It is quite possible that at one point or another, most of us have been involved in a discussion about global warming, and as a result, have formed our own opinions on the issue. Generally, arguments against global warming claim that it is a myth or a construct of the political system designed to further the cause of environmental activists. People who believe global warming poses a serious threat to our planet consider the statements of scientists who point to increases in the amount of greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere, rising temperatures both on land and sea, and changing weather patterns around the world to prove the existence of the warming phenomenon.
While the layperson would not typically notice an increase in the amount of greenhouse gases present in our atmosphere, or the minute increases to the average temperatures around the world, they are directly affected by the changing weather patterns and increasing severity of these changes. Certainly people are going to notice harsher winters with heavier snowfalls than in previous years, as well as stronger hurricanes coming from the slightly warmer tropics. Increasing severity of winter storms can be a hard idea to wrap your head around since global warming obviously creates images of a hotter, dryer planet. It just doesnt seem to equate that global warming means heavier snowfall during winter months.
Global Warming Causes Greater Snowfall
It is hypothesized that this warming trend could eventually create temperatures around the planet that would prevent snowfall in areas that historically experience heavy winter weather. The minor increase that we have seen thus far in the average temperatures around the world is nowhere close to creating those kinds of weather conditions that could potentially arise in the future. While this is a concern for the future, currently there are extremely favorable conditions for snowfall to continue increasing in colder climates during winter months.
Currently, the minor increase in temperature causes water to evaporate faster due to hotter temperatures. The fact that there is more water vapor rising into the air combined with the fact that hotter air is capable of holding more moisture than colder air, creates a recipe for severe weather conditions. This means that in warm areas rainfall will be heavier than historical trends and in colder areas, winter storms will unleash more snow and other unfavorable wintry mixes than previously noted.
Effects of More Snow
Unexpected snowfall can interfere with our current lives in many ways. Unrelenting blizzards dumping more snow than city or town maintenance crews can remove can cause a slowdown or shut-down of basic means of transportation (walking, biking, driving, air travel, etc). Disrupted transportation causes delays and hindrances to companies and businesses that would otherwise be running smoothly. Besides interrupting economic functions, harsh winter weather can seriously wreak havoc in the agricultural industry. Early freezes and heavy snow that sticks around can seriously disrupt planting and harvesting patterns creating further economic issues.
Global warming snow amounts are currently on the rise, but it is still the contention of scientists that this phenomenon will one day in the future reverse itself. At some point global warming will have increased the mean temperature around the earth to such an extent that freezing temperatures necessary to promote snowfall will be nonexistent. Preventative measures should be taken now to prevent this tragedy from happening in the future.
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