The extreme cold
settling over the US this week will be biting, as a blast of arctic air and
strong winds threaten to plunge several regions into subzero temperatures.
Roughly 150 million people across the US will be forced to face the frigid
conditions, posing life-threatening dangers to anyone without shelter from the
storms, wreaking havoc on holiday travel plans and possibly straining
susceptible power grids.
“The shock to the system
so to speak – whether that’s human bodies or power grid – is going to be
substantial because we haven’t seen this in a long time,” said climate scientist
Daniel Swain, noting that, in general, numbing cold is becoming less common.
Blistering cold events
aren’t exactly new, but they are becoming more stark. The dramatic and sudden
shift in severity, from record highs to precipitous plunges, can have a profound
effect on adaptation, especially for plants, animals and ecosystems exposed to
the elements. This week’s winter storms may have their own connections to the
climate crisis, which scientists are still discussing and debating. But it’s
clear that the underlying impacts caused by global heating may make them harder
to endure.
The National Weather
Service
warned that the severe storm will produce record-breaking conditions with
temperatures quickly plummeting by 25-35F, and winds gusting up to 60 mph.
Moving southward across the central plains, the system will also produce heavy
snowfall and blinding whiteout squalls. Every state in the continental US is
expected to feel a freeze this week, with areas east of the continental divide
bearing the brunt, and some areas could reach temperatures as low as -70F.
In these cold
temperatures, frostbite can occur in under five minutes, NWS said.
All this, while many
areas impacted by the surge were in the midst of
having record-hot Decembers. “It will be more of a drastic change from what
humans and other living things have been experiencing recently,” Alex Lamers,
the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service’s
Weather Prediction Center said, adding that it “is unusual to see this magnitude
of a temperature fall in such a short period of time”.
Experts say that could
make it harder for animals and ecosystems, even those that are typically
well-adapted to the cold.
“Birds are generally
able to cope with cold conditions – especially in areas where low temperatures
are common,” Brooke Bateman, director of Climate Science with the National
Audubon Society said. “But when conditions are this cold, birds need to use more
energy and require more food, which puts them at risk of not being able to
sustain themselves.
Migratory species may face greater challenges,
especially those who lingered north longer because of the warmer weather. “Birds
like bluebirds that tend to cue migration based on weather conditions and food
availability may find themselves unable to cope with the cold snap while also
trying to retreat from it,” she said.
Other birds, including
the chipping sparrow, Carolina wren, American robin, and northern cardinal have
expanded their ranges north because of warmer winters caused by the climate
crisis. They may be less equipped to handle the extreme chill. She encouraged
those concerned to create bird-friendly communities with feeders and native
plants that can help provide key sources of sustenance.
The abruptness of the
drop in temperatures is also expected to impact aquatic life. Fish and other
water bound animals typically retreat into the depths when conditions worsen. If
changes happen too quickly,
they may not get there in time. Several areas may emerge from the freezing
conditions to find scores of fish littering their shores.
The Wildlife Rescue
Association’s Jackie McQuillan outpatient care lead told the Vancouver Sun at
the start of this year – following another arctic blast – dramatic weather
changes are impacting wildlife, but its difficult to gauge how populations maybe
changed. Some species that burrow into deep snow
may struggle with the sudden onslaught, if there’s not enough of a bank
there already, and others that have faced greater food scarcity due to changing
conditions will be more vulnerable to the severe storm.
Cattle, and
other animals populations raised outside, may also be stressed from the
shift, even those whose thick coats typically protect them from winter
weather. The NWS warned that “livestock interests will also be severely
impacted”. Ranchers are already rushing to move their herds to areas
where they can be shielded from the storm and supplying them with more
food to help make them more resilient in the extreme conditions.
“I won’t say
it’s going to be good, but ranchers will do everything they can to make
it as less bad as possible,” Brett Moline, a rancher and the director of
public and governmental affairs for the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation
told Wyoming Public Radio.
Meanwhile,
Floridians are already preparing for another round of frigid iguanas to
fall from the trees, as they have in the past when temperatures drop.
The cold-blooded creatures, used to a more balmy climate, are typically
immobilized in weather under 50F.
Beyond ecosystem
impacts, the extreme cold will take a toll on people who are exposed,
posing life-threatening risks for the unhoused, in areas where there are
power outages, and for those risking travel through the hardest-hit
regions.
Agencies across
the country are urging households to prepare for the worst, with strong
winds adding to the possibility energy systems could fail. Extra
supplies, including blankets, could mean the difference between life and
death.
They may well be
the coldest temperatures I ever experience for the rest of my life in
this part of the world,” said Swain.
As people around
the world brace for more extreme heatwaves and extreme rainfall events –
made more likely by the climate crisis – Swain said, we will still have
to navigate these sharp shifts. “This is a reminder that we can still
get these kinds of events even in a warming climate.”