Even with record evidenced heat that has never before been experienced consecutively in the Arizona desert, hard-line Arizona Republicans refuse to concede any resemblance of truth to the science that our planet is over-heating, it is affecting our climate and we are in trouble.
In a ridiculous tweet, Justine Wadsack, an Arizona Senate Republican wrote, “this weather is normal” and, “if you can’t stand the heat in Arizona, you’re welcome to leave.”
Reportedly, and as ridiculous as the Wadsack tweet, conspiracy among Arizona Republicans has, “Some conservatives suggesting thermometers, like past vote counts, are rigged because they’re placed at the sun-scorched asphalt airport. Others say a national media frenzy is intended to promote the left’s climate change narrative and drive people to seek government solutions to a naturally occurring phenomenon.”
But this heat is new, it’s not a media conspiracy—it’s different and it’s dangerous.
Just how different?
The Earth saw its hottest June in modern times and also experienced its unofficial hottest days on record in July. Phoenix on Sunday marked its record 24th consecutive day of temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. A township in Xinjiang, China, hit 126 F and set a national high temperature record. Heat in Europe has shattered records and caused the closure of major tourist attractions.
According to a report published in late July by the World Weather Attribution group, “The heat waves simultaneously broiling in the southwest United States and Southern Europe would have been ‘virtually impossible’ if not for climate change according to the group of scientists who study the probability of extreme weather events.
Despite needing refrigerated coolers to keep the growing numbers of deceased from heat related deaths in Arizona, and the Republicans chalking up the heat up to just living in a desert, science show us that the warming and the extremes have not only been expected, they’ve been forecast—it’s been predicted and reported as common knowledge among climate scientists.
“The role of climate change is absolutely overwhelming” in producing all three extremes, said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, who contributed to the new research in the report.
The research also found that global warming has increased the likelihood of extreme temperatures so significantly that heat waves as powerful as the ones setting records in places like Phoenix, Catalonia and in China’s Xinjiang region this July could be expected once every 15 years in the U.S., once every 10 in southern Europe and once every five in China.
But in the same way as one would expect the likes of the GOP extreme resistance—especially the members of the ultraconservative Freedom Caucus gang— to accept the winning results of America’s election of Joe Biden, this syndicate will never admit to a “leftist” notion that global warming is no longer just a threat—it’s a full on assault.
Republicans are deniers and they must continue to deny. It’s their brand now.
Some Arizona Democratic mayors and members of Arizona’s congress are encouraging President Biden to empower FEMA to step in and help address heat. Governor Hobbs has reportedly considered issuing a state emergency order.
One Democratic state representative is fearful that the denialism that continues to resonate from her Republican collegueas will quash any attempt at bipartisan measures that could immediately facilitate relief from the extreme heat for many Arizonans—on any level.
Northeast Valley News took to the scorching sidewalks between Phoenix City Hall in downtown Phoenix to speak to people who were quickly making their way from one air-conditioned building to the next.
We asked their thoughts about the ultra-conservative members of the GOP in the Arizona legislature that continue to deny and mock global warming despite the record heat across the state and indeed the world.
James Newsome, a sixty-seven year old native Arizonan has actually worked with some members in both the Arizona house and senate through his hospitality business and for several decades has seen elected officials come and go.
“Oh yeah, the deniers…we are very familiar with them— (chuckles) they will deny what’s in front of them, they deny truth. The earth is apparently still flat to these people,” Newsome said.
