Great fun! And for those that might be shrinking from the warmer weather, hey, go outside and enjoy it.

The planet was just blasted by one of the largest solar storms in many years. That can have a temporary affect on weather patterns. So, don't be to put out. Your icy-cold weather may still be coming down. There'll be a couple of weeks delay and then, "Boom." It's still only February 2nd, and winter is far from over.

Enjoy it before the next ice age hits, the planet is constantly changing there is nothing new about that! and no matter what the greenies think they can't do a thing about it. so quit giving them money, maybe they will stop trying to scare the hell out of everyone and stop screwing up the economy.

All I can say is this: I don't care if it is Global Warming™...thank you for the warm weather!!!

Duhhh, I'm a Rush fan/...duhhh

From one extreme to the next has a most substantial influence on a humans intellect of anything of the sort so I say GOD.

If anyone out there can provide me a link to even one single legitimate scientific study or explanation connecting solar flare activity with global warming, then I will be truly amazed. It's o.k., I'm not holding my breathe.

It's a question of magnitude. Someone at the other end of the bar lighting a match cannot possibly account for the room getting warming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoOrtvYTKeE&feature=player_embedded

Yeah, whatever.

Lusit 1.5 wrote; From one extreme to the next has a most substantial influence on a humans intellect of anything of the sort so I say GOD."

What dressing would you like on your word salad?

Well, we had all the fun last year and Europe is having all the fun this year. That's only fair, right?

Without a good amount of snowfall every year we're going to start having droughts, crop failures and water shortages, I hope you think not having to shovel the driveway is worth it.

Some years we have more than average, some years less than average. That's how averages are determined.

..."though for the entire northern hemisphere, it's been about average for snow this season"

Tim That's all true but how do you propose to change nature, if you ban fossil fuels you wont change anything and then you also wont be able to get the product's to market. the problem in big cities is over population more than anything else, so address that! of course every one in the big cities knows food comes from super markets. so who you trying to fool?

D Buck - The problem is that we've thrown the system out of balance, we've pumped billions of tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and deforestation has made it so that nature cannot compensate for the increase. We need to restore some balance to that equation. Electric vehicles are making giant steps forward and if we develop solar and wind power we can offset the electricity increase by cutting back on coal on top of the oil we wouldn't be using. If you combine that with protecting forests and ocean algae and helping to grow more, it is very possible to reverse the downward spiral that we've created.

@Tim you are dead on, we have got to do something, it is just plain ignorant to say "enjoy the weather", yeah its nice but whats the bill gonna be, yes wheather changes but it has been changing going in the same direction, it keeps getting warmer, we have got to reduce our co2 put out, yeah it may be a harder way of lliving but so what atleast we can live longer on our beautiful planet, its been changing for the worst

And do you have enough solar modules to negate your footprint? Is your Nissan Leaf on order? If not you are complete hypocrites.

Exactly what "something" do you have to do beyond that??? 40% of carbon emissions comes from the home and 40% comes from personal transportation, that means us.

Want government to take action? They already have, 30% tax credit on renewable energy, $7500 credit on efficient cars! Do you expect them to give you solar modules??? Dream on!

If armchair idiots would get off their behinds and put their money where their mouths are, they would be leading by example. But no, they just post around saying somebody ought to do something. Well that someone is YOU bud!

On the other hand, if you DO have 10KW+ solar on the roof and a Leaf, apologies! :<)

"Without a good amount of snowfall every year we're going to start having droughts, crop failures and water shortages," - Tim-1040943

The last time I was driving by the water reservoir (same as a lake, just fenced in, no swimming, no fishing; in fact it used to be a lake before being designated reservoir) it was overfilled, almost spilling on the highway. Is rain less efficient against drought and water shortages than snow?

Droughts are more prevalent when the globe goes through colder periods. Moisture that would otherwise precipitate is locked up in glaciers. I'd like to see the planet warm up enough so we can farm Greenland again.

Give it a rest people...you don't have to be liberal to be smart enough to figure out that ALL these changes and catastrophies are related to the alarming rate in the growth of the human population which leads to overuse of the earths supply of EVERYTHING, and destruction of the natural world. Common sense...our planet is on the verge of tapping out. You can't take, take, take, and not expect these things to happen.

nmbg, you are the freekin' freak....Global warming wasn't mentioned once in this article.

I agree you don't have to be a Liberal. It's just science and facts. And probably George Bush...Anyway, I love winter, and I miss it.

