Weather extremes gripping US bear climate crisis ‘fingerprint’, experts say | US news

The United States is experiencing a striking mix of extreme weather this March. Torrential rains in Hawaii, a rare snowfall in Alabama, rapidly rising temperatures in the northeast and, perhaps most importantly, a severe heat wave affecting the west coast are raising questions about how strange these patterns really are and the role the climate crisis is playing.

People in the US should pay more attention to the climate crisis and do what they can to “minimize its impacts,” experts have suggested.

Of course, in some ways the current mix of weather activity reflects a familiar seasonal shift: March has long been known for its unpredictability, especially in regions like the northeast.

“The weather behaved as I expected,” said Jon Nese, vice chair of Penn State’s department of meteorology and atmospheric science. “We have some warm days in March, then it suddenly turns cold and it snows. It’s the kind of ups and downs we’re used to.”

In New York, Daniel Bader, a program manager at the Columbia climate school’s Northeast Urban Climate Risk Consortium, described one particularly striking change: “The temperature in Central Park reached 80 degrees, and two days later snowflakes appeared in the air.”

“March is a month when the weather is active,” Bader continued. “It’s not unusual for this species to be very hot one day and quite cool the next day.”

The main driver behind these extremes is the jet stream, a fast-moving air current high in the atmosphere that can sometimes become very wavy. These dips can cause different extremes to occur simultaneously in different parts of the country, such as a ridge of warm air in one area and a trough of cold air in another.

Neşe said, “The fact that the heat wave in the west occurred at the same time as the sharp cooling in the east, these two things are interconnected.”

Bader echoed this statement, noting that seasonal changes in temperature gradients affect the location and behavior of the jet stream: “There may be these ridges and troughs that develop and can contribute to some of these extreme events.”

But while March has always been a month of extremes, this year’s events show that these extremes, especially those on the hot side, are increasing in severity.

The intensity of heat in the Western U.S. has frequently broken records in recent years; Last week was no exception. California, Nevada and Arizona were all under heat warnings this week due to scorching temperatures.

In California, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned residents that the risk of heat illness was high, saying the Los Angeles area was facing “extremely rare heat for March.” Palm Springs, about 100 miles (160 km) east of Los Angeles, reached 107F on Thursday. Heat warnings will remain in effect until Sunday.

The heatwave searing the West would have been “almost impossible” if it weren’t for the climate crisis, according to a team of scientists. Global warming, caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels, has quadrupled the likelihood of such heat waves occurring in the past decade, according to one study. quick analysis It was published on Friday.

“The temperature in the west right now is very unusual,” Neşe said. “A lot of high temperature records will be broken. Some temperatures may actually exceed April records.”

Bader was even more direct: “These are truly unprecedented conditions. We could break April records. The highest temperature ever recorded in the United States in March could fall.”

Even isolated anomalies, such as snow in the southern state of Alabama, underscore a broader chain of variability. Snowfall reached double digits in many other states, including Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

Half a million U.S. homes and businesses were without power Tuesday after a powerful storm system brought snow, strong winds, frigid temperatures and precipitation to regions from the midwest to the east coast.

“It is quite unusual for it to snow in Alabama in March,” Neşe said.

The overlap between unusual snowfall and the climate crisis is complex and still being researched, but there is a clearer consensus when it comes to heat.

“It would probably be reasonable to say that this heat wave that occurred in the west in March will have the fingerprint of climate change on it,” Neşe added.

Bader similarly emphasized that while individual events may be difficult to attribute, broader trends are clearer: “The biggest connections we can make are with extreme heat events becoming more frequent and also more intense.”

He also explained that the rising temperature of the atmosphere could intensify precipitation. “A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, potentially leading to more intense precipitation,” Bader said.

Although the climate crisis may cause unusually cold weather in some regions, the number of record-breaking heat waves is vastly outpacing the number of cold weather events as the planet continues to warm.

This summer is expected to be one of the hottest on record, continuing the record-breaking heat trend driven by the climate crisis and global warming. potential development of a strong El Niño.

As extremes become increasingly unpredictable, experts stress the importance of preparedness, even as Donald Trump cuts funding to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema); This signals a dangerous erosion of the United States’ capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters.

“These events are a constant reminder that we are very vulnerable to extreme weather and climate conditions,” Bader said. “If there are opportunities to minimize impacts, then we should take advantage of them.”