Global Warming Caused Ferguson. Is There Anything It Can't Do??

The "People's Climate March" is coming up in NYC in the next few days and it is sponsored by a group called 350.org. There are people attending from around the nation. I thought it might be useful to consider 350's view of the climate issue for those on the fence as to whether they support what this organization stands for.

According to the website of 350.org their "US Disvestment Organizer" has determined that global warming caused the terrible problems in Ferguson, MO in August:

As far as I can tell, she has no scientific credentials. Her Twitter description reads:

I bring you this background because she makes a rather startling claim (her words in italics) at 350's web site:

Why the Climate Movement Must Stand with Ferguson

By Deirdre Smith, Strategic Partnership Coordinator

It was not hard for me to make the connection between the tragedy in Ferguson, Missouri, and the catalyst for my work to stop the climate crisis….

Climate change is bringing nothing if not clarity to the persistent and overlapping crises of our time.

Connection between climate change and Ferguson??? Hmmm. Perhaps, because of her lack of background in climate science, she didn't know how to research the temperature on August 9, 2014, the day of the horrible shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, a north suburb of St. Louis.

So, I did a little research:

The high temperature that day was a very pleasant 82° which was seven degrees cooler than usual. The record high of 110° occurred in 1934 when world climate was cooler than it is today.

To put St. Louis' high of 82° in perspective, thousands of people pay thousands of dollars every day to fly to Honolulu to enjoy and vacation in Hawaii's pleasant climate. What was the high in Honolulu the same day?

It was 87°, five degrees warmer than St. Louis.

Obviously, a high of 82 degrees had nothing to do with the tragic shooting and terrible events that unfolded in Ferguson. While I am tempted to make other comments, I'll stop here.