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Are we skipping Spring this year? by City-Tech Blogger Laurie Ceballos

If you’re a New Yorker, you will know how fascinating New York City can be at the beginning of the spring, but you also understand how frustrating it can be when there is a delay in the spring season because of climate change. Almost every year around the Easter holiday, we start to experience spring weather around 65-70F degrees. We all love the announcement that winter is officially over and summer is around the corner. This year in New York City, spring is taking a little bit longer than what it usually takes to arrive. It’s at the point where we are all confused about the type of clothing we should wear because one day it looks like spring is coming than the temperature drop to 56F degrees, or drop further to -0F degrees, temperatures we all hate. Surprisingly, the day spring was supposed to start, March 20, 2018, we had an unusual snowstorm as if we were in the middle of Winter instead of welcoming in Spring. To add insult to injury, a few days later we had temperatures as low as 20-30F degrees. Usually, by this time we start to see flowers grow and little birds around the city, but instead, all we see are little birds dying because of the extreme weather conditions.

Some people might think I’m being a little dramatic about the temperatures in New York City, but I might be just a little dramatic because I love the spring weather. I don’t like the cold weather, but I also don’t like the humid summer temperatures either. A couple of days ago in New York City, we almost reached to 90F degrees at the beginning of May, which for me are “summer temperatures.” I thought summer was supposed to start on June 21, 2018. We should be concerned since we are skipping spring this year. According to many geoscientists,  we are going to experience many changes to what we know as normal temperatures during all four seasons. These current changes that we are experiencing could mean the beginning of global warming.

Temperature

  • Modelling shows that New York should anticipate more warming. Compared to the 1971-2000 period, average temperature will be:
    • up to 3°F warmer by the 2020s.
    • up to 6°F warmer by the 2050s.
    • up to 10°F warmer by the 2080s.
  • The most warming is expected to occur in northern NYS.   Just by processing the idea of living in New York with only two seasons Winter and Summer, no Fall, no Spring, sounds pretty scary to me. These weather conditions should be a warning for all of us, just not only for those who live in New York, but for everyone around the world because it’s the way the earth is responding to all the damage we are doing to it, especially in places like New York where pollution is becoming part of our “normal”.

 

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One Response

  1. It’s not as dramatic to mention the shifting of the seasons, particularly in New York, if you consider the past few years. It’s easy to notice that Spring is arriving later while the Winter season seems to also be delayed as the extremes of the seasons are more prevalent and the number of characteristic weather days decreases. The changing of the timing of our seasons aren’t just frustrating for society, but can adversely effect our ecosystems since many species take cues from the changes in our environment and modify their behaviors accordingly. The steady increase in warmer global temperatures are linked to the earlier or additional delays in the seasonal weather. Climate change is directly correlated with the change in our seasons and must be considered a priority, as it can lead to longer allergy seasons, more insects in warmer months, warm weather/cold weather shifts that can trigger plants to grow then suddenly wither from the drastic temperature changes, etc. As a society, we must take into consideration the negative effects of the seasonal shifts and continue to commit to environmental research as well as supporting causes that strive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to reduce the effects of climate change on our planet.

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