Imagine running into the cool ocean after you’ve just fried your back while sitting in the hot sun at the beach. Summer’s freedom, along with the weather, is why students love it so much.
The majority of people enjoy summer better than any other season. Due to the extension of the warmer weather, this past summer season has lasted longer than in past years. Why do you think this is? Is this a product of Climate Change?
Oakmont teacher Mr. Nicolas Kostich shares, “As the climate has warmed in New England, we’ve seen a number of record summers, with this past summer being the hottest globally on record and a top five hottest summer in Massachusetts.”
Although Climate Change is 100% real, Mr. Daniel Dufour states that this is in fact not Climate Change. This is just the El Nino and La Nina weather pattern. This pattern occurs in the Southern Pacific, affects the rest of the world, and is commonly interpreted as Climate Change although it is not.
These two weather changes occur every couple of years, and people who don’t understand the El Nino and La Nina patterns think it’s Climate Change because of the resemblance.
According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, “August 2024 set a new monthly temperature record, capping Earth’s hottest summer since global records began in 1880.” The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is increasing causing temperatures to rise like crazy.
Global warming is defined as long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, but since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of Climate Change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (like coal, oil, and gas), which produces heat-trapping gasses.
Sophomore, Emma Goodwin, at Oakmont Regional High School adds, “I think people don’t fully realize how much global warming will affect us and if we don’t start changing the way we live then it will get worse sooner than people think.”
Change needs to come soon. People are oblivious to the fact that Climate Change will soon affect everyone. To better understand how much the world is heating up, let’s look back in time at previous years’ climate trends.
Ever since 1880, when records of the climate state were kept, the temperature trend started to rise. Based on the National Centers for Environmental Information, “The global land temperature for 2015 was [34.394°F] (2.39°F) above the 20th-century average, surpassing the previous records of 2007 and 2010 by [32.45°F] (0.45°F).”
Similarly, some more information about these trends in 2020 includes: “The 2020 Northern Hemisphere land and ocean surface temperature was the highest in the 141-year record at +1.28°C (+2.30°F) above average. This was 0.06°C (0.11°F) higher than the previous record set in 2016.” Studying these Climate Changes proves how the temperature of the earth just keeps on rising.
As this happens, oceans rise because of the melting glaciers. This destroys beautiful habitats, but that is not the only effect. Diseases will spread faster due to flooding, drinking contaminated water, and mold.
Although the waters will rise because of glaciers melting, the precipitation patterns also will change. Decreasing rain, snow, and ice cover. This will result in longer dry spells which will make forest fires more common.
For example, in 2020 the wildfire in California was mainly caused by human activity and Climate Change along with drought. Close by, in Utah, the Great Salt Lake has drastically shrunk in size because of this huge dry spell that has lasted for years.
Many people think Climate Change is not real – it’s a conspiracy theory they say – but are they really looking at the facts? No, they aren’t.
The truth is that if we don’t change something it will be detrimental. According to The World Economic Forum, “It predicts that by 2050, the climate crisis could cause an additional 14.5 million deaths, $12.5 trillion in economic losses, and $1.1 trillion in extra costs to healthcare systems around the globe.”
Kostich explains, “Just because it’s a warmer year overall doesn’t mean it won’t go below freezing during the winter. While I don’t feel I can make any specific predictions, warmer air holds more water and hotter temperatures lead to more evaporation. That increases the likelihood that we get lake effect snow rolling in from the west which could lead to major snowfall events. What we’ve seen over the past few years is that we get large amounts of snow that quickly melt away. It will be interesting if that repeats itself again this year.”
The lake effect occurs when cold air moves across the open waters of large Lakes. As the cold air passes over the unfrozen and relatively warmer waters of these Lakes, warmth and moisture are transferred into the lowest portion of the atmosphere resulting in heavy snowfall.
Dufour has a similar perspective in the way that this upcoming winter could be a strong one. According to Dufour, “The El Nino season creates a worldwide change in weather patterns, typically to an extreme. During a La Nina season, you return to regular, if not stronger, weather that is typical to your area. So, I think, going into a La Nina season, we could see a stronger winter.”
Previously, we experienced a huge freeze that took power away from many homes in the year 2023. Roads were dangerous and icy and tree branches were snapping off and falling everywhere. Climate Change is a dangerous threat to our society that we need to make a better effort in trying to fix.
“We’re seeing the climate zones in the country starting to shift north which indicates that folks are going to be able to grow different plants in about half of the country and puts additional stress on native species that may not be adapted to the hotter average temperature and changed levels of precipitation,” comments Kostich. This could mess with all aspects of life and how we live.
Let’s take a step back from all the deep things about Climate Change. Many people our age enjoy the ski and snowboard season. They love the thrill of flying down a mountain having no care in the world and just having fun.
According to Megan Vance, a junior at Oakmont regional high school, “Global warming sucks.” That sums it up perfectly in one of the most basic ways that everyone should understand, but also one of the most straightforward ways.
Global warming has a huge impact on our daily lives. Soon, the summers will be exceptionally hot, making us unable to enjoy our free time outside of school. The winters will cease to exist. Many people enjoy winter sports like skiing and snowboarding, but what happens when there is no more snow? Frosty the snowman said, “Don’t you cry; I’ll be back again someday!” The sad truth is that Frosty will not exist in the future because of the hot temperatures. Heatmiser will win.
