A research letter published in the journal Nature finds that climate change has made the weather in the United States far more enjoyable over the past four decades.
The researchers looked at seasonal temperature changes since 1974, rather than annual averages, and found that “80% of Americans live in counties that are experiencing more pleasant weather than they did four decades ago,” the authors concluded.
The reason, they say, is that since the 1970s the winters have been getting warmer, but not the summers.
In their words: “Virtually all Americans are now experiencing the much milder winters that they typically prefer, and these mild winters have not been offset by markedly more uncomfortable summers or other negative changes.”
Charts in the study make this pretty clear. Average daily temperatures in July haven’t budged since 1974, and relative humidity in that month is actually lower than it was four decades ago. In contrast, there’s a clear upward trend in the average daily temperature in January.
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