I enjoyed the ironic, sarcastic humor. "Just imagine how cold it would have been if it weren't for global warming," someone posted on Facebook.
It was a joke, but with some truth to it. Follow me here:
I was puzzled. How could my new car register -25F while the nearby airport measured -22F and the nearby Port Authority weather station measured -18F all at the same time?
It was explained to me how. That explanation may help explain the weakness of global warming advocates' arguments too.
A natural warming occurs where buildings, construction, and topography have changed. Where one places weather-measuring devices matters.
My car was measuring from a narrow road in between cornfields.
The airport was measuring from a station near the runway and taxiway.
The Port Authority station was just northeast of a big building and a big asphalt parking lot.
Our nation's weather stations have, historically, been located at airports. When those airports were first built, they were in the cornfields. Over time, they saw more runways and more asphalt. The cities grew up around the airports.
The measuring devices stayed put but the natural warming around those devices occurred.
Thus, the measuring of rising temperatures and, particularly, temperature extremes could be partly attributed to where one is measuring.
So, what's the true temperature? Just pondering.
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