Cold and Snow Steal Headlines but we are Still Warming

While it may seem as though the US is enduring a record cold winter it is actually quite warm. We have witnessed record breaking snowfalls and parts of the North East are indeed colder than usual. The US is still in the grips of global warming and record snowfalls are consistent with climate change particularly in the Northeast.

According to the National Climatic Data Center, the period from December 2014 to January 2015 is the sixth hottest ever recorded for the contiguous US. Globally the month of January was the second hottest on record.

Record Snowfalls in the Northeast are Consistent with Climate Change

The record snowfalls in the Northeastern and Midwestern portions of North America are consistent with climate change models.

In Late January and early February record snowstorms rolled across the Plains to the Northeast. These storms have killed at least a dozen people and forced the cancellation of classes, grounded thousands of flights and left many roads impassible. The Boston area is one of the worst hit areas with record setting snowfalls for a seven day period. Boston has had more snow in the last week than they get in an average year (the annual average is 47 inches). New York Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and northern Connecticut also were hit by massive snowfalls.

Snowstorms are Consistent with Climate Change

Another storm influenced by climate change has struck the US east coast and while Juno was not as bad as predicted in places like NYC in wreaked havoc across New England. Boston had 23 inches of snow and 78 mph winds caused widespread power outages in Nantucket, Cape Cod and other coastal communities. In Newport Rhode Island, the tall ship Providence was knocked over by heavy winds. The National Guard had to rescue people inundated by flooding in the community of Scituate and snowfall records were broken in places like Worcester north of Boston.

Record Breaking Buffalo Snow Storm Consistent with Global Warming

The massive snow storm that shattered records and dumped more than seven feet of snow on Buffalo is consistent with what we can expect from a world ravaged by climate change. Far from being evidence to disprove global warming it actually supports the predictions of climate change models.

Not only did thirteen people die as a consequence of the storm, there were major cleanup costs, significant damage and thousands of hours of lost productivity. As of Sunday morning, more than 84,000 tons of snow had been removed from portions of South Buffalo and Kaisertown. At least 30 roofs are known to have collapsed from the weight of the accumulated snowfall. Economic costs related to the storm are expected to exceed $3.2 million for Erie County and $27 million for the state.

Video - Arctic Emergency: Scientists on Melting Arctic Ice

In this video climate scientists address how rising temperatures in the Arctic are contributing the melting sea ice, thawing permafrost, and destabilization of a system that has been called "Earth's Air Conditioner". They make the point that global warming is here and is impacting weather patterns, natural systems, and human life around the world - and the Arctic is central to these impacts.

Balken Flooding and the Costs of Climate Change

Much of the former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia) is under water and hundreds of thousands of buildings are inundated across the region. Some of the worst flooding ever experienced in the area has killed almost 50 people and triggered more than three thousand landslides.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and millions of people are affected. People all across the region are cut off with no water, food, power or communications. The floods are exposing some of the more than one hundred thousand mines and driving the biggest mass migration in the Balkans since the war in the 1990s. 

Implications of Arctic Heat: Less Ice and More Global Warming

The Arctic continues to warm and ocean sea ice continues to retreat at an alarming pace. This has dramatic implications that are both global and local. Arctic ice has been both retreating and thinning in volume for four decades.

As reported in the Ecologist, the latest study by Stroeve et al. from the University College London, was published in Geophysical Research Letters. This study shows that the ice-free period is increasing by 5 days every decade. In some regions of the Arctic, the autumn freeze is now up to 11 days later every decade.

The research examined satellite imagery of the Arctic for the last 30 years. They found that the ice is melting and the increasing exposure to sunlight means that greater quantities of energy are being absorbed by the Earth.

Alaska's Record Breaking Heat in January Offers More Evidence for a Dramatically Warmer Arctic

While the continental US was being slammed with a succession of cold spells and winter storms in January, Alaska was experiencing some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded for the month. Temperatures were as much as 40°F (22°C) above normal. The all-time warmest January temperature ever observed in Alaska was tied on January 27 when the temperature peaked at 62°F (16.7°C) in Port Alsworth.

The NASA map (above left) shows the temperature anomalies in Alaska for January 23–30, 2014. Those areas which experienced higher than average temperatures compared to the 2001–2010 average for the same week are highlighted in red. The map is based on data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.

Save the Arctic from a "Death Spiral"

In last 30 years, we’ve lost as much as three-quarters of the floating sea ice cover at the top of the world. Satellite images reveal that the volume of that summer sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk so fast that scientists say it’s now in a ‘death spiral’. Due to human activities, primarily the burning of fossil fuels, the Arctic may soon be ice free in the summer for the first time in over 800,000 years.

This will be devastating for polar bears, narwhals, walruses and other species that live there. It will also have profoundly destructive consequences for people all around the world as the Arctic helps to regulate global weather patterns and as a consequence has a powerful impact on global agriculture.

