Vermonters ask: Where’s winter?

By Christian Avard | Vermont Guardian

Posted January 6, 2007

DUMMERSTON — January is not the month Vermonters associate with water sports, but a group of concerned citizens braved the bone-chilling West River Friday to illustrate the impact they say global warming is having in Vermont.

About a half a dozen people paddled and took to inner tubes on this popular summer recreation spot, and meandered their way under the covered bridge along Vermont 30 where a banner read, “Where’s winter?”

“We’re seeing the impacts on the ground in Vermont and we’re all here because we love winter in Vermont. We love snow, we love ice, we love wintertime activites, we love the wildlife, the people and the culture … so many things in Vermont are going to be affected by global climate changes such as our agricultural system, maple syrup production, the ski industry, anything that Vermonters love and depend on for their livelihood, said Jonathan Crowell, of Brattleboro, who rode the West River in a tube.

Being able to kayak down the river, he noted, was a clear illustration of the warming trend.

“Here I am in January probably close to 50 degrees, maybe warmer and here we are tubing down the West River it’s totally absurd and I think it sends a clear message that global climate change is happening and having a catastrophic effect and here in Vermont we’re feeling it on the ground and with the changes in Congress maybe there’s some hope,” Crowell said.

Annual temperatures in Vermont have increased between 1.6 and 3 degrees, depending on the study, while winters have warmed even more. Snowfall in December was down by about seven inches for the month as compared to the 30-year average and by nearly a foot for the season as compared to the past three decades.

“We’ve already raised the temperature of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit and if we don’t change the emissions of greenhouse gases we’re going to raise it 4 to 7 degrees in the next 50 years. Temperature rise is already having a dramatic impact on our geography and the way we live. It’s just insane we’re doing so little about it,” said Janisse Ray, also of Brattleboro.

Ray believes there’s hardly a lack of solutions provided people think outside of the box.

“There are a lot of things we could do. We could set an emissions cap on automobiles. We could really set a cap on emissions based on the latest science, given each person a carbon dioxide quota, that you would use with plane tickets, train tickets, and when your quota is done it’s done,” she said. “We could make laws that say new buildings must be energy efficient, we could use all the money that we’re spending on nuclear weapons and put it into alternative energy, especially our rail system which is just in shambles today.”

Many critics, scientists, and climatologists believe that the weather phenomenon known as El Nino has a lot to do with this year’s poor winter conditions rather than global warming. While these river enthusiasts recognize this, they don’t believe that’s a good reason to ignore the larger issues of climate change.

A growing number of scientists are looking to see how global warming may be altering the typical El Nino patterns. Once happening every five to seven years, they are now happening every two to three years, and are often longer in duration and more intense.

“I would ask what is it that causes El Nino? I would think that has direct causation to global climate change,” chimed Peter Hawkins, of Brattleboro. “It makes no sense that storm systems are affecting the greenhouse effect.”

“I get impatient with the El Nino excuse,” added Ray. “It’s just another lame excuse of many when the majority of scientists say that they think we humans because of our greenhouse gas emissions are causing the temperature rise and the climate to change in various ways. There’s been more droughts, more flooding, more intense hurricanes, and El Nino is another example of our [burying our] heads in a hole in the ground.”

Participants stressed the necessity of conserving and urged Vermonters to think and act creatively.

“Just the little things that you hear every day from countless people like biking instead of driving buying fuel efficient vehicles, light bulbs, shower head catches, and on and on,” said Raven Burchard, of Brattleboro. “We’re trying to build from the bottom-up because that’s the only way that’s going to come from [and with help from the people at the top too]. We may at the point where there’s not much we can do but that doesn’t mean we’re going to stop trying.”