Researchers Say Warm and Rainy Winters in Northwest Russia Are Caused by Human Activity

People miss the chilly wind of winter during the sweltering hot days of summer.

Extreme cold and heat are both uncomfortable, but mild and damp winters can also be problematic.

Northwest Russia, for example, had the hottest and wettest winter on record since 1902.

As a result, the permafrost melted, increasing the danger of floods and landslides the next spring, as well as the quick melting of snow and ice, reducing available water supplies and increasing the risk of droughts in the summer.

Warm and rainy winters are caused by human activity

(Photo : YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images)

A Postech research team led by Professor Jonghun Kam (Division of Environmental Science and Engineering) has identified human impact as the cause of northwest Russia's warm and rainy 2019/20 winter, as per ScienceDaily.

This is the outcome of evaluating climatological data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6), and it showed that people have a higher effect than the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), a natural variable.

The NAO is a notable meteorological phenomenon in the North Atlantic in which the difference in sea level pressure between Icelandic low pressure and Azores high pressure changes like a seesaw.

The NAO was strong during the study period, but the chances of warm and rainy weather were extremely low if greenhouse gas levels did not rise owing to human activities.

Human activity has raised the likelihood of a warm winter by nearly five times in the northwestern part of Russia, and the likelihood of a rainy winter by around twenty times.

The likelihood of hot and rainy winters rose by around 20 and 30 times, respectively, as a result of greenhouse gas emissions.

Because the region is vulnerable to temperature variations induced by global warming, the study team cautioned that hot and rainy winters may become more common in northwest Russia in the future.

Winter weather in the region, in particular, has a significant impact on spring and summer weather across Eurasia.

Northeast Asia, particularly the Korean Peninsula, cannot afford to ignore these conditions.

Professor Jonghun Kam stated they need to pay greater attention to climate change in winters since it raises the likelihood of natural catastrophes in the spring and summer the following year.

He said that they must adapt to climate change by regularly analyzing changes in the risk of spring floods or summer droughts in not just the given region, but also neighboring Northeast Asia regions.

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Anthropogenic impacts on the environment

Environmental consequences of technological use are frequently seen as unavoidable.

Many technologies are designed to exploit, manipulate, or otherwise "improve" nature for the benefit of mankind.

At the same time, evolution has optimized and is constantly adjusting the plethora of processes in nature any disruption of these natural processes by technology is likely to have detrimental environmental implications.

The environmental effect of agriculture can vary greatly.

Ultimately, the environmental impact of agriculture is determined by the farming system's production techniques.

There are two types of environmental impact indicators means-based, which based on the farmer's production techniques, and the effect-based, which is based on the influence of farming practices on the agricultural system or on emissions to the environment.

The environmental impact of irrigation includes changes in the amount and quality of soil and water as a result of irrigation, as well as the resulting effects on natural and social circumstances at the irrigation scheme's tail end and downstream.

The effects are the result of altered hydrological conditions caused by the scheme's construction and operation.

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