Someone you know notice the weather change?!

[Kirk Gregory Czuhai]

Being all of 53 (OMG!)

and living now and a lot of my life in western lower Michigan USA, I have noticed a

distinct change in the climate(?) during my lifetime.

 

this of course could be do ONLY because of statistical fluctuations but my readings of

google news yesterday indicated that it has been strongly experimentally verified now

that the Earth has warmed up about 1 degree (the article did not indicate whether it

meant celcius or fahreheit!!!) during the last century and with the next century (unless there are big reductions in the green house gas emissions) a rise in temperatures averaged over the Earth of an additional 1-10 degrees.

 

When I was a child and a teenager living in Grand Rapids, Michigan during the 60's we generally just saw maybe a few flakes of snow in the air when we went trick or treating.

Winters however brought quite a bit of snow however! Now we get FAR LESS SNOW on the average and also fewer very cold nights and days. Then also winter generally broke by about March 1st now March is quite stormy yet with snow; actually this year 2005 had the coldest and snowiest March ever recorded. It has nothing to do with the fact that Grand Rapids is a much larger city now as I live 15 miles west of the main city now in Allendale, Michigan.

 

All of the seasons actually have just become MORE UN-PREDICTABLE as to just what they will bring! for the 50's, 60's to the mid 70's one could generally know what to expect whether the weather was expected to be hot, cold, rainy, snowy, a January thaw, etc. BUT NOW?

 

I think THIS TOO, the effects on what us "old" people remember what the weather used to be like, is another indication of Global Warming and could be used to motivate people

into doing SOMETHING about it!!!

 

Does anybody else have similiar experiences or know friends or relatives that do?

 

love and peace,

and,

peace and love,

(kirk) kirk gregory czuhai LOVES ! :circle:

[Turtle]

___Ay, plenty of change I've noticed. Whether locally or elsewhere, personally or by way of news & data, the weather is very chaotic these days.

___Here is a link to a story on drought in the Dakotas:

http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery-detail.asp?name=oahe

___I'm in Vancouver USA & the last couple of years especially seem unpredictable. The weathercasters have my sympathy as their software day after day fails to model even remotely sometimes what we actually receive.

___Despite a fair amount of rain these last few weeks (after a very dry Winter for us), the Columbia River is expected to be at its 5th lowest level ever recorded by this Summer. Many tributaries as well as watersheds East of the Cascades stand to suffer similarly.

[Buffy]

Los Angeles is going to get over 40 inches of rain this year. That's right, not Seattle, Los Angeles. Its a desert! Over three times normal. Only one year in the recorded history of the city has been wetter. Here in SF we had 1 inch of rain in some locations and most of the area got 1/2" of hail, along with a couple of tornados. As I say, this is California. I'm not as old as you guys, but this is weird, and the historical data says so.

 

There's lots of folks who say this is well within the norms of variability, and there is no proof of any kind that man has anything to do with it, or indeed even can do anything about it.

 

All Wet,

Buffy

[ShieldDrake]

I agree, over the past few years I have noticed the weather is getting stormier, definitley. Across the world new records are being set, wether it be in rainfall, or lack of it, temperature wise and extreme weather wise (Something like 14 hurricanes hit the US last year alone).

However, until I've lived maybe another ten years, I wouldn't take these at face value, not yet. Scientists predict that this year will be a mild el nino year and they say that last year there was a weak el nino. I don't pretend to be a meteorologist, but I know el nino means that there will be an increased risk of storms during that year, and I believe that this is what we're witnessing at the moment. Coupled with the ever present global warming, espcially in the near future turbulent weather should be expected.

Living in a maritime climate where the weather is controlled by the sea (slow to heat) global warming seems to be having less of an effect on the British Isles, however the weather fronts have been getting ever stronger throughout the last few years as the seas slowly heat. That's my two cents anyway.

 

Oh and Czuhai, the report was probably talking in terms of degrees Celcius (or Kelvin, it's the same scale). Farenheight is becoming quite archaic as it has no uses in modern science compared to the Kelvin and (coincidentally) the Celsius scale.

[Queso]

and why the hell do they call it el niño when in reality that means THE BOY?

[ShieldDrake]

I have no idea. Maybe it's something that when mentioned out of context sounds stupid. Like in Spanish "Me llamo Bob" literally means "I call myself Bob". It sounds really stupid to say in English, but it's perfectly acceptable as an introduction in Spanish.

*shrugs*

Maybe this is why we don't let the Spanish name things all the time.

[C1ay]

and why the hell do they call it el niño when in reality that means THE BOY?

This article seems to cover it. You could Google it for others.

