Windows to the Universe Earth and Space Science Educator Newsletter Central

What an amazing spring we're having here in the U.S.!  The month of March was the warmest March on record (since record keeping began in 1895) in the contiguous U.S., with over 15,000 high temperature records broken.  The average temperature of 51.1°F was 8.6 degrees above the 20th century average. Winter 2011-2012 was the fourth warmest winter on record, with a seasonal average temperature of 36.8 degrees Fahrenheit, 3.9 degrees above the 20th century average.  This spring has been so warm that many spring flowers bloomed several weeks to a month early!  The famous Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. last month was almost devoid of blossoms, because the trees had bloomed well before the date of the festival, leading to disappointment for many visitors.

Perhaps this unusually warm spring, coupled with wild weather and the extremely early and destructive tornadoes that hit numerous states in late February, are responsible for changes in the climate change awareness of the U.S. public.  A recent study by the Yale Project on Climate Change found that a large majority of Americans attribute recent extreme weather events to climate change.

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