Your Opinion: Winter warming not-normal becoming normal?

Dear Editor:

This is February supposedly still winter. Yet, the forecast is for eight days in a row with lows well above freezing and daytime high temperatures in the 70s springtime weather. In 2002, my wife and I moved to Jefferson City from Oklahoma, in part, to experience more seasonal change less summer heat and more winter, including snow. (Jane is originally from Vermont.) Long-time residents have told us winters used to be longer and much colder with much more snow than over the past decade.

A creature that probably welcomes this weather is the armadillo that took up residence near our home last year. Every morning his gouged out divots all over my yard remind me we are living in a changing environment. Armadillos were rarely found in mid-Missouri a decade ago. Because they do not have the capability to store fat and must access food or die, cold weather limits their migration. An armadillo cannot survive a period of 7-8 days of freezing temperatures.

The impact of armadillo induced damage to my yard is minor. But this heat spell could have disastrous consequences for some area farmers. With soil temperatures rising above 50 degrees, trees will bud out early. Between now and spring we are likely to get one or more hard frosts that will destroy that nascent fruit. Back in 2007 such an event occurred. Two weeks of record high temperatures in March were followed by exceptional cold in April with killing frost.

We have heard the earth is warming, that almost every year has set a new highest-heat-record. We in mid-Missouri are starting to experience the impact of that increased heat.

It is time for our political leadership to take action to address global warming.

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