I think in the old days, we simply called this 'winter'. Here in the heart of cows & corn, we've been pummeled by ice n snow since last night. So much so, that KCI airport has been shut down since 6:30 this morning. “Airplanes cannot operate safely in a half-inch or more of slush,” said KCI spokesman Joe McBride. KCI, which opened in 1972, has only closed its airfield a few times, McBride said. The longest it ever been closed was about four hours, he said.As I write this, we're coming up on 6 hours being closed, and the weather guessers are predicting 6-8 more inches before we're done.
OK. That's the small picture. The goracle myrmidons will frantically describe the bigger picture of climate change. So what about the 'big picture'? Temperatures in January set cold weather records and caused the Arctic Sea Ice to expand to its previous levels. This isn't the only sign of rising sea ice and extra-cold temperatures. The U.S. National Climatic Date Center reported the other day that temperatures in the United States set cold records in January. "The average temperature in January 2008 was 30.5 F. This is -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average, the 49th coolest January in 114 years."The Discerning Texan alerts to an ABC science special called 'The Great Global Warming Swindle' and sums it up nicely:
Just in case you have never seen it, go here and watch it all. It is well worth your time, and after watching all 9 segments, you will know more about this subject than 3/4 of the so-called "intelligensia" on the planet.Hear, hear. Well said.
