VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Climate change is a rising concern in Syracuse and around the world
Daniel Curewitz: The earth will be fine. We might not.
Lauren Holdmeyer: Environmental experts around the world are trying to warn the public about the dangers climate change presents.
Curewitz: It’s late November and it has frosted twice…three times? And snowed zero. That’s not normal.
Holdmeyer: Experts are beginning to recognize a pattern of the upward-trending temperatures and lack of snowfall Upstate. Mark Pellerito with the National Weather Service says other than Syracuse not meeting its average snowfall of 125 inches a year, temperatures are just too warm to sustain a normal winter.
Mark Pellerito: Thaws are becoming more common. Snow cover less permanent during the course of a whole winter. It used to be pretty common to hold on to a 6 to 12-inch coating of snow on the ground for much of the winter, and now it just kind of melts away every time.
Holdmeyer: But rising temperatures are negatively affecting more climates than just the cold ones. Take the recent hurricanes in Florida, for example.
Pellerito: The fuel for hurricanes is warm water, and the Atlantic temperature, Atlantic water temperatures… that’s been at record levels for month after month after month, going back a year and a half or two.
Holdmeyer: What many don’t realize is the impact of these hurricanes affects the average person, in more ways than one.
Curewitz: Everybody’s insurance has gone up by 20, 30, 40% over the last five years, at least. Why? Because of the cost of these big storm events that are destroying significantly large regions.
Holdmeyer: The big question is: are we able to reverse the damages we’ve already caused?
Curewitz: We have the resources and the skill to do things. It’s the question of whether we decide to actually do them or not.
Holdmeyer: Now, the clock is ticking in terms of how much time we have left to save the planet. But one small thing you can do to help is turn off the lights when you leave the room. In Syracuse, Lauren Holdmeyer, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Experts around the world are trying to warn the public about the dangers climate change can impose on the world. Temperatures and weather patterns have been irregular over the last few years, in particular, both here in Syracuse and beyond.
“It’s late November, and it has frosted twice…three times? And snowed zero. That’s not normal,” said Daniel Curewitz, an associate professor with the department of earth and environmental science at Syracuse University.
One of the most recognizable signs of rising temperatures here in Central New York is the lack of snowfall the region has seen recently. Historically, the city of Syracuse has seen an average of 125 inches of snow each winter. In recent years, it has failed magnificently to meet that number. Due to this, the city is unable to sustain a normal winter.
“Thaws are becoming more common. Snow cover less permanent during the course of a whole winter. It used to be pretty common to hold on to a 6 to 12-inch coating of snow on the ground for much of the winter, and now it just kind of melts away every time,” Mike Pellerito of the National Weather Service said.
But Central New York is not the only region suffering the impacts of climate change. Warmer climates are being affected too. Take Florida, for example, the recent, devastating hurricanes are a result of the climate becoming warmer, Pellerito said.
“The fuel for hurricanes is warm water, and the Atlantic temperature, Atlantic water temperatures… that’s been at record levels for month after month after month, going back a year and a half or two,” Pellerito said.
Even people who aren’t feeling the effects weather-wise are still in danger of trouble. Curewitz explained that with the rise of costs of insurance and other goods necessary for cleaning up these storms, the economy will begin to suffer, as well.
“Everybody’s insurance has gone up by 20, 30, 40% over the last five years, at least. Why? Because of the cost of these big storm events that are destroying significantly large regions,” Curewitz said.
Climate experts believe that the resources and skills needed to combat this climate emergency are available, but the only way in which improvement will be made is if the public starts to take action.