A Redditor from South Dakota shared a photo of a recent snowfall that measured three Bud Light tallboys high and counting.
Posted to the r/weather subreddit, the photo, taken by u/1868orc, shows three 16-ounce cans of beer stacked top to bottom against the fresh snowfall. And as can clearly be seen in the photo, the snow is still falling.
By our calculations, that's at least 15 inches of snowfall (5 inches per tallboy) in one blizzard with more to come. South Dakota's average snowfall for an entire year is supposed to be 39 inches, meaning that this blizzard alone would account for nearly half of the yearly snowfall that the state usually gets.
Even as average temperatures continue to rise across the planet, that still translates to increased snowfall. As the Environmental Defense Fund explains, "a warmer planet is evaporating more water into the atmosphere. That added moisture means more precipitation in the form of heavy snowfall or downpours."
Blizzards, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events — such as Hurricane Ian earlier this year and countless others — have been getting increasingly more severe for several years now, due to our reliance on burning dirty energy sources like fossil fuels.
These climate events are happening around the world, as this year saw a devastating drought in Brazil, devastating floods in Nigeria, a massive cyclone in Bangladesh, and many others.
And of course, they're not letting up any time soon. The Midwest and Northeastern United States are currently preparing to be hit by a bomb cyclone, which could cause over a foot of snow in some areas, as well as flooding and massive delays for holiday travelers.
The best possible thing we can do to fight this is by transitioning away from costly dirty energy sources, like methane gas and coal that overheat our planet, to cleaner, cheaper sources of energy, like solar and wind power whenever possible. It's easier and cheaper than ever to do so.
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