What Happened To Winter?

Above-Average Temps Have Northeast, Midwest Wondering If Autumn Ever Ended

(CBS/AP)  January in the Northeast and Midwest is typically noted for dreary days of cold, blowing snow and bitter winds, notorious for crushing post-holiday cheer. However, the weather so far this winter, with temperatures consistently in the high 50s and 60s, has left many people wondering if autumn ever ended.

Washington D.C., New York and Chicago all have had temperatures nearly 20 degrees above normal this winter, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers. Minneapolis and Philadelphia have enjoyed 27 straight days of above-average temperatures.

CBS News correspondent Sharon Alfonsi reports that the high temperatures have been messing with Mother Nature’s calendar.

Birds are migrating south later, and some Southern birds have taken up residence in the North, permanently. Plants in Washington, D.C., are flowering four days earlier than they did 30 years ago, loggerhead turtles are coming ashore in Florida 10 days earlier than they did 20 years ago, and male frogs in New York begin mating season two weeks earlier than a century ago.

According to CBS Early Show meteorologist Dave Price, the warm weather can be attributed primarily to El Nino and a jet stream that is so far north that it is locking out the cold arctic air that usually sweeps into the U.S. from Canada.

The El Nino, which is abnormally warm water in the Pacific, "affects everything from winds to what kind of weather we will experience in different parts of the country," Price said.

He added that a Bermuda high, an area of high pressure of that forms over the Atlantic during hurricane season, has whipped up moisture and warm air toward the Northeast.

Meanwhile, British climate scientists predict that a resurgent El Nino climate trend combined with higher levels of greenhouse gases could touch off a fresh round of ecological disasters — and make 2007 the world's hottest year on record.

"Even a moderate (El Nino) warming event is enough to push the global temperatures over the top," said Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research unit at the University of East Anglia.

The warmest year on record is 1998, when the average global temperature was 1.2 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the long-term average of 57 degrees. Though such a change appears small, incremental differences can, for example, add to the ferocity of storms by evaporating more steam off the ocean.

There is a 60 percent chance that the average global temperature for 2007 will match or break the record, Britain's Meteorological Office said Thursday. The consequences of the high temperatures could be felt worldwide.

While the warm winter temperatures won't garner many complaints from residents in the eastern half of the United States, heavy snowstorms in the Plains regions and tornadoes in the Southeast have caused major problems for thousands of Americans.

Two people were dead after reports of tornadoes touching down during a strong cluster of storms in southern Louisiana, authorities said Thursday. And more than a week after a blizzard blasted Colorado, a a new snowstorm was forecast for Friday.

While the effects of El Nino are varied and often volatile, they also can do some good. El Nino tends to take the punch out of the Atlantic hurricane season by generating crosswinds that can rip the storms apart — good news for Florida's orange growers, for example.

"The short-term effects of global warming on crop production are very uneven," said Daniel Hillel, a researcher at Columbia University's Center for Climate Systems Research. "I warn against making definitive predictions regarding any one season's weather."

[bildooreilly]

Actually grass is a plant also, plants love CO2, it enhances their growth...




"We all can gripe about things. But what causes global warming? Among other things, Plants intake carbon dioxide and expecl oxygen as a by-products. Just about every living creature on earth intakes oxygen and expels carbon dioxide.
So the manicured lawn you have, after cutting down the trees to clear the lot has added to the problem"

Posted by reality1013 at 09:38 PM : Jan 05, 2007
+ report this comment

[thgdriver]

"2007 will be the world's hottest year on record".

Just ask Saddam, where he is, He'll tell you it's a record for him.

[thgdriver]

ratinahat

You need to get a sign that reads "The end is here" put it over head and parade up Main St. USA. Seems like a nice time for it, I see it will be in the 60's tomorrow.

[thgdriver]

It's all a crock, We are having warm weather, sure, but most records for that day are not being broken. The records are still standing from as little as 56 years ago.

Example---Record in my area was 71 in 1950 on this date 1-5-2007 the temp reached 65. Record not broken. Thats been the case for two weeks.

