Wilder Carnes, Staff Editor
Harsh winters are no stranger to New England, however the Northern States are not the only ones feeling the cold. In the South and across the West many states recorded temperatures way below their average which may impact the U.S in complex ways.
The National Weather Service has predicted some cities to be 30 to 50 degrees below average. As a whole the Continental U.S. is facing the coldest temperatures in 20 years with some places breaking records over 100 years old.
Since the polar vortex in early January many temperatures have done little to subside. Travel is slower and many places are facing dangerous conditions. Some schools have even closed on below temperature days. Some feel that the weather is really not that bad.
“It hasn’t actually done much to change me personally, but I know these extreme temperatures could be dangerous,” NHS senior Joe Calbo said.
This may not only affect people in the short term, but could cause problems in the spring and summer. Crops will not thrive in prolonged winters. So far the U.S. has experienced weather only normal for mid-February which may mean that winter will last longer into the spring. Altered crop growth could cause major damage to the U.S. economically.
Members of a Purdue University research group stated, “It can range from the loss of a few early blossoms in a low lying field to the complete loss of hundreds of acres over several counties; from barely visible leaf burn on early spring vegetables and flowers, to the death of above and below ground plant tissues.”
The U.S. may face serious problems as the weather patterns change. With global warming weather will be extremely cold, and hot. Their effect on each other is hard to predict but could be devastating.
In December many auto sales were lower than the average for that month. Economists are actually citing the cold temperatures of that month to be the cause. Not only that, but snow storms have had an impact on peoples’ ability to apply for jobs meaning lower employment at the end of each month. Though the numbers are menial compared to the entire country it could get worse if the weather does.
Beside the economic impact, energy as a whole has faced some questions. The use of Natural Gas has actually become a problem in the cold weather. Natural Gas usage hit a spike as the demand for it was way more than suppliers could distribute. In the Northeast some gas wells were frozen shut and got cut off from the high market demand. This caused some of the energy suppliers to turn back to traditional gas so that they could keep up.
“On the two days when they could have made the most all year they weren’t selling they were buying,” said one unnamed natural gas trader on forbes.com.
The unusually cold winter across the country has caused concern, but may be another threat forcing more Americans to get on board with going green, and trying to help the planet. As the rest of winter comes it will certainly be hard to predict how severe it will become so try to stay warm.
Photo credit to www.nydailynews.com.
