We have a few very confused daffodils blooming in the snow. After a couple of warm weeks in January, our bulbs thought spring was on its way. What a rude awakening. We're having our second blizzard in a week here in southern Virginia. Both of these storms brought historic snowfalls, from a foot or more in the lower Chesapeake region to closer to 3 feet in western and northern areas. While we dig out our cars and try to remember how to drive in real winter conditions, it might be easy to think that our climate isn't really changing after all.
It isn't just mid-Atlantic weather that's wacky this winter. Canada and Greenland are losing big money this year because they don't have the snow they normally have. We have friends in Miami who had frozen geckos falling off trees last month. And the citrus growers were none too happy about frozen trees either. Even winter appears to be heading south for the season.
Wacky weather may be the new norm thanks to our changing climate. And believe it or not, even though it's only about 10 degrees outside now our planet is heating up. The ten hottest years ever recorded for Earth have all occurred since 1995. The Chesapeake Bay is rising (more than 1 foot over the last century) and flooding our coastlines and urban areas all too frequently. Researchers project that most of the Chesapeake's wetlands will be lost as sea levels continue to rise. Wetlands aren't just for the tree huggers, they're important to anyone who loves a good crab feast or to take their kids fishing. Without wetlands, we'll have far fewer crabs and fish than we have now, and much more coastal flooding.
As we sit by the fire after a day of sledding, we realize that it isn't really the weather outside that's frightful, it's the climate.
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