27 July 2006New Kerala
Washington: The first six months of 2006 have been described as the hottest in the continental United States since record keeping began in 1895. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the world is on average 1.4 degrees Farenheit warmer now than in 1900, and this heat wave cannot be fully attributed to global warming alone. However, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the five warmest years in the last 100 have all occurred since 1998. Climate scientists have been quoted by the Contra Costa Times as saying that searing heat waves like the one blanketing most of Europe this week is not surprising, but add that global warming can not be held totally responsible for this kind of weather. "I think you cannot attribute a single heat wave to global warming," climate scientist Inez Fung, the director of UC Berkeley's Center for Atmospheric Sciences, was quoted, as saying. Fung, however, predicted that future heat waves would be due to global warming. Ben Santer, an atmospheric scientist with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, opined that there is a "link between human activity, a change in the climate and these kinds of heat waves." Global warming is described as a worldwide rise in temperatures caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses. National Weather Service regional science officer Warren Blier said this type of heat wave might occur once every 20 years. "If emissions continue unabated, by the end of the century we could see three to four times as many heat waves in major urban centers in California as we see today," another climate expert said. Both northern and southern California have been hit simultaneously, which is unusual. The East Coast has had its share of heat this summer, and Europe is also in the grip of a major heat wave.
