Where winter went

Posted at 1:22 PM on January 30, 2012 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Weather

Even though we know that the weather outside and climate are two different things, it's not difficult to wonder whether the winter that wasn't is evidence of a warming world.

If you say it is, how do we explain Kiev?

Temperatures reached -15 celsius today and 15 people have died from hypothermia in the last four days.

In Bucharest, the area was paralyzed by snow over the weekend.

The Associated Press reports that one woman froze to death in a snowstorm in a central Serbian village, while two elderly men were found dead, one in the snow outside his home. Further south, emergency crews are searching for two men in their 70s who are feared dead.

The winter weather comes after a period of relative mild weather.

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Comments (4)

"How do we explain Kiev?" Climate change is a global long-term trend. There are plenty of warm and cold extremes if you look at individual years or individual locations, but there is a dramatic warming trend for the whole planet on average. A brief cold snap in one part of the world doesn't disprove that.

"Including 2011, all eleven years in the 21st century so far (2001–2011) rank among the 13 warmest in the 132-year period of record." http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/

Posted by Jon S | January 30, 2012 3:44 PM

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Bob, sometimes I think you're so nuanced only wonks (like me) can figure out where you're coming from. Yes, YOU ARE RIGHT. The fact we're having a mild winter here has nothing to do with global warming, anymore than Kiev's subzero temps do.

Global warming doesn't mean it's getting warmer everywhere, but just that when you take in the entire planet, we're definitely getting warmer. Right now we're busy warming the oceans but once they've warmed up, us surface dwellers will notice a BIG difference.

Posted by Mark Gisleson | January 30, 2012 4:16 PM

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-15 degrees Celsius is only 5 degrees F. That's barely nostril freezing. How are the Alaska temps right now?

Posted by Dennis Otremba | January 30, 2012 9:23 PM

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Warm weather here, or snow in Europe in one season do not prove a changing climate. The evidence that we are warming the planet is overwhelming, global temperatures and sea levels are rising.

Posted by Ed Shaw | January 31, 2012 2:17 PM

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