By Rashidat Oladele
A screenshot of a post from X, formerly Twitter, featuring side-by-side maps of the United States with a sprinkling of red dots may be found on an Instagram post from July 30.
In the X post, it is said that “the US was much hotter in 1913 – left – than 2023 – right.” In atmospheric CO2 terms, 1913 was 86% of the industrial period (sic).
He stated further: “What a waste of statements about heat caused by pollutants. With their fake #climatescam, all they do is lie to extend power and control”.
Within two weeks, the Instagram post had attracted 300 Like, indicating endorsement of the contents. Over 1,000 people also reposted the X message in just one week.
Claim: “Climate change is a ‘scam’ because the US was hotter in 1913 than 2023”
Findings
NatureFact found out that, the post had been flagged as false by Meta. However, it is still being circulated on the social media platforms. In the course of this fact-check, NatureFact studied the research work published by US Today and other relevant materials online.
According to climate experts, the post’s methodology of comparing the number of days with high temperatures to determine which year was hotter is not supported by science. It was forecasted that in 2023, the average temperature in the contiguous United States will surpass that of 1913, thereby perpetuating a rising trend that has lasted for several decades.. Scientists also possess copious evidence indicating greenhouse gases emitted from human activities are the primary cause of current climate change.
Whereas the post’s maps supposedly show the times in 1913 and 2023 when temperatures in the United States have approached and surpassed 100 degrees, the same maps are included in an article linked to in the post. Yet, neither the article nor the post cited the source of the data used to create the maps.
Nevertheless, measuring high-temperature spikes is not a reliable technique to assess whether a certain year was hotter than another, according to climate scientists.
The online resource Climate Reanalyzer, which gives user access to worldwide meteorological and climate data, states that trend in the global climate “should only be inferred from long-term datasets.”
According to meteorologist Sean Birkel, who created and maintains the website, “long-term warming trends are clear based on data going back several decades to more than a century.”
According to Howard Diamond, a senior climate scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Air Resources Laboratory, it is a “complete untruth” that 1913 was a hotter year than 2023, even though the world’s highest air temperature was indeed recorded in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913.
“They are not reflective of the current state of surface temperatures in the United States or around the world,” Diamond stated, adding that the posts “have no basis in science.”
Based on NOAA statistics, the average temperature in the contiguous United States in 1913 was 51.5 degrees. In comparison to temperatures later in that century, Diamond observed that this year was relatively colder. According to NOAA data, it was the 27th coolest year of the 1900s.
The contiguous United States’ average annual temperature was 53.4 degrees in 2022, according to NOAA, while data for 2023 is not yet available. Since 1997, the national average temperature has continuously risen above the 1901–2000 range.
Based on data from several climate agencies, average surface temperatures have risen by around 2 degrees worldwide since 1880, or an average of .1 degree each decade. Since 1981, the rate of warming has almost doubled, and the rate of increase in global temperatures is still rising.
Since the late 1970s, contiguous U.S. temperatures have warmed faster than the global average, according to EPA data. And emissions of carbon dioxide are clearly the primary cause of current climate change.
The X Post utilized the statistics on temperature spikes to claim that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, such as burning fossil fuels, are not the cause of current climate change. However, scientists have plenty of evidence to support this claim.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing because human activity releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than natural processes can absorb. Surface temperatures and the Earth’s atmosphere are raised by greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which both absorb and reflect heat.
For the first time since scientists began monitoring levels in the middle of the 20th century, atmospheric carbon dioxide exceeded 400 parts per million in 2013. In 2022, NOAA recorded a high of 417 parts per million.
Verdict: False. 1913 was not hotter in the US than 2023.