Archive: Opinions

For years I have been expressing my profound disappointment in global warming.  Until this year we had two brutally cold winters in a row.  What is the benefit of global warming, I reasoned, if it is not warm?  Finally it paid off this winter.  Earlier this month the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)announced that this winter was the warmest on record. In fact it was five degrees warmer than the 20th century average.

Now you're talking!  I know I saved money because of the absence of snow.  The combination of mild weather and low oil prices made this winter almost bearable.  The cost of plowing was way down.  And I hardly wore my winter coat this time around.  I am stingy about going to the car wash, only going when my car is so dirty I don't think the next rainstorm will clean it.  I only went once this winter.

Last week Lansing Highway Superintendent Charlie Purcell said the Town saved $82,000 on snow plowing this year.  Score!

I had to go to Florida for a weekend, and when I left for the airport to come home at 4am it was around 60 degrees.  By the time I got home to Lansing it was 62 degrees here.  My takeaway is that another benefit of global warming is that we don't have to go to Florida any more.  How great is that?

I keep track of the times our driveway (a really long one) has to be plowed every year on a white board in my office.  This winter shows only two ticks, the lowest number since I began tracking it in the winter of 2010-11.  The next lowest number of plowings, three, was in 2011-12.  The highest was in that 2010-11 winter, when the plow guy came 14 times.  Last year and the year before also came in high at nine and ten plowings, respectively.

According to the Midwestern Regional Climate Center only four locations in the 48 contiguous state had a 'harsher than average' winter.  The Washington Post reported that Alaska had to import snow in order to hold its annual Iditarod.  The Post credited some of the warmth to an especially mild El Niño (don't you just love that name?), and the rest to global warming.

There certainly are downsides to global warming.  I saw a bug flying in my house a few days ago, much too early for bugs.  There were a bunch of them outside a few weeks ago, too.  I hate bugs!

And sure, we may see an eventual adjustment of beachfront property.  If the oceans rise and Lansing finds itself building ocean front resorts, it's going to drive our property taxes through the roof!

But all in all, I'm for it.  I just like being warm.

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