Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumMild weather redefines winter landscape
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/mild-weather-redefines-winter-landscape/2011/12/29/gIQAPV8vQP_story.htmlBy Juliet Eilperin and Darryl Fears,
[font size=3]At the National Arboretum, the white petals of snowdrops normally an early spring flower have unfurled. In Maines Acadia National Park, lakes still have patches of open water instead of being frozen solid. And in Donna Izlars back yard in downtown Atlanta, the apricot tree has started blooming.
Its not in your imagination. The unusually mild temperatures across several regions of the country in the past few months are disrupting the natural cycles that define the winter landscape.
What began as elevated temperatures at the start of fall in parts of the United States have become dramatically warmer around the Great Lakes and New England, according to Deke Arndt, chief of the Climate Monitoring Branch at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations National Climatic Data Center. And in the Washington area, the region is on track for its fourth-warmest year on record, along with its seventh-warmest December.
The decreasing frequency of cold snaps should not lead anyone to conclude that there is dramatic warming across the globe, said Patrick J. Michaels, a senior fellow in environmental studies at the libertarian Cato Institute. Climate change is happening, he said, but not at the magnitude that some suggest.[/font][/font]
Climate change is happening well, now, thats a start!
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)It normally blooms in mid Feb.
and my daffodils are up in some places.
madokie
(51,076 posts)The last two have been buggers. Snow and ice up to your yenyang and we don't normally get shit like that here.
kestrel91316
(51,666 posts)ETA: My sister claimed they were brown, but I live in SoCal, land of struggling lawns, and they looked really GREEN to me, though not summer-green.
Bob Wallace
(549 posts)we've got not only very warm temps, but an alarming lack of moisture.
As of a few days ago we were on track for the driest December on record. A small system that came through a couple of days ago might or might not have put this one in second place.
I'm heading out on a long trip and just hauled my snowshoes downstairs to pack in the car in case I have to hike back in a few weeks from now. Feels really weird to be pulling them out, like we're already in late spring....