Throughout January, the United States has been hit with extreme, contrasting weather conditions that experts say may be caused by climate change. An almost record-breaking snowstorm covered some regions of the country, like Ohio. While parts of the country deal with mass precipitation, California battles intense wildfire outbreaks. These contrasting events remain a reminder for Americans that global temperatures are continuing to rise, creating more heatwaves, longer droughts, and unpredictable weather patterns.
An article from WCPO News states that before 2025, 3.5 inches of snow in one day was the all-time high set in 1981 in Cincinnati, Ohio. A close-to-record amount of snow fell on January 6, 2025, at 4.2 inches. CVG airport recorded 6.4 inches of snow, falling just short of the record of 6.9 inches set in 1977. Cleves, Ohio had the most amount of snow in the state over the 2-day period at 11 inches.
In an article and video provided by WLWT News reporters said that in 1977 when the record for the amount of snowfall in Cincinnati was broken, the Ohio River froze with 8-12 inches of thick ice covering it. The city had gained 1 inch of snow consecutively for 39 days. Temperatures got as low as 25 below 0, with a daily average of 15 degrees. While many enjoyed playing in the snow and walking or skating across the river, the city was low on food supply, some were short of food and schools had been closed for 30 days due to the weather conditions. In the video attached with the WLWT article, citizens can be seen walking across the river and trucking through the snow, however, reporters speak of the freezing temperatures, fuel shortage, and school closings.
Although we reached freezing temperatures and had a large amount of show, Science Department chair Ms. Mary Denneman said that temperatures fluctuate too much today for the Ohio River to possibly freeze again. She also stated that a lot of work has been done on the river that has made the river deeper than it was in 1977.
Meanwhile, according to an article from the New York Times, in Los Angeles, California, 28 people have lost their lives due to the rapid wildfires, making it one of the deadliest fires in California history. Many different fires were contributing to the wildfire outbreak, the largest one being the Palisades fire. This fire was along the Pacific Coast west of downtown LA and had burned more than 23,400 acres of land. Over 15,000 structures have been destroyed during the multiple fires throughout January.
Co-President of the Eco Club, senior Evie Hurlburt, said that climate change does not always make temperatures hotter, “It just makes the extremes more extreme,” which is why we are seeing more extreme summers and winters. AP News stated that these crises have been caused by climate change. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world, causing the temperature gap between the north and south to shrink. This leads to the loss of sea ice which releases more heat into the atmosphere. This added heat can disturb the polar vortex resulting in global temperatures rising but more frequent freezing outbreaks. Another article from AP News said, “global warming boosted the likelihood of high fire weather conditions in this month’s fires by 35% and its intensity by 6%.” Factors that caused the fires to spread quickly were a dry autumn followed by two incredibly damp winters that caused flammable chaparral and grass to grow rapidly, hot weather, and dry air.
Denneman said that greenhouse gases and farming practices are what she believes to be the main contributors to climate change, while Hurlburt highlights the fact that due to insolation there is heat trapped in the Earth. An article posted by NASA Science focuses on the causes of climate change. The first cause listed in the article is the “greenhouse effect” where greenhouse gases are warming our planet. Human activity has caused the increase of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels like coal and oil which have high concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Click here to see a list of actions everyone can take to help reduce climate change provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The McNicholas Milestone 