Spring in February: what the weather can tell us about climate change
This is the Our View, prepared by the Editorial Board and the institutional voice of The Record.
Welcome back to another spring semester—but this time it really feels like spring.
When many of us arrived two weeks ago, it was a bitterly cold welcome to campus for the first few days. The first day of classes on Jan. 17 kicked off with a seven-degree high for the day, and this trend continued through the weekend. The weather then took a turn last week, culminating on Wednesday of this week with a high of over 53 degrees.
If you’re among those of us who walked outside this week and found yourself saying, “it feels like spring,” you’re not alone. We’re even willing to bet that most of us would take this over negative digits any day. But despite this “January thaw” being somewhat commonplace in Minnesota, it provides us with the most obvious example of climate issues that we see in the weather all year.
The topic of climate change is all over the news, in political debates and on our social media, and rightfully so.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published their annual report in January, stating that 2023 was the warmest year on record since they started collecting data in 1850. You can access the complete report on their website and see for yourself. If you’re not convinced by all those statistics, the fact that for many central Minnesotans this year was not a white Christmas, but a rainy one, might be enough to raise some eyebrows.
Studies done last year by non-profit research group Climate Central reveal that December through February is the fastest warming period of the year for 74% of the U.S., including Minnesota. They go on to report, “winters have warmed in 233 U.S. locations from 1970-2022 by 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit on average.”
The effects of climate change don’t always mean that winters will suddenly become burning hot. It can also mean that swings between extremes may become more frequent, like we’ve seen in the last week.
With what we all know about Minnesota weather, we can only assume that we’ll wait a few weeks and be back to those long treks across the tundra in blizzard conditions in no time. You could chalk that up to the fact that winter is weird and unpredictable, but we should listen to the experts who tell us there’s a clear underlying factor enhancing this effect.
We’re aware that the last thing we need is more doom and gloom on top of our start-of-semester projects and exams. That’s why it’s important to acknowledge our climate situation while still knowing that it’s not completely hopeless.
The call for “climate optimism” is a movement that emphasizes progress and solutions, rather than panic.
The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health publishes a monthly newsletter titled “The Climate Optimist” that compiles news articles, studies and stories about successes and hope in the quest for helping our climate. You can access this resource for free online and even subscribe to get their insights sent straight to your inbox.
Closer to home, the Climate Justice Club, Full Circle Greenhouse and CSB+SJU Sustainability Office do great work towards giving students attainable goals to make an impact on our global climate aspirations.
Whether it’s attending a meeting to discuss your appreciation of the environment, buying fresh greens from the greenhouse or learning how to effectively compost on campus, members of our community can benefit from these organizations and take their first steps toward not feeling entirely helpless.
Last but not least, an article in The Record this week details the experiences of the student cohorts who attended the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28. These students spent their time at the conference in Dubai watching history in action, and their experiences can inform our campus efforts toward sustainability going forward.
To that end, as of Feb. 1, applications for the 2024 CSB+SJU trip to COP29 in Azerbaijan are open to all students and close on Feb. 23.
So, while you’re probably enjoying our current warmer temperatures, we encourage you to engage with the resources available to you on our campuses and listen to our community members who experienced the future of climate progress firsthand, so we can continue to be active participants in our own futures. Caring for our planet is a vital part of our Benedictine value of stewardship at CSB+SJU.