What's going on with the weather

[Pleater]

We Humans like patterns, so in the distant past we plotted the movement of the sun and moon to see how they moved and we could work out when to plant crops and when to harvest them so as to avoid the cold, or wet or heat - at least in most years.

For the years when it didn't work there was usually someone we could blame.

With such things as long augers for sampling mud, soil, ice or anything else we can find out little snippets about the climate and weather - plus some volcanic activity - and by putting all the information together the clever people discover how the vegetation changed with rainfall and average temperatures.

Sure there are such things as wobbles in the Earth's orbit and attitude to take into account, but what was going on were subtle alterations which no one could have lived long enough to detect, and swift ones which usually made everyone in the vicinity sit up and take notice.

What is happening now is that the formerly slow alterations are happening fast enough for one generation to notice. We see animals unable to rear young year after year if they do not adapt to the changes in temperture and alterations in the availability of food with place and date.

If a few individuals can adapt in time then the species will survive - but for species such as the Polar bear there is little chance unless they are preserved by Human intervention - or a Divine one - because the adults can only hunt for seals on ice, and if there is ice for only a couple of months of the year then they starve.

The unusually high temperature of the air mass over the Arctic is most likely to blame for the snow and low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere this year. Once the snow melts and exposes the energy absorbing dark rocks beneath it the situation can only get worse.

Our decendants will find someone to blame.

Anne the Pleater

[Livingston]

Well, Estes Park had around 36 inches of that white stuff last weekend. We ended up clearing the driveway three times and there was around a foot each time. Saturday we went into Rocky Mountain National Park and went showshoeing.



I've seen snow in Colorado every month of the year, but not this much at this time of the year.

[Weasel Mender]

Well, Estes Park had around 36 inches of that white stuff last weekend. We ended up clearing the driveway three times and there was around a foot each time. Saturday we went into Rocky Mountain National Park and went showshoeing.



I've seen snow in Colorado every month of the year, but not this much at this time of the year.

In the words of Ron Weasley...."Bloody Hell"

Weasel