Originally posted by RJHinds
Let's all pray for more global warming. People are freezing to death and farmers are worried about their strawberries freezing. I saw it on the news.
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/01/06/3121771/cold-homelessness-public-health/
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20120103/ARTICLE/120109898#gsc.tab=0
First off global warming IS happening and doesn't prevent regional extreme cold events... It just makes them rarer.
Presently while you might be cold we are unseasonably mild... if extremely wet and windy.
Also, while global warming makes extreme cold events rarer... It makes extreme heat events more common...
and they are far harder to deal with.
Heat is much easier to make and trap than to pump out, so heating uses less energy than air-con.
Cold can be dealt with by dressing appropriately, but there is a limit to how many clothes you can take off...
Their have been deaths from this rare cold blast... There have been more from recent heat waves.
Climate change, including droughts and extreme heat, also impacts crops and food production... And does more
damage than a cold snap does.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2014/01/07/extreme_cold_is_better_than_extreme_heat.html
.... It is very cold today in Washington, D.C., as it is in much of the country. Unpleasantly so. I am not one of those people here to tell you about how if you think this is cold, you should try January in Burlington, Vt. But I am here with this message. As unpleasant as extreme cold can be, it is much much much less bothersome than extreme heat.
The crucial issue is clothing and adaptability. I went out today wearing a warm hat and warm gloves and a scarf. I had four layers on my torso. I wore some corduroy pants, a warm pair of socks, and some boots. All things considered, I was pretty comfortable. Don't get me wrong, not as comfortable as I am on a nice 72 degree day. I am very glad that D.C. winters don't normally get this cold. Still, I survived.
Contrast that with a very hot and humid day of the sort that we regularly experience in the summertime here and elsewhere in much of the country.
A T-shirt and shorts may be comfortable at 85 degrees. But then what about 95 degrees? What about the occasional day when it's 102? You run out of options fast. And even shorts and a T-shirt only get you so far. If your agenda for the day involve a friend's wedding, a business meeting, or even a nice dinner than you're out of luck. Doomed. ......
EDIT: also if rick perry has taught anyone anything... it's that praying for weather doesn't work.