See How Temperatures Soared In Portland Over Past 50 years

Climate change is happening, whether the Trump administration and other global warming deniers want you to know it or not. And while many charts, graphs, infographics and scholarly articles illustrate that grim reality, perhaps nothing hits quite as close to home as a new tool from The New York Times that allows you to see how much warmer your hometown has gotten over the last few decades.

The Times articles notes that most people — including residents in Portland — can expect to see more 90-plus degree days now compared to the year they were born.

A 36-year-old adult in Portland born in 1982 could reasonably expect five days of “very hot days” annually. Today, that number hasn't changed, according to the Times. However, temperatures this summer reached or exceeded 90 degrees 29 times, tying the city's record set in 2015.

So, maybe as an average Portland's summers haven't changed much; but from a first-person point of view, summers are definitely getting warmer. Another chart published by the Oregonian this year clearly shows the upward trend.

And even the Times seems to believe your children and grandchildren will have to invest in quality air conditioning units, too, with models predicting there could be anywhere between 10 and 30 days of extreme heat on average by the end of this century.

The Times dataset stretches back to 1960. The Oregonian's dates back to 1938. Regardless, currently available data show the predicted future temperatures could even be too low if countries continue to emit emissions at historically high rates. The future projection assumes countries will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to those outlined in the Paris Agreement.

The Times article highlighted extreme examples in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. These countries could eventually expect to see extreme temperature days for most of the year. Even moderate places, such as Madrid, Spain, could expect to see the number of 90-degree days double or even triple by the end of the century.

The article comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump and former Administrator Scott Pruitt have sought to quell concerns about the dangers of climate change. The EPA’s own website removed its entry on climate change. Curious visitors are met with a bold message that says the page is “being updated.”

“Thank you for your interest in this topic. We are currently updating our website to reflect EPA's priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Pruitt,” the site reads.

Visitors are then pointed to an “archived version” of the page that contains historical material. It includes basis information on climate change, including what’s behind it — human activity — and how to reduce carbon pollution. It even includes a snapshot of the impacts on each state.
“As our climate changes, every state will become warmer,” the archived site reads, adding that the potential effects will vary from state to state. “Increased rainfall intensity will cause more flooding in some states, while increasingly severe droughts may threaten water supplies in other states. Farms and forests will be less productive in some states, but warmer temperatures may extend growing seasons in others.”

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.
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