Why Bigger Snowstorms Come With Global Warming
Katherine Bagley Tribune News Service |
Winter storm Juno dumped more than 2 feet of snow across parts of
But on social media, Juno is being pointed to as the latest evidence that global warming is not happening, or that it’s even a hoax or scam — an assertion that scientists dispute.
“That claim is nonsensical,” said
Here’s why: As the oceans warm due to the burning of fossil fuels, the atmosphere above can hold more moisture, which in turn fuels the creation of the most intense precipitation events.
The Mid-Atlantic is currently 2 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.
In the spring, summer and fall, that translates into more of the most intense rainstorms. In the winter, when that moisture-rich air hits cold temperatures on the continent, heavier snowfall results.
The amount of rain and snow falling in the heaviest precipitation events in the Northeast has jumped 71 percent in the last half-century, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment. Five of New York City’s 10 largest blizzards have happened in the last 12 years, according to
“This week’s blizzard, along with many other extreme precipitation events in 2014, are indicative of the types of events we may see more frequently in a changing climate,” Bove said.
The problem, Trenberth said, is that the annual time frame when these storms can occur, with temperatures just below freezing, is shrinking because of rising global temperatures.
So is the duration of the snow’s sticking around between storms. High-altitude snow packs are smaller and melt earlier nowadays, raising the risk of drought and wildfire and threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans who rely on the snow packs for drinking and agricultural water.
Climate scientists expect this pattern to continue in the coming decades as the world continues to warm.
Even as total snowfall declines due to climate change, the number of the most intense blizzards could stay steady or slightly increase through the late 21st century, according to research published in the scientific journal Nature last year. But climbing temperatures mean the snow won’t stay on the ground for long.
Climate change deniers’ strategy of using large winter storms to question global warming is nothing new.
Deniers took to social media in recent days to blast this week’s nor’easter as proof that the world isn’t warming.
Businessman and potential 2016 presidential candidate
“During the summer, environmentalists call it ‘global warming,’”
But in recent years, politicians in states affected the worst by winter weather have begun to link climate change to monster snowfall events.
Announcing a state of emergency last week,
Copyright: | (c) 2015 The Huntsville Times. All Rights Reserved. |
Source: | Advance Publications, Inc. |
Wordcount: | 632 |
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