‘Warm winter wreaks havoc.’
This winter’s “curiously warm weather across the Northeast and much of the Midwest has played havoc with more than seasonal businesses. In Washington, D.C., springlike temperatures have faked out flora, causing dogwoods and daffodils to bloom.” New York City is expecting 70 degree weather tomorrow (an all-time high), and a college professor drowned last Sunday “after falling through thin ice on usually frozen Rangeley Lake.”
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Curse those urban heat masses!!!
January 5th, 2007 at 10:14 pmWish it were funny. It’s not. Not at all.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:16 pmcan someone get pictures of the inhofecretin with this background?
January 5th, 2007 at 10:18 pmcan you think of anyone else that would look good in the frame?
So is it El Nino this year or is this a stretch TP? Come on, let’s see some rigor here…
January 5th, 2007 at 10:20 pmThat’s the real problem with changing climate. Plants rely on predictable weather patterns, and we really on plants for food.
It’s going to be a crazy few decades ahead, even supposing we act NOW to rectify the damage we’ve been doing.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:21 pmThat’s very disturbing.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:22 pmOf course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:24 pmTenebrae sez:
‘Crazy’ doesn’t begin to cover it, and it doesn’t matter what we do now…the damage is done and the temperature will only increase, in a positive feedback loop driven by accelerated greenhouse effect, and exacerbated by the release of huge amounts of methane from permafrost and cold sea floors.
In short, we’re screwed. By 2050 this planet, and our society, will have changed beyond recognition.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:28 pmOf course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
Comment by HotSopDotCom
Global Warming is apparently skipping the West and Northwest. Except in the summer, of course.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:29 pm/sarcasm
Of course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
Well, consider this: last year in Denver it was 70 degrees on Christmas. Go figure.
I just noticed that the daffodils in my yard are already coming up. I live in Chicago, and it’s currently 50 degrees. In January. It’s unreal. I grew up in the southeast and it was never this warm there in January. Can people really not put two and two together and get what is happening? It’s called Global Climate Change.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:30 pmYou think those flowers are weird? I have night crawls (worms you go fishing with) crawling on the side walk… in JANUARY… weird.
Of course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
Comment by HotSopDotCom
I really wish people like you could read about what you are talking about before you post. You trick ignorant people into becoming dumb people.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:35 pmann sez
Michigan here, and 50 degrees.
My parents live a few miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. last December we celebrated the first green Christmas that far north in memory.
I just can’t wait to see how hot it’s going to get this summer. On the plus side, mabye I can plant a few citrus trees in my backyard.
In Michigan.
Unreal.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:36 pmOf course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
Comment by HotSopDotCom — January 5, 2007 @ 10:24 pm
Just because you can still find snow and ice on our planet must mean that global climate change is not happening. Geez, you’re way too smart for this blog.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:44 pmGlobal Warming is apparently skipping the West and Northwest. Except in the summer, of course.
/sarcasm
Comment by Zooey
Yet the European ski resorts are closing for lack of snow.
January 5th, 2007 at 10:49 pmSo … you call this winter?Associated Press
‘Meteorologists say the warm spell is due to a combination of factors.
El Nino, a cyclical warming trend now under way in the Pacific Ocean, can lead to milder weather, particularly in the Northeast.
The jet stream, the high-altitude air current that works like a barricade to hold back warm Southern air, is running much farther north than usual over the East Coast.
The weather is prone to short-term fluctuations, and forecasters said the mild winter does not necessarily mean global warming is upon us.
In fact, the Plains have been hit by back-to-back blizzards in the past two weeks.
“No cause for alarm. Enjoy it while you have it,” said Mike Halpert, head of forecast operations at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center.’
http://www.cnn.com/ 2007/ WEATHER/ 01/ 04/ warm.winter.ap/ index.html
January 5th, 2007 at 10:53 pmI think that most readers of this blog can agree that global warming is a real concern and should be countered. However, to absolutely blame this particular warm winter on global warming alone seems shortsighted to me, considering most climate experts are quick to point out el nino as a major factor. The people who say global warming is not happening because of the blizzard in Denver and the people who say that the reason for this warm winter is because of global warming alone are picking and choosing scientific data to fit their ideology.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:12 pmExley, you sickin me. Your posts are no longer taken seriously. You have a BAD case of the denials…..and that is putting it mildly. Keep making yourself feel good while you can.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:14 pm#12 Tripmaster
Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m in Michigan, and my parents claimed to have never had a christmas like this one. We wanted to open our pool - THAT’S WRONG. Not supposed to happen
You look at the list of things that are supposed to happen, and what is happening now isn’t on it.
