Recent Vermont Media Connecting the Climate Dots

We thought you might be interested in these recent articles making the connection between the wild weather and the wild things we’re doing to our atmosphere…while not front page news (yet), it’s quite remarkable the number of journalists we have who are rising to the occasion.

Times Argus: The new normal

“The floods that swept through central and northeastern Vermont nine days ago were a unique weather event and by themselves are not evidence of a changing climate. But the floods fit the pattern of extreme weather that experts have been observing and point to a larger problem.”

VTDigger: When weather predictions can’t be ignored – by Louis Porter (here’s another sober VTDigger piece)

“For years, scientists have been predicting more extreme weather as a result of human-caused climate change. When we talk about the issue, we prudently disclaim that individual weather events or seasons cannot be definitively connected to climate change. But the pattern emerging of record-shattering weather around the world in recent months is difficult to ignore.”

Burlington Free Press: Lake Champlain: Learning to adapt to the new normal – by Matt Sutkoski (photo attached)

“Warmer air holds more moisture and as the climate warms, the earth’s lower atmosphere in general holds more water. The phenomenon can lead to unprecedented rainstorms…We’re seeing it all over the world, including right here. We have a big increase in dramatic rainfall events.” -Bill McKibben

VPR: Days of Thunder — by Climate Action Day organizer Kathryn Blume!

“I have to say that our thunderstorms of late seem different – almost scary, actually – and I am normally a big fan of charismatic weather. But honestly, they don’t seem like real life thunderstorms. They’re more like something from a science fiction movie – like the ominous precursor to an alien invasion. For one thing, the rain doesn’t look like it’s just falling from the sky because of gravity. This looks like rain which is plunging towards the ground because it’s being pushed.”

WAMC: Governor Forms Climate Cabinet to Address Climate Change Issues – Pat Bradley
“Vermont Governor Peter Schumlin says he believes recent heavy snows and flooding are tied to climate disruption, and the state needs to manage the threats and impacts.”

VPR: The Big Storm – Jay Craven
“Extreme weather hurts our families, our neighbors and our communities. Taking effective measures against it will be tough. But once we’re truly engaged, it’s an effort that can unify us, and point us toward a hopeful future.”

The New Yorker (national media, featuring Vermont): Storms Brewing – by Elizabeth Kolbert (Fast Company’s coverage also highlights Vermont)

“Even as the President was consoling the bereaved in Joplin, residents in Vermont were bailing out from record-high water levels around Lake Champlain; Texas was suffering from a near-record drought that could cost the state more than four billion dollars in agricultural losses; and officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were forecasting that the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, which formally began on June 1st, would once again be “’above normal.'”

Got more stuff you’ve seen, or written? Please pass it along by posting below