Spring in February

Everyone knows that spring comes on March 20, so today spring starts to coincide with astronomical equinox. However equinoxes precession ahead due to global Earth's axis (which some have spoken again, "Why change hour twice a year?") At a rate of a little more one day per century; if don’t make a reform as the Gregory XIII in sixteenth century , sooner or later equinox and the beginning of spring will happen in the middle of February.

Anomalia Frebruary 2016

But astronomical considerations aside, I would want to talk about is atypical month of February we have been in the northern hemisphere. Unlike other years, the austral summer is not being used as much drive. Instead the southern winter literally no happened. It is true there have been some storms, snow, cold snaps ... but usually the months of January and February were weak between autumn and early spring. In recent years the southern winter had been shortened in number of days, literally this year in most of the northern hemisphere simply has not existed.

One reason has been "El Niño" the toughest ever recorded. "El Niño" phenomenon isn’t related to Climate Change to some extent in the harsh climate of recent months would not be the direct cause of it. However, the hardness of the El Niño can’t be separated from Global Warming. Virulence climatic stored energy to the atmosphere above the oceans (see “Really are temperatures stopping its rice?”) therefore El Niño is an ocean phenomenon.

The surprise was really the temperature anomaly in February. Regardless of the unusual heat and the frenetic race of the average temperature of the planet to go break records year after year; the temperature rise in February was alarming. The NOAA report is devastating. The global temperature has experienced an increase in the trend, ie increasing the anomaly is much higher than those experienced in previous years. This increase is also found in the ocean, both in surface and deep waters, which until now weren’t being affected by global warming.

Another alarming sign is the increase of CO2. In the middle of the renewable energy revolution, accompanied by the fall in consumption of fossil fuels, we don’t expect a drop in the concentration of CO2 (something that is not expected until the 70s of this century) but a small turning the tendency to increase. On the contrary, the turning speed of growth is increasing (see Record increase of annual carbon Dioxide Observed at Mauna Loa for 2015). There may be plenty of reasons including fracking; in normal uses of this system generates a lot of uncontrolled emission of methane (CH4) into the atmosphere, without count accidents as the county with California this year, the greatest until today.

But the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere forget that nature also emit CO2. This issue usually forgotten increases with temperature. Methane captured by permafrost, CO2 captured and stored in the snow on the glaciers and the associated increase in temperature of the deep ocean release hydride of methane. The temperature rise is triggering these huge deposits of carbon. At the same time the temperature is creating a second effect: water loses power to dissolve gases such as CO2, CH4 and NH3; all of them greenhouse gases. In this disaster we must add that the alleged increase in photosynthetic activity proved to be false; first because high temperature reduces gas absorption capacity and consequently can’t do its function optimally; and second due the forest area is reduced exponentially year after year, thanks to climate change that kills plants (see After storm will always be calm) and own land predation without stop.

When it seemed that we start going on the right track towards regard the climate problem, nature reminds us that we have been stupid things too long. It was necessary that the economic losses from extreme weather began to create concern in financial circles (and the need for Obama to show something to make their way to the White House to be remembered for more than the first black President) as countries begin to take serious action to stop climate change. But the data show that the inertia that allowed skeptics and deniers maintain their theses now comes against us. Only human pride could believe that it would stop simply by stopping the growth in reasonable limits.

Climate change has already started and if it irreversibly.

ENSO (El Niño)