Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
It hasn't snowed here yet.
I don't think it'll snow this year.
I don't think it snowed last year enough to matter.
We use to have white winters. Dozens of snow days, so many they just had to stop at the end of the year so we'd still have a summer vacation.
I miss the snow most of all.
I would say definitely less snow in the US North-East than "back in my day", but certainly more storms/weird weather. Like we are supposed to have possibly 70mph wind gusts tomorrow with snow/sleet/rain all in a 24hr period of time.
We live on Lake Diefenbaker, in southern Saskatchewan. I used to do a lot of snowshoeing right out our front door. It's been a decade since I've seen enough snowpack to head out anywhere other than on the lake itself. Even then, I would probably be better served with ice grips of some kind on my boots instead of wearing my snowshoes.
Contrast that with when I was growing up in the 1960s. We sometimes had enough snow by Halloween for building snow forts and running skidoos.
Right now, as I write this, we are having our first proper winter day, at least as far as temperature is concerned (-21C at noon). We don't even have enough snow to hide the grass and we're supposedly in line for a lousy 5 cm tomorrow. I'm not holding my breath, because every snowfall forecast of the season has overestimated both likelihood and amount. (In fact forecasting is all screwed up in general. I think the meteorological models have lost much of their relevance.)
Yeah, I have noticed the bay on the lake (a great lake) doesn't freeze as early or as much anymore, and may not even this year by the way things are going. I also think the models are really off because the weather is just so unpredictable even to a computer. And a small change in one place has a ripple effect, just like the extinction (or removal) of an animal can change a whole ecosystem [watch any of the documentaries on the wolves in Yellowstone as a perfect example].
We haven’t had very many storms in New England this winter. The last big storms in a row, were back in 2013-15 and they were still late February storms. Our first plowable storm was Sunday, and we’re scheduled for 2-3 inches of rain tonight.
I used to work in the ski industry, but it was already a low paying job, when the season starts 1+ months later and ends sooner, it’s barely worth the gas money to get there.
the future is already here. a few years back, several regions experienced their 'latest' first snowfall on record.
and today? it's january 8th. there should be a couple feet of snow on the ground here. the only thing you'll see in your back yard is a green lawn.
it snows here just enough to make you need to shovel then it all melts from the week of rain
MN checking in. Haven't even needed to use my proper winter coat yet. There's technically snow outside, finally, but it's a pitiful display.
As someone who usually questions why I'm living here around this time, it's a bittersweet situation. Mild winters are obviously easier, but it's unsettling at the same time. Reckon I need to stay at this point. We'll be well stocked once the water wars begin. 😂😭
This is a feedback loop, as snow reflects sunlight (heat) back into Space, so a lack of snow exacerbates climate change, thus increasing the areas getting less snow, thus warming the planet more, thus...
Feedback loops are a bitch
I remember being in 4th grade around 28 years ago. The big thing back then was FCKW and the ozone hole. I specifically remember my teacher talking about global warming and what it means. He ended up with: "it happens so slow that we're not even gonna see the impact it has."
Back then, we would go to school on skies a bunch of times in the winter. We had 60cm snow over night on some days.
Fast forward 10 years, there was not enough snow anymore to sky. Fast forward 10 more years. It snows maybe twice a year for a total of a week. Present day, we have snow like every other year.
Chicago, checking in. We've had snow this year and last year, but nothing remarkable since 2021
Cries in Buffalo '22. But still, nowhere near as common as it used to be.
No surprise here. That became apparent to me decades ago when comparing the home movies/photos of my dad and his siblings playing in so much snow and looking at every snowfall I've witnessed that lasted more than 1h on the ground (it's 3. 3 times.)
Can confirm. By this time a few years back I would have about four feet of snow on my lawn. Today I have about three inches.
There's been less and less snow at my local hill for the last 5 years. This year I finally decided to not buy a season pass.
It's just not worth it.
It doesn't snow in our city but it used to in a village not too far away, and people would go there in hordes. Come to think of it, haven't gone there since the covid lockdowns, nor heard about it from anyone else.
It sucks, as the bigger picture is weather is getting strange and less predictable on a global scale, but can't complain about it being less cold though, for now, at least. ㄟ(ツ)ㄏ
Denmark here. We've just had the worst snow storm in 25 years. I won't argue that the article is wrong but in my experience there more and more snow here. That's said, it's getting warmer too, when it's not getting colder than ever
Long-term trend for the northern hemisphere is towards less snow cover by springtime
It wouldn't surprise me to find that there are a few localities with the opposite of the larger-scale trend.
You'd never know it here in Utah. We have snow storm after snow storm coming this week, and all weekend it snowed. There's not much, only maybe 3 inches on the ground, but it quickly piles up and even though its sunny today, with snow on the ground the temp outside is only 20 degrees.
Our mountains got DUMPED on. Which is good for the ski resorts, they got almost four feet of snow this weekend alone.