Climate Change

Climate Change

By: Riley Anderson

     Climate Change is a recent term, described as "a change in global or regional climate patterns, in particular a change apparent from the mid to late 20th century onwards and attributed largely to the increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide produced by the use of fossil fuels" (Dictionary). Through research of climate change and the effects that will occur on in the state of New Hampshire, it appears that New Hampshire may be affected in a variety of different ways. Although there are going to be many changes, New Hampshire will not be affected harshly through climate change. 

Can we keep our winters like this? PC: Proctor Academy

     According to the NH.gov the effects the are currently occurring in the state of New Hampshire are as follows; "warmer winters, reduced snowfall, increase rainfall, rising sea level, and more severe weather events that increase the risk of flooding" (NH.gov) These changes can be seen throughout the weather patterns that have been occurring over the past couple of weeks at Proctor through drastic weather changes, but saying that it is due to climate change is inaccurate because we need to asses the weather for a period of years to determine whether or not it was just weather or climate change. However, as I was saying, there has been extremely low temperatures that have brought snow to the community, to temperatures in the 50's (Fahrenheit) with rain. There we can conclude that as climate change continues in our society the winters are going to be shorter and the spring will be much longer. The climate of New Hampshire will shift from a primarily heavy winters to heavier rainfall during this time period. 

PC: Myself
The pond, in relatively unsafe conditions due the fluctuation in temperatures recently

     I spent a lot of time looking at annual averages for towns in New Hampshire, like temperature, rainfall and snowfall. Through looking at Manchester, New Hampshire the past couple years have resulted in a much harsher winter than the past years. I looked for historical date of areas closer to Andover and the Proctor community but was not able to find proficient data that would allow for a conclusion to be made about the Proctor community. After looking at the date from Manchester, New Hampshire, I calculated that the average snowfall in the city has been 18.46 inches in the past 10 years. However there has been years that the average snowfall has been less than 5 inches which is outrageously low for climate of New Hampshire. The current trend appears to be that there will be years where the snowfall will be harsh, followed by years where precipitation is acquired (Weather).

New Hampshire has history of having harsh winters, these winters could get worse in the near future, but eventually we may be seeing more rainfall.

     The Proctor community can expect to see more rain in the foreseeable future, which can be good or bad. The con of increased rainfall or faster snow melt is the increased likelihood of floods that ruin land. I find it astonishing how there are individuals in the world who can deny climate change and say that there is no evidence, of its occurrence. The New Hampshire government says that in order to address climate change they need to develop plentiful sources of renewable energy and use energy more efficiently in both buildings and vehicles. In addition, there will need to be a greater emphasis on integrating land use and transportation planning in order to reduce the number of miles traveled on our roads each year" (NH.gov). The government is slowly working towards addressing the issue of climate change and I hope we can eventually get a worldwide effort to stabilize our output of chemicals.