by Mitsy Simpkins

Created on: January 20, 2007   Last Updated: May 02, 2007

As I sit in the frozen wasteland that is Denver, Colorado, I must admit that the current weather phenomena has me a bit shaken (and stirred). Here we sit, waiting for the fifth winter storm in as many weeks. Now, I make no claims to be an expert on these matters, but based on weather related events over the past couple of years, I'm starting to think that Armageddon might just be fast approaching. To say the least, I'm downright SCARED! I'm not a religious or superstitious fella by any means, but just the other day, I found myself dusting off the old Bible, pulling out my childhood rabbit's foot, and hanging a horseshoe over the entry way to our modest home, just in case.

You know, we simply don't have enough problems going on in this world right now. Are the North Korean nuts going to acquire the technology needed to park one of their chintzy missiles in our backyard? Will Iran find the means necessary to get their Nuclear program going? Will our beloved troops ever get back home safely? Probably, probaly, and I don't know. But guess what? Now, we get to fret over what Mother Nature's going to do to us next.

I'm smart enough to know that one season, or one year for that matter does not a weather phenomena make, but we are beginning to tread into unchartered waters here. All sorts of factors play into the make up of the weather that we are experiencing. Is it global warming? Is it this? Is it that? I don't know. Most of us don't have a clue about El Nino, La Nina, Upper Level Moisture, or Barometric pressure? And, to tell you the truth, most of us don't care. We just want it to be cold in the Winter, warm in the Spring, and hot enough to swim in the Summer.

Unfortunately for all of us, the weather that we've come to know and depend on, may be a thing of the past. Can anyone explain why the Northeast is like Spring, and California is freezing? Why is the desert getting more rain than the rain forest? What the heck is going on in England; a tornado (of all things), and 130 mile per hour winds? And, what's to become of that iceberg the size of 11,000 football fields that broke off the ice shelf in Canada?

These unexplained weather phenomena are starting to add up. Two years ago, 12 hurricanes in one season, a tidal wave that wiped out 300,000 people, and temperatures so high in Europe that thousands of people died from heatstroke. Last year, the Amazon experienced its worst drought ever, major flooding rampaged the Northwest and California, and a massive chunk of the Western Ice sheet broke off the Antarctic continent.

So, have we doomed our planet, our way of life, and our very existence? I don't know. One thing is for sure though, if these phenomena continue, we are in serious trouble, and the weather will be the least of our worries. Mass migration, changes in the balance of economic power, disease, and starvation (to name but a few) will be right around the corner. In the very near future, Ecuador might be THE place to live, with it's slightly above zero summers. Ahh, snow skiing at the equator...what more can anyone ask for? Come to think of it, you might want to contact your local Congressman, and get her to kick that Space Program into another gear!

Hey...passdabiskits!

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