In article ,
Dave Cornwell writes:
John Hall wrote:
There's a piece by Philip Eden on the BBC website entitled "Time to
spend more money preparing for colder winters?":
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12042733
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Brilliant article, as I would expect. I agree with it and thought these
two points were well made.

"The first thing to say is that it is essential to place current events
in proper historical and scientific contexts.
The last three winters have appeared to be cold and snowy only in
comparison with the relatively mild and snow-free winters of the last
two decades.
Were we able to pick them up and transplant them into, say, the 1940s
or 1950s or 1960s they would not have looked out of place at all."

"What can be said with very little doubt is that, once this cluster of
cold winters has finished, we will have another lengthy run of mild and
rainy ones, and if we spend piles of cash on snowploughs and de-icing
equipment, we may come to regret it."

Dave

Yes. I do wonder, though, if there might be a tendency for the jetstream
to have become weaker, and hence more erratic, because GW has increased
temperatures in polar regions more than in the temperate zone, thus
reducing the temperature gradient that presumably "drives" it.
--
John Hall
"I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly,
will hardly mind anything else."
Dr Samuel Johnson (1709-84)