James Veverka: Effects of climate change build up over long periods of time

To The Daily Sun,

Steve Earle is "Waiting on global warming to clear the snow from Buffalo." He doesn't understand the basics of climate science. According to the laws of thermodynamics, a 1 degree Celsius rise in air temperature increases the amount of water vapor it can hold by 7%. If the atmosphere holds more water, storms can be larger. Rising temperatures also smooth out differences between pressure systems, which results in the current trend of stronger, slower, and farther-reaching storms.

Since 1970, average global temperatures have been rising at a rate of 1.7 degrees Celsius per century. Mr. Earle also claims "our climate is the same now as when I was 8" (1950). Same means exact. It isn't. Climate defines long-term trends. If one looks in the mirror, we usually don't see changes in our face by the day, by the week, and even by the month. But by the year we notice. Climate change is like that, but it's by many decades or centuries. It is mostly imperceptible to us.

One must look to the past to see the changes. Records have been kept so we can do that. An example would be to compare the lengths of growing seasons. From 1960 to 2012, the average length of the growing season has increased by 15 days in southern New Hampshire and 12 in the north. That's around six hours a year, which is imperceptible to us. Over a decade, we'd hardly notice a growing season two or three days longer.

As a lifelong skier to this day since the 1950s, I have seen the changes in trends during our winters. There was a time when we did not need snowmaking. There are many examples of these quiet changes. One has to study science, not tribal politics in order to see them.

James Veverka

Laconia