Part of life is recognizing and minimizing risk. We don't hesitate to insure our vehicles, homes and lives. Yet when it comes to taking out an insurance policy against a rapidly changing climate, some ignore a vast consensus of scientists imploring us to pay attention. A disconnect?
Well-meaning people often confuse weather and climate. "It's cold and snowy, Paul!" Weather is your mood right now. Climate is your personality.
Meteorologist Dr. Mark Seeley reports 17 of the past 20 years have been warmer than normal, 14 in Minnesota wetter than normal. One day, one year, doesn't prove anything. It's the trends that matter (wetter and milder here).
A family of weak clippers keeps highs in the 20s this week; no more snow drama in sight. I sense a shift in our weather patterns, with a much stronger southern branch of the jet stream evolving within one to two weeks — possibly a symptom of a brewing El Niño. This shift could mean milder readings and more frequent southern storms by mid-December, as winds blow from the Pacific, not the Arctic.
