The number and severity of wildfires all over the world is increasing. Warmer average temperatures bring earlier Springs, causing snows to melt earlier and all around drier conditions in forests everywhere. Drier forests have increased chances of catching on fire from the random lightning strike, or the carelessly discarded cigarette, or the poorly-tended campfire. Climate change is not causing these fires, but it is increasing their frequency and intensity.
Hurricanes have become worse over the last few decades. Warmer oceans increases evaporation rates, putting more moisture in the air over the oceans for these tropical cyclones to pick up and dump elsewhere. Warm moist air is also the fuel of a tropical cyclone, increasing its energy, making stronger winds and a longer-living storm. I am not claiming the climate change causes hurricanes, but it does make them worse, with more rain and stronger, more damaging winds.
A little closer to home, our North Carolina winters have held to a new trend over the last few years. Warmer in the beginning, with major cold snaps starting in late January and lasting until late March/early April. Between the cold snaps we have almost balmy, spring-like conditions, which causes some plants to bloom earlier than normal. For example, this past year the blueberry bushes where we get our yearly supply began to bloom early, in February. The opened blossoms were an easy target for hard frosts in subsequent weeks, killing the flowers, and decimating the blueberry crop.
We also have a colony of bees that swarmed in the middle of February. Though we caught and saved the swarm, the ones left behind failed to requeen, for which I blame the heavy frosts that hit right when the new queens were supposed to emerge and take mating flights. (If you are confused by my familiar treatment of bee swarms, read here to learn that about which I speak)
Our cold snaps are a result of a highly unstable jet stream. The jet stream has always had dips moving along it from west to east, bringing patches of cold artic air south during the winter. But lately the dips have been larger, bringing more frigid air further south. Between the big dips are big crests, bringing warm air from the south further north. Here in the middle-lands we get alternating warm and old snaps that just confuses the heck out of many plants and animals.
Having gotten this far, you are probably wondering what my point may be. It is this: The norms for our weather expectations are changing. Global warming is happening, and it will change how we interact with nature. Changing it will probably not happen. Are we the cause? Maybe...probably. We should absolutely change our energy sources to ones that do not pollute, which, for today, means $$$ for research to make those alternative energy sources economically feasible. But even if we change over to non-polluting energy today, the effect of global warming will last for a long time, slowly, if ever, reverting to whatever we think of as normal.
So, what are you going to do today to prepare for the next few decades of warmer weather?
