41 U.S. states are getting warmer, each in its own way, report says

Researchers at two Spanish universities have found that 84% of the contiguous U.S. states has shown signs of warming over the last 70 or so years, which is more than previously suggested. In:

Researchers at two Spanish universities have found that 84% of the contiguous U.S. states has shown signs of warming over the last 70 or so years, which is more than previously suggested.

In a report published last week in the journal PLOS Climate, the researchers found that 41 U.S. states have gotten warmer since the middle of the last century. Alaska and Hawaii weren't included in the study.

The states' warming patterns weren't uniform, Jesús Gonzalo, an economist and professor at the University of Charles III in Madrid, explained using a riddle. In Spain, the satirical statistics joke goes: "There are two hungry people vying over a single chicken. One eats the entire thing, leaving the other to starve. So, on average, each person has eaten half of a chicken."

In that scenario, the average amount of food consumed per person failed to convey the important fact that 50% of the pair whose chicken intake was being calculated had nothing to eat at all. 

"The average doesn't say much, no?" Gonzalo said.