2015 was a year full of odd weather trends: from a suspiciously warm winter to having a pile of snow in Boston, Massachusetts that didn’t fully melt until June. Although being able to not have to lug around a heavy winter coat this year was nice, these comfortable winter temperatures do not come without future consequence.
“It has been an unusually warm winter,” said Jake Crouch, a climate scientist at the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. “The Northeast region had their fifth warmest December on record, and January has been warmer than average,” he told the website, OurAmazingPlanet.
One of the possible effects of this very comfortable winter could be an itchy summer. Freezing weather kills off bugs, but they were able to multiply during the winter, leaving the US with more bugs than previous years. “The mosquitoes and fleas will also most likely be out and pestering everyone much earlier in the year” said Crouch.
Many animals have also been rather confused by this weather. According to Fox News, “Officials said the spring-like weather is throwing off the animals and they are getting a jump on things they shouldn’t be doing for another month.”
Animals that come out of hibernation too soon will have an incredibly hard time trying to find food for themselves. They won’t be able to find food because although the weather is warm, it is not warm enough for plants to bloom leaving the animals without berries, nuts, or any other foliage they typically eat.
Due to the shortage of food for the animals that come out of hibernation early, there has been an increased rate of animals found in residential areas. This doesn’t sound like a big problem but the animals such as bears, are not used to seeing humans so they are unpredictable as to how they will act.
Although these weather changes have been much more comfortable and warmer, they may make for uncomfortable summers. If these temperature trends continue, they will change the typical summer/winter most Americans know forever.
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