Greenpeace

The four feet piles of snow are finally melting here in the D.C metropolitan area. I can officially declare that I survived “snowmageddon”. Hundreds of thousands of people left without power, and I was one of them. The occupants of my street had to band together to dig ourselves out because the not even the snowplows would brave our cul-de-sac. But, alas the snow is finally starting to clear as temperatures rise, but it’s making a lot of people think, “what happened to global warming”.

Global warming skeptics have jumped on this opportunity to bash Al Gore and his nonsensical global warming theories. It’s obvious that climate change is a reality, given that the past decade was the hottest on record, but shouldn’t that also mean that large-scale blizzards such as this one are a thing of the past? The Virginia state Republican Party seems to think so, launching a GOP ad that used the recent “snowpocalypse” to discredit the 2009 carbon-cap-and-trade bill and global warming itself.

 

But really, how can a snowstorm officially disprove a theory backed my thousands of scientists? It seems unlikely. People argue how could two of the top ten heaviest snowfalls to ever hit the area happen in one winter? While global warming has been proven to not increase the amount of storms occuring, it does make them more intense. Climate change has created an increase in air temperature, but warmer air is capable of holding more moisture. More moisture equals more precipitation! So in reality, all this snow should not come as a surprise.  

Though eventually, warmer air temperatures may deter snowfall, this is not likely to happen for a long time. For now, large amounts of snowfall are expected (as long the temperature remains below freezing). One or two storms do not change the frightening truth that global warming is a constant concern. Our efforts to preserve the environment should be on going, no excuses.

More snow is coming in our future, so go buy some hot chocolate in bulk and invest in a quality snow blower. Arguing that climate change is a falsity is not going to change anything.