People who look at the blizzard and say ‘omg, clearly not global warming!!!1!!1′ are idiotic - climate changes involve trends, not day-to-day weather. If you look at trends, Global Warming is clearly occuring. If you look at random events, of course it won’t; but also remember that Global Warming results in major climate shifts - so yes, some areas will get more snow and more precipitation, but other areas that are temperate will be bone dry. When we talk about Global Warming, we’re really worried about Global Climate Change. Global Warming is the cause of the scary Global Climate Change. It’s named for the cause, not the result.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:16 pmThanks for that Matt, I simply couldn’t just come out and say I agreed with Exley - he’s usually such a dishonest person.
“tell a little truth with many lies, its the only way Ive found”
- Ronnie James Dio
January 5th, 2007 at 11:17 pmIt’s cold out West.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:22 pmClimate Change (aka Global Warming) means violent weather, like the Colorado snows. It also causes extremes of all kinds. But no one can deny that the trend is toward warmer weather. Over the last five years and longer the trends are warming everywhere including “out West.”
My question is, “professor of what?”
January 5th, 2007 at 11:31 pmI know my comment was stupid at face value, but it was to illustrate how some people may think, it was sarcastic.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:34 pmThe high point for me is that I am still harvesting tomtoes in January. I cut back the brocolli from last year and have new head clusters forming. For me, this is a first since I moved to Saint Augustine ten years ago. We have annuals that we planted two years ago. Does anyone have a clue?
January 5th, 2007 at 11:37 pmwalt - what annuals did you plant?
January 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pmi thought you were in tennessee…
It seems much of the evidence of human activity is at the poles. Pollutants tend to collect there too.
At the same time these areas are out of sight, out of mind.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:46 pmExley, you sickin me. Your posts are no longer taken seriously.
Were they ever? Certainly not by me.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:58 pm#25 - katy-
January 5th, 2007 at 11:59 pmNo Florida. Annuals ranged from A to Z, not including Zinnias, but those things with squishy leaves and pastel flowers. Also some blue things about 6 feet high now and a yellow thingee that has achieved four feet. Then there about a ton of Azaleas and Banana and Orange trees, plus sugar cane. I man the machete with the cane, but the GrandKids enjoy chewing down the result.
#17 Well said, Matt. As we see, the head of forecast operations at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center agrees with us.
“s” should really get more of an education on the topic.
January 6th, 2007 at 12:08 amchick fil a…
chrissy…
whatever
January 6th, 2007 at 12:17 am#33…..Shhhhhhhhhh….Use your indoor voice and take up your differences with the head of forecast operations at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center. Okay, skippy?
January 6th, 2007 at 12:24 am#35…You’re wasting time…Shouldn’t you be writing that letter to National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center so you can explain to him that you know more about climate prediction than he does???? You better get cracking, junior.
January 6th, 2007 at 12:46 amOf course, the fact that Denver got a few hundred feet of snow (or so) can be safely ignored.
Comment by HotSopDotCom
The Fox’s weatherman got you going, eh? Too bad he didn’t get you going in the right (as in: correct) direction…
Consider this: snow is precipitation (steam from hot oceans, condensed into water, when it reaches higher and cooler regions). If the temps are 5deg above freezing or more, the condensation comes down as rain. If the temps hover around freezing, it comes down partly solidified, as snow. So, for Denver to get a snowstorm, the temps had to be around 30-34Farenheit (-1/+1 Centigrade). In the middle of December, it’s about 15degrees Farenheit *higher than normal* for Denver.
Didn’t you know that?
Definitely, the latest Denver snowstorms are an argument *for* global warming overtaking us. Ordinarily, after early November, Denver gets little snow, except during the warm spells…
I find it inexcusable that American children are not taught the basic principles of science (biology, chemistry, physics) as a part of compulsory curriculum. I may have hated all those subjects at school, but, at least, I had to learn enough to understand/interpret the (few) facts I’m told…
January 6th, 2007 at 12:59 amHeh! #38/39….While your fascination with me is flattering (if not a tad unnerving), I would suggest you take this time to educate yourself on this topic…Read the CNN/AP article and then read Matt’s posting #17. Only by educating yourself will you be able to stop humiliating yourself on this thread.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:02 amLibra, My last posting, which references #39, was not meant to encompass your comments.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:08 amWhat is the deal with both this site and Drudge using the same photo of cherry blossoms, yet neither one of you give a photo credit? If this is a stock photo that’s public domain, I suppose I understand, but shouldn’t the photog get credit for his/her work?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:09 amI believe my birth stone is an emerald.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:10 am#41…Hey, look! You learned how to use Google and came up with a Mark Twain quote! That’s very impressive….Now, use some of your new found skill and educate yourself a little more on this topic. Until you do, you will continue to embarass yourself.
January 6th, 2007 at 1:11 amThinking that a change in weather in just the last few years, or decades, is indicative of any type of permanent pattern sounds trailerpark stupid to me. Are you aware that the earth has warmed and cooled in cycles for millions of years before you were born?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:24 amVery good, skippy! You actually managed to use Google to find an article on global warming. We are all very proud of you. Unfortunately for you the page you sent was last revised almost a year ago and is thus irrelevant to this thread’s topic, which is whether the unusually warm winter being experienced in the East and Midwest over the past several weeks is directly attributable to global warming….And, of course, as AP/CNN article makes clear, most forecasters, including the head of forecast operations at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, say that the current warm spell is not attributable to man-made global warming, but is rather the result of short term fluctuations.
