Weather Extremes: Will They Ever Stop?
“As the years go on, everything tells me it will get worse. I am not sure what to do with such feelings.”
Waves of intense weather events transpired over the past few months. These severe weather incidents rarely occur in New York. From multiple heat advisory warnings throughout the summer, to the Canadian wildfire impact, it doesn't stop just there. The most recent event in New York was the major flooding. Doesn’t this seem abnormal to you? Many people had complications as they dealt with the drastic circumstances, including myself. As you continue to read this article, I'll be going in-depth regarding my experiences during the aforementioned catastrophes, how these events affected my life, and the feelings I’ve encountered.
June 6th was the day before the entirety of NYC would have an orange smokey tint from Canadian wildfires. Before my brother informed me, I was not completely aware of what was occurring. Nothing like this happens in New York particularly. I was very confused and concerned. The air quality got worse and worse as the hours went by. On June 7th, 2023, the air was engulfed in a hazy orange, apocalyptic sky. There were warnings issued to the affected regions especially within New York. On social media and in the news, a lot of people were discussing these wildfires in Canada; people were struggling to breathe with the air quality at its worst initiating our school to close for safety reasons. New articles have said the cause of the wildfires were drought and warmer than average temperatures.
The summer of 2023 was just as unsatisfactory as the previous circumstance. Intense waves of heat were surpassing the 90 degrees mark. In this duration of nonstop heat, I had an internship. Leaving to go to work would feel as if I was burning under the sun. Although most of my time working there would be indoors, the humidity was the worst. I had almost passed out twice during my time there, fearful I would again. When it was time for me to leave, the heat was just as severe as the morning. I, myself, never enjoyed the summer for this reason, yet it made me feel a sense of concern. Summer was usually a season filled with heat intensifying moments, but this one was extremely unenjoyable to be in.
Finally, as I walked to school one day this fall, there was an intense amount of rain dropping from the sky. I like the rain, but I didn’t expect it to get as extreme as it did that day. Reaching the entrance of Comp Sci High, I waited to get in. Rain poured hard. Thunder struck. Everyone was in shock. Although this had happened, we proceeded to enter the building, for it might turn for the better. This wasn’t the case. The sounds of rain kept pouring louder and louder as I moved from class to class. One classroom in particular, the labroom, was covered in a fog on all its windows. The flood had been getting worse since entering. Because of intensified events, we were issued to leave after lunch. The journey home for everyone was completely different. Long distances would be charged highly for Ubers, trains weren’t fully running, and students walking would need to ensure that everything they had would be safe from water damage.
Witnessing the predicaments of these harsh events, I’ve felt feelings of distress and unease. For most of my time living in New York, I have only witnessed a few events as sudden and chaotic as these. They’ve been appearing more and more frequently, every few two to three months. What other events are to come? Will it just be as vivid and fierce? Will the solutions people have to prevent and reduce the impact of global warming push through? As the years go on, everything tells me it will get worse. I am not sure what to do with such feelings.