Originally Posted by The_Dunedan

The problem which I have with questions like this goes something thus;

In Fall of 2009, predictions from various media and "authorities" were confident that;

1: The "moderating" of winter weather in the Appalachians was due to Global Wa...excuse me, Global Climate Change.
2: Due to Global Wa...Climate Change, winters would be milder, shorter, and summers longer and hotter.
3: This winter, in particular, would be milder, warmer, shorter, and less of a pain in my ass than those previous.

Well, the Appalachians are -still- dealing with that which Hobbits and Men would call a "Fell Winter." We have spent more time below zero-F, more time below freezing (32F/0C), more days being snowed on, more days without power, and more days with snow on the ground than at any time in living memory. We have had more snow, sleet, and freezing rain this winter since before anyone cal remember, 70+ inches in some areas...and I live in North Carolina! -Literally- nobody can remember a winter like this, and that's -counting- the Blizzard Of 68 (over a 1.5 meters/4ft of snow in less than 36hrs), and records suggest that this may be the hardest winter in more than a century. Every species of game animal I can observe is starving down to their bones (squirrel, rabbit, turkeys, deer, etc), and my poor cows are going through 2.5x their usual ration just to maintain body weight. This on -top- of the fact that, as it turns out, no statistically significant warming has occurred in the last decade or more.

And yet, despite the fact that this all runs 103% -counter- to the effect we were told to expect, and were told would be caused by Global Wa...Climate Change....now we're being told that -this- is the result of the aforementioned hobgoblin. If X happens, it is because of 1. If Z happens, even though it is the direct and diametric -opposite- of X...it's -also- because of 1.

It reminds me of those "End Of The World" prophets who scream and shout and bluster that the End Is Nigh...and when The End doesn't happen, attribute this fact to the prayers of their four followers.

As a consequence of this, I am distinctly inclined to distrust the prognostications of scientists with vested financial interests in scaremongering. This applies equally whether that vested financial interest comes from Governmental or Corporate sources.