Swing and miss, my confused little poster. Still, it was an interesting article you sent….The fact that it is completely immaterial to this topic should, however, be somewhat embarassing for you. Try to stick to the topic at hand, okay, pardner?
January 6th, 2007 at 1:35 amAlthough current scientific consensus seems convincing on global warming trends, is it possible that it is as errant and alarmist as the predictions of global cooling into a new ice age predicted by similar scientists in the mid 70’s (reported by time and newsweek)
http://www.thenewamerican.com/ tna/ 1997/ vo13no25/ vo13no25_alarmism.htm
January 6th, 2007 at 1:50 amPrickless Exley, you sent kudos to Matt for his stupid claims - without having read the articles about how global warming increases the severity of winter storms as one of the side effects.
If you actually would have read what I said maybe you would agree with me as well, instead of instantly disagreeing with my statement because someone you personally dislike misconstured my comment. All I am basically saying is we, as people who are truly worried about climate change rather than people who make it a partisan issue for personal gain, should be careful in what we blame on climate change. If we claim to have the backing of leading scientists, we should be careful when many of those same scientists say that this warm winter has a lot to do with natural cycles such as el nino. If we are not careful we come across as ignorant as people like Inhofe and exley. It goes both ways…
January 6th, 2007 at 2:04 amActually, Matt, I would suggest you take your own advice and note that if you would have read the article I posted, you would have found that we agree on this particular topic. No where on this thread do I discount the theory of man-made global warming. All I did is pass along an AP / CNN.com article that essentially said the same thing that you wrote in posting #17; to wit, that the current warm spell being felt in the East and Midwest is not necessarily an automatic indication that global warming has descended and is now causing permanent 70 degree days in January. As you said in posting #17, the AP/CNN article I passed along shows that most forecasters, including the head of forecast operations at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center, are saying that the current warm spell is that result of short term fluctutations in natural weather patterns, such as the location of the jet stream and El Nino.
Thus, your lumping me together with Inhofe or claiming that I misconstrued your remarks (when in fact I posted an article that mirrored your comments) is somewhat baffling. I would submit that it is you who has misconstrued my point.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:21 amExley, Do you believe that the global warming trend is significant and man-made?
January 6th, 2007 at 2:36 amHeh! From the very same article that my fan selectively (and therefor dishonestly) quotes:
“Nationally and regionally, 2006 has been one of the warmest years on record, prompting some to wonder if the unseasonable temperatures are caused by global warming. But climatologists caution against drawing such conclusions about relatively short-term shifts in weather patterns.
“There are many, many things that influence our weather, and climate change is just another piece of the puzzle,” said Kathryn Vreeland, a climatologist at the Northeast Regional Climate Center at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. “It might have more weight over time, but we don’t know.”
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/ daily/ 12-06/ 12-21-06/ 01weather.htm
Heh! Tried to hide that little section, which completely undercuts your inane and ignorant statements, didn’t you????
So, not only do you not know what you are talking about, but you are dishonest too. That’s quite a combination. Your humiliation continues. Keep at it, buckaroo! Watching you self-destruct is quite amusing.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:37 amLouise Trenchauer. Although I don’t believe in the devil, I applaud your call for troop support. Thank you.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:45 am#60, Paul…I believe man-made activities are indeed contributing to global warming. But, like many scientists, I don’t think we yet know exactly HOW global warming will effect global climate. For example, some theorize that global warming could actually result in cooling because melting ice caps will cool the oceans.
I am hardly a climate scientist and I usually stay away from all global warming discussions because I simply do not have the expertise to render any serious contribution to a discussion of long-term global warming. I read what others who know more about the topic have to say.
But I felt compelled to send along the CNN / AP article I read the other day because it appeared ThinkProgress was trying to intimate that the current warm spell in the East and Midwest is ironclad proof of man-made global warming, when as the articles I and my fan sent along shows, climate experts and weather forecasters are saying that that is not the case and that our current warm weather is most likely the result of natural, short-term weather fluctuations.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:54 amExley. Thanks. I am trying to keep an open mind about global warming and man’s effect on climate change. I don’t have the information to feel confident about it one way or the other, but the topic seems ripe for abuse from agendas that have little to do with the environment. I believe that there is evidence for cyclical climate change for millions of years before man was on the planet, so I am suspicious of how we can be so confident that it is man that is causing what is believed to be the current global warming trend.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:06 amis it possible that it is as errant and alarmist as the predictions of global cooling into a new ice age predicted by similar scientists in the mid 70’s (reported by time and newsweek)
Comment by paul — January 6, 2007 @ 1:50 am
The consensus over global cooling was never as strong as it is now over global warming.