Precisely, nmbg...

... "global warming" creates changes to "global weather patterns."

By Jove, I believe he's got it!

What the insults were all about, I have no idea... but, I suppose that's what ignorant people do... they can't argue, so they insult.

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

http://climate.nasa.gov/keyIndicators/

If you still don't believe that global warming is real it's because you are incapable of admitting when you're wrong or just stupid.

srecord26

Half of the most ignorant people I have ever met have been liberals. The other half have been conservatives. Go figure.

Until you quit calling names and being snarky you are not going to convince anyone of your perceived version of the truth.

Regardless if it is man made or not, the planet has fluctuated from cooling and heating periods throughout its history. While the polar caps have extended as far as midland U.S.A. during Ice Ages, it has also shrunk considerably, to the point where the icecaps are almost non-existent. Of course, it has become political because if this happens, think of all the flooded land and property damage.

Andrew - Yes the planet fluctuates on its own, but if you look at the data we are WAY outside the normal fluctuation levels.

http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

In 650,000 years the planet has come nowhere near the CO2 levels that we have reached in the last 50 years.

Its going to happen! that's just the way it is, a new ice age is around the corner they just don't want to tell you that part. global warming is the least of your problems. you can survive warmer temps, you can plant different types of crops, Ice is a different story, try to grow a potato in your freezer. the warming and the co 2 levels indicate a return to the ice age. ocean currents will change, air currents will change more dead zones in the oceans then wham ice everywhere! and it doesn't have a damn thing to do with man. but it will solve the overpopulation problem. and when it happens it happens fast, look into the studies of co2 in the atmosphere prior to the last ice age and compare we are getting very close, one big volcano erupts and its over. why do you think all the rich and properly informed people are buying property farther south between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of Capricorn. people are being miss informed some are moving north when they should be moving south, the northern half of the US and all of Canada will be covered in ice any time now or within a few hundred years. that's what is really happening, and there's no changing that. and you wont be warned because the population is to large to be supported so you will fall victim to the ice, only a percent will survive.

Um sure global climate change could be a factor here. But the artical never once mentioned global warming "nmbg" It was talking abtou more complex cycles like the artic oscillation which is being effect by anougher oscillation. In fact all it really says is the sum total of cold air is in a different place. Think abotu the thermodynamic principal of conservation of mass and energy. The winds are causes by changes in heat but what I think is being said is our model of understanding those winds is acting upredicably on old predictable weather patterns. This is causing issues in places being so cold and snow bound survival is imeadiatly threatened and the it may effect this summers crops. It is less abotu long term scare and more about the present and what do we do this year. I think of global warmign issues as a whole beign things we can only effect over the long term if we can actuallly predict and prevent them at all with the greater and greater need for recources in our growing populations.

When it's cold, it's global warming. When it's hot, it's global warming. When it rains, it's global warming. When it's dry, it's global warming. When it's windy, it's global warming. When the earth shakes, it's global warming.

I think it's pretty funny...those that wish to bag on it love to call it "global warming", and while this article doesn't contain the phrase "global warming", all the doubting Thomases come out in droves to bellyache about it, in true right wing fashion.

Just so you know, the correct term is "climate change", which would include things that have been discussed in this article. If this winter had been brutally cold and snowy, what would you say then? What did you say last year?

This year where I live (Washington state) we've had a blizzard with a foot or more of snow in one night, followed by freezing rain which coated the snow (and the snow on the trees) with half an inch of ice; we had massive power outages as a result, and all that was followed by three days of rain. A couple of years ago Seattle recorded it's highest temperature ever (103°) immediately after a winter with more than one snowstorm in an area that doesn't get much snow. To me, record temperatures along with winter blizzards within a year, in an area known for it's very mild climate, is indicative of a change in climate.

Of course, some people (*cough Glenn Beck cough*) will still insist that warm weather in winter and cool weather in summer means that "global warming" doesn't exist...even if a warm winter might be representative of climate change...

Global warming, Climate change, whatever you want to call it, its happening, its always been happening. Our climate changes in cycles caused by everything from the oscilation of the Earths rotation and solar orbit to deforestation and CO2 emmissions. I do believe Humans have the power to effect the climate, and that we have sped up the current warming phase of our planets climate cycle. In the end, I don't think that you can say its a absolutely bad thing. Colder dry climate change in some areas may be beneficial, as warmer wetter conditions would definately help grain production in Ethiopia. We don't know all the possible effects of our tampering with the climate brought on by our modern lifestyles and use of fossil fuels, and it definately requires further study and caution. You can't say, "I don't believe in Global Warming" or that "Global warming is going to end civilization as we know it." I would liken those statements to , " I don't believe the Earth is round" and " There is a Santa Claus."

