How the climate crisis showed up in Americans' lives this year: The shift has been swift and stark'

"The past year was another one of record-setting heat and catastrophic storms. But across the US, the climate crisis showed up in smaller, deeply personal ways too. Campfires that once defined summer trips were never lit due to wildfire risks. There were no bites where fish were once abundant, forests turned to meadows after a big burn and childhood memories of winter wonderlands turned to slush."

"Growing up near the Puget sound, Heath Breneman remembers his dad shoveling drifts off the roof of his garage and the powder delicately collected in his pant cuffs after a day spent sledding. He recalled how the snowplows would push enormous piles off the parking lot of his elementary school to create the perfect berms for kids to play on. He can still conjure the satisfying crunch of how it sounded under his boots."

"Now he's a father of four, and his kids haven't felt the same magic. Temperatures have been steadily rising across the region, with averages expected to climb up to 6F annually by midcentury. Scientists have warned that precipitation will increasingly fall as rain rather than snow. My children have no memories of the winter I grew up with, Breneman says."

The past year featured record-setting heat and catastrophic storms across the US alongside smaller, personal impacts on daily life. Campfires were canceled because of wildfire risk, fishing yields declined, burned forests converted to meadows, and snowy childhood memories melted into slush. In the Pacific Northwest, temperatures are steadily rising and precipitation increasingly falls as rain rather than snow, with averages projected to climb up to 6F by midcentury. One father recalls abundant snowdrifts, sledding and piled berms at his elementary school, but his children lack those winter memories. Attempts to recreate sledding outings have not reproduced the sensations and communal winter life of earlier decades.

Read at www.theguardian.com