Gertler isn’t alone in investigating stagnant summer weather, and the mechanism behind changes to the season’s weather is an area of active research.

The changing conditions may also enable air pollution to build up in cities. With fewer strong extratropical cyclones, weather patterns may linger longer in the same place, increasing the odds of long-lasting, dangerous heat waves. It’s not hurricanes, it’s not sea-level rise and storm surge or ice-sheet collapse.”īut, he said, “It’s a change in our just daily experience of weather in the summer.”Īnd the consequences could be significant. “I say that facetiously, but it’s not the very headline-grabbing, extreme event, climate change stuff. “This is not sexy climate change stuff,” Gertler said by phone. That could explain a change that scientists had already observed: a decline in the number of strong extratropical systems during summer in the northern hemisphere. He found that compared to 40 years ago, less energy is available to fuel summer-season extratropical cyclones, massive low-pressure weather systems associated with warm and cold fronts. Gertler is a graduate student at MIT and the lead author of a recent paper on the influence of climate change on summer weather in the northern hemisphere’s mid-latitudes, home to much of the U.S.

Changes to humidity and average temperature patterns are redistributing the energy that drives summer weather, Charles Gertler said in an interview with YCC. That doesn’t just leave us sweating more. Broiling, steamy weatherĪs the globe warms, summers are growing hotter. Now, I’ll change the piece to show you how summers are subtly changing as a result of climate change – with potential consequences for your health. Imagine that his original work represents summer without the influence of human-caused climate change.

Vivaldi’s music evokes sluggish periods of hot weather interrupted by frenzied thunderstorms, both staples of temperate-region summers. Here is the first movement of “Summer,” the second concerto from Vivaldi’s famous composition known as “The Four Seasons.” It’s performed here by the Wichita State University Chamber Players, with John Harrison as the violin soloist. As you’ll recall, there’s so much I can say in reply to your question that I’m breaking my answer into four parts – one for each season.Īs I did last spring, to illustrate how climate change is affecting the season, I’ll be revising the music of Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. Now that summer is upon us, I’m returning to your letter. I ask the question because I have some suspicion that that’s going to change in some way, shape, or form. In the spring, we see the wonderful flower gardens that people have planted – and the beauty of that can be predicted. In the winter, there may be snow or outdoor sports. In the fall, we see the shedding of the leaves and the beauty of the trees when they’re bare. I would like to read your prediction of the effects of climate change on the traditional four weather seasons.įrom a lifestyle preference, it has been nice for me to know that in the summer, there will be the warmth of the ocean.

Vivaldi winter sheet music