freeze

Spring is Sooner And Warmer In The United States | Earth Wise

April 7, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Despite some March snowstorms in the Northeast, the record shows that spring is getting warmer and coming sooner in the United States.

The independent research organization Climate Central analyzed 52 years of spring data across the United States. Half of the 234 locations studied had an increase in their average spring temperatures of at least 2 degrees. About 70% of the locations had at least 7 extra days above their normal spring temperatures. About the only part of the country where spring hasn’t gotten much warmer is in the upper Midwest.

Over that time period, the average spring temperature in Albany, NY has increased by 2.1 degrees. And compared with 1970, there are now 11 more warm spring days in New York’s Capital Region.

Spring warming has been greatest in the Southwest. The three cities with the largest temperature increases were Reno, Nevada at 6.8 degrees, Las Vegas, Nevada with 6.2 degrees, and El Paso, Texas with 5.9 degrees.

Spring has been arriving early as a result of the warming conditions, cutting into the cold winter months. While an early spring sounds like nothing but good news, the shift can cause problems. An early spring and early last freeze can lengthen the growing season. With it comes the arrival of mosquitoes and pollen and its associated allergy season.

A greater problem is that spring warming can disrupt the timing of ecosystem events. For example, migratory birds could show up at the wrong time, impacting their food availability and breeding success.

As the overall climate changes, so does the spring.

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2022 Spring Package

Photo, posted March 20, 2011, courtesy of Suzie Tremmel via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Arctic Methane Starting To Release | Earth Wise

November 24, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

An international team of researchers has found evidence that frozen methane deposits in the Arctic Ocean have started to be released over a large area of the continental slope off the East Siberian coast. High levels of methane have been detected down to a depth of 1,100 feet in the Laptev Sea near Russia.

The slope sediments in the Arctic contain huge quantities of methane and other gases, known as hydrates. Methane has a warming effect 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The US Geological Survey has identified Arctic hydrate destabilization as one of the four most serious scenarios for abrupt climate change.

The research team aboard a Russian ship said that most of the bubbles they observed coming up from the sea bottom were dissolving in the water, but that methane levels at the surface were four to eight times what would normally be expected.

Frozen methane deposits have been called the “sleeping giants of the carbon cycle.” If these deposit releases were to reach a high enough level, it would be a tipping point that could greatly increase the speed of global warming. With Arctic temperatures now rising more than twice as fast as the global average, the likelihood of a significant release of the frozen methane grows greater all the time.

Temperatures in Siberia were 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher than average from January to June this year. Last winter’s sea ice melted unusually early. This winter’s freeze has yet to begin, which is already a later start than any time on record.

These new discharges of methane are larger than anything found before and are a very worrisome occurrence.

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Arctic methane deposits ‘starting to release’, scientists say

Photo, posted September 26, 2014, courtesy of the Office of Naval Research via Flickr. Photo credit: U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Alaska Is Getting Wetter | Earth Wise

August 31, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Siberia has been in the news for record-setting heat waves and wildfires, but it is not the only northern region experiencing unusual weather. Alaska, apart from setting its own warm weather records, is experiencing the rainiest five years in its century-long meteorological record.

Extreme weather in the Arctic is being driven by an aspect of climate change called Arctic amplification, which leads to temperatures rising faster than the global average. The physical basis of Arctic amplification is well understood, but its effects over time are much less predictable.

The past five years included two summers with average precipitation, one that was a little drier than usual, and two of the wettest summers on record. Researchers have taken measurements of how far below the surface permafrost has thawed by the end of summer over a wide range of Alaskan environments.

About 85% of Alaska sits upon permafrost and the increasing rainfall over the past five years is leading to a deeper thaw of permafrost across the state. The wettest summer on record was 2014 and permafrost didn’t freeze back to previous levels even when the next couple of summers were relatively drier.

The study demonstrated how different types of land cover govern relationships between summer rainfall and permafrost thaw. As Alaska becomes warmer and wetter, the vegetation cover is projected to change, and the increasing occurrence of wildfires will disturb larger areas of the landscape. These conditions are likely to lead to a feedback loop driving more and more permafrost thawing.

Fundamental changes to Alaskan ecosystems are occurring on an unprecedented timescale – not gradually over decades or lifetimes, but over mere months or years.

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Alaska is getting wetter. That’s bad news for permafrost and the climate.

Photo, posted June 10, 2011, courtesy of Peter Rintels via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Wasting Less Food

August 4, 2017 By EarthWise

We have talked about the problem of food waste before. About 40% of the food produced in the United States goes to waste, which is a truly shameful statistic. According to a Business for Social Responsibility study on the subject, about 44% of the food that goes into landfills comes from homes. About a third comes from the food service industry.

[Read more…] about Wasting Less Food

Carbon From The Alaskan Tundra

June 15, 2017 By EarthWise

The soils that encircle the northern reaches of the Arctic are a vast repository for carbon in the form of undecayed organic matter from dead vegetation. The enormous amount of material trapped in the permafrost contains enough carbon to double the current amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.