A WEIRD YEAR

California is reeling from an unusually long wildfire season and Alaskans are skating in t-shirts... Things have been strange in Southern Canada as well. The region is known for its extreme changes in weather but within one week, places like Calgary had 43-degree changes in temperature... Most parts of the world are experiencing temperature anomalies. Europe, parts of Asia, and the Middle East are unusually warm right now, while portions of South America and Africa are cooler than usual.

As to why we’re experiencing such extremes at the moment NASA recently shared this map

The redder the area, the warmer the land surface temperatures, and the bluer the area, the colder. White areas are experiencing normal temperatures, and those grey splotches show where there’s insufficient data.

NASA

The map of North America underscores one of the realities of weather—when a cold snap hits one region, warmth often bakes another one. A giant meander (or Rossby wave) in the jet stream is the common thread that connects the warm weather west of the Rockies with the chill east of them. As the crest of a Rossby wave—a ridge—pushed unusually far toward Alaska in December, it dragged warm tropical air with it. In response, the other side of the wave—a trough—slid deep into the eastern United States, bringing pulses of dense, cold Arctic air south with it. The Rocky Mountains have boxed in much of the coldest, densest air, serving as a barrier between the cold and warm air masses.

If we all pitch in a little we can curve climate change...

Reducing fossil fuel use would be great start... Burning fossil fuels increases the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We need to continue to develop and implement things like solar and wind power.

We could also plant trees... carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas, planting trees and other plants can slow global warming naturally. Deforestation of rainforests is a major contributor to climate change. Just planting a tree in your own backyard helps to offset deforestation as well.

Reduce waste would be amazing too... Reducing your consumption patterns and reusing items whenever possible minimizes your carbon footprint, since fewer new items need to be made. Recycling metal, plastic, glass and paper. Recycled items take far less energy to manufacture than items produced from scratch.

I would love to see big leap forward with solar. It has been picking up steem for a few a years now. Things are looking better thanks to tech even though the weather may not show it yet...

Check out this interesting live map/model from NASA on climate change. https://climate.nasa.gov/

Sources 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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