This photograph is my mom with her pug in the South of England this week. They are officially snowed-in and she has cabin fever. The only creature undeterred by the snow, is Mytle her pug (the black blob at my mom’s foot,) who is thrilled by the whole thing. The coldest winter in over 30 years is prompting many a question and snide remark about global warming – ha ha the skeptics scoff “we’re really suffering from global warming!!!!“. However, much as they laugh while turning their thermostats up to the max, the question of weather relating to global warming, bears a little scrutiny. We have been warned that extreme weather will characterize global warming. This extreme weather isn’t always going to be at the heat- end of the scale, it apparently will include dramatic and erratic patterns of hot and cold weather extremes. But the more important consideration is to ask the experts if indeed weather has anything to do with global warming at all.
The key word to look out for is trends and this doesn’t refer (in climate expert speak,) to seasonal highs and lows. When they talk about looking at trends to determine the effects of climate change, they’re apparently looking at really long-term patterns, not just whether this is the coldest/hottest season we’ve experienced in however many years. Even global warming skeptics agree, as is explained in this great article at The Good Human, the cold snap we’re currently experiencing doesn’t in anyway minimize or debunk the global warming theory.
What’s more important is to continue to work on ways in which we can all reduce our energy consumption, even in the face of these extreme cold snaps. I know – it’s okay for me to tell you as I sit in sunny California, that it’s time to turn down your thermostat a few degrees – I only preach what I practice (promise you!!!). However, I did grow up in England and plowed my way through many a snowdrift. My Gorgeously Green mom got us wearing thermal underwear, heavy sweaters and socks, even inside (preferable to burning precious oil in her opinion,) and we always filled hot water bottles at night. Call it old-fashioned, it’s also common sense, as you get to participate in that wonderful win/win situation of saving money and the planet.
So don’t let the snow fool you into thinking that Al Gore is misleading you. It’s more likely that certain media outlets haven’t done their homework and just want something to sneer at. And as I always say, even if you don’t believe in man-made global warming, each time you whack up your furnace, you’re also firing up a coal-fired power plant – not the cleanest energy on the planet!
