By Maren Ingram, Staff Writer 

It’s 65 degrees in January, but the real question is, can we chalk up the high temperatures to climate change or is this just a coincidence? 

Living in the Southeast and on the coast, there’s no doubt that our winters are warmer than other places. But since Christmas, temperatures have been unusually high. 

There’s nothing like trying out your new skateboard wearing shorts and no shoes on Christmas Day, and ringing in the New Year is especially fun when the temperature won’t fall below 60 degrees for the fireworks celebration. And better yet, on January 3rd, the high was 75 degrees, a record high so far. 

But I’m not complaining. I’m not a cold-weather person, so this past week of getting to wear my Birkenstocks again and not having to throw on my winter jacket whenever I leave the house is something I could get used to. 

And it’s not just our little sandbar getting hints of summer. According to NOAA, most regions of the United States were expected to have a warmer-than-average winter this year, especially the East Coast, and even the Midwest and Plains were expected to feel the temperatures rise. 

And still, scientists aren’t exactly sure where all this heat is coming from. I’d say it’s hard to blame it on climate change, as some people are doing. In a few days, the temperatures are supposed to drop about 25 degrees, and the Northeast is expecting some gnarly winter storms in the weeks to come. 

If you look back at weather history, stuff like this happens all the time. Just a few Christmases ago, the high was 70 degrees, and nobody thought much of it. I think the reality is that nowadays, it’s so easy to blame everything on climate change. 

While our world is getting warmer by the minute, and the severity of things like hurricanes and wildfires are increasing due to climate change, I think this January’s mild temperatures have just been a fluke.

I guess we’ll have to see what February brings. Maybe this will be the coldest winter on record and the US will get tons of snow as the Farmer’s Almanac predicted. 

But for now, I think we can all agree that, although these warm temps have been pretty nice, one snowfall wouldn’t be so bad. I mean who doesn’t love a day off of school and sledding down Jockey’s Ridge? 

Sophomore Maren Ingram can be reached at 22ingramma01@daretolearn.org.