Warmer Winters and Heavy Snowfall: Brought to You by Global Warming

Reader Contribution by Beth Beavers

When I talk to my friends and family about the importance of taking care of our planet, especially to help curb global warming, the nonbelievers usually fire back “Why are we getting such heavy snow if we’re in a climate crisis?” or my favorite “If the planet is warming, why is it so cold?”

In a new report from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), experts from around the country explain that global warming isn’t going to destroy winter overnight and that some of the strange weather we are experiencing is one of the effects of climate change. The report, which was authored by NWF’s climate scientist Amanda Staudt, emphasizes the weather is highly variable year-by-year. But looking at long-term trends, global warming is definitely real and having detrimental effects.

The report explains winter is becoming shorter and warmer. David Robinson, climatologist and professor of geography at Rutgers University, says the first freeze is happening later, and spring is coming almost two weeks earlier. Winter weather is greatly affected by even a few degrees difference. In areas where it still remains freezing, the increase in temperature is causing bigger snowstorms because warmer air can hold more moisture. In places where it is not below freezing, more rain and the potential for flooding exist.

John Magnuson, professor emeritus of zoology and director emeritus of the Center for Limnology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stressed the importance of not being misled by inter-annual weather compared to long-term trends. Magnuson studies limnology, the study of inland waters, and warned about the significant variability in duration of ice cover. Typically, lakes freeze in the winter but in years where the duration of ice cover is shorter some aren’t freezing completely. Others are not freezing over at all. The unfrozen water is available for evaporation and can cause large lake-effect snowfalls.

The variable weather makes budgeting for cities and states more difficult. Joe Drobot, scientific program manager for the Weather Systems and Assessment Program at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Research Applications Laboratory, says the increase in variability can complicate city and state budget planning. Snow and ice removal accounts for about $12 billion a year, so after a year of less than average snow fall, cuts to snow and ice removal seem to make sense. When winter weather inevitably hits, cities and states have a harder time cleaning it up.

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