Also, it is laughable that you should cite Time and NewsWeek as evidence that scientists predicted a global cooling period: Those are not peer-reviewed, scientific publications by any stretch of the imagination.
If you are really interested on getting yourself informed on the global cooling media myth, check RealClimate here, and here. You can also have a quick read in the wikipedia.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:09 amGregor Samsa. I’ve got to get to bed, but I saved the links. Thank you. Good night.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:13 amPaul, You wrote, “I believe that there is evidence for cyclical climate change for millions of years before man was on the planet.”
I agree with that, as well. But, given the scientific evidence and common sense, it seems likely that with billions of human beings on the planet and the amount of industrial activity, that man is indeed having some effect on the climate. But how much, I do not know….I read some theories that the 19th century was in fact cooler than normal because of heavy volcanic activity that threw ash and debris into the atmosphere and that the warming trend of the 20th century was, in part, a return to “normal” temperatures. Is that true? Again, I don’t know…It sounds plausible, but who knows? Like I said, I am not an expert by any stretch.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:21 amLuckily for humankind we have Senator Jim Inhofe and novelist Michael Crichton, backed up by unbiased reporters like Neil Cavuto and Rush Limbaugh, who can sift through these sorts of stories and find the nuggets showing there is no global warming. That makes the two polar bears who will drown this afternoon in the formerly frozen Arctic Ocean the victims of the Clinton Administration and his blowjobs, NOT by climate change. I feel better and so do the non-hibernating woodchucks.
January 6th, 2007 at 6:35 amLast night the spring peepers were chirping for prospective mates. We live in northern New York. Ouch! This is a month of march happening.
January 6th, 2007 at 8:16 amGlobal warming up here in Providence.
January 6th, 2007 at 8:56 amEl Nino effects are essentially kicked off by areas of warm ocean temperatures. Some people are trying to indicate that whats going on is a cyclical El Nino rather than an effect of global climate change. It seems to me however that the two go hand in hand. If global temperature increases are warming the ocean, then even natural cycles such as El Nino are going to more of a dramatic effect. The right is attempting to use the simple explanation of El Nino as an alternative to global warming when infact what seems to be going on is more complex combination of the two.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:21 amYes. The sun is hot.
January 6th, 2007 at 10:56 amUnsure whom to believe frankly, the record temperature ‘broken’ yesterday in Washington D.C. was from 1952 @ 70 degrees…I don’t know if global warming was a thought back then. I recall growing up that in the mid 70’s a “new Ice Age” was to occur.
I’ve heard strong arguments made on both sides and some of them pretty convincing….this will surely be an issue for years to come both politically and personally for many folks…
January 6th, 2007 at 11:00 amExley is here to carry the administrations water. He is not here to be honest, informed or polite. He thinks he’s pretty cool and ends most of his posts with a snide, chuckling, put down. He is a paid government plant or just an idiot…it doesn’t matter. It is a good thing he is here because he keeps in evidence ( keeps it clear ) what we are fighting. The progressives and Americans with a real conscience are fighting right wing extremists who have enjoyed temporary success at twisting reality and manipulating large numbers of people with their sheer destructive (self serving )will. But it is ending and they know it. Exley is part of a dying breed in this country. He knows global warming is real…..he has an agenda in all his posts. And basically, that agenda does not serve the common good. It’s pretty safe to say his agenda is all about numero uno.
January 6th, 2007 at 11:13 amYes, there are natural cycles at work but these have been transcended by the influence of carbon dioxide; studies have been done showing we have higher carbon dioxide now from industrial era input than during the last 800, 000 years. And hey, it’s not just New York, Ontario closes ski resort for first time and they have opossums moving in from the South!
–
Blue Mountain lays off 1,300
BILL SANDFORD / TORONTO STAR
Warm temperatures have caused the ski and hospitality industry at Blue Mountain and Intrawest to lay off approximately 1,300 employees.
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Warm weather forces first winter closure in history of Ontario’s biggest ski resort
January 06, 2007
Isabel Teotonio and Nick Kyonka
staff reporters
Roberta Avery
Special to the Star
Ontario’s largest ski resort has laid off 1,300 workers after closing down its ski operations in the middle of the winter season for the first time in the resort’s 65-year history.
“We’re trying to make the best of things so that guests who still come to Blue will have a good time, but it’s pretty tense,” said Kelly O’Neil, a spokeswoman at Blue Mountain Resort, yesterday. Officials said they had no choice after a run of unseasonably warm weather that has some wondering if winter will appear this year at all.
In Toronto, yesterday’s high hit a record 11C, smashing the previous Jan. 5 high of 10.1C set in 1997.
Mind you, that’s still got some way to go before breaking the record for January’s hottest day – 17.6C – set Jan. 13, 2005.
Yesterday’s record, which was set around 7 a.m., came on the heels of the warmest January evening in 167 years.
