Why there are snowstorms

WHY THERE ARE SNOWSTORMS AMID GLOBAL WARMING

At the beginning of January the Spaniards were impressed by the great amount of snow that was falling in part of the Iberian Peninsula due to the storm “Filomena”- This is all part of the extreme meteorological phenomena brought about by global warming.

MADRID. storm ‘FILOMENA’

Like every time it snows, some opportunistic person seizes the opportunity to make jokes saying that with the cold it is, it is not possible that the planet is warming.

Climate change deniers tend to confuse weather with weather. When it rains in deserts, it is usually in the form of large storms that cause flooding. If you are in the desert on the day it rains, you might think that the weather is rainy, when in fact it is extremely dry.

SPAIN. storm ‘FILOMENA’

Other effects of climate change are the so-called extreme weather events. The planet is warming and we have already exceeded the historical average prior to the industrial revolution by one degree. However, this increase in temperatures makes extreme weather events more frequent and violent.

69% of extreme weather events are caused by climate change

Heat fires in Alaska and Australia, increasingly frequent and devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean, floods in France or heat waves in China - these are all extreme events.

In a Carbon Brief report that gathers data from 300 attribution studies, it was found that 69% of extreme weather events have humaninduced global warming as a common cause.

It is true that the most common extreme events caused by climate change are droughts and heat events, which account for half of the cases. However, extreme cold and snowfall, although less frequent, can also be produced with greater virulence due to climate change. The first mechanism by which climate change could have affected the storm is quite basic: warming temperatures leads to evaporation of water, leading to a more humid atmosphere, leading to more precipitation.

More rainfall means greater chances of flooding, but also of snowfall, when temperatures are low enough and humid air collides with a cold air mass.

This is precisely what has happened with the storm Filomena that swept Spain in January. A water-laden Atlantic storm has encountered a stream of cold air from the North Pole, leaving snowfalls and low temperatures that had not been recorded for half a century.

It is still not known with total certainty to what extent global warming has determined this specific storm, for this an attribution study is necessary once it has passed.

Scientists have long warned that climate change will bring more frequent, wetter, and slower-moving storms. If the next storm shows us anything, it’s that climate change doesn’t just mean more drought and more hurricanes.

CHICKEN MARBELLA

This very Mediterranean dish is incredibly tasty

METHOD

• In a large bowl, mix together oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, 2 tablespoons salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Add chicken to marinade and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Marinate for 2 to 6 hours, tossing mixture every few hours to ensure even marination. • Preheat oven to 350°. Transfer chicken and marinade to a large roasting pan. Pour wine all over and sprinkle brown sugar over chicken. • Bake chicken, basting every 20 minutes with pan juices for 50/60 minutes. • Increase oven to 500° and roast until chicken skin is deeply golden. • Remove chicken, olives, and prunes onto a platter and cover loosely with foil. Bring the juices to a simmer in a pan over medium heat and let reduce by half. Season to taste with salt and pepper and whisk in cold butter and parsley. • Serve chicken with a drizzle of pan juice reduction. • 1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil • 1/2 c. red wine vinegar • 1 c. large pitted prunes • 1 c. large green olives, pitted • 1/2 c. capers • 8 bay leaves • 1 head garlic, cloves separated, crushed, and skins removed • 3 tbsp. dried oregano • Salt • Freshly ground black pepper • 6 lb. bone-in skinon chicken pieces • 1 c. dry white wine • 1/2 c. packed brown sugar • 2 tbsp. cold butter, cubed • 1/2 small bunch parsley, roughly chopped

INGREDIENTS