The cold months of November to March are by far my least favorite of the year. Every year, the minute the first snow fall of the season hits, I decide to hibernate. I absolutely hate winter and being cold. Over the past few years, the winter months seem to be getting more and more miserable. I’m not sure if this is just me getting older and noticing the insane drops in temperature and miserable amounts of snow or if in fact the pleasurable winters that we knew are ending and becoming more intense and cold. If the later is true, then what is causing this and what will happen if it continues?
According to environmentalresearchweb.org , over the past couple years winters have in fact gotten steadily colder. So, this isn’t just my imagination. But what’s causing this? The number one theory among scientists is global warming. When I think global warming, I think insanely hot temperatures, not insane amounts of snow and huge drops in temperatures. Judah Cohen, from the Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Massachusetts, blames the increase in open water over the Arctic Ocean because it allows for more moisture to be evaporated in the atmosphere, leading to increased precipitation. Well, if this is actually true, then what does it mean for us? Right now, the temperatures might be extremely uncomfortable and annoying, but if they’re just going to be getting colder over the next couple years, will there be bigger consequences for us? After some research, I learned that yes we will have freezing winters with some cold snaps; however, overtime these will become less frequent and we will begin to see record heat waves. According to the washingtonpost.com, there will still be record lows, but they will be more rare than the record highs.
Also, I began to think if maybe there could be some other variables causing these extreme temperatures besides global warming.. There has been cold and warm periods throughout Earth’s history, so this isn’t actually something new. Unfortunately after tons of research, I couldn’t find any other causes that made sense except for the idea of global warming. As we have learned in class though, you can never rule out outside variables. So for right now, I just unfortunately have to deal with the miserable, cold winters.
http://phys.org/news/2014-05-climate-scientist-extremely-cold-winter.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/01/06/can-global-warming-be-real-if-its-cold-in-the-u-s-um-yes/
This is extremely unfortunate as Penn State students because it is so cold here! I also would not think cold winters are caused from global warming. Will there be a point where the temperatures are dangerously low? If temperatures got to be consistently below 0 that could be very dangerous because it increases snowfall which causes accidents or hypothermia if people are outside too long. Here are a fun few tips on how to survive the cold winters! http://lifehacker.com/top-10-ways-to-survive-the-cold-harsh-winter-1498172684.
I love that you chose this topic! I really hate the cold weather and it makes me worried about years to come. I found an article from Fox News that claims if we have colder winters than we will have warmer summers. However, I have not found this to be true. The past few summers have not been very hot at all. I attended Penn State’s summer session this past summer and majority of the six weeks consisted of rain and/or cloudy days. I had to wear a sweatshirt almost everyday. I have noticed winter’s getting colder but I wonder why summers are not getting hotter? Here is the link to the article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/20/from-shiver-to-swelter-old-farmer-almanac-predicts-colder-than-usual-winter/
Overall, good post! I really enjoyed the topic, and I hope the winters do not get any colder!