What does the mild weather mean?
New Yorkers are basking in some milder than normal weather. But as YNN's Erin Clarke tells us, some environmentalists are worried about the unseasonable temperatures.
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NEW YORK STATE -- Have you noticed the huge piles of snow that usually make it a difficult walk down the street during this time of year aren't there? And that the sun is shining more days than expected?
"November was, on average, six degrees above normal in Syracuse and in the Binghamton area too," said Dave Nicosia, National Warning Service Meteorologist.
In fact, a good part of Upstate New York also experienced an unseasonably warm November and so far, folks are enjoying a mild December too.
“In Syracuse, it was the third warmest November since 1902, so pretty significant. And in Binghamton, it was the second warmest since we've been keeping records here in 1951," Nicosia said.
Little to no snow on the ground so far this season and not having to bundle up seems great, but some environmentalists warn that might be a sign of something not so good.
"Regions in the United States and internationally are dependent upon snow or snow melt for their water supply. If you don't have, if you have the warmer temperatures in the winter time, you don't have the snow melt, therefore, you don't have the runoff, therefore, your water levels are going to go down," said SUNY ESF Environmental Studies Professor Richard Smardon.
These changes, Smardon says, are the result of global warming, an issue discussed at the United Nations 17th Conference of Parties. The result, a plan for a new global agreement by 2015, but scientists say the world continues towards over three degrees of warming with possible severe impacts, like the inundation of coastal countries.
"Changes to the ecology. Incidence of disease moving from one country to another. Malaria has been moving from North Africa to Italy because of the disease factor of some species of mosquitoes. We're seeing it with West Nile right here in Central New York," Smardon said.
Major changes aren't likely to happen tomorrow. Scientists believe recent extreme weather patterns are just the beginning and urge the world's countries to take significant steps towards reducing their carbon footprints sooner rather than later.