Global warming or climate change?
Sometimes it gets very cold because of “global warming.” This is one of the reasons I prefer to avoid the term.
You’ve probably heard of the polar vortex, that swirling mass of cold air that circulates around the North Pole, usually minding its own business. But sometimes the polar vortex comes down to visit the Highlands, blasting us with its frigid air. And some of those visits are because of, yes, global warming.
The warming temperatures caused by the ever-increasing amounts of greenhouse gases we keep spewing into the atmosphere alter the course of the polar jet stream, which is where cold arctic air and warm tropical air meet. The jet stream usually acts as a barrier, keeping the polar vortex where it’s supposed to be. But warmer-than-usual temperatures can weaken and disrupt it, letting frigid air escape and head south. Warming leads to freezing.
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
A disrupted jet stream isn’t the only reason why the polar vortex might pay us a visit. Meteorologists are currently monitoring the developing signs of a possible “sudden stratospheric warming” event which, despite the word “warming” right there in its name, means that it could get freaking freezing here.
A sudden stratospheric warming event occurs when the air above the North Pole gets very warm, very quickly — like 90-degrees-fahrenheit warmer — which pushes the polar vortex south and disrupts weather patterns for weeks and even months. Unlike the jet stream getting squeezed and pushed by warm air, sudden warming events haven’t been linked to climate change; they’re caused by atmospheric waves created by the Earth’s rotation. It’s just nature doing nature stuff, as opposed to being our fault.
Trying to determine which events are “nature in its infinite majesty and wonder continuing to astonish us” and which are “Oops, shouldn’t have burned all that coal” is enough to keep scientists, researchers and (ahem) journalists very busy. But it’s become clearer over the past several decades that increasingly warmer temperatures are having unexpected consequences, many of which would appear, at first glance, to have nothing to do with how hot it is.
That’s why The Associated Press Stylebook decrees that reporters should use “climate change” or “climate crisis” instead. Regarding “global warming,” the Stylebook says: “It is one aspect of climate change. Do not use it as a synonym for climate change.”
Rising sea levels might not seem to be connected to the air temperature until you remember that all that water comes from melting glaciers. Increased mosquito and tick activity happens because warmer winters don’t kill them off, and warmer springs and autumns extend the seasons in which they flourish. More frequent and more severe storms are happening because warmer air can hold more moisture.
But periods between those deluges are more frequently filled with droughts, which can affect the Hudson River in surprising ways. Recall that the Hudson is really two rivers: a freshwater river flowing down from the Adirondacks and a saltwater river pushing up from the New York City harbor.
The area where the two rivers meet is referred to as the salt front, and it’s usually located here in the Highlands. During those months when it feels like all it does is rain, the front can get pushed all the way down to Yonkers. During intense droughts, the front can travel as far north as Poughkeepsie.
That’s a problem because Poughkeepsie is one of the seven communities that gets drinking water from the Hudson, and twice in the past few years the salt front has traveled far enough that Poughkeepsie residents on low-sodium diets were told not to use their tap water for drinking or cooking. “I can’t drink the water because it’s too hot out” sounds like an insane thing to say, even though in that case it would technically be true.
Likewise, New York State’s own climate assessment warns that, among other unexpected happenings, global warming could lead to more rodents in your house. Those frequent and intense storms will not only harm humans; they’ll cause mice and rats to panic and seek shelter wherever they can. And if those same storms have damaged your house, the mice will have more ways to get inside.
In a rare bit of good news, the warming temperatures in the Hudson River are also proving to be great for blue crabs, who are thriving. So the next time someone compliments you on a full crab trap down at Cold Spring’s waterfront, you can say, “Don’t compliment me, compliment global warming!” Good luck keeping that fresh crab meat away from all those new rats in your house, though.
To sum up: Only use “global warming” if you’re just talking about the temperature. “Climate change” and “climate crisis” are more accurate terms that take into account the wide range of things we’re currently experiencing and will experience even more in the years to come. But the Stylebook doesn’t mention my favorite term, first coined by the environmentalist Hunter Lovins: “global weirding.”
Climate change will be deadly, expensive, disastrous and frustrating when one takes into account how much of this could have been avoided. It will also be weird in ways that we don’t even know about yet as we continue to crank up the heat.