The weather has been warm lately. the earth has set a string of new maximum temperatures in July and will set a new absolute record for the month of July since the beginning of satellite record in 1979. The once reputable Forbes Magazine expressed it this way: July 4 was the warmest day in over 100,000 years! Now wait a minute! Aren’t we still recovering from the little ice age? See chart:
It was warmer for 9,000 of the last 10,000 years than it is now!
Now take a look at the temperatures before 1979.
How bad were the heatwaves of the 1930s years of the dust bowl compared to the heatwave of 2023? Granted , there were many more temp measurement stations in the 1930s , not all of which fully measured up to accepted standards, but the heatwaves were both worse and more widespread then. Look at the two maps:
Yes, things were worse in 1936. How did they even survive, with only 70% of America being electrified, and nearly all of rural America being without electricity, and it was not until 1935 as the Rural Electrification Administration (REA), a New Deal agency promoting rural electrification was established. Very few had air conditioning of those that had electricity. How did they survive?
Not very well, see chart:
The life expectancy dropped by 4 years for all between the years 1931 to 1936.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 