Climate change isn't a conspiracy theory: how 'climate volatility' has flipped the script on North American snow – and what to expect from the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference

Believe it or not, while we were here in the Gulf bracing for a record-breaking heatwave at the start of summer, people in Connecticut were digging their cars out from under snowdrifts that, in some areas, topped 90 centimetres back in March. I'm not telling you this as a freak weather story; it's to show you that climate change is no longer just a term we hear on the news – 'climate volatility' has become the new normal we're all living with.

Last winter on the US East Coast felt like something out of a cartoon. In the space of a single month, temperatures plunged to record lows not seen in decades, with some cities logging their coldest days since 1904. I was tracking the numbers and talking to colleagues in the Environment and Climate Change field, and everyone agreed: this wasn't just 'winter'. The snowstorms weren't just snowfall; they hit with a ferocity and unpredictability that left road crews scrambling to keep up with the sheer volume.

The harshest winter shatters the myth of 'stability'

During February alone, Connecticut saw snow totals equivalent to what used to fall across three entire seasons a decade ago. Why does this matter to us? Because this is the flip side of climate change. Many people think the problem is just rising temperatures, but the real issue is instability. When you combine freezing Arctic air with unprecedented moisture from the Atlantic Ocean – driven by warmer waters – you get storms unlike anything we knew in the past.

That's what we're seeing globally. Canada faced the same story, with Environment And Climate Change Canada issuing unprecedented warnings about the severe swings in temperature. No one in the world is immune to this impact, whether we're in Riyadh, Doha, or New York.

Climate Summit 2025: the moment of truth

All this is unfolding as we stand on the cusp of a pivotal global event: the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference. What's coming next will be different. After years of theoretical debate, the world now recognises that climate change is a matter of national security before it's even an environmental one. Expectations are that this conference will be more hard-nosed than its predecessors, because the data from last winter has left everyone facing an undeniable fact: we can't tackle climate volatility with yesterday's approaches.

Unfortunately, some players are still betting that the problem is a distant one. But to me, what happened in Connecticut, in Canada, and across parts of Europe was a final warning. If the upcoming summit fails to deliver real enforcement mechanisms, we're all looking at an endless cycle of extreme seasons.

What does this mean for our region?

• Water scarcity: Changes in the polar climate affect ocean currents, which in turn shifts rainfall patterns in our region. That means drought periods could stretch out or shorten unexpectedly.
• Direct impact on energy: Intensifying heatwaves will put unprecedented strain on our power grids. This means clean energy strategies are no longer a luxury – they're essential for keeping things running.
• Food security: Growing seasons will be disrupted worldwide, and that's a supply chain no country can afford to be disconnected from, even oil producers.

I'm not saying this as a theoretical expert, but as someone who's been following these issues for years. Just yesterday I was reading reports on the snowstorm impacts in Connecticut, and it reminded me that ten years ago the debate was still about 'whether climate change is real or not'. Today, the debate has to be about 'how we're going to protect our kids from this crazy volatility'.

A few days ago, I spoke with a senior official in the environmental sector, and he said to me, point blank: 'The problem is climate change isn't creeping up on us slowly as predicted. It's barging into our lives right now, and we saw it with our own eyes in the intensity of the snow this year and the fires that hit parts of Australia and Canada at the same time.'

The bottom line is clear: we've entered a new phase of climate change. What used to be called 'future projections' is now 'today's weather forecast'. And with the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference approaching, the hope is that governments stop playing political games and actually look at the numbers. The snow that blanketed Connecticut wasn't just a pretty photo op – it was a hefty bill paid by taxpayers there, and it's a bill we might all end up paying in one way or another if we don't take this seriously, right now.