From snow to sun: Could climate change be causing extreme weather shifts?

From a once-in-a-decade snowstorm last week to temperatures reaching 70 later this week, it seems like the weather whiplash in the Cape Fear never quits—but has it always been this way?

Dr. Yalei You teaches in the Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences at UNCW. You has a career spanning decades studying climate. He said rapid weather shifts aren’t unusual in our area during the winter and spring; a phenomenon known as a spring barrier. During this time, weather patterns can become more volatile.

However, in recent years, many scientists—including You—have been examining the potential connection between global climate change and more frequent extreme weather events.

One area of You’s research involves analyzing satellite data to investigate whether climate change might be driving severe weather patterns, such as snowstorms and hurricanes.

The idea is that polar regions, which scientists know are warming rapidly, could influence abnormal weather in other regions.

“So that’s one theory is to say, ‘okay, the snow event indeed has something to do with–has a lot to do with–global climate change,’ because global climate change first effected the polar region and then the polar region amplifies this global climate change, amplifies this warming, and that affects the region,” You explained.

Still, You remains cautious about a correlation between climate change and extreme weather.

“Maybe it is, but we don’t have the evidence, the solid evidence yet, really because we don’t have a long enough record,” He noted. “We only have reliable data record in the polar region about 70 years.”

You hopes his research and others will provide a better understanding about the impacts of climate change in the future.

“For sure global climate change already affects some parts of the weather, for example temperature, but we are not sure whether precipitation. Not sure yet,” he said.

To learn more about You’s research, you can visit his lab page.

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