As Parts of U.S. Hit Critical Global Warming Threshold, Here's Where Dallas-Fort Worth Stands

For years, 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) has been recognized as a critical global warming threshold. Scientists and researchers believe that if Earth’s average temperature rises by that figure by 2100, catastrophic changes could follow. A new analysis by The Washington Post of more than a century of temperature data across the Lower 48 and 3,107 U.S. counties found that 71 counties have already hit that mark. The Post analyzed the data to find a relationship between average annual temperatures and the passage of time. Not all portions of the U.S. are heating evenly, the study found. Alaska is the fastest-warming state, while Rhode Island was the first state in the Lower 48 to see its annual average temperature rise 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the study. Daniel Pauly, a marine scientist at the University of British Columbia, told The Post that areas that have already reached the mark “are chunks of the future in the present.”  Continue reading...