ENVIRONMENTAL CENTS: A Hot, Dry Year
Temperatures are up, rainfall is down, and greenhouse gases are likely to blame. There are things we each can do to improve the situation.
By Bruce Saller
COLUMNIST
It may not feel like it now, but 2024 may have been Fredericksburg’s hottest year on record. Last year was the planet’s hottest year on record, and Washington, D.C’s hottest year.
There is not enough historical data to determine if it was also our hottest year, but Fredericksburg’s average 2024 temperature was 3.14 degrees above its 1991-2020 average according to the National Weather Service’s cooling/heating degree day records. (2023 was 2.11 degrees above average.) So, it is likely that 2024 was also Fredericksburg’s hottest year.
Last year also continued the recent trend of lower-than-average rainfall according to data from the University of Mary Washington’s weather station. Rainfall increased slightly from 2023, but 2024 was still the second lowest rainfall in the last decade and well below the 1991-2020 average.
Our area is currently rated as being in Severe Drought by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last summer, our area was also in a significant drought, resulting in the US Department of Agriculture declaring that farmers in 30 Virginia counties and cities were eligible for drought emergency assistance.
So, Fredericksburg is experiencing much higher temperatures and lower rainfall than the 1991-2020 averages. These changes are most likely due to our warming climate as a result of greenhouse gas emissions. If the temperature continues to increase at this rate, Fredericksburg will be about 6-8 degrees above average in 2050 and may see an accompanying decrease in rainfall.
While it is nice to have warmer winters, I don’t think many of us want to have summers that are hotter and dryer than we are experiencing now.
So, what can you do to help prevent this?
Purchase energy star appliances when replacing appliances/hot water heater/heat pump.
Walk or ride a bicycle instead of driving.
Eat less meat and more plant based food, and be more sustainable.
Conserve water
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past year, our reporting was:
First to break the story of Stafford Board of Supervisors dismissing a citizen library board member for “misconduct,” without informing the citizen or explaining what the person allegedly did wrong.
First to explain falling water levels in the Rappahannock Canal.
First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
Our media group also offers the most-extensive election coverage in the region and regular columnists like:
And our newsroom is led by the most-experienced and most-awarded journalists in the region — Adele Uphaus (Managing Editor and multiple VPA award-winner) and Martin Davis (Editor-in-Chief, 2022 Opinion Writer of the Year in Virginia and more than 25 years reporting from around the country and the world).
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
This article is published under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND. It can be distributed for noncommercial purposes and must include the following: “Published with permission by FXBG Advance.”