I'm sory, Colder / wetter, Hotter/ dryer. I'm sure Ethiopia doesn't need to get any hotter

Tim, without dwelling too much on the politics, I'll ask one to ya...

Where did the researchers get their data from 400,000 years ago? Pretty sure the technology we have can't tell us what the "average" temperatures were, nor what the climates were like.

Seriously, there is a reality that we do influence the environment, and there are things we can do better. With that said, there are "flaws" in global warming theorists that they can't explain. It's funny, the 2 extremes continue to blast their opinion as FACT calling the other group names, when we'd gain a whole lot more ground if we'd find that middle ground and work on ways to address improvements together. Hmmmm...Maybe Obama, Congressional Dems and Republicans could learn from that idea and grow up a bit, huh?

Jerry they can tell temperatures from the past. They can even look at old tree rings, fossilized ring growth and tell the temperature that year or mositure level. It is called science. No , not Rush Limbaugh science of the 5th grade, Take a few college courses rather than trade school.

When it's cold, it's global warming. When it's hot, it's global warming. When it rains, it's global warming. When it's dry, it's global warming. When it's windy, it's global warming. When the earth shakes, it's global warming.

That settles it. It's all because of global warming. And even if it isn't, it's because of George Bush!

Freekin' freaks. with global warming.

You mean Climate Change. This has nothing to do with global warming.

Jerry,

You are right. The original report backed by Gore, which says we have global warming actually only looks at temperature data for a period of 15 years. It's not even the last 15 years, for if they would look at average global temperatures for the last few years they would have to show that they have actually decreased. This is why scientists quit calling the phenomenom global warming, and swiched to "climate change". But the general public has not been told this.

First of all, science is NEVER absolute, it is a matter of probabilities, we could be 90% sure or 99% sure, but anyone who says CC is a fact isn't a scientist, he's a political hack. Particularly, consensus is NOT science, SKEPTICISM is!

It is skepticism that allows us to make progress, ever questioning, ever striving. True scientists, relish finding problems with their own work and welcome others to do the same.

Real scientists publish the raw date with their work so the analysis can be repeated and verified. That's why the IPCC guys who destroyed their raw data have zero credibility.

If you want to know what real science is like read any of the Nobel laureat physicist Joseph Feynman books, "What do you care what other people think?" is a good one.

It does seem likely that we are in a warming period and it does seem likely that man is helping it along somewhat, but that does not negate the validity of skepticism. One should always challenge dogma, particularly when it is labeled as absolute truth.

Jerry, They measure CO2 levels from Ice Cores taken from the north and south pole, if you check out the caption under the graph on that link it explains it rather clearly.

Not quite sure why people want to argue over the label. We're experiencing Climate Change, caused by Global Warming. It's not one or the other, it's both.

So nobody said anything about global warming, but you couldn't help yourself. Three times. You must have software that does this automatically. Did Karl Rove buy that for you?

You are entertaining!

nmbg, You need to learn the difference between weather and climate. They are not the same thing.

This guy shows up everywhere and just makes right wing drivel, usually not even related to the topic. Perhaps we should ignore him...but then he'll just change his/her name.

Climate change is harder to predict than weather, weather is a science they are still working on and have not mastered yet, climate change is a science they have not yetestablished, and blind is when you listen to someone else and trust in them rather then find your own way. climate change has always been and always will be, you people have one small piece of a very large puzzle I suggest you look for more pieces to the puzzle your selves and not count on the ALL Gore crowd to furnish you with the next piece, and buy some snowshoes you are going to need them.

So, Ferro, someone disagreeing with you makes them wrong, huh? well it's good you've educated us. Now oh great one, explain to us why in the 1970's we were being told the earth was beginning a cooling cycle climate wise?

Climate impact is something we can have, but the problem with "global warming" is that is makes broad assumptions and has portions that are not factual, but conceptual. Al Gore's information was proven to have been inaccurate, as the group reporting noted they tainted the data. I'm not saying we don't influence the planet, but it's funny watching lefties confirm that they are GOD, uh, sorry, shouldn't have said that to a Liberal...sheesh,...sorry...

