Why it matters:
Because the recent record snowfalls along the Atlantic coast proves global warming is a myth, duh!
Recap:
A quick look at a certain news channel named after a notoriously sly canine is heralding the good news: It’s snowing heavily in the eastern United States thus proving that global warming is a myth! Thank God we can put that to rest, eh?
There’s at least two problems with that, the first should be fairly obvious. For everyone under the age of four and/or all you Fox News viewers here’s a little science lesson. Over the course of a year the planet actually tilts. During the winter the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. Just this small shift is enough to bring cooler temperatures, snow, and even shorter days. At the same time, the southern hemisphere is correspondingly closer to the sun. So when it’s winter up here, it’s summer down there! Can you imagine?! Christmas in the summer?! Wild. Now this is gonna blow your minds: over the next few months the earth will tilt back the other way and come June the snow will be gone and summer will return. I guarantee it.
In fact, you won’t even have to wait until Summer for record HIGH temperatures, just turn on your TV and watch this year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
As you know from our piece about winter sports, ski resorts around the world are feeling the sting of climate change. According to this National Geographic blurb the average temperature in Vancouver this year is 44.8 degrees Fahrenheit, up significantly from the historic average of 37.9. Added to this indignity, Vancouver is seeing its lowest snowfall accumulations in years. Proof of global warming! Checkmate.
Well no, actually. Unlike some media outlets, we like to refrain from drawing asinine conclusions from limited and dubious evidence.
There are a number of phenomena involved in Vancouver’s record highs. One of the biggest culprits is El Nino, the crown jewel of weather systems for Southern California weathermen. (”My God in heaven there is water falling from the sky! This is the time to panic, people!”) Basically a temporary warming of the Pacific, El Nino shifts the jetstream South, meaning a warmer and wetter winter for the southern US, and warmer and drier winter for the northwest. Oh, and once those weather systems have pounded the southwest they move east over the Rockies, collecting more moisture and cooling before dumping usually large amounts of snow in the midwest and east! Sound familiar?!
Commentary:
So no, stupid, record snowfall in a small area of the planet does not disprove global warming. And though El Nino is a factor in Vancouver’s unusual weather, this particular El Nino has been classified as relatively mild, which doesn’t jive with record highs and unprecedented lack of snowfall. Oh and turn off Fox News. It is making you dumber by the second.
Creative Solutions:
- Take your business to Sustainable Slopes like Squaw Valley (CA), Aspen Mountain Ski Resort (CO), or Sundance Resort (UT)
- Wear Eco-Friendly outerwear like Smartwool, Nau, Patagonia, and REI’s Eco-Concious line.
- Use Eco-Friendly gear like Kingswood, Movement, Karhu, and Venture
- Or, better yet, use hand-me-downs
- Skip the lodges and chair lifts and go cross-country skiing!
- Bust a wicked cossack (backside 720 for boarders)
