Why are lakes that haven't frozen in 50 years freezing this winter?

Question

Does that have something to do with global warming?

Answer 1

Weather.

Global warming means long term change over the whole Earth.  This graph illustrates the point.  Year to year weather changes cause individual years to jump around, but the long term trend is undeniable.

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2007/

There are many reasons why most all scientists and EVERY major scientific organization say global warming is real, and mostly caused by us.

Good websites for more info:

http://profend.com/global-warming/

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/sci...

http://www.realclimate.org

"climate science from climate scientists"

http://environment.newscientist.com/chan...

Answer 2

Because regional freezing equals "localized" to GW proponents and isolated singularities equals worldwide destruction and doom for the planet. [stay tuned for L. Murray's commercial for his "geo-engineering website"]

Answer 3

Because we've started global cooling.   I guess the Nobel Prize committee didn't get the memo though

Answer 4

the end is comming...~~~

Answer 5

Well, I think people generally tend to think that global warming means it will get warmer everywhere. That's not the case.

It will simply be the case that more heat/energy is "in" our environment. How and where that heat gets released or dispersed is anyone's guess.

Mostly more energy, which can mean anything from generally warmer temperatures possibly more coastal rainfall due to evaporation in the high tropics, or droughts in otherwise / formerly temperate areas.

Broadly speaking, the temperature and climate zones can be expected to "migrate" northward or southward (in the southern hemisphere), while equatorial regions of climate may broaden , it's likely the dramatic effects will be in the high temperate and temperate areas of the planet.

But other areas will be affected, Southern Europe and the Southern US will likely become more like Northern Africa and Northern Mexico, Oregon and Washington might start seeing weather more like Northern California, and New England might see weather like Atlanta and the Carolinas used to get.

This is for three reasons and there is a 4th observation.

1. The arctic and antarctic regions have dramatic swings in temperature during winter and summer increasing melting times for summer and increasing dark albedo and providing direct heating for the polar regions when ice/snow free.

2. Permafrost - with longer summers (earlier springs / later winters), more METHANE is released seasonally, into the atmosphere, which enhances warming dramatically but not immediately (10-20 years out).

3. More energy is available for storms in the tropics which typically expend that energy generating storms and rainfall, these storms feed and are dispersed by the Coriolis and the "jet streams", so more dangerous storms in winter would appear to be one possible outcome.

4. As time goes on and more irregular weather events due to changes in the weather systems we don't yet understand can be expected, this position will change as we begin to understand some systems better, such as el nino/la nina events/southern pacific ossilation etc.

Answer 6

There seems to be an exaggerated jet stream towards the north which is carrying more cold south - both in USA and Russia.

See here:

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_...

http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_...

However if the  Sun remains inactive = without sunspots for a long time (several years) we could be facing another Maunder or Dalton Minimum.

When the Wolfe Minimum happened it took out a significant portion of Earth's population at that time.  Read Here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ponderthemaun...

Answer 7

Because a regional cold weather pattern (which has nothing to do with long-term global warming temperature trends) is passing through.

Siberia's record low is -69.8 C.  That article is only talking about a drop to -55 C.

Edit:

Sappy - we are only seeing an average global temperature increase in the range of 0.2 C/decade (more at the northern latitudes and less near the equator).  There are annual and multi-year factors that affect weather and short-term regional climate (e.g. causing a cold front here or a warm spell there).  My definition of a long-term warming trend would be somewhere in the order of +10 years.  Anything much shorter term than that is only noise as far as long-term trends are considered.

Answer 8

It appears that we have had a climate regime shift.  I believe this is related to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation recently moving from its warm phase to its cool phase.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_dec...

We had a climate regime shift in 1975 when the PDO shifted from its cool phase to it warm phase.  Each phase can last 30 or 40 years.

The Earth warmed quite rapidly from 1910 to 1945 when the PDO was in a warm phase.  Then it cooled from 1945 to 1975.  Then it was warm from 1975 to 2006. This is part of a natural cycle.

Answer 9

I don't believe you.

Answer 10

Simple.  Improved sanitation means that raw sewage isn't being dumped into streams and lakes like it used to.  In the case of Russia, that means less alcohol content of the local lakes, raising their freezing point.

Answer 11

you are the first to know ! the beginning of the NEW ICE AGE,that al gore is hiding.

Answer 12

In response to Kenneth and broken-link Bobby (he has the nerve to post links from the political website realclimate.org) , I would say 50 years without freezing is pretty long-term. Kenneth may have a different opinion though.

Answer 13

??? Why is the Southeast still experiencing severe droughts?

http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.ht...