Extreme winter weather in the northern United States shows that climate change can have severe effects, even when it doesn't warm things up, the National Wildlife Federation reported on January 28.
Climate change is expected to bring shorter, milder winters overall, but some US areas will have more intense snows, with more disruption to such activities as skiing and ice fishing, which depend on predictable conditions, the report said.
"More oddball winter weather is terrible news for skiers," the federation's Chip Knight, a former US Olympic slalom skier, told reporters.
Mountain snow sports that require reliable snow conditions provide about $66 billion to the US economy; without them, local communities are vulnerable, Knight said. He pointed to extreme efforts under way to get snow to sites at the Vancouver Winter Olympics as "a startling example of what's at stake."
In the northern United States, spring now arrives 10 to 14 days earlier than it did 20 years ago. However, some areas are expected to have more heavy snowfalls as winter storm tracks shift northward. For example, reduced ice cover on the Great Lakes is likely to result in more lake-effect snows.
Strange winter weather is likely to strain local budgets if overall milder winters are interrupted by heavy snowstorms that require snow removal and road maintenance, said Sheldon Drobot of the National Centre for Atmospheric Research. Extreme variability from one winter to the next makes planning for maintenance difficult, he said.
The current season has offered sudden temperature swings that, among other things, stranded a flock of brown pelicans that failed to migrate south during a mild period in late fall. They're spending the winter indoors in Maryland after suffering frostbite, said the federation's Amanda Staudt, a climate scientist. Cutting the greenhouse gas emissions that spur climate change is "an essential first step," Staudt said. However, she added that climate change is already occurring and must be dealt with.
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