East coast weather can be particularly unpredictable and inconsistent, but what is the deal with the weather lately? One day you are reaching for your turtleneck and down jacket and the next you are drinking iced coffee on the quad. The increasingly prominent discussions of climate change seem to be reinforced by the recent fluctuation in weather, but are these crazy fluxes indicative of a bigger problem or is this just simply Pennsylvania being Pennsylvania?
In the excitement of sunny days filled with sitting on the quad, running outside in shorts, and finally ditching the bean boots it is easy to forget all about the climate change issue and to simply revel in the anticipation of spring on the horizon. However, when a sunny day is followed by a brutal blizzard people begin to wonder what exactly is going on. To make matters worse, everyone seems to have different opinions about what exactly is going on. Some people say that February is just unpredictable. Others point to these fluctuations as a certain sign of global warming in action. Of course, it is extremely difficult to completely dismiss climate change (although some people are doing their absolute best) but it is equally as difficult to point to exactly what is and is not a signal of greater environmental problems.
Critics pull up past weather patterns to point out that these types of fluctuations happen every year and that looking too far into them is a waste of time. That being said, this crazy weather along with the debilitating hurricanes and wild fires that have ravaged city after city this year seem like more than enough to raise red flags. Whether the recent fluctuation are or are not definitively indicative of global warming, they are definitely a reminder that we need to continue to talk about and think about environmental issues. We definitely should enjoy the warm weather when we can get it; however, we cannot let our love for sunny days blind us from the bigger issue at hand: the state of our planet.