Study Finds That New England’s Snowy Winters May Soon Be A Thing Of The Past

The saying, “If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a few minutes” has never applied quite so well as it has this month. Temperatures have been up and down with conditions ranging from cloudy and mild in the low 40’s to blizzard-like with subzero temps – and we aren’t even halfway through the month yet!

With all the crazy climate conditions we’ve had lately it may feel like good news to hear that the weather in New England is going to be getting progressively warmer, but according to a newly released study conducted by climate scientists at UMass Amherst, it is anything but.

Raymond Bradley, co-author of the study, and director of the Climate System Research Center at UMass, told The Boston Globe :

“I tell my students that they’re going to be able to tell their children, ‘I remember when it used to snow in Boston,’ ”

According to the study, temperatures in the northeastern United States are expected to rise 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2025, faster than any other region in the country except for Alaska. Up to two decades faster! The findings are  based on 32 different computer models for how climate change will unfold. The models also showed increasingly wet winters with likelihood of flooding for New England.

The 3.6 degree mark is considered to be a critical threshold for avoiding a catastrophic rise in sea levels and other major damage attributed to climate change. A similar study – also conducted by UMASS – found that if carbon emissions were not drastically reduced, 30% of Boston could be underwater by the end of the century. If the studies are correct, New Englanders could be enduring 90+ days a year of 90+ degree temperatures come 2070. Right now we average 10 per year.

In order to prevent these and other calamitous changes, scientists say we must begin reducing the use of coal, oil, and other fossil fuels now. Something that does not currently seem to be on the radar of US policy makers under President Donald Trump, who famously described global warming as a “hoax created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing noncompetitive.”

So before you complain about the freezing temps and massive snow drifts, take a moment to look around and enjoy the beauty of a New England winter. Your time to do so may be drawing short.

H/T to The Boston Globe