Bring on the Christmas Global Warming!

Well, the dreaded Global Warming/Climate Change has let me down again. We are in the middle of a Nor'easter and expecting to get 5 - 8 inches of snow. Washington DC and NYC seem to be catching it much worse than us, though. I think they are saying that NYC is going to get two feet of it. I want Al Gore to fly up here in his private jet and shovel my damn driveway tomorrow morning.

 

So, I was starting to really like this global warming thing as January was warmer than usual and we had no snowstorm. However, a couple of days ago, my carbon dioxide bubble was burst when we had our first significant snowstorm. Where I live we got about seven inches of wet, heavy, sticky snow that was a real pain to shovel or snowblow our way out of. It was so wet and nasty because the temps were right around 32F/0C degrees, and that is also the type of snow that sticks to tree branches.

We were walking the dog in a local park this morning and I observed a tree that I thought would be interesting to the readers of this thread. It is a fir tree in which the left side is clear of snow and dry because it faces the morning sun while its right side is its shade side and is still weighted down by thick snow:



So, this tree is experiencing significant global warming on its left side, but not so much on its right side.

 

Well, my hopes for Global Warming have been totally dashed. Overnight the local temperature dropped to -11F/-24C degrees. When you factor in the strong winds that we are also getting, the temps feel like -30F/-34C ("wind chill.") The warnings state that you can get frostbite on exposed skin in five minutes of outdoor exposure at these temperatures.

I will have to go out and get the Sunday paper and pick up fresh baked donuts for the wife and kids (part of their Valentine's Day gift) so I will experience it but, mostly, we will stay inside today grumbling about the lack of global warming.

 

Late update on my previous post. 48 hours after we hit that -11F/-24C low temperature, we hit a high temperature of 58F/14C. New England is famous for sudden weather changes but a swing of that many degrees is about the most that I have ever seen. Fear not, however, it was not too long before we fell back to 32F/0C and have had mostly wintry weather since. Snow is all gone, though.

 

Where I live it went from about +39F to -30F in a matter of hours years ago. I drove home when it was warm and slushy and the next morning my car would not start and I could not turn the steering wheel because the slush froze to solid ice around the starter and steering rack. The ice was so hard, thick, and covering everything I could not chip it off with a hammer and chisel. I had to have someone yank my car sideways and then push it back into the garage and I rented a propane heater so I could melt the ice off and drive it.

 

That's a massive swing. And -30F/-34C is seriously cold. I have been out walking in -20F/-28C once and would not want to do that again; cannot fathom -30F/-34C. When it dropped to -11F/-24C last weekend, we lost my daughter's car battery (an old VW bug that sits outside year round) which died and needed to be replaced and the battery in our outdoor thermometer also went dead.

 

Well, this thread should have been put mercifully out of its misery by not being relevant in April. After all, the calendar has been saying that it is Spring for a couple of weeks now, the Easter Bunny has come and gone, we had several days of 60F/15C + degrees, flowers began to spring up, etc., etc.

Then, yesterday, we get hit with about three inches of snow overnight! It was right around 32F/0C and it appeared as if that temperature would rise with the sun coming out in the early afternoon, so I did not go out and shovel the driveway. Instead, I drove the car over it to make some tire tracks thereby exposing the black driveway enough to soak up the sun's heat and melt the rest of the snow. Worked like a charm.

However, today it has gotten much colder and we are in the midst of another snowstorm which I am likely going to have to go out and clean tonight so that I can get to work early tomorrow morning (can't run the snowblower too early in the morning...) It is supposed to stay at sub-freezing temps through all of tomorrow, so it will not melt away this time.

My dreams of global warming are now dashed beyond repair. I am despairing that the seas will not rise and make my currently landlocked property a beachfront estate. I am also wracked with doubt about New England and its continuing winters turning into a climate closer to sunny Arizona. Where did I go wrong??? I tried burning fossil fuels in my backyard a few months ago. I left the lights on longer than necessary and did not recycle all of my plastic bottles one day. I even, gasp, stepped on the accelerator of my big old American gas-guzzling vehicle to pass a Prius on the highway a month ago! I am at a loss and know not where else to turn. Global Warming, thou hast abandoned me!

 

Here in Malaysia the sun has got unusually hot that you can get sunburn by just letting the sun shine on you for 1 second. The temperature is around 40 degree celsius everyday in the afternoon.

 

how to prevent global warming

 

Um, I really want to bring on global warming...

You know, "think globally, act locally" kind of thing. Here in New England, a healthy dose of global warming would be a wonderful thing, especially in the winter. I might even end up with beachfront property if the oceans rise enough. Fingers crossed.

 

Not sure. If buying said seafood helps to reduce GHG, then I may not buy it. However, if it increases carbon and/or is neutral, then I am all for it and will encourage my friends and neighbors to do the same. Of course, well-travelled seafood could be quite the delicacy. Any fish that not only has swum under the oceans but also travelled over the oceans, might be especially tasty. But I also have doubts that much of that fish makes it here to New England where we have a large fishing industry and processing plants all over the place.

Right now, I am getting the fire pit and barbeque grill ready to begin belching out plumes of smoke all summer long as my small contribution to the effort.

 

I am one with our bovine friends, in this regard.