Growing up in the Northeast, snow has become a normal part of life. Some of my fondest memories are having a day off of school from a Snow Day and spending time with my friends and family as we had intense snowball fights, jumped onto the ground as we made irregularly shaped snow angels, and built snowmen that we would see for weeks as winter passed. In fact, I’m so used to snow that I probably couldn’t imagine my childhood without it.
The first time that it snowed this past winter, I started thinking about the effects of global warming on snow for the first time (I’m weird, I get it) and went through the following thought process:
“In global warming, the planet becomes warmer. When the planet is warmer, things are less cold. When things are less cold, there is less snow. If global warming continues to happen, will there be no snow? Are we the last generation to ever see snow? Is this the last time I will ever see snow? 😔 ”
For about an hour after that, I became pretty depressed because, well, I thought I would never see snow again. Then, after I finally regained my sense, I searched up whether global warming would end snow on the planet. And, it turns out that the answer is NO, SNOW WILL NOT END. Once I read this I was extremely relieved. However, when I continued to research, I realized that it’s more complicated than simply a yes or no answer.
Global Warming vs. Snow
We try our best to be apolitical here but I think it’s important to explain to you that my main intention here is to make sure you don’t end up like this guy:
This is Republican Senator James Inhofe from Oklahoma. On February 26, 2015, as you can see in the picture, Inhofe brought a snowball to the Senate floor as a way to debunk global warming. While speaking, he said, “Do you know what this is? It’s a snowball, from outside here. So it’s very, very cold out. Very unseasonable.” He followed by throwing the snowball as he smiled. Oh and btw, at the time, he was the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Yeah, I know.
But, in all fairness, I don’t blame him. He pretty much went through the same thought process that I did, which I outlined earlier, except he forgot to do his research afterward.
At some point, I think that everybody has the thought that global warming means that it will never snow again. However, what scientists have found regarding global warming’s effect on snow is that the situation differs through separate regions and landscapes around the world along with the presence of a sense of uncertainty in terms of how things will turn out.
What has generally been predicted by scientists is that snow will decrease in some places while, in others, it will increase. This trend is best depicted through this map from the EPA that shows the average rate of change (in percent) of snowfall every year from 1930 to 2007:
From the map, you can see that the red dots, which indicate decreasing snowfall, are more widespread and bigger in size than the blue dots. The red dots are most prevalent along the west coast while they are also clustered around the middle of the country and around Virginia/North Carolina. Nonetheless, there are still spots across the country that have seen increased snowfall. These spots seem to be more scattered and relatively smaller in size.
Overall, you can conclude that while there are both increases and decreases in snowfall, decreases seem to be a little more extensive, at least in the United States.
We are also seeing decreased snowpack, which is the amount of snow that falls. This can mainly be attributed to the fact that the planet is warmer, causing some snow to turn into rain even before it touches the ground.
Scientists have also observed that the length of the snow season is seeing a decrease as well. To be specific, the EPA says that the snow season has shortened by close to two weeks since 1972. It’s not the clearest of trends but still something to keep an eye on.
Another thing I wanted to touch on was the severity of storms. One of climate change’s most well-known effects is increased severity of storms. This is caused by the fact that the increased global temperature causes more water to evaporate and turn into water vapor. This water vapor then condenses (becomes liquid form) due to cold air and forms clouds. Within the cloud the water vapor condenses further to form droplets that eventually become heavy enough to fall as rain. Over time, with more water vapor from increased global temperatures, you end up with more intense storms. The climate essentially becomes drunk. We will see snow storms at unusual times with unusually high intensity which will happen more frequently as climate change progresses.
Effect on the Planet
Ok, so now we know how snow is changing as a result of global warming. But, what do these changes mean? Do they even matter?
Let me put it simply. Yes. They do matter.
I talked about increasingly intense storms in the last section and I want us to touch back on it for a sec since they are already happening. I mean, look at what happened in the southern United States this past February. They were absolutely shocked by the severity of Winter Storm Uri. (I’m not saying that this storm specifically was caused by climate change, because that would not be an accurate statement to make about any storm. All I’m saying is that stuff like this happens much more often from climate change.) And, it’s not even like Uri just passed by the area. Texas, one of the hardest hit states, was devastated by the storm. I’ll just be straight up. There were at least 57 people who died in the storm, most of whom died from hypothermia. This stuff is real. There’s really no other way to put it.
Montique Monroe/Getty Images
Another reason why snow is so critical to us is that many species (including humans) use it for water. Millions of people rely on the melted snow that runs down mountain tops as a fresh source of water. If this is taken away, so are innocent lives.
Plus, snow helps us to cool the planet. It serves as a major temperature regulator that prevents the planet from overheating by reflecting a significant amount of energy from the Sun away from the Earth. It’s almost as if snow serves as a partial insulator that keeps away excess heat to help maintain a stable climate inside.
Conclusion
If you’re a little older, less snow in your area sounds like a good thing. You don’t have to clean your driveway, no need to drive slow on the highway, happy life. The thing is, however, that snow is a lot more important than that. Sure, it might be a little inconvenient, but it is necessary, and, lucky for life on Earth, it’s not going away. But, that doesn’t mean who shouldn’t do anything about it. We still need to remain persistent in our fight to return to a normal climate, but that’s easier said than done. For now, my advice to you for the next time you see snow is to be grateful. Think about all the ways that it keeps our planet from catastrophe and helps save lives because, without it, you and I may not even be here.