The Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities reminds us just how much our climate has changed in the past 200 years. The idea of five to 14 inches of snow in early October seems almost impossible today.
…in 1804, a “snow hurricane” struck Massachusetts. The storm began with winds so powerful that whole forests were leveled. Houses, barns, chimneys, and church steeples came crashing down. Even when the wind subsided, it continued to snow. As much as two feet fell in some places. Fruit was blown off trees and potatoes froze in the ground. Hundreds of cattle, sheep, and poultry died. Ships at anchor collided with each other and nearby wharves, killing the men on board. So many oaks and pines were lost that it was decades before the state’s shipbuilding industry recovered. In some parts of Massachusetts, the storm changed the landscape so dramatically that people felt as though they were suddenly living in a new and unfamiliar place.
marcus-graly says
Forget about October, when was the last time we had a snowy Thanksgiving?
nickp says
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p>Not so long ago.
mike-from-norwell says
Anomalies of weather happen all the time (certainly remember October snow around here, and the May ’77 snow that pretty much took every power line out). Harsh or early winters a thing of the past? Remember last winter?
nickp says
When sceptics point to a stretch of cool temps the progressives scream that weather isn’t climate.
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p>But point to a heat wave or an historic and unseasonable snow storm and we hear, “ya never know, it could be a sign of global climate change.”
dcsohl says
Gotta reluctantly agree with “Mike from Norwell”. “Data” is not the plural of “anecdote”. One “snow hurricane” in 1804 does not mean the climate has changed. It means there was a fluke storm 206 years ago which has never been equaled for the time of year. Without knowing what the next October was like, or the previous October, or anything else, it is sheer folly to draw a line from 1804 to 2010 and expect it to fit the curve.
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p>I do think human-caused global warming is a significant problem that must be combated, which is why I hate to see stories like this, stories cited as “evidence” when they are nothing of the kind.
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p>Having said that, Marcus’ comment above, about “Over the River and Through the Woods” strikes more of a chord with me, especially when you stop and consider that the river in question was the Mystic River, so this is very much a Massachusetts thing. Lydia Maria Child wasn’t writing about a fluke snowstorm; she was writing about a common occurrence of the early 1800s. These days? Not so much.
somervilletom says
I think it also needs to be pointed out that global warming may also cause localized increases in snowfall. Increased heat can, for example, push cold-air masses southward (in the northern hemisphere), causing increased snowfall in previously temperate regions. Also, snowfall for a region is often limited by cold (because cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm) — warming in those regions can increase snowfall amounts.
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p>Any sort of simplistic approach to “personalizing” global climate change is likely to fail — there is no substitute for understanding (at least at a basic level) the science.
bob-neer says
I submitted this anecdote only as a matter of interest. The real story, as you note, is far more compelling than any argument based on a single example.
lasthorseman says
every five years. Houses built on the swamp I skated on in the winters of my youth. Mountains strip mined, forests clear cut, dying bees and asexual fish from untreated birth control in the water. All of it in total makes Al Gore’s carbon footprint eugenics industry completely valid.