Bloomberg reports:
In China, at least 11 people have died from heatstroke since July, the Shanghai Daily reported Aug. 1, citing local authorities.
“The hot summer this year is not a result of human activities, but it is true we have increasingly hotter summers and global warming is in the background,” said Takehiko Mikami, a climatology professor at Teikyo University in Tokyo.
The record temperatures are a result of multilayered high pressure systems extending over much of the region, including Japan, South Korea and China, Kenji Okada, a forecaster at the Japan Meteorological Agency, said today.
Howdy RMS
You’re quite right. Some of our commenters believe that all climatology is phrenology-class and all climatologists have the ethics of Mann and the University of East Anglia, so I thought it worthwhile to point out this is not universal.
I agree MT – the point I was making in fact was aimed at the media, not the scientist – I don’t believe your honest insight applies to the journalists who IMHO are rarely interested in anything else but sensationalizing their input
It’s worth noting that, although the climatologist in question believes in global warming, he is not claiming all things come from it. A reminder that there is real science in climatology and there are real scientists.
I think the weight of science is that global warming was slight, temporary, and due to the common variations in the climate system. But I do understand how someone could look at the data and at least speculate that it is more serious, more enduring, and more linked to humans than I believe from the data. Respectful debate is important; some believers in a human element of global warming are not alarmists.
Much of China has a continental climate, rather like Montana’s. Winters can be brutal and so can summers. China’s heat-related deaths, like those in many countries, probably have more to do with a lack of air-conditioning and places people can go to get relief. It may also relate to using less automation and more sweat power in some outdoor occupations.
“In China, at least 11 people have died from heatstroke since July,” That’s about 0.0000002% of the population. Looks a little light to suggest a trend. It’s currently below normal in Richmond, VA, should we start worrying about the next ice age?
Yes, indeed, records sell!
Just recently, in Queensland, we have had daily temperatures to 28C and bombarded with news reports that this was a record..until later in certain news bulletins where apparently this record was last set in 2008.
A five year record.
Who’d have thought?
I agree, Rob, emotion over fact.
It is hard to know exactly what is meant nowadays by the term ‘record’ Does this mean a new benchmark – or does it mean its close to that benchmark – the dictionary says: record, best ever, unsurpassed, unparalleled, unequaled, second to none. The english language is great in that there is a word for almost every situation – the system of course fails when journalists use the wrong word or grammar to describe a situation. I do not believe that in the above story that the scientist is actually saying that the temperatures have been record at all but are maybe close to the highest recorded temperatures – The difference I contend between emotional text and factual text.