U.S. Climate Extremes: 2023 Year in Review
A Very Normal Year
ROGER PIELKE JR.
DEC 19, 2023
The year is not quite in the books, but it is late enough that we can have a look-back at this year’s weather and climate extremes.
We are all well aware of the narrative that the weather is quickly getting worse. Unfortunately, data does not agree.1
The weather — and certainly the impacts — of the past 12 months in the United States was actually pretty typical, even benign, in historical context.2
The one variable that stands out among extreme weather is temperature — extreme high temperatures in summer and (in particular) winter were very high in 2023, both of which contribute to a long-term trend that the IPCC has attributed primarily to the emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.
The table below provides the top-line summary.
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/us-climate-extremes-2023-year-in
