If you live in New Hampshire, or anywhere in the Northeast, you know that something is different this year – the colors are all wrong. We’re all waiting for a white winter because in New Hampshire white leads to another color – green, as in green tourist dollars.

This winter, however, an old friend is visiting for the holidays. Like your traveling relative, El Nino visits every two to five years. El Nino is a weather phenomenon during which the Pacific Ocean’s surface temperature increases. Milder temperatures and more precipitation are then carried across the continental U.S. into New Hampshire via the jet stream. Meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are predicting warmer and wetter weather in New Hampshire this winter.

Although some folks welcome this mild weather, our tourism sector is a little weary. Ski resorts, which are located throughout the state, need snow and lower temperatures to attract skiers. Although ski resorts can always make snow, they would prefer such gifts from Santa. Moreover, forecasts for sleet and rain dampen snowmaking efforts.

Slushy, wet winters affect both sides of their business. Less free snow means ski resorts must produce their own snow and invest in snow making machinery. The increasing costs of reproducing a winter-like experience are passed on to tourists. With more expensive lift tickets and no forecast for snow before Santa’s visit later this week, kids and adults alike may not be willing to come to New Hampshire. With lower revenues caused by low ski ticket sales, ski resorts and other local businesses may get a visit from the Grinch instead of Santa this year. According to a study commissioned by Clean Air-Cool Planet in 2006, 33 percent fewer skiers visit New Hampshire in low versus high snow years. Professors Cameron Wake of the University of New Hampshire and Laurence Goss of Salem State College warn that warm, slushy winters mean 3,000 fewer jobs and a decrease in ski ticket sales and recreational vehicle licenses worth $13 million.

Since global temperatures are approaching 1 degrees celsius compared to preindustrial levels as reported by NASA, scientists expect more visits from El Nino. Or in other words, since humanity keeps turning up the heat, El Nino will visit more often and he will be cranky. We can keep El Nino and other extreme weather phenomenon in check by reducing our carbon emissions that cause increasing global temperatures.

Early this month at COP21, national leaders representing 55 countries that produce over half of the planet’s carbon emissions agreed to set a goal of limiting global warming to less than 2OC. Closer to home, the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection finalized the final Clean Power Plan, which is a policy aimed at combating climate change. New Hampshire’s governor and senators have endorsed our state’s participation in this plan. We must continue to support our elected officials and the EPA in these efforts to cut carbon pollution from coal plants nationwide to reduce the effects of climate change. This will help New Hampshire’s economy by bringing the type of winter that Santa likes – white.

Maureen Reno an outreach associate representing the Union of Concerned Scientists building support in New Hampshire. She lives in Derry.