Perhaps, by the time you read this, we will be out of the deep freeze and global warming will be back. But I still have to wonder which way people want it.
We hear again and again, proclaimed as if it were scientific fact, that the earth suffers from man-made global warming and of the dire consequences of such a condition. We are told constantly of the things we need to do to reduce greenhouse gases and keep the earth from becoming a warmer and warmer place. The government mandates costly steps to that end and threatens to shut down businesses and power plants if they do not comply.
And then, though man probably has little to do with it, we are struck with unusual cold. Ice breakers get stuck in the Antarctic summer and folks going to study the effect of global warming find their vessel frozen in the ice. For some reason, few are mentioning the study of global warming part of the story.
Much of North America experiences colder than usual temperatures -- well below zero in large parts of the United States -- along with winter storms dumping ice and snow. Numerous accidents and even deaths are attributed to the cold. Schools and businesses close. Travel becomes almost impossible.
They call it a distortion in the polar vortex, allowing the cold arctic temperatures to dip low into the Western Hemisphere. According to the news, it even made "Hell" freeze over -- Hell, Mich., that is. I expect the real hell hasn't cooled off a single degree.
Anyway, all I've heard on the news is how terrible the cold is and the precautions we need to take to protect ourselves from this terrible evil. And everyone is saying warmer temperatures are coming. Relief is on the way!
So, which way do we want it? Do we want global warming or global cooling? If global warming is so terrible, why do we complain when things cool off a bit and temperatures drop below freezing or even below zero? It is January, usually the coldest month of the year in our part of the world!
Perhaps we should burn more fossil fuels like coal and create more greenhouse gases so things don't get so cold in the winter time. Or, maybe, if we don't want global warming, we should be happy when it snows and learn to deal with it.
I remember plenty of mild winters in the past, even up north, but I remember cold ones too. We didn't think anything of it when snow which fell in October or November didn't melt away entirely until late March or April. I remember what it was like in a sleeping bag when temperatures were 10 and 20 degrees below. We learned to deal with it, how to dress warmly, drive on snow-covered roads and dig ourselves out of drifts which turned out to be deeper than we first thought.
To be honest with you, I'm not too worried about global warming or global cooling. I figure we have a lot less to do with the weather than some folks would like to think. Having a little of both makes life less mundane, and a good balance between the two is kind of nice.
I like warm, comfortable days as well as the next guy, and we have lots of them. But I kind of enjoy the cold weather too and miss the time I used to spend outdoors in the snow and cold. And when it gets really cold, I can always dig out one of those warm coats I seldom get to wear and enjoy the weather -- seems kind of a waste to hang on to a warm winter coat and never use it.
Rather than complain about the cold, I just take the advice of a dairy farmer I once knew in northern Minnesota when he explained why he chose to farm so far north. "You can always put on more clothes," he said, "but you can only take so many off."
I feel the same way. I'd rather have the weather cool enough to wear at least one layer of clothes and not so hot that I feel the need to strip down to my shorts and scare the neighbors.
It's wintertime! Enjoy it! Summer and hot weather will be here before we know it.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 01/15/2014