Weather or not, global warming is chilly
As I write this it's 41 degrees outside, the wind is biting and it's almost March.
Yes, we're in Florida, and by the time you read this, it'll be warm and sunny, the mosquitoes will be biting and we'll be wishing for more of a breeze.
Such weather fluctuations aren't uncommon here. As one who was raised in Switzerland, I'm the first to say they aren't all that unpleasant.
If you've trained your yard to look like a tropical Garden of Eden, you have my deepest sympathy. You also have a lot of work ahead, I expect.
For some, this winter's freeze cycles — especially the tons of snow that bury the northeast as I write this — serve as evidence that global warming is mistaken, misleading or misunderstood.
I'll go with misunderstood since Miss Arizona is otherwise engaged (thank Groucho Marx and YouTube for that one).
Ironically, it turns out, increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide — one of the global warming triggers — trap more moisture in the atmosphere. While that's maybe not such a bad thing for Arizona, for New York and Washington it can mean a big, wet, icy kiss from Mother Nature in the winter and, coming up soon, rain on their parades.
For tomato growers in south Florida — where more than half of the nation's winter crop is grown — unpredictably severe weather turns can be disastrous economically. And that translates to higher prices at grocery stores and pizza shops and higher costs for school cafeterias.
Speaking of higher prices, check out the price sticker on a bottle of fresh orange juice. Now through June or July it's Florida citrus harvest time, and we're feeling the pinch of freezing temperatures.
For beekeepers, it means less honey when wildflower buds turn to brown cusps and bees return to their hives empty-handed. For boy bees, long winters may get them kicked out in the cold.
Maybe we humans don't have it so bad after all.