States of emergency were declared across the Northeastern United States due to a heavy winter storm that is still hitting Massachusetts hard. In New York City, a blizzard warning has been canceled after the city was spared the worst of the storm. According to the National Weather Service, the storm moved further east of the city, resulting in “much less snow” than previously predicted. The city had taken the extraordinary precaution of shutting down the entire subway system and barring all non-emergency vehicles from the roads. On Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said massive storms are part of the changing climate.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo: “I believe I’ve gone through more emergency disasters in four years than any governor in history has gone through. There is a pattern of extreme weather that we have never seen before. Buffalo sees snow. Buffalo had never seen seven feet of snow before. So, you’re getting a repeat pattern of these extreme weather situations, whether it’s Hurricane Sandy or seven feet of snow, and that’s part of the changing climate, I believe, that has brought this new extreme weather pattern. And it’s something we have to adjust to. It’s something that’s very costly. It’s also something that is very dangerous.”