FACT CHECK: Gavin Newsom Says California’s Rainstorms Are ‘Proof That the Climate Crisis Is Real’
Claim: California storms can be claimed “proof that the climate crisis is real and we have to take it seriously.”
Who said it? California’s Democratic governor Gavin Newsomwhose claims about California’s climate were repeated by Ellen DeGeneres, academics, and the Washington Post Philip Bump.
Why it matters: Democrats all across the country and California use climate change to ban gas cars and leaf blowers and propane heaters. This is a common excuse for Democrats to ban household items families can’t afford to replace. Political leaders can convince people that the sacrifices they make for their lifestyles and wallets are worth it by connecting major weather events like recent California storms with climate change.
Context: Newsom and other politicians are treating this string of storms like something unprecedented. However, California has a long history of extreme droughts and floods. Climate change is blamed for all the changes in weather. This ignores California’s long history.
The state has experienced its fair share flooding, erosion, and massive storms. Albert Hammond was born in 1972. sang It may seem like it, “it never rains in California,” In real life “it pours, man, it pours.” Any Californian who lived through the 1990s is bound to remember the 1997 El Niño, which stretched into 1998 and was described by the Los Angeles Times as a “relentless string of storms” Flood control channels were overwhelmed and roads and railroad tracks were washed away. According to the 1861 census, a series of torrential rains that began on Christmas Eve continued for over a full month. Scientific AmericanThe epic floods permanently damaged some of California’s waterways. California’s entire Central Valley was transformed into a sea of 300 miles long and 20 miles wide. Sacramento could not be reached by canoe for a while after the flood.
Similar holds true for droughts. California was struck by a severe drought two years after the flood of 1861-1862 that overflowed the state. The U.S. government has pointed out, California has experienced major droughts before climate experts began to specialize. The Wikipedia catalog reveals the following: “dry years” California
• 1841
• 1863–1864
• 1917–1921
• 1922–1926
• 1928–1937
• 1943–1951
• 1959–1962
• 1976–1977
• 1987–1992
• 1999-2004
• 2006–2009
• 2011-2017
• 2018
• 2020-2022
Wikipedia now features a note at its top of its catalog of droughts
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