Fifth Day of the Icon, 26th of the Dog Days. 526 M.E. (Electra): We're back under a heat advisory here in Atlanta, with heat index values of 105 to 109 degrees forecast. I know I talk about the weather way to much here, but weather occurs at the intersection of my concerns about climate change and my own lived experience, especially with my alternating day, five- to eight-mile walks. 

The extreme wildfires and brutal heat waves around the world should be enough to concern anyone. There's no need to spread false information or sound false alarms with regard to climate change - the actual, documented record is already alarming enough.

So I was dismayed to find an alarming report on Bluesky stating the temperatures in Namibia and South Africa, which are currently in the antipodal winter, are reaching record temperatures of 36.1 to 40° C (97 to 104° F), 10° C higher than the summer norms. "Insane, mind-blowing winter heat," that called it, claiming "World climatic history rewritten!" in all capital letters. They included a map in their post with a lot of scary-looking red color all over southern Africa and scientific-sounding jargon in the title ("GFS 2-meter Temperature Anomaly based of CSFR 1981-2010 Climatology"). 

Cool story, except it doesn't seem to be the case. I checked several weather forecast sites, and they show high temperatures in Capetown, South Africa of 18 to 24° C (65 to 75° F) this week. But maybe Capetown, located on the coast, is just cooler than the desert temperatures to the north. But I checked Windhoek, Namibia, and the same thing - upper 70s (lower 20s in Celsius) this week. And what's the word in Johannesburg? Same thing, and actually a little cooler, with highs in the lower 60s (17° C) by the end of the week. 

I take no pleasure in debunking climate-change claims, but if we're not factual and scientific, we're no better than the climate-change deniers. The Bluesky account allows only certain people to comment (I'm not one of them) so I can't inquire about their source or ask for a reconciliation of  their conclusions with the easily verifiable weather forecasts for this week. 

Maybe it's an innocent mistake. After all, the graphic they posted doesn't mention the temperatures they cite, it just shows color-coded deviations from normal temperatures, with most of Namibia and South Africa appearing to fall in the +2.5 to +5° C range. Could they have added 2.5 to 5 to the wrong base temperatures? The post claims that the current temperatures are "10C above mid-summer averages," but I don't see anything in their graphic that supports that claim. 

"Greta was right," one person who is allowed to comment said below the post, which misses the mark entirely. Thunberg is an activist and an advocate, and a good one I'll add, but she'll be the first to tell you she's not a climatologist and shouldn't be considered the basis for climate-change science. But whatever, that's annoying, but the least of my concerns here.

An outspoken feminist writer who I otherwise admire reposted the Bluesky post, saying, "This is the most important news today and part of the most important news this year, decade, and century. Be a climate activist. The climate needs you." And there's the problem. When it's eventually discovered that the conclusions don't match the real-world weather reports, the denialists will incorrectly claim that all scientific data is likewise wrong and should be ignored. After all, if some random account on Bluesky gets the situation in Namibia wrong, how can we possible trust the IPCC or the near unanimous concern of the climate-science community? 

However, the outspoken feminist writer who I otherwise admire doesn't allow comments on her posts either, so I have no way of tapping on her shoulder and advise her that she may be spreading misinformation.   

Climate change is a problem, and the outspoken feminist writer who I otherwise admire is correct that we should be climate activists. The El Nino forming in the Pacific shows every indication that it's going to break all records, wildfires are raging across Canada, western Europe, and equatorial Africa, and CO₂ levels are approaching geological records. But no one is experiencing summertime extremes this winter in South Africa and Namibia, regardless of how well it fits the narrative we want to tell.