The people promoting all this B S have a job to keep.If they don't report how they are keeping tabs on things and write all the reports, guess what? They are out of work.

[ratinahat]

What could happen when the glaciers are melted etc? Oh, I don't know.. just about the whole state of florida will be inundated. SOmething to think about.

[ratinahat]

A top climate scientist at Nasa that the Bush admin attempted to silence about global warming:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/29/science/earth/29climate.html?ex=1296190800&en=51c46d7689bee520&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

[ratinahat]

Unfortunately the Bush administration is CENSORING.. that's right CENSORING EVERYTHING a scientist can come out into the public with about global warming, so this is as intense as it is going to get.
News is now a complete joke. I guess by just sitting back and doing nothing we can expect change.
If you think it is "nice now", well this WARMING can just as easily lead into an ice age after extreme heat waves that kill thousands etc. Whatever..

[jimfinster]

reality1013:

It will take big, bold efforts to deal with this issue. We are talking national & international efforts. Riding your bike ain't going to do it.

[reality1013]

We all can gripe about things. But what causes global warming? Among other things, Plants intake carbon dioxide and expecl oxygen as a by-products. Just about every living creature on earth intakes oxygen and expels carbon dioxide.
So the manicured lawn you have, after cutting down the trees to clear the lot has added to the problem, overcrowding in developing countries compounds the problem since they cut down the rain forest to make room for housing. The paper you use at work and home comes from a tree somewhere.
The burning of our fossil fuels adds to the problem. Gasoline, natural gas, wood, and coal. So who is willing to give up their car and ride a bike or horse to work? Who is willing to keep warm by solar heat or water powered electricity? How will we keep cool? We may not have to address these issues but our great grandchildren will. So who amoung us is willing to take the first step and ride a bike 10 miles to work every day?

[nothappyatall]

I LIKE this warm weather, if THIS is globalwarming man, then I say le't burn a few more thousand tires, freon tanks and whatever else and crank it up a few more degrees. NO snow/ below freezing temps in Dec/Jan so far is a real treat :)
Only 10 weeks till spring, and every day like today's 41: is another day closer to spring without the headache or heating costs.

[wolf563]

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THIS PLANET . WATCH THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH . IT WILL OPEN YOUR EYES TO WHT IS REALLY HAPPENING IN THE WORLD TODAY .

[phil-in-fin]

To shamick2

Speaking of childish stories, what do you believe in?

Yourself?

[jimfinster]

Hey, play nice.

Posted by bildooreilly
There was a weather guy who was basing his weather predictions on the chemtrail spraying and he was getting the weather right almost every time. He spoke up publicly about how he was doing it and of course lost his job

Well I am sorry that you lost your job, but that is what happens when you are an idiot

Posted by bildooreilly
I live in the path of the jet stream

Hey stupid!!! We all do!! It is not just over your house!! What....are you in the second grade? The jet stream changes daily, no matter where you live...

An your comment about military spraying...well I am here to tell you that the military does not own any crops that I know of, nor do they spray

[madumpty]

"communists", oh right, your a twit. A lot of us environmentalists have lived in and grown up in the country. A BIG reason we are having the problems we are (and they are many-educate yourself) is because of yahoo's like you who would rather call people names than be willing to make small changes for the greater good.
Humans ARE changing the weather..and not for the better.
Warming the weather causes any number of awful changes to farmers around the world, reducing heating bills is about the silliest thing I've heard anybody say.

chamgreen102, I guess you will not have to worry about your grand kids being a virgin.....

[williamfold]

i have to ask those who don't believe in global warming or aren't quite convinced that it's real, do you really want to gamble that it's not real? seems like a lot of people are placing a bet that they can't pay up if they lose and the collector comes.

I'm happy that I have not assisted in bringing more people onto this earth. The naysayers can all argue that there is no such thing as global warming but when they finally figure it out it probably will be too late. I will be surprised if humans will still be able to survive on earth in 200 years. I'll be long gone but all your grandkids will be enjoying a rapidboil.

[bildooreilly]

Hey JimFinster, take me to your leader.. hehe