This extraordinary mild winter in North America, followed by an unprecedentedly warm march, has shocked a lot of people who formerly dismissed the reality of climate change.
In addition, several years of violent tornado seasons have many asking if we are entering a “new Normal” in regard to our seasons.
For this two part series, I interviewed a number of climate scientists and experts from around the country, and found some surprising answers.
Part two is available at the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media.
Skip to content
Maybe the music in some parts is too loud. The interviews are the interesting part.
Both of these videos are excellent, the second one in particular with its extremely lucid description of how the arctic ice melt is affecting the jet stream which in turn is affecting our weather.
Magnificent work, and it is amazing that as many locations as your mention, there are so many others. From the lack of lake ice in Winter 2012, to the record flood events in the spring and fall of 2011 across the midwest and northeast.
Excellent video showing a well balanced tale of the weather events of the past few years. Love how you give the word to several experts on the matter (although I sometimes miss your older style videos, they also have their place and flair).
Also I noticed the article on WUWT about the jet stream and the warm temperatures in March not long after I watched your video. And he manages to completely misunderstand what everyone has been talking about (this part of the article is attributed to Dr Roy Spencer):
“Weather records are broken on occasion, even without global warming. And here we see evidence that our March warmth was simply a chance fluctuation in weather patterns.
If you claim, “Well, maybe global warming caused the extra southerly flow!”, you then are also claiming (through mass continuity) that global warming ALSO caused extra northerly flow (with below normal temperatures) somewhere else.
And no matter what anyone has told you, global warming cannot cause colder than normal weather. It’s not in the physics. The fact that warming has been greatest in the Arctic means that the equator-to-pole temperature contrast has been reduced, which would mean less storminess and less North-South exchange of air masses — not more.”
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/04/16/usas-record-warm-march-not-caused-by-global-warming/
I really don’t get it, it’s not like we are talking in a different language. Why is it that they do not understand what we are saying or how we come to these conclusions?
I really enjoyed these latest videos. The clips from “global weirding” the BBC show were interesting. I watched the whole thing when it was on t.v. They really tried to be balanced but it struck me that they were afraid of the deniers. The voice over kept hedging around the issue of human influence on climate change. Using phrases like “whether it’s man made on natural….”. The BBC is publically funded so I suppose they feel the need to minimise the controversy. It’s perhaps a small point, but it was annoying. Sometimes it’s okay speak confidently against the terminal boobs of denial.
Speaking of which I am impressed with the ability of people to continually stand up to the deniers. Whenever I read the antiscience diatribes at sites like Watts Up With That I feel a cold hand of despair clutching at my heart. I have to be honest and confess I tend to avoid them now for that reason. It feels like talking to someone with profound mental illness willingly clinging to their delusions. How do you do it and stay sane, stay upbeat? It’s really wearing to be constantly exposed to their drivel. Thanks for all the work you put in Peter.
I believe denial is indeed a form of mental illness. Certain personalities are definitely drawn to it – like fundamentalism.
Good, really good, synopsis of what’s been happening in recent weather patterns. I just wish there was more political will to get something DONE. The message couldn’t be clearer about man-made warming and so on, but for a new generation (like me) looking to join the work force and make a positive difference, or for the many of us out of a job, why aren’t there public works programs incorporating sustainable tech like solar panel installation? This makes me so frustrated.
Reblogged this on Anthroposcenery and commented:
A great post from a blog with up-to-the-minute updates
I think I speak for all (except perhaps Maurizio and daveburton) that your latest video ventures are terrific ( and featured on the Skeptical Science Facebook page ).
I wonder if you’ve given any thought to forming a Climate Crock Coalition with Peter Hadfield and John Cook.
I communicate with both those gentlemen from time to time.
You might want to check what is happening in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick here in Canada right now….. while we had one very warm week in March, we’re having winter again right now, on April 22nd. Doesn’t look too much like ‘global warming’ around my part of the world!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2012/04/23/weather-ontario-quebec-maritimes.html
in other words, its more like an old fashioned April.
Crazy weather seesawing, especially involving precipitation is to be expected as the world warms.
But there are complications when you have quasi-periodic events like ENSO and we are still feeling the effects of a strong La Nina.
As has been discussed many times, it’s difficult to pin a particular event on global warming but things have become so chaotic that experienced weathermen have begun to see the patterns that climatologists have been cautioning against.