⚠️ WARNING! ⚠️

Please be cautious if you see maps like this floating around on social media. 👇

Climate activists have been posting maps of the land surface temperature to report on the record heat in Europe. You might see numbers close to 60°C being touted as the air temperature. Don't be fooled, this is not the case.

Air temperatures, as per official WMO standards, are measured 2-meters above the ground enclosed in a shelter (e.g., a Stevenson Screen) with louvered sides to allow adequate airflow and ventilation.

Ground heats up much faster than air because grass, soil, concrete and asphalt, for instance, have much lower heat capacities than air. So, it's quite common for land surface temperatures to exceed 50-60°C with air temperatures of only 30-40°C.

Honesty and integrity are not qualities of such people, so do not be misguided by their misinformation.