It’s only November, so why has there already been major snowstorms in the North East? And, isn’t a longer ski season totally awesome? It means more time to shred those gnarly hills, more snowball fights to be had and more time spent skating on the ice rink. Right?

Not so fast. Extreme weather is actually at the heart of climate change, and we don’t mean that in a good way. The United Nations is about to release a report on adaptation to climate change. This report, which will be released on November 18, put together by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is slated to report that the pollution from man-made greenhouse gasses are the culprit for the sudden extreme weather changes. As you may remember from the ACE Assembly, 2011 has already been put in the record books for being the most extreme weather year in history, meaning that there have been an incredible number of blizzards, droughts, a heat wave and flooding. Hurricane Irene wrecked havoc on my home state of Vermont and was something that nobody could have prepared for.

This extreme weather is truly crazy, but what’s even crazier is how much it has cost the United States government, businesses, industries and even individuals. Before the latest snowstorm this past weekend to the North East, the total amount of weather related damages amounted to $35 billion.

Okay. Before we get too freaked out let’s take a step back and remember that weather events cannot be tied entirely to climate change, but according to an article in the Treehugger, scientists are “now 99% certain that climate change will cause more extreme heat waves, fewer extreme spells of cold weather and more intense downpours.” That doesn’t sound fun at all.

To learn more check out the LA Times Article “‘Snowtober’ fits U.N Climate Change Predictions” and “Climate Change Likely Already Causing More Extreme Weather, IPCC Says”

What do you think about these new reports on extreme weather patterns?