Ok you are mother nature... and know all....there how's that? Gotta be politically correct for ya

Well Jerry

If I think I'm right, then disagreeing with me is obviously wrong. That's not hard. Do you make statements that you know are wrong? If you do, then I must learn to ignore you. OK....I'll ignore you.

Since you believe in the "tainted data" which is a right wing lie, and you repeat it, then you obvioulsy say things you know are wrong. You did read more than just the Rush Limbaugh version of that incident didn't you?

Oh, I forgot, you convinced me to ignore you....sorry.

I don't . The only people who are probably upset are the Gas and Electric Companies

Another one! Amazing!!

Well the right wing is disciplined. Just mention weather and they come out of the woodwork.

Earth came out of an Ice Age and is moving into a Heat Age. Ice Age to Heat Age and Heat Age to Ice Age. The pendulum is in motion.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out.

Just ask any Dinosaur they will tell you all about it. Dino the Dinosaur told me they are migrating south because Yellowstone is going to get hot this year.

The Dinosaur Migration 2012. Prepare to be vaporized.

ferrosynthesis to bad your head is so far up your a** you can't notice global warming until it hits you later . And by the way stay in the woods we don't want to catch a cold.

Global warming has always come and gone. Dam Republican, why can't they make up their minds.

When conditions don't support your propaganda it's weather, when they do it's climate. Sorry, you can't have it both ways.

This lack of snow is weather, not climate. As the article stated the world wide snow amount is about average.

And if you listen to liberal- All the worlds problems are caused by the Republicans. End of Discussion.

And if you listen to all the sheep in general, the world's problems are divided by America's political party lines. How pathetically we inflate our own importance!

With minor & few exceptions, the world is divided into haves(control of natural resources, political processes, financial institutions, manufacturing & creation/control of technology) & the have-nots(i.e. consumers - the rest of us!). Which category do you really think you're in, & why are you always so willing to swallow the "party" lines?

Doesn't matter why or if the climate, or weather, is drastically changing. We're all on the same planet & won't be able to escape it whether we believed it was coming or not.

Thats right there is no escape and there is no changing it.

I'm Tea Party AND a scientist and believe the earth SHOULD be warming. We are still coming out of the last ice age. Moreover, there are positive feedback mechanisms that should accelerate warming. The fact that glaciers are receding, supports this.

My problem is the fear mongering, the raw data simply does not support it.

Will it get warmer? Likely. Will it get dryer? Dryer in some places, wetter in others. Will the environment get worse? Worse in some areas, better in others, (Iceland is loving it!). Will humans suffer? Suffer in some places, thrive in others. Will Florida be under water? Yes many centuries from now.

Can we continue on our present course. No, oil is being used up and it is getting more expensive to recover. Couple that with advances in solar, wind, and batteries, and within fifty or so years alternative will have supplanted oil, (assuming algae oil isn't cost competitive, if it is that will extend oil consumption). Is the climate going to change that much in 50 years? No.

This is what I've gleaned from the raw data I've seen.

And WHAT EXACTLY ARE WE supposed to do with what "mother nature" decides to do with the weather????? Sorry, how are us people going to make "something (in the weather) change????

Warming will make crop growing better in the US, even better in Canada. Mexico may suck though.

Again, there are winners and losers in global warming, Canada should be a big winner, as should Iceland, etc. We should be somewhat net positive, Mexico should be net negative. Africa should be net negative, (why do they always seem to get it in the shorts???).

HA! Yeah that's another type of "change". Overall point being that these jacka$$es won't accept any type of change until something stops them from stuffing they're faces with whatever they want at low prices. When they have to pay $5 for the apples they shine on the sleeve of their fine, white linen jackets, while whistling dixie in their front porch rocking chair, that's when they'll demand change. Screw it, actually they'll just say, "it's that dang Oh-bamma's fault!"

@Joe: Just exactly what ARE " the tea party types"? I'm curious what your prejudice

notions are... (ie, profiling!)

Tea Party, dumb, uneducated lap dogs for the healthcare CEOs who started the movement so they could continue to rip off Americans. Those holding signs that say "No government healthcare, I want my private Medicare"

Did I mention they were stupid?

Whoa, Reason... let's not arm those maroons with actual facts - now that COULD get dangerous.

Let's just leave them in their own little world where they belong.

