Temperatures in Raleigh this winter have been anything but ordinary, according to data collected by the National Climatic Data Center from 1921 to present.

With December’s average high in the 50s and its mean low just above freezing, the City of Oaks will likely see continued climate changes, and many researchers believe it has to do with plates.

According to Michael Kimberley, associate professor in the Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, human activity is elevating average temperatures through pollution of the environment. However, other factors are also affecting global climate change, he said.

“The data seems pretty clear that we are in a period of global warming. The two issues that interest me is how long will it go on and is global warming our fault,” Kimberley said.

And tectonic plate movement needs to be considered in the issue of global climate change, which, according to Kimberley, has a huge impact on climate and wind patterns. Tectonic movement produces high land masses, such as the Tibetan plateau, which can cause colder temperatures and block the transfer of wind across the landscape.

“This is an explanation of why we have glaciers and why the planet has been anomalously cold for the past two million years, because we have high flatland,” he said. “Present tectonic movement makes the planet colder.”

And while North Carolina’s climate is not seeing drops in temperature, it is still experiencing the effects through ever-changing weather patterns.

David Jackson, a freshman in chemical engineering, said it is important to pinpoint the cause of these fluctuations and take care of the factors we can influence.

“Global warming is a big issue for this country and every responsible nation on the planet. It interests me to find out what’s causing these temperature hikes, but it interests me a lot more in finding out how we can keep our planet sustainable for human life.”

Corey Payne, a sophomore in mechanical engineering, agreed.

“Global warming is a big problem. It is in the process of altering the way we live today,” he said. “Not only does it change the temperature and affect sea level, but it also has the ability to change wind and rain patterns, which is a disaster waiting to happen.”

According to Kyle Compton, a junior in civil engineering, human-induced global warming is a farce.

He said he believes the earth has cyclical processes that it naturally goes through and this period of warming is one of them.

“If a little bit of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would raise the temperature as much as they say, then every time a volcano would erupt, the earth’s climate would change dramatically,” Compton said.

“Everyone shouldn’t listen to Al Gore like he’s the Jesus of global warming. He’s just had a lot of time on his hands since he lost twice in 2000.”