Last month it was hot. Very very hot. In fact, it was the hottest month of May the state of Florida has experienced in over a century.
According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average temperature in the Sunshine State was a blistering 78.8 degrees, a new personal “best” since we started tracking climate records back in 1895.
And it wasn’t just a little hotter, this new record is nearly four degrees hotter than the previous record of 75.1 degrees.
Also, if you want to feel even more special about last month’s ungodly roasting, Florida was the only state to break their own temperature record — Virginia had its third hottest month, while North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia all had their second toastiest Mays.
Why was it so damn hot? Well, Florida climatologist David Zierden told the Palm Beach Post that last month’s record temps were because of a “deep-layer, high-pressure system set over Florida for more than two weeks.” But there’s also the fact that temperatures in the Southeast U.S. have steadily risen by an average of 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970, due to manmade climate change.
“Seventy years from now, temperatures in most of [Florida] are likely to rise above 95°F between 45 and 90 days per year, compared with less than 15 days per year today,” says a January report from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Higher humidity will further increase the heat index and associated impacts on health.”
The Fourth National Climate Assessment report, which was released last November by 300 scientists and 13 federal agencies, also seemed to agree that Florida is royally screwed, arguing that besides heat-related health risks, rising temps will also increase and intensify our state’s horrific toxic algae blooms.
In other words, rising electric bills aren’t the only issue here.
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