I have been here for 3 years in Kansas city and I always felt that Summer was harshly hot. I faced the Summer of 2005, 2006 and 2007 with heat waves in August. But 2008 we saw only 2 days of heat waves in the end of July and that’s about it. August has been fairly cooler than the 3 years I faced. Overall, the summer itself has been like this, alternating between days of moderate heat and rain.
The reason that I was thinking as a cause for this is the rising Gas Prices. With Gas prices touching the everest, people have cut down on their commutes to minimize spending on Gas. Offices have called for working from home a few days a week if it is possible. People have also cut down on Air Travels and the Airline industry has been going on a measure to optimize their flights by cutting down the ones that are not needed. This I thought was probably giving a localised effect of lower temperature due to lesser emissions from the above mentioned factors.
But it seems to be due to a Natural pattern of cooling in the Central and Eastern Pacific ocean called the La Nina effect.
La Nina cools waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean, but its effects are felt around the globe.It is one of a number of natural climatic cycles that can re-inforce or counteract the warming trend stemming from increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
It is just nature’s way of reacting to the global warming. So it does seem like a temporary reaction to a long term trend, which means the frying will continue.
So what was summer like in your part of the world? (or What was Winter like for those from the Southern hemisphere).
