The weather has been erratic this past month, inconveniencing Washington, D.C. residents.
The weather has been ranging from the low nighties to the low seventies over the past few weeks.
Nadia Trowers, 34, a resident from the area has also noticed the weather pattern.
“It changes from sunny, which is what I like, to cloudy which I don’t like,” Trowers said.
Fanta Aw, vice president of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence at American University, said she is concerned about how the weather is affecting American people.
“When we watch television, we see flooding in some parts of the country,” Aw said. “We see drought. It’s definitely going to have an impact.”
She believes that this erratic weather is caused by climate change, which is further exasperated by the U.S.’s unsustainable habits.
According to a recent National Climate Assessment, “U.S. average temperature has increased by 1.3 degrees to 1.9 degrees since 1895, and most of this increase has occurred since 1970.”
As a result, seasons are warmer than average and cold weather is becoming more sporadic. Warmer air temperatures are also a catalyst for other issues caused by climate change such as: increased water temperatures, higher flood risks, rising sea levels, alerted precipitation and stronger storms.
Aw, who has a doctorate in sociology, is also concerned about how climate change will affect farmers because it could negatively impact their jobs and puts agriculture at risk.
A research paper published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America indicates that the yield from corn crops will decrease if global warming continues in its current trajectory.
Intellectuals are not the only ones who believe that the change in weather is caused by global warming.
Cevester Green, 46, interviewed in Tenleytown recently, said he thinks global warming is to blame.
“It’s like global warming, man,” Green said.