Until then, the warmest night in Toronto had been on Jan. 1, 1988 at 7.3C. But on Thursday night, the mercury never dropped below 8C.
The laid-off workers at Blue Mountain, who are full-time seasonal workers and year-round part-time employees, have been told their services won’t be needed for three weeks, although they’ll be called back earlier if the weather turns cold and snowmaking operations can start up again. They include housekeeping staff, restaurant workers and ski lift operators.
The resort has had spells of unseasonably warm weather in past winters, but until this year has always had enough snow to stay open.
This could also be the first year that Toronto doesn’t open its ski hills.
In Toronto, two city-run ski hills that were to have opened on Dec. 18 remain closed, said Don Boyle, director of community recreation, costing the city some $300,000 in revenue. But, he added, money has been saved on expenditures.
“Given the weather forecast, we don’t see us getting the ski hills open until Jan. 14,” he said. “If it’s much later than that we would likely not open at all.”
Even the York Regional Police Marine Unit has set a record for the latest date one of its vessels, the Naawij, a 26-foot Sea-swirl boat, has remained on the water. It continues to patrol Lake Simcoe to ensure boaters are operating safely.
In most years, much of Lake Simcoe is frozen over by this time and the ice dotted with the huts of ice fishers.
But just because people are out boating doesn’t mean winter has been cancelled, said David Phillips, Environment Canada’s senior climatologist.
“If you look at the five-day forecast you’d see that the S word is there,” he said. “We’re going to have snow next week.”
That may turn out to be an empty promise – at least for Toronto.
Temperatures are expected to drop to a high of about 4C Sunday, followed by a chance of flurries Monday and Tuesday. But that’s nowhere near seasonal norms.
“It’s really quite unusual – we know the weather is strange, but it is so obvious, it’s so dramatically different,” Phillips said. “Jan. 15 is usually when winter’s half over – and it hasn’t even begun yet.”
But Phillips isn’t giving up on Old Man Winter just yet.
“Just because we haven’t had winter doesn’t mean we should raise the white flag yet,” said Phillips, adding, “maybe we’ll be counting snowflakes in May.”
“We think that there will still be snow here and people will be cursing the weather… Don’t necessarily put away your snow tires or hang up your ski lift because the snow will still be coming.”
Whatever, Blue Mountain still plans to reopen some of the runs next Wednesday. Despite balmy temperatures, the resort opened three of its 35 runs Dec. 28 thanks to high-tech snow making equipment, which can cover half a hectare with 30 centimetres of snow in 16 minutes. Until this year it has always managed to hoard enough snow to stay open once the season was underway.
“This winter we didn’t get the low temperatures to build up a good snow base on the slopes,” said O’Neil.
Room occupancy was down 40 per cent during the all-important week between Christmas and New Year and with only three runs open, the resort could only accommodate a small fraction of the 15,000 skiers a day who usually ski there at that time of year.
Colder weather would also be good news for outdoor skaters, who have struggled to find outdoor ice.
“Mel Lastman Square is quiet during the day,” said Boyle. “Any other year it would be packed right now with people and families skating.”
Although some of the city’s outdoor artificial ice rinks have occasionally been closed because of soft ice, they’ve held up relatively well, he said. However, none of the natural ice rinks have opened.
Ice may be having a hard time forming, but that’s just fine for Toronto’s rats and mice.
“The fact that it’s a milder winter means less rats and mice are dying, which means more are surviving for one more breeding,” said Michael Goldman of Purity Pest Control Limited in Thornhill.
Without the usual snow and ice, easy access to dumpsters and garbage has made it easier to forage for food and improved their survival rates, he said. Carlo Panacci of Cain Pest Control in Toronto thinks we’re likely to see more rodents, and even insects, in the spring, since the cold weather isn’t keeping their numbers in check.
“We can expect to see more mice and more creatures in general,” said Panacci. “We just might not see as many polar bears.”
But zoologist Mark Engstrom doesn’t think increased temperatures results in more rodents. The University of Toronto professor points out that population growth of mice and rats has more to do with availability of food, rather than temperature.
“Their populations go up and down naturally – I don’t think it has to do with warming trends,” said Engstrom, also the curator of mammals at the Royal Ontario Museum.
When it comes to mammals, he said, the most visible effects of global warming can be seen in the Arctic. There, hunting season for polar bears is being shortened because they typically hunt only on sea ice and rarely on land.
Evolutionary biologist Spencer Barrett, however, doesn’t think you need to look far to see the effects of global warming, just look to the border. There, you’ll notice a northward spread of invasive species from the United States, which in the past would have been stopped by frost and bad weather.
“They’re following the warmer climate – lots of things are shifting their range and moving north,” said Barrett, who is the Canada research chair at the University of Toronto. “We see possums in Ontario now and we didn’t about 50 years ago because they’ve come up from the south.”
