Weather and climate
Is Trump right that the polar vortex means we need more of that fine fine global warming? Of course not.
The important thing is to look at long-term average temperatures.
The current bone-cracking cold in Chicago is “weather” not “climate”.
The rule of thumb is that weather is what is happening outside your house now; climate is what happens over many years.
So, it can be very cold where you live but the world as a whole could still be getting warmer.
And be in no doubt, says Tim Woolings, the world is continuing to warm.
As Chicago freezes, wildfires are raging in Australia which is in the grip of yet another blistering summer.
And last summer wildfires raged in California.
The 20 warmest years on record have all been in the past 22 years, with 2015 to 2018 making up the top four, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
That’s climate.
Last *winter*, wildfires raged in California, as well as the winter before that. The dramatic pictures of flames engulfing mountaintops near Los Angeles happened in *November* 2017, when the area is supposed to get at least a modicum of precipitation.
It’s bad.
True. Last summer and the winter before. On the heels of nearly a decade of drought.
Also, there’s some evidence that the polar vortex might be a result of the effects of climate change: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/30/polar-vortex-2019-usa-what-is-it-temperatures-cold-weather-climate-change-explained
Yes, the advent of global warming is expected to increase the frequency of Arctic Outbreaks – and the frequency of outbreaks of Asshole Global Warming Denier syndrome, because some people don’t want to do the hard work of differentiating between weather and climate, or understanding what makes climates and weather operate the way they do. I spend hours on this topic in my classes, and my students still leave with only a basic superficial knowledge; but at least they understand the difference between weather and climate, and also how global warming can be true in the teeth of the brutally cold weather we’ve had the last couple of weeks.
I’ve got icecubes in my freezer. Does that disprove global warming?
Even here in Britain where we don’t have much in the way of dramatic weather, the climate is changing. Birds are nesting at different times of the year meaning that there’s more competition for nesting sites, which isn’t working out well for smaller, less aggressive birds. It also means that chicks are around when food isn’t.
This is how we can see global warming happening: look out of our windows and pay some fucking attention.
Absolutely. If there is any ice anywhere on the earth, even in artificially cold environments, that is enough to disprove global warming – even if the ice is sitting in your glass melting, the fact that it is ice is proof enough!
Don’t laugh. I wish I were less convinced some people think this way. It’s convenient not to believe in the big bad wolf if believing in him means changing the way you are doing things.
I’m not laughing.
After the Inhoffe snowball stunt, I’m convinced that there are people who pretty much believe that. Unfortunately there are a) too many of those people in the general public and b) too many of those people in positions with sufficient power and influence to prevent timely, meaningful action. Whether or not they believe it (some could be just figuring, “I’m not gonna be here at the end of the century when things get REALLY bad, so I’ll take my millions from the status quo now, please: fuck the future”), and they get their coin by sticking their thumb on the scales to skew the balance in policy and decision making. Or halt policy and decision making in its tracks altogether. Looking back it now seems a miracle that anything got done at all about ozone depletion, but I suppose the CFC lobby wasn’t/isn’t as powerful as the fossil fuel industry.
Where is that asteroid?
latsot, re. ‘This is how we can see global warming happening: look out of our windows and pay some fucking attention.’I’ve been noticing for a few years now that snowdrops aren’t appearing in anything like the numbers they used to, and wild spring flowers such as daffodils and crocus are starting to grow through as early as late December. There are some daff’s and crocuses in bud not far from me (East Midlands) right now. Also, wild grasses are seeding earlier but the deciduous trees are losing leaves a lot later than normal. The oak plantation behind my house (not my plantation) was still quite verdant in late November last year and the branches weren’t completely bare until mid-December. And yes, nesting times are definitely erratic these days.
YNnB, the asteroid is biding its time. It knows it won’t get through until Bruce Willis dies.
AoS, when I was doing my doctoral work in Texas, it was part of my job to keep track of growing seasons. Theoretically the growing season in that part of Texas begins in April and ends in late October. I was actually out in the field starting in February, because things that weren’t supposed to bloom until April were already blooming and I needed to get them recorded. There were things blooming in January (though not much) and blooming didn’t stop until December. That was 14 years ago; I’m sure it’s only gotten worse.
I don’t see as much of an extension of the growing season here in Nebraska, but I suspect that has more to do with hours of daylight than with temperature, since it is a higher latitude. But I also notice that very few of the things I used to see when we moved here 13.5 years ago are seen at all anymore. Funny how I seem to be the only one in the state that’s noticed that. Surely I’m not the only one in the state who avidly follows the botanical life, and notices what is and isn’t growing? All I see any more are a few random grasses (mostly non-native) and some lonesome looking sunflowers (those used to be much more abundant). I rarely even see Queen Anne’s lace growing on the roadside anymore, and I didn’t think there was much you could do to make that go away!
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944/2288724704479311/?type=3&theater