Thursday, March 2, 2017

This is Ridiculous!



It is absolutely ridiculous for the third week of February to be as warm as it was this year! Yes it is ridiculous! In spite of what some of our friends, the local newscasters, and many people we meet casually say about this having been wonderful weather, February in northcentral Pennsylvania should not be as HOT as the 73°F which it recently was at the house.


It was warm enough that in the ponds painted turtles had emerged to bask in the sun –

And in a vernal pool in the Big Woods male wood frogs had gathered and were calling vigorously –

Down along the river some silver maples had opened their flower buds –

And song sparrows were singing to establish their territories –


In the garden daffodil buds are standing tall -
   
And the lenten rose is in full bloom - 

All over the northeast temperature records were being set, some daily records for the date, some for the warmest February and some for the warmest winter day. 

A week before large flocks of Canada geese had been streaming north –


Although these warm February days were exceptional, there is no doubt that our climate is on a warming trend –


And that cold winter nights are becoming scarce

In spite of what members of the current regime in Washington say, there seems little doubt that humans' burning of fossil fuels is responsible for the warming trend. When 97% of climate scientists agree on something, as they do about human induced climate change, the rest of us better listen.

3 comments:

  1. Well it didn't get nearly as warm here, maybe 10C, but the snow is nearly gone out in the open. But it really is disturbing. I don't think we ever got to -20 this year; usually we get a week or more of that. And earlier springs will destroy our apple crop, and undermine our ski hills. Everyone thinks 'great, warm weather', but don't realize the implications.

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  2. Another problem with warm winters exists for birders- well, actually two problems exist, at least here in Central Illinois. (1) The waterfowl, ducks etc. are not as concentrated, making it harder to see as many species, and boaters are out earlier scaring them away. Thus, it's hard to find large numbers of ducks. (2) The winter finches and other winter-only birds like Snowy Owls don't come south. I had the only report of Common Redpolls in my entire area this entire winter. Granted, that's not a regular bird in my area, but it's still usually found a lot more than it was this winter. I've had to really work to find Purple Finches, and as for Pine Siskins? Zip. I'm really hoping for a colder winter next year so I can finally see some of those birds.

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  3. Hello, I heard it was a warm winter back in Maryland. That is because I decided to spend the cold winter in Florida. Love the pretty buds, the geese in flight, cute turtle and frog. Great post and photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Enjoy your day and the weekend!

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Woody