Just look at British Columbia, where beetles are chewing up vast areas of forests, he said. That’s occurring because the normal winter conditions that prevented them from reproducing are no longer there and milder weather means you’re getting more generations of beetles per year.
Elsewhere, weather is wreaking havoc in a different way.
Cold weather across northern and eastern India has killed more than 100 people in the past week, forcing the closure of schools , as well as the delivery of firewood to the homeless. Yesterday, the temperature in New Delhi dropped to 4 C, the lowest of the winter.
In Bangladesh, at least 56 people, mostly beggars and homeless, died during the cold snap. In Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, 34 people died as night-time temperatures dropped to freezing, making life miserable for those on the streets.
In the eastern state of Bihar, thousands of homeless people crowded around bonfires – at least 35 people have died in the impoverished state in the last week. In neighbouring Jharkhand, 11 people have died.
With files from Star wire services
January 6th, 2007 at 11:42 amI think a lot of evidence suggests that global warming is a fact. However, one must take into account that a small, or not so small, dynamic in this equation may be Mother Nature. A mere 10, 100, 200, or 10,000 years is just a blink of an eye in this big universe.
The history of this planet is one of ice ages and more moderate, and not so moderate, temperatures alternating back-and-forth. I think the flat, Great Plains topography is a result of huge ice sheets flattening everything. One thing is certain: planet Earth is not a static place.
I can’t remember the exact time frame, certainly in the millions of years, but San Diego is drifting north. I think the term in continnental drift. Eventually, San Diego will be a suburb of Anchorage, Alaska. That’s probably why San Diego housing prices have hit the skids. Who wants to buy a house there, and then suddenly discover you’re living in Alaska?
I do believe that when quantifiable climatic changes begin, the momentum will accelerate expotentially. It won’t be A to B, but maybe A to G, or even A to X.
John
January 6th, 2007 at 1:40 pmI think it’s fitting that humanity will go out in a sweatty whimper rather than the vainglorious bang! we so egocentrically envision and obsess over. And I’m sure we’ll be denying the causes to the bitter end, believing wild religious fantasies instead of plain, scientific truth.
It’s all going to be rather anti-climactic, as our population dwindles and fizzles over the next century or so…..
The billionaires and political leader sociopaths will enjoy the luxury of dying out even more slowly in space, and I kinda like the ring that has to it - their vanity and arrogance slowly suffocating the life from them in a can in orbit somewhere…..looking back at Earth, devoid of human life, and crying that it’s all so unfair…….
January 6th, 2007 at 1:40 pmYes, it’s a combination of natural cycles being exacerbated by the extra CO2 from industrialism. that’s why this latest El Nino is “unprecedented”:
That 70s Show: Record Warmth Blankets NYC
With Temperatures Above Normal For 28th Straight Day, Many Ski Resorts Remain Closed
Click here For The Latest Forecast From WCBSTV.Com
Think The Weather Is Weird? 2006 Was Full Of Oddities. Check them out in the 2006 Around The Watercooler Slideshow.
(CBS) NEW YORK Don’t be alarmed, New Yorkers, your thermometers aren’t broken. It’s 70 degrees. In January.
Record warm temperatures in New York City have capped off a strange week that’s seen cherry blossoms bloom in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C., multiple blizzards pummel Denver and other parts of the Midwest, and ski resorts in the northeast close their doors due to lack of snow and customers.
The National Weather Service reported the temperature in Central Park at 12:51 p.m. was 70 degrees, shattering the previous record of 63 degrees set back in 1950. Now the question remains, will it get even warmer?
“The stretch of unseasonably warm weather is unprecedented and will be above normal for almost 30 days in a row now. Our normal is 38,” CBS 2 Meteorologist John Bolaris said.
The rain dissipated and the sun began to creep out as the afternoon hours approached, and already Central Park was bustling with joggers, bikers, or anyone else who simply wanted to take advantage of the wacky weather that’s been above normal for 28 straight days.
But it hasn’t been fun for everyone, especially ski resorts and lodges who count on the cold to bring them customers during winter. On Plattekill Mountain, located about 2.5 hours north of New York City in Roxbury, ski trails remained closed on Saturday and officials hoped to reopen them on Sunday, though that still remained unlikely. The mountain’s website urges ski-goers to “think snow!”
Robert Konefal owns the Pine Mill Arms Hotel in the Catskills and vented his frustrations about a winter unlike any other he’s ever seen.
“I’ve been here for 32 years and this is the worst winter I’ve ever seen,” he told WCBSTV.com. “I had three-day packages for New Year’s Eve and in my main building every single room canceled.”
Konefal estimates a 65 percent decrease in customers this season up to this point, and believes that number will jump even higher come the weekend of Martin Luther King’s birthday — one of their three busiest weekends of the year.
“I’m always booked, I was booked, it’s the first time I’ve ever had anyone in the main building cancel and these people booked in October. It’s really frustrating because I just put a new website up which cost me about $2,000. I just repackaged everything over from last year, changed all my packages around and I was really excited for the winter,” he said. “I brought two student employees in from Chile and the only thing I’ve got for them to do is clean out the cellar.”
