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Yes, Virginia (and Washington), There Are Snowpocalyptic Blizzards With Climate Change
02.12.10

There are two requirements for a record snow storm:1) A near-record amount of moisture in the air (or a very slow moving storm).2) Temperatures cold enough for snow.It's not hard at all to get temperatures cold enough for snow in a world experiencing global warming. According to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, the globe warmed 0.74°C (1.3°F) over the past 100 years. There will still be colder than average winters in a world that is experiencing warming, with plenty of opportunities for snow. The more difficult ingredient for producing a record snowstorm is the requirement of near-record levels of moisture. Global warming theory predicts that global precipitation will increase, and that heavy precipitation events–the ones most likely to cause flash flooding–will also increase. This occurs because as the climate warms, evaporation of moisture from the oceans increases, resulting in more water vapor in the air. According to the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, water vapor in the global atmosphere has increased by about 5% over the 20th century, and 4% since 1970. This extra moisture in the air will tend to produce heavier snowstorms, assuming it is cold enough to snow. \nThere was even a section in last year's U.S. Climate Impacts Report that speaks to this point directly, which concluded that "cold-season storm tracks are shifting northward and the strongest storms are likely to become stronger and more frequent." [Emphasis mine.] All that said, I can't really blame folks for piling on good ole' Al.Photo from Senator James Inhofe on Facebook