Video - How Global Warming Can Exacerbate Cold Snaps (Jetstream and Rossby Waves)

Cold spells are often used as fodder for climate Denial. However, the science behind them is entirely consistent with a warming planet. In this video Climate scientist Jennifer A. Francis of Rutgers University reviews how the jetstream and Rossby waves work. The key factor is a feedback mechanism of climate change known as Arctic amplification. As ice and snow vanish in the Arctic this causes warming slowing down wind speeds in the atmosphere and creating wavier jet stream patterns which pushes cold air further south.

Extreme Cold in North America is due to Stratospheric Warming

The extreme cold temperatures that are being recorded across much of North America are attributable to stratospheric warming which is pushing the polar vortex southward. While the Climate skeptics, love to use cold weather to question the veracity of global warming, it should come as no surprise that they are confused.

Just as one extreme weather event does not prove global warming, a cold snap does not disprove it. Further, there is evidence that this extreme cold may actually be a corollary of climate change.

Video - Why Cold Weather Does Not Disprove Global Warming!

Infographic - People Living Less than 5m Above Sea Level

Temperature Fluctuations and Cold Spells are Consistent with Climate Change

What are the implications of cold snaps and wild swings in temperature for the veracity of climate change? Everyone who follows climate science knows that the planet is warming, but many are unaware of how temperature fluctuations may also be a part of the climate change picture. Scientific observations provide an overwhelmingly compelling body of evidence for global warming. Many lines of scientific evidence show that as a consequence of global warming, the Earth’s climate is changing, however, increasing global mean temperature is only one element of observed climate change phenomena.

Evidence of global warming can be seen in a number of scientific observations including melting ice and sea level rises. Anomalies like increased precipitation and extreme weather events support the data generated by climate models. However, radical temperature fluctuations are another dimension of climate change that is often overlooked.

Event - Flooding Conference 2014 with CIWEM RCG

Flooding Conference 2014 will take place on January 30 at the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM), 15 John Street, London. The subtitle for this event is, "Delivering Flood & Coastal Schemes & Projects Partnering, Joint Funding and Frameworks, Developing Practice and Emerging Lessons."

Aim

The ways of working and funding arrangements involved in the delivery of major flood and coastal schemes and projects are changing fast. The aim of this conference for flood and erosion risk professionals will be to showcase the developing and innovative partnership approaches to the effective delivery of schemes and projects. This will include the identification of the multiple benefits, working with partners, large consortia projects, framework agreements, shared services agreements, different contractual arrangements and risk management

The Costs of Flood Damage will Rise Along with Sea Levels

Flooding is a very expensive corollary of global warming. While we cannot connect individual weather events directly to global warming, the storm that hit Europe in early December is nonetheless a powerful reminder of what the future will look like as the world continues to warm. Much of the billion dollars worth of damage caused by Xaver is due to flooding caused by storm surges.

As global warming continues and ice keeps melting, sea levels will keep rising which will increase the damage caused by storm surges. A warmer planet not only increases the volume of sea water, it is also expected to increase precipitation in places that need it least. As reported by 350.org, global warming has already raised global sea level about 20 cm since 1880, and the rate of rise is accelerating. Scientists expect roughly 60 to 210 more cm of sea level rise this century, depending on whether or not we can limit greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).

Flooding is a very costly phenomenon. A 2013 study in Nature concluded that flooding could cost the world’s cities $60 billion a year, even with major investments in flood protection. If we don’t make those investments, the cost could be up to $1 trillion a year.

Talk - The Race to the North Pole: Climate Change and Biodiversity in Canada

The race to the North Pole: climate change and biodiversity in Canada will take place on Wednesday, December 11, 2013, at the University of Ottawa, Biosciences Complex – RM 140, 30 Marie Curie St., Ottawa, Ontario. The reception will take place at 6 pm and the presentation will commence at 7 pm. Parking is available in parking lot V (In front of Marion Hall). The Faculty of Science at the University of Ottawa is pleased to invite National Capital Region community members to this special evening with Department of Biology professor Jeremy Kerr (BSc ’93 – Biology).

Video - Richard Branson on the Need to Protect the Arctic

In this video, Richard Branson, explains why we all have to do everything within our power to protect the Arctic.

Video - The Arctic is Under Threat from Shell and Gazprom

The fossil fuel companies Shell and Gazprom have ambitious plans to exploit the Arctic's oil and gas reserves. Scientists have made it clear that to avoid the worst impacts of a hot planet (ie 6 degree temperature increase) we must leave the vast majority of carbon reserves underground. Arctic drilling increases global warming and imperils Arctic ecology. We know that drilling for oil and gas inevitably leads to spills. To make matters worse Gazprom's old and outdated drilling equipment present an elevated level of risk. Drilling in the Arctic will devastate the region's fragile ecosystem which is already suffering from a warming world.

Video - Sea Level Rise: A Slow-Motion Disaster

Sea-level rise is a slow-moving threat that presents a tremendous risk to some of America's most populous cities. As climate change drives sea levels higher, and more Americans than ever are calling the coastal U.S. home, cities like Miami, New York and New Orleans will likely face billions of dollars in flood-related damages per year if nothing is done to address climate change. The Center for American Progress visited Norfolk, Virginia, a city on the front-lines of the fight against rising seas, to talk to residents and community leaders about their efforts to save the city and learn to live with the water. One thing is clear: doing nothing is not an option.