Bolaris says the warm weather will also take its toll on those who have bad allergies. “I think it may be harsh for allergy sufferers believe it or not because the mold spores haven’t been killed off and microcosms are still breeding, so it could mean a harsh allergy season come this spring.”
The main force behind the record warmth is mostly related to El Nino, a weather phenomenon that occurs every several years and usually creates milder winter for the northeast. El Nino occurs when waters off the Peruvian coast continue to warm late in the year.
The phenomenon was first mentioned over 110 years ago by Peruvian fishermen who were perplexed by the strange weather, but even more baffled by a surplus of dead fish in the water. It was actually the warming of the water that killed the fish, and when the ocean warms like that, it has a global effect. “Normally, the stronger the El Nino, the more mild winter and less in the way of snow for the northern tier, northeast and mid-Atlantic. However in an El Nino year you can still have a superstorm either with snow or rain,” Bolaris says.
El Nino, Spanish for “the child,” was said to have received its name from the Peruvian fishermen because it occurs around Christmas time. The phenomenon typically lasts for several weeks, but can continue for months at a time. When that happens, the fishing industry can suffer serious damage, similar to what the fishermen experienced many moons ago.
And though many believe global warming is the cause of the craziness, Bolaris downplays that idea, but says it does play a part.
“Global warming is a concern, but i wouldn’t attribute this particular episode to purely global warming. The major part is El Nino, but it doesn’t not rule out that it could be the end effect of global warming,” he says.
Forecasters expect temperatures to fall back to earth sometime next week, with the chance for the first snowflakes of the season to fall via a flurry on Tuesday, but even that remains an uncertainty at this point. Still, Bolaris believes the strange pattern won’t last, and New Yorkers will still have plenty of cold and at least some snow to look forward to.
“This is exciting because it’s unique and different and you try to figure it out. Most people are looking at it like it’s either scary because it means global warming, or it’s warm weather and they’re not complaining because they’re into it,” Bolaris says. “Weather is cyclical and it will go back the other way. This is not the end of our winter — there will be plenty of winter to come.”
But for ski lodges, when it does come it may be too late. Konefal doesn’t believe he’ll be able to salvage the large amount of money he’s already lost this winter.
“Once you lose Christmas week or Martin Luther King week, it’s gone. We could be filled on Washington’s birthday week, they’re the three big ones, but you can’t really make it up at this point,” Konefal says. “Ski centers have been doing everything they possibly can and they just can’t do it. You just gotta suck it up.”
In the meantime, Central Park will be the real hot spot in New York, with people enjoying what should be the warmest and last bit of El Nino — for at least the week — before temperatures drop by the beginning of next week.
“Sometime in February and March when you’re shoveling snow in your driveway, this will all be a distant, warm memory,” Bolaris says.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
January 6th, 2007 at 2:42 pm“This is exciting because it’s unique and different and you try to figure it out. Most people are looking at it like it’s either scary because it means global warming, or it’s warm weather and they’re not complaining because they’re into it,†Bolaris says. “Weather is cyclical and it will go back the other way. This is not the end of our winter — there will be plenty of winter to come.â€
Well, that part about some people being scared is certainly true. “S” and my fan are practically wetting themselves they are so frightened that this warm spell means it is the end of time….They really should listen to the experts who are telling them that this current warm spell is the result of naturally occuring normal weather patterns, such as El Nino and the jet stream position.
January 6th, 2007 at 2:54 pmNo Exley, you are cherry picking: it’s a combination of global warming and El Nino. Read all of what this Bolaris guy says,
–
And though many believe global warming is the cause of the craziness, Bolaris downplays that idea, but says it does play a part.
“Global warming is a concern, but i wouldn’t attribute this particular episode to purely global warming. The major part is El Nino, but it doesn’t not rule out that it could be the end effect of global warming,†he says.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:02 pm–
Global warming is PART OF IT. Quit falling into the either or fallacy. Learn.
Jigsaw, You are ignoring the fact the jet stream, the high-altitude air current that works like a barricade to hold back warm Southern air, is running much farther north than usual over the East Coast.
January 6th, 2007 at 3:14 pmMeanwhile, the central Rio Grande valley got another 5 inches of snow last night…..
January 6th, 2007 at 3:15 pmMoreover, Jigsaw, you are overselling your claim that there is widespread agreement among scientists about the connection between global warming (which we all agree is likely taking place) and El Nino:
“One factor hampering efforts to clear up the confusion is the inadequacy of the computer simulations that scientists use to study El Niño and global warming. For one thing, the models used to predict the potential consequences of global warming are not set up to predict changes that occur on the relatively small scales of time and space on which El Niño operates. Nor do the models do an adequate job of simulating certain key aspects of climate, such as the effects of cloud cooling and the feedbacks between the oceans and atmosphere. So, for the moment, the theorized connection between El Niño and global warming is still in the realm of speculation.”
http://www.pbs.org/ wnet/ savageseas/ weather-side-elnino.html
January 6th, 2007 at 3:21 pmInterestingly, in 1999, some scientists theorized that El Nino may actually serve to slow global warming:
http://www.cnn.com/ NATURE/ 9904/ 15/ el.nino.warming/
January 6th, 2007 at 3:24 pmI would like to see the actual ExxonMobil statement instead of this article, but if accurate……………..
