This mentions studies not being done in the global South, being done in the US/Europe/China. And forgive my extreme naivety here, I've never lived South of the equator... but Buenos Aires is 3800 miles from the South pole and NYC is 3200 miles from the North pole. Aren't these fairly similar climates? Is there more to it than just distance from the nearest pole/distance from the equator?
Eh, "must" is a strong word. "Should" might be better.
I'd imagine studying climate differences might be like studying sports injuries. Some metrics would seem global ("rate of concussions") but would be pretty regional (e.g., because US plays more American Football). Some would seem regional ("rate of childhood knee sprains"), but would be pretty global (bc kids play soccer almost everywhere).
Similar thing with climate: some metrics would seem global (distance from nearest pole), but are pretty regional (bc jet streams, etc.).
In both cases, you don't HAVE to take a regional view, but it's certainly easy to draw the wrong conclusions looking globally.
A lot of climate studies, especially about impacts, have moved to regional scales. The models have improved to where that is possible, and as GP comment illustrates, these specific factors do matter. E.g., is there a problem with drought, or flooding, or heat waves, or wildfires?
As an example, the most recent US National Climate Assessment (NCA) has an extensive regional breakdown of impacts. Since you mentioned New York, here’s the chapter for US Northeast: https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/18/
The regional breakdowns for the upcoming NCA (2023) will be a little finer, I think they are breaking the Great Plains into subregions.
Regional reports are worthwhile for another reason too: observant readers can link some of the changes reported in the NCA to stuff they see in their life. I live in California, and the wildfire/drought rates are obviously growing here. People in the US Midwest will notice creep of growing season, etc.
I didn’t check your numbers, but if they’re correct that’s a 600 mile difference. 600 miles south of NYC puts you in South Carolina, which has a much different climate from NY.
That's true but then let's take South Carolina instead of NY. Is there a lot more to it than to compare studies done in South Carolina to Buenos Aires if they are similar distances from the equator/poles?
Jet streams, elevation, vegetation, and topography are other large factors. Just take a look at the climates of American and European cities at similar latitudes.
Climate depends on a lot more than latitude. Madrid is at about the same latitude as New York.
But also, the climate impacts on a given society will depend on its vulnerability and coping capacity in other ways. E.g., prevalence of air conditioning, or urban vs. rural, or mix of occupations.
