When it comes to winter storms, everyone's first reaction may be that climatic phenomena such as wind and snow are very common and have a great impact. In 2021, there was a winter storm in the United States in February, and the cold and extreme weather have killed about 70 people, many of whom have lost power and lacked drinking water in their homes. However, in 2022, the United States unexpectedly broke out another winter storm, and a powerful winter storm swept through the central United States.
What's going on here? Why are winter storms in the United States becoming more frequent, and why is that? Does a winter storm mean that the Earth is about to cool down? Is this an unusual climatic phenomenon? Let's take a look.
Winter storms spanning nearly 3,000 kilometers hit the United States
According to NASA, in the first week of February 2022, the United States suffered an extreme winter storm, and from the current situation, it is likely to be much stronger than the winter storm encountered by the United States in 2021, and this winter storm route spans nearly 3,000 kilometers, which is quite rare!
It has brought extreme weather phenomena such as severe cold, heavy snow, and freezing to more than a dozen states in the United States, and it can be said that the impact on the United States is also extremely serious.
As of February 4, local time, dozens of cities reported double-digit total snowfall, and wind chill and severe cold warnings in many areas are still in effect. So, this winter storm continues to affect the United States.
According to the National Weather Service, temperatures in the plains and ohio valleys are 15 to 30 degrees below average, very cold, and roads and trees covered with freezing rain and sleet cover, causing power lines to be disrupted and leading to widespread power outages and thousands of flight cancellations.
However, this winter storm has not stopped, continue to advance to the eastern region of the United States, local time on the morning of the 4th, there are still about 95 million Americans under the cold wave warning, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee parts of the flood warning also issued. Therefore, the United States has already encountered extraordinary climate phenomena at the beginning of 2022, and it is not known what climate phenomena the United States will encounter next.
Nasa's monitoring of the situation shows that this wave of winter storms developed from February 1, cold fronts from the Rocky Mountains to the Midwest, directly swept across a wide area of the United States, and did not stop for the time being.
What's going on in 2022? Does a winter storm mean that the Earth is about to cool down?
First of all, we also mentioned such a climatic phenomenon above, it is not the first time that the United States has encountered it, it has been encountered in 2021, and it has been encountered again in 2022, which is also a completely normal situation, and it is not a strange thing. But from the trend point of view, the impact of such a storm surge is also getting stronger and stronger, so the impact on the United States is also greater. What's going on in 2022?
In fact, fundamentally, this is still an extreme climate phenomenon that occurs in the world under climate change. The development of winter storms is "inseparable" from the climate shift of human beings. Scientists have long been calling for protecting the environment and changing the state of the Earth's climate, otherwise more extreme weather phenomena may be seen in the future. So does a winter storm mean that the Earth is about to cool down?
In fact, it is not, from the global average temperature of 2021 released in 2022, although the overall temperature of the earth is back to 3 years ago, and the average temperature is tied with the average temperature in 2018.
However, it is still rising relative to pre-industrial average temperatures, with global temperatures in 2021 0.85 degrees Celsius (1.5 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the NASA baseline average. So, the planet is still warming.
That would answer the question of the U.S. winter storm, which may actually be an extreme climate phenomenon caused by global warming, so the winter storm may become stronger and stronger. In the context of global warming, if human beings do not change "in the slightest", then the future will likely see more extreme climate phenomena, and the intensity, coverage will also be stronger, which is a trend given by the scientific community.
So don't think it's good to think that extreme weather in the United States is a good thing, which means that the rest of the world may also appear. Moreover, the extremes of winter storms are only one of the climatic phenomena.
summary
Whether it's 2021, which has ended, or 2022, which we're in the process of doing, extreme climate phenomena are likely to become stronger and stronger as the climate shifts, and that's the trend. Therefore, if we want to reduce such a climatic phenomenon, we can only change the climate.
Otherwise, in the winter, it is possible to encounter extreme storm surges, and in the summer, it is possible to encounter extreme tropical storms, etc., which are more powerful climates produced under climate change. Recent years have also proved that extreme climatic phenomena are indeed becoming more and more frequent in many areas, so everyone should wake up.