[paultrr]

I agree, over the past few years I have noticed the weather is getting stormier, definitley. Across the world new records are being set, wether it be in rainfall, or lack of it, temperature wise and extreme weather wise (Something like 14 hurricanes hit the US last year alone).

 

I'm just about 50 now. I cannot remember ever seeing three of them hit one state straight in a row before like they did last year. When I lived up in Maine I worked with some people who mentioned they've noticed the climate got warmer there over the years since they where a child. I'm not convinced that everything goes back to greenhouse gasses. But weather has been changing a lot.

 

One reason I mention the not convinced part is if one runs a check on solar flare activity since the 70's as compared to before that period there has been an increase in strength over the same time period generally data on recent global warming is taken from. I came across that in a bit of research about a year ago and its possible there is a connection in all this that's been overlooked. Any heat up source will change the weather across the globe. Some of the heatup does I think stem from the greenhouse gasses. But I suspect not all of the answer is there. If it isn't all coming from one source then global warming could be just a phase of sorts.

[rockytriton]

and why the hell do they call it el niño when in reality that means THE BOY?

 

When you have a son, you will understand. :friday:

[Turtle]

___We here in the Pacific Northwest continue to experience weird weather, that is to say extreme weather. All of the first 3 weeks of May it rained virtually every day & put us above the average rainfall for the month; now, yesterday & today, we have a record heat wave going on that is breaking 50 year old records. Mon dieu! :naughty:

[GAHD]

Winnipeg has had more cold days than usual, but then again there is a reason we nickname it winterpeg.

[Chacmool]

The terms "weather" and "climate" should not be used interchangeably. They refer to different things, and mixing them up could lead to some confusion. The title of this thread should actually be changed to refer to "climate", because the weather is something that changes continuously, and there is nothing strange about it! :)

 

Weather = the state of the atmosphere at a place and time with regard to temperature, wind, rain, etc.

 

Climate = the general weather conditions prevailing in an area over a long period.

[Turtle]

___Thanks for the admonition Chamcool; title changing is an administration only function.

___As this thread has developed, the context makes it clear whether we refer to weather or climate. What climate changes have you noticed in your area? Is it warming or cooling, etc? :)

[Chacmool]

It wasn't really an admonition, Turtle. Some people that read the thread might not know the difference between the two terms, so I just wanted to avoid possible confusion. :)

 

South Africa has various different climatic areas. Where I live, to the north of the country, it has definitely become drier. We had very little rain this past summer. A large part of our economy depends on agriculture, so the weather and the changing climate are very frequent topics of discussion.

 

I think its impossible to ignore the global climatic changes. Farmers will have be go about their business very scientifically, and not just rely on historical practices. It is worth bearing in mind that the climatic doesn't only change due to artificial causes as pollution (although it is a large contributing factor), but also due to natural ones, such as El Niño. Then there are also things that happen over extremely long periods, but are unvoidable, such as continental drift, changes in the earth's polarity and precession.

[Turtle]

___Good points on natural Earth changes affecting climate then agriculture. Here in North America it appears some early inhabitants moved on during a severe climate change (protracted draught) in spite of sophisticated irrigation systems. Seems high technology is no guarantee.

___What do they grow in your region?

[Chacmool]

Yes, new technology is certainly no guarantee of success. But progressive farming methods and acceptance of the fact that climate change is inevitable will hopefully at least enable farmers to cope with ever-increasing global demands. Adapt or die.

 

Around these parts many crops are cultivated, including sunflowers, maize and various types of fruit and vegetables (oranges, peaches, potatoes, tomatoes - Boerseun used to be a tomato farmer! - onions, etc.). And of course grazing has to be provided for cattle. The frequent droughts also affect the farms with wild animals such as kudu, impala, giraffes and zebras.

[Kirk Gregory Czuhai]

here i am again and now its January 14, 2006 and over 50 degrees fahrenheit out side today in Western lower pennisula Michigan USA! No snow

at all on the ground!

usually we always get a January thaw for a few days but 50 and no snow and quite a few days quite warm and ALSO GLOOMILY CLOUD COVERED we set a record recently for so many days in December 2005 being without 1 minute of sunshine!

NOW WE COULD! have one hell of a ice storm or even a blizzard coming up with all this moisture in the air if the jet stream takes a dip south. I do not know what the forcasters are predicting for the remainder of the year but appreciate the fact that we are having a warm winter so far since the heating gas prices took another ~75 dollar a month jump AGAIN!

maybe at this rate of apparent change in the whether there is more than global warming taking place and the solar system itself is heating up too do to some cycle of the Sun we will only find out about soon?

and then an ice age?

maybe a black hole?