This winter is unusually cold and snowy. South-West Europe is particularly badly affected. Iberia and southern France have rarely experienced such extreme weather conditions.
Western Europe normally enjoys very mild winters thanks to the beneficial influence of the Gulf Stream, a warm current from the Gulf of Mexico crossing the Atlantic and pouring itself on the British Isles, France and Iberia.
If you are not convinced that Western Europe is exceptionally warm for it's latitude, just have a look at the globe. Naples and Porto are at the same latitude as New York, and further north than Beijing. London is at the same distance from the poles as Central Quebec, and more north than Mongolia. Oslo or Helsinki are at comparable latitudes to central Siberia, Alaska or southern Nunavut (Inuit land). If northern Europe is inhabitable as it is, it is only thanks to the Gulf Stream.
It may sound ironic that Global Warming is causing colder winters over Europe, but there is an explanation. While the ice cap is melting over the North Pole cold fresh water is flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. This has for effect to deviate the Gulf Stream to the south, effectively towards the Sahara, and bypassing Europe.
I am afraid that the process has started, and it will be irreversible (well, for at least a few thousand years, maybe hundreds of thousands of years, so pretty much irreversible as far as we and our offspring are concerned). The ice has melted enough in Northern Canada to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific in summer. Polar bears and elks are left melting islands of ice, then drowning. The ice cap is really melting, fast. Arctic water is flowing into the Atlantic and the whole European climate is affected, especially in the Atlantic coast.
I don't want to be pessimistic, but I am afraid it is already too late. Be prepared for Russian- or Canadian-style winters in the years or decades to come. Summers shouldn't be affected that much though, and will actually get hotter, because after all the Earth is getting warmer. So it's time to say goodbye to our cherished temperate climate and get ready for very cold winters and hot summers. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am.
Western Europe normally enjoys very mild winters thanks to the beneficial influence of the Gulf Stream, a warm current from the Gulf of Mexico crossing the Atlantic and pouring itself on the British Isles, France and Iberia.
If you are not convinced that Western Europe is exceptionally warm for it's latitude, just have a look at the globe. Naples and Porto are at the same latitude as New York, and further north than Beijing. London is at the same distance from the poles as Central Quebec, and more north than Mongolia. Oslo or Helsinki are at comparable latitudes to central Siberia, Alaska or southern Nunavut (Inuit land). If northern Europe is inhabitable as it is, it is only thanks to the Gulf Stream.
It may sound ironic that Global Warming is causing colder winters over Europe, but there is an explanation. While the ice cap is melting over the North Pole cold fresh water is flowing into the Atlantic Ocean. This has for effect to deviate the Gulf Stream to the south, effectively towards the Sahara, and bypassing Europe.
I am afraid that the process has started, and it will be irreversible (well, for at least a few thousand years, maybe hundreds of thousands of years, so pretty much irreversible as far as we and our offspring are concerned). The ice has melted enough in Northern Canada to navigate from the Atlantic to the Pacific in summer. Polar bears and elks are left melting islands of ice, then drowning. The ice cap is really melting, fast. Arctic water is flowing into the Atlantic and the whole European climate is affected, especially in the Atlantic coast.
I don't want to be pessimistic, but I am afraid it is already too late. Be prepared for Russian- or Canadian-style winters in the years or decades to come. Summers shouldn't be affected that much though, and will actually get hotter, because after all the Earth is getting warmer. So it's time to say goodbye to our cherished temperate climate and get ready for very cold winters and hot summers. I hope I am wrong, but I don't think I am.