Record cold in the US

[justusforus]

I have been watching the weather reports and this unusual snap of cold has been the worst in decades.  It is examples like this that make it clear there are climate changes..and dramatic ones.  What do you think about this phenomenon?

[mauricioq]

Yes, in my opinion this is just more proof that our world is changing...

The climate is way different and harder to forecast nowadays.

[Cosmic Debris]

I have been watching the weather reports and this unusual snap of cold has been the worst in decades.  It is examples like this that make it clear there are climate changes..and dramatic ones.  What do you think about this phenomenon?

 I think these winter storms have developed a new, disturbing characteristic.

 

This new feature is the "eye" or vortex. The first time I heard about a winter storm developing an eye, while inland, was either last winter or the previous winter. Instead of flowing and moving with the jet stream, storms now "sit and spin", remaining fairly stationary while dumping cold and snow on the same area for several days. This stalling out allows storms time to do much more damage.

 

Imagine winter storms behaving like hurricanes and building up more energy, not less, while over land. Weeks of uninterrupted cloud cover would negate the benefits of using solar energy with below freezing temperatures preventing wind turbines from turning efficiently. Spring floods could wipe out crops leading to a greater food crises than what the world is currently experiencing.

 

Farmers may have to consider growing their crops in huge greenhouses, instead of open fields, within the next decade. Add these ferocious winter storms to the mix and the only orgainizations able to absorb the added costs associated with farming, will be large corporations!

 

While people discuss our ability to adapt, I do not think they realize that these changes are happening faster than we can develop alternatives and adaptations. These events are a warning that most folk simply do not recognize.

[Cammie27]

I've noticed the same, Cosmic. I thought maybe I just hadn't seen it before, because I am fairly young and started paying closer attention to the weather when I moved to a small town more prone to weather-related disruptions than the suburbs where I was raised, but it does seem like the "eye" on these winter storms resembles a hurricane in some ways and that they're bringing more extremes of all sorts of weather. 

 

It frustrates me no end to log into Facebook this week and see all the posts about how this record cold "disproves" global warming. I guess some people would rather bury their heads in the sand than accept difficult truths. 

[DayGreen]

I agree that people are burying their heads in the sand about global warming. Maybe "global warming" wasn't the best term to name this phenomenon, when looking at the big picture (because you almost have to be blatantly literal to get the message across to a lot of individuals, it would seem).

 

I don't see these drastic temperature and weather changes are going away, unfortunately. I do think it will continue to get worse, with time.

[Simon]

Meanwhile here in Scandinavia...

 

 

Jokes aside, extreme weather is becoming the norm and people and animals are hurting and even dying because of it.

[Milton Banana]

I'm confused.  Climate change?  A thread talking about record cold.  But, its AGW?  Global warming mentioned in one post.  This is what I don't get, and let me post an elemental example.  Rising CO2 plus rising temperatures equals AGW, correct? That is the theory as I understand it.  Let's see that in the form of an equation.

 

a = rising CO2

b = rising temperatures

equals c AGW or "climate change."

 

a + b = c

 

But, this thread seems to equate falling temperatures with AGW © as well.  This is where you lose me.

 

a = rising CO2

b = falling temperatures

c = AGW or "climate change

 

a + -b = c

 

The second equation still equals c. The very same outcome of the first equation. That's not possible.  Its just not possible.  Elementally speaking. 

[May102014]

Ha! I can vouch for this wholeheartedly. My oh my this past January has been the winter from another planet. Here in my community in the state of Missouri our streets were practically paralyzed. Federal buildings were closed for almost a whole week and I couldn't even drive my car. The streets were unreal and temperatures was deadly. I'm talking well below - 0. The last time I remember a winter close to the one experience early this year was in 1994. It seem like out of nowhere there was a winter malfunction. I was pretty much trapped inside of my home. That was my experience.