Slightly more than two weeks ago, students were traveling through campus on in-line skates and skateboards. Oh, how the weather has changed.
Since the enjoyable spring teaser in late March, temperatures have plummeted. Wednesday's brash mix of snow and rain had students trekking to class in winter coats and Ugg boots.
With the U.S. Supreme Court officially recognizing the existence of human-caused global warming on April 2, many could suspect the tenacious debate surrounding climate change would conclude. But for some, the cold month of April has resurrected the notion of natural climate variation.
"I have a lot of my skeptic friends saying, 'Hey where is your global warming now?" said Corrinne Thomas, a physiology junior and member of the student environmental group Eco. "Shouldn't it be warmer?'"
Opponents of global warming have argued that cold temperatures negate the existence of human-caused climate change and point to natural cycles as the culprit in cases of extreme temperature and weather swings.
Jeffrey Andresen, an associate professor of geography in the environmental science and policy program, said the debate surrounding global warming is unnecessary and has been settled in the scientific community for quite some time.
Andresen testified to the existence of human-caused global warming and pointed out the missteps in logic behind the climate variation argument.
"We can say with certainty that the world is getting warmer … that this is attributed to human activity," he said.
Andresen said the cold temperatures do not necessarily reflect a change in the climate.
"What we see now is weather, a short-term weather condition, versus climate, which is weather conditions averaged over long periods of time," he said. "We have to make that distinction."
The natural variations of weather do not clash with projections made by climatologists, Andresen said. The world will be warmer on average, but there always will be random periods of extreme weather.
Researchers use scientific models to predict the impact humans have, and will have, on the Earth's climate.
The latest climate models show the increase in greenhouse gasses will cause substantial changes to the temperature. As early as 50 to 100 years from now, the world will be a much warmer place, Andresen said.
Different regions of the earth will see different effects as a result of global warming.
The Great Lakes region will see an increase in the number of hot days in the summer, Andresen said.
The effects can already be seen. The 11 hottest years in human history have occurred in the last 12 years, Andresen said, adding that "if you follow the trend, one could expect that (this year) is going to be up there."
Many researchers are beginning to believe that if a change is not made soon, the effects of climate change will be irreversible.
"Once (emissions) are released into the atmosphere, they tend to stay there for a long time," Andresen said.
"We need to do something now. The longer it goes on, the more difficult it will be to minimize the impact."
As for weather in the immediate future, WLNS-TV meteorologist David Young said there will be a rise in temperatures throughout the rest of the week.
Young said the Lansing area is 26.7 inches below the average snowfall for the year, and added that the cold April temperatures are not uncommon.
Temperatures could reach the upper 50s by Tuesday.
