At the time I write this, noon on March 9, 2020, according to the time of the East of the United States, the temperature in New York is 17 ⁰C, in London 10 ⁰C and in Moscow 7 ⁰C, unlikely levels for this date. The warm winter of 2019-2020 is amazing, but more amazing is the almost zero information about this anomaly.

On both continents the situation is similar, that is, the temperature lag is mostly in the northern hemisphere. For example, in the usually cold London the thermometer has hardly touched zero degrees throughout the winter. The temperature, in this period, has moved around 7 ⁰C, a level too high for the time. Neither in New York, London or Moscow, three cities remembered for their beautiful white landscapes during the winter, has it snowed with the usual frequency and intensity during the coldest season of the year.

In my internet search I find out that snow was the great absent in the freezing season in Moscow, where winter is usually very cold and with heavy snowfall, especially in January and February, as Sputnik reviews in his article 7-3 -2020: Outside of the Arctic Circle, Where has the Winter Weather Gone?. In the Russian capital the snow usually reaches thicknesses greater than 30 cm in January, however this year it barely reached 7 cm.

According to the Russian media, “At the end of the month, the Russian Hydrometeorological Center reported that the average temperature of the capital broke a historical record and exceeded it by 9.2 Celsius degrees, based on measurements made since 1879.” He also reports that 70 other Russian cities have experienced the same phenomenon and set the same record. “A warm winter after a summer of forest fires”, which occurred a few months ago in large Russian regions, “and although the situation was never as ugly as in Australia or the Amazon, massive fires swept the forests of vast areas of the country.”

This last Sputnik dimension shows a possible relationship between the warm winter and the great fires of last year, it is important to take it into account.

A record of 9.2 enC in less than a century and a half, insignificant time on the geological scale, is equivalent to a very serious climatic accident, which hopefully does not have continuity during the next summer. This increase is a gigantic qualitative leap that should trigger alarms on a planetary scale, just as the coronavirus pandemic is doing. However, the warm winter, which is not over yet, has been managed with a very low profile by the world’s media.

An average temperature increases of almost 10 ⁰C is not easy to stop relating to climate change. At the moment it is an important and unexpected hemispheric warming. However, we must be cautious, keep observing and not draw conclusions lightly. Suddenly we are surprised by an icy storm in May, although this would also fit the definition of climate change.

Sandor Alejandro Gerendas-Kiss