A Time Traveler from 1900 Would Not Recognize Today’s Weather
--
I live in the midwest, almost to the US/Canada line. We have cold winters and mildish summers. Or had.
Yesterday we were driving home from an errand and my husband pointed out that the trees were in full, lush bloom right now. A month ahead of schedule. He seemed perplexed. He said, “It shouldn’t look like this until mid-June at least.”
And he should know, he grew up here.
Yes, the trees are pretty but it’s a sign of more ominous changes to come.
To some, climate change has already started with a bang. Droughts, wildfires, and superstorms. But to some of us, so far, we are seeing it happen in little ways. And it might be more unnerving that way.
Most people don’t notice a slowly changing climate. So when someone says, “Did you notice summer started early this year?” They will applaud it, not question it.
Especially those who love warm weather. I am actually a cold weather person, growing up in New England. I prefer cold weather. But we are all about the have to get used to humid, tropical weather. Even if we hate it.
Just a quick glance at the new U.S. Climate Normals maps published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Tuesday is enough for most climate scientists to say, “I told you so.” And it’s not just because the maps show a warmer and wetter nation, as one would expect with global warming; it’s also the specific geographic pattern of those changes.
That’s because for decades climate scientists and their computer models have projected the regions that should expect the most warming, the most drying and the biggest increase in precipitation due to human-caused climate change. NOAA’s new maps are clear evidence that this impact is now being felt.
The changes seem subtle but they will result in heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods, and hurricanes.
And this might be the scariest map of them all:
