Weather 101 '" Climate Change Revisited

During the period from late November into early December 2010, record cold descended upon Europe and the U.S. In Europe, the cold came with heavy snow that snarled transit across Great Britain. In the U.S., some places received very heavy snow (e.g. western mountains and Great Lakes snow belts). But, parts of Minnesota are now officially off to their snowiest winter in 20 years. Record cold has reached as far south as southern Florida.

While all of this record cold was in process, representatives from nearly 200 countries were meeting in Cancun, Mexico to try and work out accords to tackle the "ongoing menace of global warming." Alas, record cold arrived in Cancun almost as soon as the climate meetings began, chilling any hope of convincing the world that the climate was warming. In fact, from December 1 to December 10, the last 10 days of the 12-day meeting, daytime readings never reached 80 degrees (December average is 81 according to the Weather Underground). Nighttime lows dipped to the 50's from December 3 to December 10 (average is 65). On December 5, the December record low of 52 toppled as the mercury tumbled to 51 degrees. Then, three nights later, that record was felled as the low reached 50 degrees (Fig. 1).

Although the summit has ended, another round of record or near record Canadian cold is enroute to the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula (Fig. 2).

If you recall, similar wintry events have plagued other climate change events, usually the ones attended by Al Gore.

While the weather events may be ironic, given the goal of the meetings, so, too, are comments made concerning the recent cold weather. Tony Juniper, writing in The Independent, called attention to how we look at the changing weather patterns and attribute them to climate. While weather and climate are not the same, they do have significant linkages. And the same people who tell us NOT to look at snowfall and cold weather as a measure of cooling climate change, quickly turn right round and use periodic heat waves and droughts as their criteria to demonstrate change in the form of global warming.

Maybe, just maybe, the climate change conference organizers need to look at climatic averages before scheduling their next meeting. A summery locale at low latitudes should do the trick. Phoenix, AZ or somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula in July would be good places to consider.

© H. Michael Mogil, 2010