And not matter which side of the climate debate person sits, one thing is clear: the year of extreme weather has been a boon for some local businesses and caused hard times for others.
The Natural Resources Defense Council unveiled an interactive web site Thursday on which residents can click on each state to view extreme-weather records. The advocacy organization said Americans can expect more such extreme-weather events as a result of global warming.
“From heat waves to floods to fires, 2011 was a year of extreme weather for communities throughout the United States. This alarming, yet illuminating data is indicative of what we can expect as climate change continues,” said Kim Knowlton, the NRDC senior scientist who spearheaded the development of the web-based tool. “Actions can be taken today to limit the worst effects of climate change. Our leaders need to make climate change preparedness a priority, if these events will be occurring more frequently and with more intensity.”
The environmental advocacy group said 2011 weather extremes have cost an estimated $53 billion in damages. And a newly-released summary of a Special Report on Extreme Events from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that the effects of climate change will intensify extreme heat, heavy precipitation, and maximum wind speeds of tropical storms in the years to come.
While global temperatures are clearly rising, it is not clear what proportion of the blame can be pinned on man-made activities and what proportion may be attributable to weather cycles. Those cycles have included a frigid period during the 1880s and 1890s that spawned some daily record lows that have persisted to this day, and a hot period in the 1930s that is associated with the “Dust Bowl” in parts of the U.S. and which also produced temperatures in the Dayton area that remain record highs eight decades later.
Growing temperature differences between the earth’s equator and the poles could cause a stronger jet stream, which in turn will make weather systems more powerful and potentially more extreme.
Usage of the city-owned Weatherwax Golf Course in Middletown dropped approximately 22 percent from 2010 to 2011, said course director Dave Tieman. He blames the decrease exclusively on the weather.
“We set many records for weather this year and for Weatherwax, none of them were good,” Tieman said. “Sometimes the economy is a factor in golfing but weather is number one. The weather was so prevalent a problem this year, I don’t think the economy played any factor at all.”
Brown’s Run Country Club, a private golf club, experienced a 15 percent drop in rounds played from 2010 to 2011 said general manager David Baril.
Both Baril and Tieman said the very wet April and May put them in a bad position from the beginning of golfing season that they could never recover from.
“If you lose rounds in the spring, it’s very rare you can catch up in the fall,” Baril said.
“Golf is kind of repetitive,” Tieman said. “You get the guys together for 9 or 18 holes every weekend. This year the routine never started.”
The weather extremes — heavy rain in the spring followed by extreme heat in the summer — were also detrimental to the courses, the course directors said.
“When the course is so wet, the grass roots don’t go deep,” Tieman said. “And then, when it dries out, the roots are racing to find water.”
Tieman said a period of very heavy rain quickly in the summer in effect cooks the grass as well.
Bad weather wasn’t a detriment to every business.
Jim Olmstead, the owner of Basement Restoration Technologies, said 2011’s heavy rains increased demand for his basement finishing and repairing company that operates in Butler County and around northern Cincinnati.
Olmstead 2011 set business records for his company even as rainfall records were being set.
“Anytime we get two inches of rain in a twelve hour period, we get an influx of calls from people with damaged basements or storm drains backed up,” Olmstead said.
Homeowners were constantly being frustrated by having to dry their basements out and losing items to damages, which led to his company being called, Olmstead said.
Rob Scott, founder and president of the Dayton-area Tea Party chapter and newly elected Kettering City Council member, said global warming is not a settled issue. “Some science says it’s occurring, and some science says it’s not occurring,” Scott said.
But if global warming is real, Scott said, America cannot immediately cease its dependence on fossil fuels, because hybrid cars and other “green” technology are too costly to be a realistic and immediate alternative, Scott said.
Groups such as the National Resources Defense Council “are pushing for a government solution, but I would push for a private-sector solution,” Scott said.
The interactive extreme-weather map can be accessed at www.nrdc.org/extremeweather.
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