Mother Nature is Kicking our Butts in 2011

This year, the United States has experienced it all in terms of weather disasters. Within the past few weeks in New York alone we've seen an earthquake, a tropical storm, flooding and up-and-down temperatures.

"From the blizzard that dumped almost two feet of snow on Chicago, to killer tornadoes and heat waves in the south, to record flooding, to wildfires that have burned more than 1,000 homes in Texas in the last few days, Mother Nature has been in a vile and costly mood," reports the Mother Nature Network. Might there be a common thread between all of these bizarre weather conditions?

According to climate experts, global warming could quite possibly be the culprit.  As reported by Mother Nature Network, "...Given the variety and violence of both short-term weather events and longer-term effects like a Southwestern drought that has lasted years, more scientists say climate itself seems to be shifting and weather extremes will become more common."

This sentiment is echoed by USA Today, which reports that higher temperatures tied to global warming "have widely contributed to recent runs of horrible weather."

And the year's not even over.  In fact, as I write this blog entry, there are three tropical cyclones gaining strength in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, "drought-fueled wildfires" burning through Texas, and flood waters rising throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

According to meteorologist Jeff Masters from Weather Underground, it's due to the warming of our atmosphere, which acts as a steroid to already-threatening weather. "A warmer atmosphere has more energy," reports Masters. "Years like 2011 may be the new normal."