VICTOR JOECKS: Las Vegas heat wave is your fault, according to global warming alarmists

The climate gods are punishing you for not giving up your SUV and air conditioning. At least that’s the attitude of global warming alarmists.

Las Vegas’ weather is currently miserable. Thursday marked the earliest the city has ever reached 110 degrees. This heat wave is roasting the entire Southwest, affecting more than 30 million people. Texas has already seen record temperatures. In many places, temperatures are 20 degrees above normal.

A high temperature in Las Vegas isn’t a unique story. It happens almost every summer. But this heat wave is your fault, according to the global warming alarmists.

“The link between human-caused climate change and more frequent, intense heat waves is firmly established in scientific literature, per Axios’ senior climate reporter Andrew Freedman,” Axios reported Wednesday.

And you must always trust the “science.” Just like in the 1970s, when scientists predicted the coming of a “new ice age,” as The Boston Globe wrote. Oops.

But this time the “science” must be right.

Just like in 2004 when a secret Pentagon report proclaimed global warming would wreak havoc on the world. Britain would be “plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020,” The Guardian write-up of the report said. “Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.” Even President Joe Biden hasn’t managed to bumble his way into nuclear conflict.

But “trust the science.”

Just like in 2008, when a NASA scientist James Hansen warned the Arctic wouldn’t have any ice in the summer within five to 10 years. Al Gore made a similar prediction. Didn’t happen.

When you consider this decadeslong record of failure, climate doomsayers sound less like scientists and more like witch doctors. Give up your gas-powered car and the reliable electricity that makes modern life possible. Then, you’ll satiate the wrath of the climate gods.

Even that doesn’t work. Nevada’s carbon emissions have declined by nearly 25 percent since 2005. Nationally, emissions are below 1990 levels. Many of those changes were driven by government mandates, not market choices. Just look at your power bill. But you can never question the supposed experts. More sacrifices are required. Never mind all of the coal power plants China is building. You must do more.

Surely these climate Chicken Littles are at least right about how these high temperatures have made places such as the Southwest unlivable. Let’s see.

In 1940, the population of Clark County was 16,414. In 1947, affordable air conditioning units hit the market. Population has been soaring ever since. Today, more than 2.3 million people live here. Many factors, including construction of Hoover Dam, contributed to that growth. But reliable air conditioning is an important one.

And reliable air conditioning doesn’t happen without reliable power. And reliable power comes mainly from fossil fuels and nuclear power.

As Las Vegas shows, the most important way to beat the heat isn’t a vain attempt to control weather, but using fossil fuels to adapt to it.

Contact Victor Joecks at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.