If this summer seems especially hot to you, there’s a reason. According to a new article in The Washington Post, New Jersey is experiencing extreme climate change. And that can account for not only the blistering summer days but also the warmer winters we’ve been experiencing.
“New Jersey may seem an unlikely place to measure climate change, but it is one of the fastest-warming states in the nation,” says the article. “Its average temperature has climbed by close to 2 degrees Celsius since 1895 — double the average for the Lower 48 states.”
Over the past two decades, the 2 degrees Celsius number has been used as a threshold for global warming. The average NJ winter temperature now exceeds 0 degrees Celsius, which means lakes don’t freeze as often and snow melts more quickly. It also means insects and pests don’t die in the freezing temperatures as they normally would.
“In Lake Hopatcong, thinning ice let loose waves of aquatic weeds that ordinarily die in the cold,” reports The Washington Post.
This means climate change has a negative effect on our springs and summers, too.
“This year, a new blow: Following one of the warmest springs of the past century, harmful bacteria known as blue-green algae bloomed in the lake just as the tourist season was taking off in June.” Because of this, New Jersey’s largest lake was shut down with warnings against swimming or fishing.
It’s clear that global warming has far-reaching effects and that all of our seasons and the surrounding environment are changed by the rising temperatures.