Jan. 14, 2010
GAINESVILLE, FL.—
Despite thermometer readings the last two weeks, global warming might still be a problem.
Meteorologists have not seen these freezing temperatures in some regions of Florida since December of 1989, according to Accuweather.
Florida Municipal Electric Association Executive Director Barry Moline asserts one cold winter has no relevance to global warming whatsoever. He believes changes in climate can only be understood long term and are not reflected in day-to-day weather.
Climate change is a more appropriate term for the gradual changing of Earth’s temperatures, because the Earth is warming and cooling simultaneously in different regions, according to Moline.
He believes there will be times when certain parts of the world are going to be cooler or warmer than normal.
“Parts of the planet are warming, and parts of the planet are cooling,” Moline said. “It’s not warming at a breathtaking speed, but the average global temperature is rising slightly.”
Gainesville might see chilly nights, but climate change predictions take many years into consideration when determining changes in global temperature.
To predict climate change, scientists study the circulation of air and water on the planet. These are the same patterns used by meteorologists to predict next week’s weather.
Using this method, meteorologists have predicted that Gainesville will warm up to a high of 72 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday, according to the Weather Channel.
Combining observation and history, scientists have been able to study the global temperature trends and predict future conditions.
Moline believes that, in the long term, the temperature measurements are rising.
“There may be a lot of things going on, including sunspots, the development of more cities and the subsequent pumping of more carbon dioxide into the air.” Moline said. “Regardless, it looks like thermometers all over the globe are getting warmer.”
This hasn’t always been the case. According to Moline, scientists feared the Earth was cooling in the 1970s.
Centuries before humans built the first coal plant, the Earth had cycles of warming and cooling. This past decade has seen relatively flat global temperatures, but the melting polar ice caps show significant warming. Some scientists have predicted that the arctic will soon be ice-free in the summer, according to Moline.
He believes the bottom line is that it’s difficult to determine the impact of humans on the Earth’s climate.
According to David Zierden, the state climatologist at Florida State University, weather is a cycle, and these freezing temperatures are what to be expected once every 20 years.
He believes that these temperatures are well within the natural variability of the weather.
“We haven’t really seen any evidence of a warming climate in Florida, but this latest cold event can’t be blamed on climate change,” Zierden said. “Just because we had a cold winter, it doesn’t mean that global climate change has not been occurring.”
In Florida, agriculture has been damaged by the recent hard freezes. The natural and man-made variability in the climate has hurt many local farmers this winter, according to Jim Jones, a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida.
“Climate change happens every year,” Jones said. “The biggest effects are freezes like the one we are going through now, droughts, excess water damages crops and hurricane damage. Those are the main factors that influence climate induced change in agriculture.”
