Climate Change has been a huge worldwide topic in the last 10 years. The temperature in New York 10 years prior is completely different from the temperatures now. The seasons overlap each other and it just confuses New Yorkers on how to dress.
The Department of Environmental Conservation discovered that the annual climate in New York increased 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1970. Looking at from a 24-hour schedule, that temperature doesn’t seem very drastic. Temperatures fluctuate 10-15 degrees in a 24-hour degree. However, over a longer period of time, temperature changes can change the weather patterns. In short, the temperatures over the years in New York get higher and higher. It happens slightly but it is enough that we can notice the weather pattern changes. For example, Christmas 2017 and 2018 had no snow. This was completely unorthodox because Christmas season is known for the abundance of snow. It did snow after the New Years of 2018 and 2019 respectively, which was because of the increase of temperature. It snows less in warmer temperatures and this climate change shifts the timely pattern of our 4 seasons.
The prediction is that New York State will be about 10 degrees warmer by 2080s. The increase in temperature leads to a possible 15% increase in precipitation. This will lead to an increase in sea level in the New York area. The DEC says that the most warming will happen to the northern part of the state, mainly because how the temperatures there are much colder than southern New York. This climate change would also lead to health risk such as “pollen production in plants and ground-level ozone formation, which exacerbates asthma, allergies, and other respiratory conditions.” The climate also favors to help insects like mosquitoes survive and thus, we will be more prone to diseases such as Lyme disease. It will take generations for us to adapt to the change in climate, but it’s hard to change to something that is always changing.
Climate change is changing the very geography of the state we reside in. It’s not just in New York, but areas across the world are experiences these changes. Greenhouse gases and CO2 emissions have been the source. The question we look at as we acknowledge this is: What can we do to change this? If we found a solution, is it possible?
