As Europe is pounded by back-to-back heatwaves, climate change deniers are spreading skepticism by posting data on social media about extreme temperatures allegedly recorded decades ago to imply scientists are exaggerating global warming.
But experts say figures cited from the past are often wrong or taken out of context – and even when they’re accurate, they don’t change the fact that heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense.
The posts typically feature heat records from past almanacs or newspaper reports, arguing that they are similar to record highs set during this year’s heatwaves in Europe.
A post that has gone viral on Facebook includes a screenshot of a short article published in the New York Times on June 23, 1935, stating that the mercury in Zaragoza, northeastern Spain, was 127 degrees Fahrenheit (52.7 degrees Celsius ) had reached the day before.
This temperature is much higher than the record for the highest temperature in Spain of 47.6 degrees Celsius recorded on August 14, 2021 by the national weather agency Aemet at the La Rambla meteorological station in southern Cordoba province.
Contacted by AFP Fact Check, Aemet spokesman Ruben del Campo said the highest temperature recorded in Zaragoza that day in 1935 was just 39 degrees Celsius.
“The figure of over 52 degrees is wrong. It’s not a number in our climate database, and in fact there’s no record of a temperature above 50 degrees Celsius,” he said.
And “even if the number was correct, which I emphasize, it’s not proof that there is no climate change,” he added.
– ‘Warmer Now’ –
The Spanish daily newspaper La Vanguardia also reported in 1935 that temperatures in Zaragoza had reached the low 50s, but explained that the measurement was taken “in the sun”.
Scientists recommend a strict set of criteria to ensure an accurate temperature reading.
“Sensors must be protected from the sun and rain, and the temperature inside the weather station must match the outside temperature,” says Aemet meteorologist Ricardo Torrijo.
Another post, which has gone viral on Facebook, Telegram and Twitter since last June, features an August 1957 front page of the Spanish weekly magazine El Espanol with the headline: “The hottest summer of the century”.
It referred to a reading of a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius in central Spain, also taken in the sun.
Isabel Cacho, a climate expert at the University of Barcelona, said that “in the hypothetical case” that mercury went above 50 degrees Celsius, “this would not be an argument to question that it’s warmer now.” .
– ‘Do not change trend’ –
Climate scientists overwhelmingly agree that carbon emissions from humans burning fossil fuels are heating the planet and increasing the risk, length, and severity of heat waves and other extreme weather events.
“These numbers of high temperatures (in the past) do not discredit the existence of climate change,” said Jose Luis Garcia, climate change expert at Greenpeace in Spain.
“They are unrelated. One thing is one-off temperature data and quite another is the tendency for the average temperature to increase.”
Pedro Zorrilla, a Spanish climate change expert, said the “anomaly” of very high temperature recorded in 1935 would have “very little impact” on average temperatures.
“It doesn’t change the trend,” he added.
Records show that heat waves are more common in the Iberian Peninsula, said Mariano Barriendos, a professor of geography and history at the University of Barcelona.
“It is relatively common for a hot air mass to enter the peninsula from the Sahara. What’s worrying is that heat waves are happening more frequently,” he said.
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