EcoEarth.Info News Archive
Non-profit environment news archive provided on these terms to help find solutions and for posterity
|
Rate
|
Email Article to Friend
|
Printer Friendly
|
Disclaimer & Conditions for Use
|
Share on Facebook
The Ununited States, When It Comes to the Weather
Source: Copyright 2007, New York Times
Date: January 7, 2007
Byline: Andrew C. Revkin
Original URL
WESTERN Europe often experiences extremes of weather in a uniform way, as
when a catastrophic summer heat wave in 2003 in a half-dozen countries caused
the deaths of thousands of people.
In the United States, which spans a continent, there is almost never a shared
sense of meteorological misery — as was made vividly clear when epic snows
buried Denver as if two winters hit back to back while the Northeast basked in
warmth that seemed to render the whole idea of seasons meaningless.
Some climate experts muse that the innately variegated climate across the
country might help explain why it has taken longer for human-caused global
warming to rise to the level of a national priority here than in Europe.
This is not a testable hypothesis, and the experts note that many other factors
contribute to varied attitudes on the issue, ranging from contrasting cultural
and political biases to different levels of dependence on oil and coal or the
industries that profit from them. But they do see the climate issue compounded
here by how normal it is to have abnormal — and very different — conditions
around the country.
“What happened in Europe was everybody ...
Rate Article: 1 (Worst) to 10 (Best) |
Search the Internet with EcoEarth.Info's Search Engine for more information on: 'United States climate change weather'
EcoEarth.Info users agree to the site disclaimer as a condition for use.