January 6th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Saw a woolly worm this evening in Southwest VA at my Mom’s house. It was a balmy 60 degrees today there. Anyway, the woolly worm was all brown. Wait…shouldn’t they be, like, hibernating by now? Legend has it that the more brown they are, the warmer the winter will be. Guess we’ll see.
January 6th, 2007 at 11:35 pmwc - check this out… the weather lady on a local channel swears by the wooly worm forecasts… always make a big deal out of it - all in fun really… but i found this… learned somethings myself:
Do Woolly Worms Know Something That We Don’t?
January 6th, 2007 at 11:43 pmCan woolly worms forecast winter weather? Folklore has it that woolly worms are really miniature weather forecasters. Careful observation of these short, fuzzy caterpillars in the fall supposedly can tell you what kind of weather the coming winter will hold.
…
http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/greenline/i1343_384.html
this is fun - check it out:
January 6th, 2007 at 11:59 pmhttp://www.woollyworm.com/node/4
WHY MAKE A BIG SCENE OVER A MINOR TEMPERATURE VARIATION
Comment by heinz blumenthal — January 6, 2007 @ 10:09 am
Because a minor temperature variation of, oh, I don’t know, one degree can mean the difference between ice melting at the poles or staying frozen. Which can affect the temperature of ocean water worldwide. Which can affect weather patterns worldwide. But apparently you are to ignorant to see where this line of thinking is heading.
Idiot.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:07 amFunny that Grace Truman, quoted in your first link, says we can’t trust the woolly worm’s predictions (a creature that has been around much longer than meteorologists), yet the weathermen and weatherwomen think they can predict what the weather will be 10 days from now.
January 7th, 2007 at 12:20 amSo exley, is that total sarcasm with your last comment or were you just being a provocateur before that? what’s Exley’s real view?
January 7th, 2007 at 3:50 amWow…..Yet more name-jackings. Posts # 93 and 96 are not really me. Note that the name-jacking poster incorrectly uses a lower-case “e” when spelling my name. “exley” is not the real “Exley.” Can’t you folks defend your position without resorting to sexist vulgarity (see postings #33 and 35) and name-jackings????
January 7th, 2007 at 4:30 pmThank you, ThinkProgress for removing both the name-jacked postings falsely attributed to me and the vulgar postings referenced above.
January 8th, 2007 at 5:43 pmI find it incredible that any one article or any one expert or any one report is being referenced as “this is NOT a global warming trend” and that anyone even believes that anymore. It is so unbelievably naive, at this point in the ball game, to believe that this planet is in a regular cyclical trend of some kind, or to believe that any one scientist has the research, the funding, or the ethics to make that statement and be RIGHT….are these people children, to believe such fairy tales?
The oil lobby, the current administration in the White House, and any other monkey out there with a remote interest in keeping the status quo, i.e. keeping their products in our cars, furnaces, and driveways will PAY to make sure that conflicting reports are generated and they DO, on a regular basis. How unfortunate to try and sound so confident about information that has been orchestrated just to make you feel that way. I won’t cuss the naysayers, but I am shaking my head as I water my flower garden that has stayed in full bloom all winter now. It is 80 degrees in Orlando right now. Houston is buried under ice, California’s citrus crops, for the 2nd time in less than 10 years, has been eradicated but it is water-skiing time down here.
We are setting PLANET records every year for heat, the normal heating and cooling cycles of the past are gone and we are seeing warmth and patterns that have never before been seen in the planet’s history. There is NO precedent for what we have dumped into our climate, get it? A snow storm here, a freeze there: a freeze frame is not the movie dude. Someone is right: we will be a different society with a different mindset in 50 years. It kills me that this BS is what we are giving my kids, too. All over some effing good old boys who wanted to make money off the oil, or gas hog cars, or become Mr. President. Greed has shit all over our planet, folks.
January 17th, 2007 at 9:57 pmBeing a proffesor of physics @ the university of cincinnati, I first have to say that you are all quite immature, at least the ones who call people “stupid” or “prickless” just because someone disagrees with them. This may be the reason that liberal intellectuals are scoffed at among those of us who have actually done our homework.
January 20th, 2007 at 8:38 pm[…] have swung from extreme to extreme — in New York, from all-time-high 70 degree weather in January to record-high snowfall one month later — is exactly what increasing greenhouse gas emissions […]
February 14th, 2007 at 9:03 pm