[00:00.04]A new examination of temperatures in the United States [00:05.12]shows that there were two times more heat records set [00:10.04]in the past 20 years than cold ones. [00:15.28]The Associated Press analyzed temperature information [00:19.76]collected by 424 weather stations across the country. [00:27.68]The analysis included temperature information from 1920 to 2008. [00:35.76]It found that, most decades during the 20th century [00:41.40]had close to an even ratio of hot to cold records. [00:46.80]But since 1999, 87 percent of the weather stations [00:53.40]had more hot records than cold. [00:57.03]And, 42 stations reported having at least [01:01.82]five hot records for every cold one since 1999. [01:08.68]At 11 stations, the hot-to-cold ratio [01:12.88]during the period was 10-to-1 or greater. [01:17.22]One place with the greatest difference in hot and cold records [01:23.00]was the Southern California city of Pasadena. [01:27.68]It went 19 years between cold records, the analysis found. [01:34.28]It set a low temperature record last month [01:37.68]for the first since June 5, 1999. [01:43.52]Between those two record-cold days, [01:47.04]Pasadena set 145 hot records. [01:52.44]That included the city's all-time heat record of [01:56.36]45 degrees Celsius set last year. [02:01.28]The AP says it has shared its analysis [02:05.52]with experienced climate and data scientists. [02:10.80]Several experts say results of the examination [02:14.56]support earlier scientific research. [02:18.88]And, the information provides further evidence [02:22.44]that human-caused climate change has led to [02:26.40]higher temperatures over the years, the experts said. [02:32.32]The use of such data is very important to identifying [02:37.60]the long-term effects of climate change, [02:41.00]climate scientist Deke Arndt told the Associated Press. [02:46.84]He is the head of climate observation for the U.S. National Oceanic [02:52.56]and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [02:56.40]Arndt noted, for example, that the first two months of 2019 [03:02.24]showed twice as many cold records than hot ones [03:06.40]- the exact opposite of the results in AP's analysis. [03:11.88]However, he said such short-term differences are not as valuable [03:17.68]as true climate trends measured over many years. [03:23.52]Arndt said the AP analysis shows the United States [03:28.20]has been in a steady period of major warming for a long time. [03:34.28]He added that this trend is expected to continue [03:38.44]"to explore and break the warm end of the spectrum [03:42.48]much more than the cold end." [03:46.40]Former Weather Channel expert Guy Walton [03:49.73]also gave his thoughts on the findings. [03:53.96]Walton, who has been studying hot [03:56.75]and cold extreme records since 2000, [04:00.60]told the AP he thinks the results show an unmistakable trend. [04:06.76]"You are getting more extremes. [04:09.40]Your chances for getting more dangerous extremes [04:12.92]are going up with time," he said. [04:16.51]Arndt noted that such temperature extremes [04:20.56]could have many different effects on people's lives. [04:25.16]These include financial effects such as increased hospital stays, [04:30.80]higher energy usage and farm losses. [04:35.68]A recent study involving 22 U.S. states found that each summer, [04:41.96]about 36,000 people seek hospital treatment [04:46.64]because of extreme heat. [04:50.40]I'm Bryan Lynn.