THE ICE AGE IS UPON US !

OK, probably not. But if scaremongering politicians can call up the spectre of global warming every time a tornado touches down, I can scream for ice (cream!) after an entire winter of deadly and dasterdly cold:

Snow cover over North America and much of Siberia, Mongolia and China is greater than at any time since 1966.
The U.S. National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) reported that many American cities and towns suffered record cold temperatures in January and early February. According to the NCDC, the average temperature in January "was -0.3 F cooler than the 1901-2000 (20th century) average."

And remember the Arctic Sea ice? The ice we were told so hysterically last fall had melted to its "lowest levels on record? Never mind that those records only date back as far as 1972 and that there is anthropological and geological evidence of much greater melts in the past.

The ice is back.

Gilles Langis, a senior forecaster with the Canadian Ice Service in Ottawa, says the Arctic winter has been so severe the ice has not only recovered, it is actually 10 to 20 cm thicker in many places than at this time last year.

More interesting tidbits, from scientists who are not suckling at the UN's teat:

According to Robert Toggweiler of the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton University and Joellen Russell, assistant professor of biogeochemical dynamics at the University of Arizona -- two prominent climate modellers -- climate models until now have not properly accounted for the wind's effects on ocean circulation, so researchers have compensated by over-emphasizing the role of manmade warming on polar ice melt...

...Last month, Oleg Sorokhtin, a fellow of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, shrugged off manmade climate change as "a drop in the bucket." Showing that solar activity has entered an inactive phase, Prof. Sorokhtin advised people to "stock up on fur coats."

He is not alone. Kenneth Tapping of our own National Research Council, who oversees a giant radio telescope focused on the sun, is convinced we are in for a long period of severely cold weather if sunspot activity does not pick up soon.

The last time the sun was this inactive, Earth suffered the Little Ice Age that lasted about five centuries and ended in 1850. Crops failed through killer frosts and drought. Famine, plague and war were widespread. Harbours froze, so did rivers, and trade ceased.

We cannot take the risk. While global warming would lead to shorter winters, less fossil fuel use, more useable farmland to feed the world, and other sundry benefits, "Little Ice Ages" can be deadly. One must note, going back in history a bit (further than 1972, if you'll pardon), that the period encompassing the years 1200AD-1380AD was marked by extreme cold and moisture, according to written records of the time. Of course, just coincidentally, that period happens to intersect with the raging of the Black Death, the Plague that killed off over 1/3 of Europe's entire population.

So trade in that Prius for a Hummer, gas up those two-stroke snowblowers, and revv up those ATVs. When the summer comes (if it ever does), turn that thermostat down to 65 degrees, and thank the Lord for the flurocarbonated by-product. Make sure - for the enviornment's sake - that you are equipped with a good gas mower (five-speed ride-on preferred) and hedge trimmer. Got a pool? Keep that heat going; nothing like a bathtub temperature. And when autumn arrives, don't forget to arm yourself with the loudest, smokiest, most abusive leaf blower you can afford.

And remember: It's for the sake of our children, and their children....

Update: They agree at More Monmouth Musings:

CEI Senior Fellow Iain Murray commented, "Temperatures ought to be at a peak, but instead they've held steady for at least the last five years and by some accounts, they've actually dropped. The case for urgent action to restrict energy use is getting weaker, not stronger. Given that affordable energy is the best hope of escape from poverty for billions around the globe, politicians need to ask themselves "where's the beef" before pushing their anti-energy policies."

Save the world. Take your next flight on a Gulfstream!