Politics and Weather, the Storm of the Century

Have you noticed that the term "global climate change" is replacing "global warming"? For much of the United States, this last winter was colder than any in the recent past. Via the news media, travelers snowed in at airports were fed a steady diet of looming catastrophe. The newscasters have shrewdly altered the phrase to highlight the viciousness of the weather. To a passenger sleeping on a cold airline terminal floor, any warming would be a relief. Even at this late date in the spring, temperatures in Florida are below average.

The weather is often the subject of most casual conversation between strangers, and polite conversation studiously avoids mentioning religion, and politics. But now, because of fear, it is fashionable to throw religion, politics and the weather into the same conversation grist mill. Al Gore, has declared that global warming is more of a threat than terrorism. Those who oppose the political global warming orthodoxy (Earth is catastrophically heating and industry is the cause), are labeled "immoral." Such consciousness raising has earned Mr. Gore a Nobel Peace Prize nomination. Meteorologists are threatened with their careers. Academics who go against the dogma are denied tenure, their research papers are ignored, and Politicians are voted out of office.