Wednesday 5 May 2010

Where's the sunshine?

I'm worried. Six days in a row now, dull, leaden skies bearing showers. Nothing unusual for London, but for Warsaw in early May - a worry. Having read about the Year Without a Summer (1816), when volcanic ash in the upper atmosphere screened out significant amounts of sunlight leading to failed harvests and epidemic, I worry about a repeat.

Should I worry? 1816's anomalous summer is thought to be caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in April 1815, which spewed 160 cubic kilometres of ejecta into the atmosphere.

This spring's eruption of Eyjafjallajökull caused major disruption, but the amount of magma and ash spewed out of it was much lower than in the case of Mount Tambora. Still, after six days of unseasonable coolness and rain, I trust that better weather is on its way. It will soon be time for the Ice Saints. Before their arrival, early May is usually very pleasant in Warsaw.

Compare with the weather we enjoyed in May 2009, May 2008 and May 2007.

The bad weather is hitting my cycle commuting. The month is meant to be Warsaw City Hall's cycle to work month. Travelling around town today I've seen but two riders, both looking miserable.

1 comment:

student SGH said...

I thought about the same, but....

The current inclement is rather caused by air circulation not by a layer of ash in the atmosphere. And the effects of volcano's activity would make themsleves felt rather later.

Plus this kind of weather is not unusual for May in Warsaw. Though I read today forecasters say this kind of gloomy and chilly weather might continue till the end of May.

I wonder if there's any link between weather and financial markets in these strange days. While I was on my way around 21:00 everything suddenly swathed in fog. When I turned the computer on I noticed at the same time Dow Jones plunged by almost 1,000 points ;) We're going to have a nice ride on stock market and zloty tomorrow.