The weather is a function of averages. And if we are having warmer than usual weather that means the average temperature is going up. That means we are experiencing the consequences of global warming.
You might think 'if nice spring days means global warming, then bring it on! I'm tired of the snow and the cold. I'm glad it's spring already.' But wait, do you really understand what you are wishing for? The sooner spring comes, the more out of whack the migration patterns between bird, insect, and flower. I have not seen the bees sipping nectar from my flowers. No bees, no pollination, no fruit.
Bees are not the only insect that depends on plants flowering at the right time. Many, many other insects do too, including butterflies and moths. Birds depend on both the insects and the fruit to feed their young. If there aren't enough insects or fruit because the flowers bloomed at the wrong time, then there won't be as many young birds, and bird populations will drop.
Birds are not the only animals to eat insects. Many kinds of mammals do too. Changing when spring time comes is like slipping the clutch: the gears don't meet up right and grind upon making contact. Eventually you can grind your gears away such that the car won't move forward anymore. Some plants and animals can't change fast enough to keep up with the climate change we are creating. They will go extinct. I mourn for the loss of biodiversity.
Since the weather is averages out, if we have an unusually warm day, the chances are good that we will also have an unusually cool day as well. In the spring that could be a frost that kills pollinated buds or young fruit. If we have unusually warm days that cause plants to flower early, not only do they have the problem that they might not be pollinated as well, but there is a much greater risk that they won't have fruit because of a cold snap. Early warm weather is not good for business for a fruit tree farmer.
Global warming causes other extreme weather events too: like long period of drought and excessive flooding, both of which kill crops. If we have enough crop failures the price of food escalates causing starvation for those who live hand to mouth, and inflation for industrialized countries. I mourn for those who will go hungry and bankrupt.
If the weather is warmer earlier in the mid-northern latitudes where I live then think about what is probably happening at the equator or at the poles. This warm weather we are getting is coming from the equator sooner, so the equator must be getting warmer sooner. A warmer equator means more coral reefs are dying and there are going to be more and stronger hurricanes that will wreak property and threaten lives. I weep for those who loose all that they have worked for; for those whose lives are in tatters because of the forces of nature; for those whose loved ones have been ripped away by the wind; and for those whose livelihoods are wiped away by the sea, or forever altered by the increasing heat.
I have friends that care for the environment but they don't believe in global warming. They don't want to believe that all this good weather is really not a good thing. When I try and tell them, I've crossed over the line into political territory. My more gracious friends ignore my perceived indiscretion. Others try and correct me and bring me to my senses. I weep because I am ignored. It feels like no one will take my warning that this wonderful weather is just a Trojan horse.
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