The great winter… that didn’t happen

Winter is coming. Winter is here. Winter is… over? At least, that’s what it feels like.
During the time of year when students are normally bundling up, dreading the cold and reining in the snow days, the 2017 winter months have seen a change of pace. Short sleeves and summer dresses have replaced wools coats and scarves, and what should be the coldest time of the year has been feeling like the warmest.
While the possibility of a few snow days is still there, the traditional coldest months of the year are quickly slipping away from us. It’s looking like we might not have a winter this year.
“This is a really warm year, and we’ve had a number of really warm years and warm winters in the last decade, like record breaking kind of things,” Professor Eric Annis said, an associate professor of biology who teaches multiple undergrad and grad classes related to Ecology and climate change.
“I don’t know off the top of my head how many of the warmest winters of record we’ve had over the last decade, but it’s a lot. And that’s on record since maybe the 1850s,” Annis said.
According to Annis, the main difference between climate and weather is that weather happens on a short-term scale, whereas climate deals with things on a decadal scale. He said that one of the most immediate impacts this weather could have would be a negative harvest for places which are blooming now, but could very well die if a hard frost comes in the next few months.
“It has problems, even if it’s very comfortable for a lot of people,” he said.
Many students seem to agree that while enjoyable, the warm weather of the last few months is worrisome.
“I definitely do not like this warm weather,” Kaylene Wright, a senior said. “Because however nice warm weather is, I am not satisfied with the winter yet. I really want there to be snow.”
Additionally, Wright believed this weather could have a negative impact on the world at large. “Obviously I’m not an environmental scientist, but this does seem to go with the trend that we keep having hottest years on record,” she stated.
Molly Masterson, also a senior, agreed with Wright, saying “It is absolutely horrible and you should all be terrified, because the world is actually going to end. I’m not kidding. Everyone is like, ‘yay we can wear shorts.’ No. You’re going to be on fire in a year.”
However, not all students are adverse to the recent warmer weather. “I really like it, cause it’s warm and I hate the cold,” Beth Montague, a junior, said. While Montague has been taking advantage of the high temperatures, she does acknowledge the threats this weather poses.
“I know it’s terrible for the environment,” she said, “and that global warming is terrible and we’re all probably going to die. But I like it while we have it.”
Students are not the only ones enjoying the warm weather. Although President Chapdelaine is worried about the weather, she also has found things to like.
“It’s great, because as the president, calling snow days is the absolute worst part of the job,” she said. “It’s a really hard call to make and it seems like you can never get it right. Somebody is going to be upset. So as a president, I’m loving it.”
Despite her enthusiasm for not calling snow days, she does agree that the weather has negative implications. “On a personal note, I really miss winter,” Chapdelaine said. “I think there is ample evidence that we have climate change going on, and I worry. We should all do what we can to support our environment. Try to do our part.”
Chapdelaine also joked, “I do think that the weather has been so warm, we should probably have had an anti-snow day,” she said. “But I figure I’d get in trouble for that too, if I just said, on account of beautiful weather in February, let’s just cancel class!”
According to Annis, it is important for individuals to get involved and find out what they can do, because we do have an impact.
“One of the most important parts of climate change, which is driven by human impact and human factors, is the amount of CO2 and methane that we emit on a per-capita basis,” Annis said. “So, how much does each person on a daily basis release into the environment?”
Annis stressed the importance of becoming educated on the subject, and encourages everyone to look into the Union of Concerned Scientists, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He believed that citizens must understand the issue so that they can vote against it.
“Vote for candidates that understand there is a problem and that we need to fix it,” he said.
He believes that misinformation poses a large threat to the world regarding climate.
“Most of the controversy that people talk about in the media is fabricated,” Annis said. “You’ve got a very strong opposition that has been mounted to the science behind it, but there’s really no controversy within the scientific community that this is happening. It’s very quick and very easy to just say bad things about the science without any foundation. And we need to do something about it.”