

Why was Boston's winter so horrible this year? - mfringel
http://www.jon22.net/all-about-the-weathah/

======
llimllib
> Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly
> clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious

A warming trend in Boston does not make global climate change "glaringly
obvious", and for somebody with an obvious statistical training to say so is
even more disappointing.

(Please read my argument carefully: I am not arguing _anything at all_ about
the existence of global climate change!)

~~~
splat
I was also very surprised that the author didn't mention the urban heat island
effect. While some of the temperature increase can be attributed to global
warming, some of it might also be showing that Bostan has become more
urbanized since 1890.

~~~
lutorm
True. To people living in Boston, that still implies the climate has changed,
though. It just means it's a stretch to infer anything about the world from it
(not that this would be a good idea even in the absence of the heat island
effect.)

~~~
hvs
That's "local climate change" and he clearly said "global climate change".

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TomOfTTB
I don't want to start the whole global warming debate again (those threads can
be a real pain on here) something did bug me here

The author says...

"Speaking of worlds, climate change is real. Even my amateurish, admittedly
clunky analyses makes that glaringly obvious. Boston’s temperatures are on the
rise and we’re getting heavier rain. "

But that's an erroneous statement. What he means is that warming is real but
that's not a fact that anyone I know of disputes. The question is to the cause
of that warming and if that cause represents a change of climate due to our
behavior or a naturally cyclical trend that we don't have enough data to
measure.

The reason I point this out is because badly defined debates don't get us
anywhere. Unless we're clear on what the actual questions are we can't
accurately debate the answers.

~~~
ChuckMcM
We have plenty of data to show that the climate of the planet has been very
different at different times in the past. We also have good data that humans
have had an effect on the climate (although why this would be surprising
escapes me, perhaps the surprise is that its measurable).

What we don't have is any clue on how humans could _control_ the climate long
term so changing our behavior may reduce our contribution to the change but it
will not stop change from occuring.

Its useful that we live through several of the annual cycles of weather
changes before we have a chance to worry about it. Imagine if humans went from
birth to middle age in three months, by mid-summer they might be afraid that
the temperature was just going to keep on going up forever, as it had their
entire life. We see a variant on this with multi-generational cycles like
volcanic eruptions where something that "always" been true, and then it isn't
one year.

That being said I'm all in favor in finding ways to be more efficient. We
can't realistically consider stellar travel until we can create an environment
which is self sustaining. I do wish however that we'd invest more in adapting
to climate change rather than throw money away at trying to "stop" it.

~~~
ebiester
Adapting? That's simple. All we have to do is change what crops are being
grown around the world, adapt to changing weather patterns that make fertile
places arid and arid places fertile, and find new homes for the millions and
millions that are going to be displaced as the sea level rises. It's only a
couple trillion dollars, give or take.

<sarcasm>

~~~
ChuckMcM
I understand the sarcasm, and I understand the fear, but do _you_ understand
the problem?

The climate on this planet _will_ change, whether or not we lower our carbon
footprint. We should know this because it has changed while we (humans) were
not here, and it is changing while we (humans) are here. Moderate climate
change causes loss of habitat, significant change causes extinctions. That's
not sarcasm, it is literally written in stone, the geologic record.

Yes, human activity is changing the climate too, we've joined volcanoes, space
junk, solar variance, biological blooms, and perhaps another half dozen yet
undiscovered processes which affect climate on the planet. If you are rational
you know there is absolutely no way that humans can counteract the changes to
the climate that _will_ be caused the next time Yellowstone erupts. If you are
a geologist you know that Yellowstone _will_ erupt, it's just a question of
when.

We are currently alive, and we have economic productivity that exceeds 58
trillion dollars per year [1]. We _could_ apply some of that toward making our
species immune to climate change. We could be selfish and make only _part_ of
our species immune to climate change (the 'developed' nations). But we should
_not_ waste capital and economic productivity on things that do not contribute
to that goal.

The science is great, and I am a huge fan of understanding all the variables.
But misleading the public into believing if they just lower their carbon
footprint the climate _won't_ change is irresponsible at best.

[1] [http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-
wdi&met_y=ny_gdp_...](http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=wb-
wdi&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&tdim=true&dl=en&hl=en&q=world+gdp)

------
dgallagher
If you had the pleasure to live in Massachusetts to experience all this, we
had three really large storms within about two weeks of one another in Jan/Feb
(can't remember the exact dates). The result of this? 6 foot snow banks
everywhere. Mall parking lots were much worse since they'd pile snow in
~30-foot tall mountains. That made it extremely hard to see around corners
driving.

Highly anecdotical, but I noticed that many drivers became less aggressive.
Roadways were clear, but not being able to easily see around corners resulted
in less people cutting me off. This lasted for about a month before things
melted a bit, and drivers quickly re-earned their title as Massholes. ;)

~~~
adestefan
Same thing that happened to Baltimore/Southeast PA in Feb 2010. Two 24"+ snow
storms within 3 days. It makes for a gloomy winter.

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smbwrs
Bostonian here. The lady and I have been convinced that this winter was
significantly worse than usual, and wondered why no one else seemed to think
it was so weirdly awful. Glad we're not alone, and that we weren't wrong. Wow,
did it suck. Excellent article and research by Mr. Dobres.

~~~
lutorm
As an expat Swede, I was disappointed with last years' snowfall. I had high
hopes for cross country skiing, but that didn't work well at all. This winter
was better, but still pretty weak. Maybe I should move to New Hampshire... ;-)

~~~
lsb
If you're in Boston, Maine is pretty close. If you want a good winter hike,
the top of the Appalachian Trail is Mt Katahdin, about 100 miles north of
Bangor ME.

------
xbryanx
It's very important in any discussion of these issues to distinguish weather
from climate. <http://eo.ucar.edu/basics/index.html>

------
kjw
also, it's amazing how short our memories are. one "nice" day cures the ills
of so many previously miserable days. as the data shows, these were lacking
this past winter.

------
lupatus
The ice age is returning. <http://iceagenow.com/>

Better start knitting wool long-johns now ;)

~~~
jf271
The problem this year is from Dec through Mar Boston never saw bare ground.
Most years there is a melt or two that helps put up with the snow. Even in
other big snow years there was a melt. It makes the winter seem worse when the
snow never melts.

------
jswinghammer
Yeah this winter was a pretty tough one to have a new baby. I felt bad for
her. I can only imagine she assumed the world was just awful and grey. Today
is the first nice spring day in awhile too.

This last winter has my family itching to move elsewhere.

