Why more snowfall = global warming, Part 1
Record snowfalls again this winter provoke the jabs at global warming, also known as Climate Change. It is funny and rather counterintuitive. There has been so much weird weather, often with catastrophic effects, that it may prevent us from seeing the bigger picture.
The reality is that global warming will often mean more snowfall. The connection is surprisingly simple. It starts with the oceans. The amount of water that evaporates increases with temperature. The oceans have warmed over the last century and the trend is accelerating.
The warmer ocean thus puts more moisture in the air. More moisture is going to come down as rain or snow, depending on the temperature.
It is no coincidence that the last year has brought unusual amounts of rain, including record floods from Pakistan, to portions of the United States, to the Philippines, to Australia.
Where the air mass is below freezing, that moisture comes down in the form of snow — lots of it. Sounds like something right out of the headlines.
In my next post, I will explain why there seem to be more areas of cold weather, which is what enables the snow.