This winter season has been characterized by a series of weather extremes across the country. Crippling ice storms in December, a massive snowpack in the western mountains, an unrelenting drought in the Southeast and last week's record tornado outbreak have all grabbed headlines. Just yesterday, International Falls, Minnesota, known for its frigid winters, set an all time record low of minus 40 degrees F. All of which is fodder for the corner evangelists who warn that "the end is near."
But our weather "records" reflect data that stretches back only a few hundred years, a mere instant in Earth's history and even a very small percentage of human history. We know from climate studies that the planet has been far warmer and much colder in the distant past but scientifically-advanced humans were not around to record it. Our brief life spans give us a snapshot of the planet's weather pattern, a very limited perspective from which to appreciate its true historical variance.
The Worry Channel, designed to entertain and retain viewers, makes every storm system sound like a potential human catastrophe. But gradual climate change and weather disasters are not likely to bring the final blow to the human species; we are more likely to orchestrate our own demise (war, pollution, over population) or succumb to natural events such as supervolcanic eruptions and asteroid strikes.
