Record Heat on Fourth of July and Massive Weather Stories Around Country Are Sign of Global Climate Change
MORGAN: It's summer and it's hot. No surprise there. This is a heat wave that is shattering records from the Planes to the Atlantic coast. It comes on the heals of storms that left millions of people in 11 states with no power and no air conditioning. Not to mention wildfires in the west that have burned up nearly two million acres. Only one man could possibly make sense of what's going on here, ABC weather editor Sam Champion. Sam, what is going on here? Because there is a general belief, apparently, that tomorrow could be the hottest Fourth of July in history.</s>SAM CHAMPION, ABC NEWS WEATHER EDITOR: And it will be, Piers, in some places. Good evening, by the way. It will be. Those places that are looking for record highs, of course when you look at it, that record for the day, it will never have been hotter for the Fourth of July. And that's many place in America's heartland, in the middle of the country, from Minneapolis through Chicago and even points south. There you see the graphic there. Oklahoma City, Little Rock. These are -- Nashville -- these are all going to be at record paces for their temperatures or very close to. So the warmest Fourth of July on record. But it has been brutally hot leading up to that. That's part of the problem. It's not just a quick bump of heat. This has been long, ongoing thing since before summer started.</s>MORGAN: People are saying, OK, this is clear evidence global warming. Is it?</s>CHAMPION: I've got to tell you, I'm not a climatologist. But any time anyone asks me that question, there is no doubt in my mind that we're seeing climate change. Piers, I've been doing this for 30 years. And every season you'll have some record temperatures. Every hurricane season you might have a devastating hurricane. Tornado season, you're going to have a storm pop out of nowhere and do something's that damaging to a community. But I have never gone on the air -- and in the last two years this has been fairly regular for me -- gone on the air with all time records, saying this is at all-time most powerful, first time this has ever happened in history, since we've been keeping weather records, longest streak in history, breaking all-time temperature records. We were on pace in America last week with the temperatures in every desert in the globe. Saudi Arabia -- Mecca, Saudi Arabia, we had them side by side with many places in Kansas and also in South Dakota. And we were right there with the warmest temperatures on the planet.</s>MORGAN: So if it's not global warming, let's play Devil's Advocate here for a moment -- what else could be heating America up like this? What is another explanation?</s>CHAMPION: Well, there are folks who are going to be on the side of that we run in cycles on this planet, and because we've only been studying weather for a couple hundred years at best, and then, you know, the -- coming up with the satellite in the '60s would probably be reliable weather records. So we haven't really been able to look at the planet in its entire history. So some folks -- and it's a good argument, honestly -- will say that that's like diagnosing you with an illness by looking at your fingernail. So they will say, you can't really be sure of what's going on with the planet, and you can't say that it's man-made. So I try these days to take that out of the argument. So let's just say it's not man-made. but it is climate change, because in our lifetimes we haven't seen anything like this. So no matter who you're going to blame the warming on, or the change on, whether it's cyclical or whether it's man-made, I think what we need to concentrate on now are realizing that our oceans are rising at a rapid and somehow alarming rate, if you look at the projection of 50 to 100 years, faster than even the scientists have thought they would. Our planet seems to be warmer in a lot of locations, seems to be colder in a lot of locations. And we need to be paying attention to what that change means to folks who live under it, and not so much attributing blame or cause to it.</s>MORGAN: There's also been emergencies declared in Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington because of damage from something I've never heard of, a Super Daracho Storm. What is that?</s>CHAMPION: Well, there's another good point there, that now we're adding super to just about everything that we have known in weather terminology. A Darachio is basically a long running, straight line, complex of thunderstorms. Let's say it's about 240 miles long in a lot of cases, to make that, and then can run for hundreds of miles. This one ran for 700 miles. And you need really strong difference in heat buildup there. And we had that incredible heat in the country. So when these thunderstorms developed, they ran and fed on themselves. If you look at the radar that you've got going there, you look for the telltale bow echo. And the worst storms there, that's right there. And the worst storms are in that bowing part, where the strongest winds will be. They can be minimal hurricane-force winds and also on a low-level tornado for a long period of time, the same strengths in the winds. This one was super because it ran for such a long time and was so long and caused so much damage, Piers.</s>MORGAN: Funny, Sam, I mean, there are millions of Americans who would normally be welcoming a nice hot Independence Day, but actually it's going to be too hot. They are going to be suffering. They have power. They don't have air conditioning. What is the most practical, sensible advice for those people who are genuinely concerned now about the heat?</s>CHAMPION: Let me first say that yes, a lot of folks would be looking forward to a great summer if it were really in summer, and it wouldn't be that unusual. You and I might not even be having this discussion if all of this was happening in August, when we get that warmer air and the moist air coming up from the Gulf and heating the country. But this happened in June. It happened, you know, at the end of spring, beginning of summer. So the best advice to folks is really just everything that we always tell you. It's hydrate. If you don't have power, you need to figure out a way to stay cool. Go to the cooling centers if you really have those issues. And if you do have power, check on the folks who don't have power. It's really only by us working together, Piers, that we can get through something like that this, that will continue on into August, by the way.</s>MORGAN: Quite extra ordinary weather. Sam Champion, ABC weather editor, I really appreciate you joining me. Thank you.</s>CHAMPION: My pleasure.</s>MORGAN: Coming up, Casey Anthony, one year ago she was found not guilty of murdering her daughter. Last time I talked to her, thousands of you said you didn't believe her. Now her attorney talks about her life in hiding.