfortably describe the 96 as a hot summer day. Desert dwellers please stand down.

I do know that one day it was 91 with only 39% humidity at 2:00 in the afternoon, and what did I do, I mowed for 45 minutes. Why? Because that beats cutting grass at 88 with 82% humidity. The warmer temperature felt cooler.

Most of us know that some summer days are hot. Some are hotter. And some are hotter than hell. Where those demarcations fall on the gauge, I do not know. But, I know which when I feel it.

The predictions of a global rise of around 5 degrees on average by the end of the century based on models—which are ever being adjusted—run hard up against, I think, the immediacy of human experience. We are some seriously right here and now creatures. 

Consider the language of a news report two weeks ago about beach towns “soon” (my emphasis) being underwater. In the same article the target date for this flooding is 2060. Forty years…soon…40 years…soon. Again, maybe it’s just me, but not convinced human beings are going to correlate soon with 40 years.

Sure, in astronomical or geological time, 40 years, pfffft, gone. Not even gone…g. Not even that long. However, that would be only 10 presidential elections. Only? Egads!

Here might be the real crux, 90% of folks 50 or older right now will be dead, or very nearly. Accuse me of being morbid and/or shunting the problem onto future generations, fair enough. 

But, when Charleston or Miami or New Orleans throws in the soaked towel and moves to higher ground, then the crisis is being responded to. 

Until then, air-conditioning manufacturing might be a good long-term play for your investment portfolio. Just think, around 70% of the world lives without air-conditioning.

Let’s rattle that cage another day.