Unpredictable weather in Alaska has caused serious problems

Humanity does not spare nature and poisons the airgreenhouse gases, and land as plastic waste. But the environment is not a bastard either, because every now and then it presents us with surprises in the form of harsh natural phenomena. For several years in a row, we have been suffering from sultry summers and the accompanying forest fires, and in more distant corners of our planet, terrible earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other disasters occur every now and then. As a rule, the events that occur at the end of one and the beginning of the next year are most memorable for us. So, in the last days of 2021, the American state of Alaska was especially unlucky, because there the record heat with heavy rains was abruptly replaced by frost. As a result, the roads were covered with a thick layer of ice, which caused car accidents.

Icemageddon has arrived in Alaska

Weather anomalies in Alaska

The situation in the state of Alaska was told byscientific publication Science Alert. First, on the territory of Kodiak Island, a record air temperature for December was established - the thermometers rose to 19.4 degrees Celsius. But the locals could not enjoy the warmth to their fullest, because after a few hours heavy rainfall began. In just a few hours, 25 millimeters of rain fell on the island - such a downpour in this region has not been observed for decades. But that's not all, because after the downpour, it became cold again and Alaska was covered with a layer of ice.

Alaska acquired this appearance after rain and cold snap

According to meteorologists, the cause of the record heatand the downpour that followed it became tropical air, carried from Hawaii to the cold far north. Warm weather, especially in December, turned out to be an extremely unexpected phenomenon for the residents of Alaska. After all, the climate in this part of our planet can be called extreme - not only are there very cold winters, but also in summer in these parts it is rarely comfortable.

Interesting fact: the highest air temperature,registered in Alaska is 37.8 degrees Celsius - it was recorded in the city of Fort Yukon on June 27, 1915. The lowest air temperature in Alaska was recorded at Prospect Creek State Airport on January 23, 1971 - the thermometers dropped to -62.2 degrees Celsius.

Why do weather anomalies occur?

There is no doubt that the reason for suchnature's surprise is environmental pollution. The butterfly effect works - when pollution in one part of the planet leads to certain natural phenomena, they become the cause of more and more serious problems. At the moment, in the city of Fairbanks, which is considered the second largest in Alaska, ice blocks huge sections of roads. Needless to say, the thick ice cover has caused serious car accidents. In the Alaska State Transportation Department, the incident came up with the neologism "icemageddon", which can be translated as the end of the world associated with an abundance of ice.

Melting large amounts of ice can lead to flooding

Read also: What will the weather be like in the future and what should we do about it?

Nature has prepared unpleasant surprises for the inhabitantsto other parts of the earth. For example, at Seattle Airport, hundreds of flights were recently delayed. In California, snow and rain have caused flooding - in some areas of Los Angeles there have even been cases of evacuations. In northern California, where wildfires still raged a few months ago, the Lake Tahoe region was covered in snow - some people were trapped. According to meteorologists, in the Sierra Nevada mountain range passing through almost the entire eastern part of the state of California, almost 5 meters of snow fell, which is a record for the entire time of observations.

The Sierra Nevada ridge has a record amount of snow

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As scary as it is to realize, in the futurenature will present us with even more severe trials. According to numerous forecasts, the air temperature on our planet will rise by 3 degrees Celsius. It seems that this is not much, but even such a change will inevitably lead to flooding of cities, hunger due to problems with farming and other large-scale problems. However, some studies believe that the predictions are not correct and the future of humanity will not be so harsh. You can read more about what awaits us in the future in this article.