Very extreme weather events are becoming more regular these days. Scientists may not be able to pinpoint why this is happening, but they have been saying for a while now that, thanks to global warming, extreme weather events are being experienced every year. It may not be uncommon in the US to see all 50 states register sub-zero temperatures.
Even by those unpredictably cold standards, what happened this week, particularly in western New York state around the town of Buffalo, is an extremely out-of-season weather event that prompted the governor to say Mother Nature was once again showing us who’s boss.
Means of communication have improved with people sending SOS messages on mobile phones, Twitter, etc. Even so, the toll has been high and people stranded under snow in automobiles or simply snowed in at home are spending some of the most frightening moments of their lives. The professional football team Buffalo Bills is aiming to clear some 2,20,000 tons of snow in order to get their weekend game going but protests are already being heard from those who say the priority should be to save lives.
In India, winter appears to have arrived early, with snow sighted already in Jammu and Kashmir. Weather patterns have undergone more changes in the last few years than in the previous century. Nature is winning hands down. Where all this is heading is hard to say, but man must answer the question whether the environmental degradation he is causing is behind these cataclysmic changes. Mankind must accept the blame.