(the tide is turning on them... people can see through their lunacy)

Oh dear, more name calling and put downs of opposing views. Liberals do the same thing when they shout down a speaker. Doesn't work Reason and Prophet, think of something besides the shop worn bullet points.

Nothing to indicate this has anything to do with "climate change". Just a seasonal "weather" event. One winter does not indicate climate change caused global warming.

Some years we have more than average snow and cold, some years we have less than average. That's how averages are determined.

..."though for the entire northern hemisphere, it's been about average for snow this season" the expert said in the article.

At any rate, the experts are predicting 12-22 inches here along the Front Range, and perhaps blizzard conditions further east on the plains. So this one will prolly be above the average.

They may not be the same but they are both subject to change and that's all there is to it. so quit letting these people scare you into thinking they can fix this. they can't, its going to continue until the pendulum goes the other direction and the ice age returns, so stop buying people like All Gore mansions and jets and yachts and stuff you are being duped. stupid! stupid! sheeple.

No, but we have scientific evidence vs you have Rush Limbaugh, drug addict and GED grad. You choose.

Wally, ask scientists vs Rush the fat drug addict.

Good premise, wrong information! That's part of our problem, blame the victim!

Do you know why there was a massive push from European nations in their "Golden Age" of exploration to spread throughout the world & conquer new lands? Because of the combination of a recent mini "Ice Age" & overfishing, bad farming practices that exhausted the land(thanks for spreading those methods to the rest of the world, by the way!), & exhaustive wars, it was explore or die. If not for the colonialization of the African continent & takeover of most arable lands, Europe would have starved.

Perhaps if massive amounts of land in so-called third world countries weren't used to grow cotton, cocoa, coffee & sugar cane(among other luxury crops) for export to the profit of foreign-owned companies, the people in that country could grow their own food &, here's an idea, feed themselves! Wouldn't need those genetically altered seeds to grow food in the scraps of poor soil they're left to subsist on then, or need foreign charity just to eat, would they?

It takes a closer look in the mirror to see just who is really "wasting" resources.

You're thinking of an ideal world chi-town girl, unfortunately, we have to deal with the real one.

The real world of killing all the buffalo and aksing..hey where did they all go? yuk yuk.

The real world of early industry, smoke stacks, black lung, urine and feces in the streets, life expectency of 50 years, flu killing 12 million in 1917, more than WWI.

Ignorance and greed can be overcome and we can control our desiny as mankind if we don't listen to the greedy and ignorant from the right.

ok This warmer weather will have a dramatic effect on some of the US crops, no doubts about that.

It is a dire situation where we may see inflation in prices and that is not good because farmers will not get be able to sell.

Though regarding the BS comments regarding the need for colonization, exploration because of a direct situation of land and crops is completely false in many ways (but not all). countries like France and Germany are and have been self sufficient for centuries. If anything they over produce. When you see country like France is roughly about 70% of land mass in farming then you realize that wherever you go you see farm land and when you fly from above what do you see? privately owned farm land in each direction and horizons...

Do crops pushed countries to explore.... most likely. Was it because they were starving... certainly not. Then why? well the answer is fairly simple, military/power, business/commerce, and spread the religion, it is old but it is true and not specifically because of lack of crops and even less because they were starving to death. Though everything has a price and had a price.. even food. If you cannot afford food, if you have nothing else left to exchange for food then, yes, you starve, and that was the evil of major town during the enlightenment period in major town. And that is also a primary reason that led France to revolt and cut their king's head as well as forms of government across Europe to change.

I know, Alabama Power folks are stalking the meters to see if they are working, hilarious.

I too thought that was the twin towers at first, but they weren't visible from Central Park

Oh I see, you want to see the government step in and "impose" a solution(s). We knew that's what you liberals want. No, I don't think it will get that bad, and the citizens of all political persuasions will not put up with it.

Maybe we just don't believe the government everytime they say something is definite when you're discussing a proven flawed theory.

Numbers lie and liars use numbers.

Not only that, but one of your NASA originators of the so-called global warming theory has said he now believes it's not true and that study results were incorrect due to missing key data. I think his name is James Hansen.

jay = person incapable of admitting when their wrong.

If satellite images, CO2 measurements and a wealth of other facts isn't good enough for you, you are beyond help. The whole "government lies to us" thing is just a cop-out for somebody with no real knowledge and an unwillingness to learn.

Jay - NASA has been saying this for over 2 decades, this isn't some new thing that just happened under a democrat President.

That one graph look like "Hockeysticks" part deux.