Heat Wave

Southern Europe is sizzling in a heat wave: with highs in Greece of 115 F (46.1 C); in Romania of 105 F (40.6 C); in Italy of 113 F (45.0 C); and in Turkey, where a man my age collapsed on a beach and died from the heat, temperatures topped 111 F (43.9 C).

In Canada, temperatures today were forecast to hit about 112 F (44.4 C), and one the electric company recommended that folks conserve energy by: (1) Using fans instead of air conditioners; (2) Using a clothesline to dry clothing; (3) Setting pool heater thermostats back one degree; (4) Washing laundry in cold water; and (5) Unplugging secondary fridges.

For the continental United States, the temperatures in most of the southern half are in the 90s F (30s C), except for around the Mexican border from Texas to Arizona, where the temperatures reach as high as 111 F (43.9 C).

So it seems that much of the world, especially the northern hemisphere, is in a heat wave, very hot and exhibiting all of those related elements such as droughts (Australia, parts of Europe, Africa, and the United States are suffering from some of the worst droughts in memory), wild fires (thousands of acres are now burning in California and North Carolina), and heat related illnesses.

So I have asked myself, Is all of this a foretaste of what global warming will mean for the world’s future? The information I have found in researching my question varies. Some claim that global warming is responsible for the wild fires now burning in the western United States. Jim Laver, director of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center, says that the heat is part of the normal cycle and has nothing to do with global warming. The Washington Post reports that global warming is responsible for this heat wave.

Baseline: I don’t know what to believe or what to expect! I just know that, at the moment, the temperature outside my house is 88 F (31.1 C), the coolest it has been here since noon, and the temperature inside my house is 84 F (28.9 C), which is much too warm for either Alex or me.

P.S: To convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius or Celsius to Fahrenheit for this post, I used this neat (and free) Temperature Converter that I found on the net.