What's the Weather Like Elsewhere?

With yet another blast of Arctic air chilling the US and another 6 inches of snow blanketing the ground, the talk about how this particularly cold winter refutes Climate Change has again spiked. I mean, it makes sense, right? Cold weather today, or this week, or last month are indicative of a region's climate from one year to the next, right?

Wrong.

Climate is not daily weather, but long term weather patterns. Big difference. Not to mention, while all of the talk in this country by climate change deniers continues (conversations riddled with dismissals of global warming and what not), Northern Europe is experiencing one of its warmest winters on record. Usually, that region experiences winters like the one we are having now here in the Eastern US. Cold dry air flows down from the Pole and slams into warmer wet air, bringing with it frequent snow events and temperatures in the teens and single digits (Fahrenheit, of course).

But, this winter Europe has had spring like temperatures and very little snow. If you watched the Winter Olympics, you would know that temps in Sochi were abnormally high. My in-laws in Southern Germany (near the Alps) have said it has been so warm that the skiing industry there has suffered greatly due to the lack of snowfall.

You can't discuss global warming without looking at the whole globe. You would think that someone who preaches to look at the big picture wouldn't be so narrow minded. Or so America-centric.

So, when you are looking at things globally, you can't just stick to the West, the Mountain, the Central and the Eastern Time Zones of the United States. There are 20 other times zones across the globe that you need to take into account. Judging by what has happened in Europe, coupled with the record breaking Summer in Australia and South Africa, it is safe to say that the weather has been very abnormal this year...and I mean on a global scale.