As described by meteorologist Anthony Watts in “ No, E&E News, Climate Change Has Not Caused Reno’s Rapid Warming,” the UHI is seen most clearly at night. This is a known effect of the Uban Heat Island (UHI). That’s a substantial increase for an annual average. During the previous decade, that had risen to nearly 65 degrees. For example, in the 1970s the average low temperature in Phoenix was 59 degrees F. One of the biggest problems faced by cities like Phoenix is that the nights aren’t cooling off as much as in the past. Rapier even makes a comment that lends us a clue to what is going on. Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations are one thing that have changed since 1900, this is also true, but another factor that has a more immediate effect has changed as well. The top ten hottest years in Phoenix have been in the last 20 years, Rapier says, and the ten coldest are mostly from earlier in the 20 th century.
What is not true is Rapier’s assertion that the warming over the past 50 or so years in Phoenix has been mostly driven by climate change caused by rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and worse, that the trend will cease only when people curtail emissions of carbon dioxide. The article, “ Explaining The Heat Wave: Separating Weather From Climate Change,” written by Robert Rapier, begins by correctly identifying the difference between weather and climate, explaining that weather is a shorter term event whereas climate is over “years, decades, or centuries.” Data show that the high levels of warming, especially at night and as measured at an airport, are primarily due to urbanization over time, with the modest warming of the past hundred-plus years playing a very small part in comparison. A recent article posted at claims that recent warming trends in Phoenix, Arizona are due primarily to increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere.
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