Evidently, it won’t take long for the climate to prove last month’s report by UN Scientists correct.
As Texas was hit early this week by an unseasonable run of tornadoes and increased wildfire risk, temperatures at both the North and South Poles hit all time highs, deeply worrying scientists who study temperature extremes at the world’s poles.
According to the above linked USA Today piece, The National Snow and Ice Data Center’s senior researcher, Walt Meier, had this to say about the twin heat waves at the poles:
“They are [in] opposite seasons. You don’t see the North and the South (poles) both melting at the same time,” Meier told The Associated Press Friday evening. “It’s definitely an unusual occurrence.”
Meanwhile, terrified shoppers grabbed this video as they left a Walmart near Round Rock Texas.
Or, here, video captured by CBS News shows a pickup truck being lifted off the ground near Elgin, Texas, and spun several times in the air, before miraculously landing on its tires and speeding away.
The time has clearly come for climate to be front and center. Curious about what individual actions you can take? The UN offers suggestions here, at https://www.un.org/actnow
Edited: 3/23: After publication, the storm which impacted Texas Monday moved through Louisiana Tuesday, badly damaging neighborhoods in New Orleans as well as the surrounding area. Here, for context, are a few videos of that, and of the damage left behind: