BLOG OF iECYCLE

Climate change is here, at least according to my yard.

Well, it’s that time of year here in northern New England cabin fever season. The holidays are past, the mailbox is overflowing with seed catalogs, the days are noticeably longer, and discussions at the general store have turned to mud season and maple sugaring.

Usually at this time of year we have plenty of snow. I know plenty is a relative term, so let me clarify; it’s usually knee deep or so in early February. But not this year. this year, my grass is showing. In spite of the fact that I live in the White Mountains, there’s no snow on the ground in my yard.  If you are reading this from an area affected by Snowmageddon, I apologize, but the fact remains that the lack of snow cover in areas that normally have a lot of snow is just as worrisome as the heavy blizzards in other areas of the country.

Unusual weather in the form of a single exceptional storm or an unusual season matters to local animal and plant life. Here, where subzero temperatures are common in the winter, snow offers insulation and buffers against rapid temperature changes in the soil. The lack of snow cover means trees and perennial plants are at risk of damage from dehydration and freezing if they break dormancy too early. But these are localized effects, and not of major environmental importance in the long term.

Climate, on the other hand, is the long term. Climate is regional rather than local, and is the sum of decades of weather. I continue to be amazed by the lack of concern in the general population when it comes to climate change.  In colder areas like here, many people actually regard the idea of global warming as potentially a good thing, leading to lower heating fuel bills and a longer growing season.  They don’t understand that heat is simply a measure of energy. If there is more energy in the atmosphere, it could lead to dramatic weather swings and more extreme extremes.  Extremes tend to make headlines.

According to Dr. Jeff Masters, meteorology guru at www.wunderground.com, the most recent climate models show that this year’s unusual snow and ice patterns may be more common in years to come. It takes two things to create snow. There has to be a good amount of water vapor available in the atmosphere, and of course it has to be cold enough to freeze. What the new models reveal is that a warmer atmosphere increases evaporation, putting more water into the air. And the increase in temperature means less ice cover on both oceans and lakes, creating an opportunity for even more evaporation.  So the atmosphere becomes saturated, and we know that whatever goes up, must come down.  The current global temperature increase is still small enough to allow that water to fall in frozen form in the winter months.  Summer rain patterns are also predicted to show a northward shift; this is not good news for the southwestern US.

Climate change is here, at least according to my yard. What should you do about it? Anything and everything you can. Drive less; use less; let politicians know you consider it important.  And most of all spread the word. We got into this predicament one shovel of coal and one gallon of gasoline at a time. If we get out of it, it will be by the same increments.