Climatologist Says a Century of Weather Data Contradicts Claims of Record Heat

Hi, I'm Colin Fredrickson with the Epoch Times, one of America's largest independent newspapers.

Today's story is about a climate researcher who says the temperature data may tell a different story than many people assume.

Former University of Alabama climatologist John Christie reviewed reports from more than 1,200 weather stations across the United States, and his conclusion is controversial.

He says America has not seen a major increase in extreme high temperatures over the past century.

Instead, he says the data point to something more complicated, a moderation of both extreme heat and extreme cold.

Christie's report was published this spring in the academic journal Theoretical and Applied Climatology.

The study challenges the widely held belief that extreme heat has become more common across the United States.

Christie told the Epoch Times that systematic measurements show the heat extremes of the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s were greater than what the country is seeing now.

He said that even though parts of the West are currently experiencing heat patterns similar to the 1930s, the rest of the country is not following the same pattern.

His point is not that hot weather is gone.

His point is that the countrywide record of extreme temperatures looks different when researchers focus on the hottest and coldest readings from individual stations instead of only looking at national averages.