{"id":4327,"date":"2024-03-27T15:05:12","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T20:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/?p=4327"},"modified":"2024-09-30T10:02:31","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T15:02:31","slug":"where-did-our-winter-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/2024\/03\/27\/where-did-our-winter-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Where Did Our Winter Go?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Whether you\u2019re keeping track of the arrival of spring birds, or you\u2019ve simply existed outside in the last few months, you may have noticed that things are weird. Here in Northfield, we\u2019ve had a mild winter that\u2019s been worrying our students. Snowfall records are 20 inches or more below average this winter (Livingston). Many of them have been noticing an early return of migratory birds and the ever dreaded wasps that hold Old Main hostage. Everything seems to be happening around three weeks ahead of schedule in comparison to recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From: https:\/\/www.pmel.noaa.gov\/elnino\/what-is-la-nina<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These effects have been causing a lot of stress in our student body. The impacts of climate change have loomed over us in our minds for a long time, but now it feels like they\u2019re actually upon us. Despite it seeming like the end of the world, some of these changes in the coming of spring are due to the period of El Ni\u00f1o that we\u2019re in right now. Essentially, what\u2019s happened is that from 2017 to 2023, the equatorial pacific ocean has had a moderate, maybe even a bit cold, temperature. This winter though, the temperatures have been higher, giving this year El Ni\u00f1o conditions. These warmer surface temperatures in the pacific lead to more mild winters in the Midwest. Generally, \u201cEl Ni\u00f1o is associated with a weakening of the seasonal cycle and La Ni\u00f1a with an exaggeration of the seasonal cycle.\u201d (What is la ni\u00f1a? | el nino theme page\u2014A comprehensive resource) The periods before and after El Ni\u00f1o events are commonly referred to as \u201cTrans Ni\u00f1o,\u201d and there is often a more active tornado season in the Midwest during these times (El Ni\u00f1o).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From: https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/weather\/2024\/02\/14\/record-warm-winter-greatlakes-midwest-snow-ice-climate\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more immediate effect you may have noticed is the lack of ice, and as nice as it is to not need as much road salt, we will see more erosion. Students and visitors haven\u2019t had enough snow to do as much cross country skiing as they usually would, and the sledding scene has been nearly destroyed this season. Some students particularly look forward to the reawakening of the quad that happens with the arrival of spring, but some have felt like the spontaneous occasion has been taken away from them thanks to the weirdness this El Ni\u00f1o has caused for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year\u2019s winter (March 5, 2024)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Last year\u2019s winter (February 23, 2023)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe El Ni\u00f1o event of 1997-98 was the first El Ni\u00f1o event to be scientifically monitored from beginning to end. The 1997-98 event produced drought conditions in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Peru experienced very heavy rains and severe flooding. In the United States, increased winter rainfall hit California, while the Midwest experienced record-breaking warm temperatures during a period known as \u2018the year without a winter\u2019\u201d (El Ni\u00f1o).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This El Ni\u00f1o is particularly concerning because the warming of the pacific ocean\u2019s surface will speed up global warming. In years past, the colder temperatures have helped stave off atmospheric warming, the two La Ni\u00f1a conditions around 2010 were helpful even if they were on the weaker side. Climate change is still most definitely a challenge that we need to work together to combat, but it\u2019s important to know that this funky winter is not the beginning of the end. We\u2019ve been seeing that all around the world for a long time, it\u2019s just that we\u2019re seeing big impacts right in our backyard now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, try not to stress yourself out too much. It\u2019s not a crime to enjoy the warmer weather, but we should stay mindful of how our actions play into our community\u2019s impact on the environmental crisis we\u2019re facing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Citations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • El Ni\u00f1o<\/em>. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/education.nationalgeographic.org\/resource\/el-nino<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Livingston, I. (2024, February 19). The Midwest is experiencing a \u2018lost winter.\u2019 Here\u2019s what that means. Washington Post<\/em>. https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/weather\/2024\/02\/14\/record-warm-winter-greatlakes-midwest-snow-ice-climate\/<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • What is la ni\u00f1a? | el nino theme page\u2014A comprehensive resource<\/em>. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:\/\/www.pmel.noaa.gov\/elnino\/what-is-la-nina<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Whether you\u2019re keeping track of the arrival of spring birds, or you\u2019ve simply existed outside in the last few months, you may have noticed that things are weird. Here in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7307,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14,16],"class_list":["post-4327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-naturalistpov","tag-natural-lands","tag-student-naturalist","department-natural-lands"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4327"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4330,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4327\/revisions\/4330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/naturallands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}