Category: dust bowl

The news was straightforward and dramatic: July was the hottest month recorded in the lower 48 states since record-keeping began in 1895.

"July thereby dethroned July 1936, which had set the record at 77.4 degrees," wrote Joanna M. Foster in The New York Times. This July clocked in at an average temperature of 77.6 degrees. Foster got the context right: "A vast majority of scientists agree that such events will become ever more common as the planet warms," she wrote, while explaining that it was difficult to tie human-induced climate change to any specific weather pattern.

Seth Borenstein at the AP ...