GORE SPEAKS!! – AT 9:22 A.M. ET:  It must be tough being Al Gore these days.  Tipper has left the residence, and the global-warming crusade has run into thousands of snow plows and a lot of shivering peasants. 

But don't underestimate Gore.  He knows, he knows.  He's spoken to "scientists."  From on high he issues the following wisdom: 

"As it turns out, the scientific community has been addressing this particular question for some time now and they say that increased heavy snowfalls are completely consistent with what they have been predicting as a consequence of man-made global warming:

"In fact, scientists have been warning for at least two decades that global warming could make snowstorms more severe. Snow has two simple ingredients: cold and moisture. Warmer air collects moisture like a sponge until it hits a patch of cold air. When temperatures dip below freezing, a lot of moisture creates a lot of snow..."

Just a sec, just a sec.  Meteorologist and global-warming skeptic Anthony Watts has something to say about that:

Apparently, Mr. Gore has never noted that climate scientists once thought snowfall would disappear. But wait, there’s more.

According to Dr. David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia, within a few years winter snowfall will become “a very rare and exciting event.”

“Children just aren’t going to know what snow is,” he said.

Also, apparently Mr. Gore is unable to track the global monthly temperature. If he had, he would note that there is no “global warming” this month.

Oh.  As Gilda Radner used to say, "Never mind."

And NASA-affiliated meteorologist Roy Spencer elaborates on the question of this winter's severe storm pattern:

...I would more likely chalk it up to something we used to call “WEATHER”.

Let me give you a few factoids:

1) No serious climate researcher — including the ones I disagree with — believes global warming can cause colder weather. Unless they have become delusional as a result of some sort of mental illness. One of the hallmarks of global warming theory is LESS extratropical cyclone activity — not more.

2) If some small region of the Earth is experiencing unusually persistent storminess, you can bet some other region is experiencing unusually quiet weather. You see, in the winter we get these things called ’storm tracks’….

3) Evidence for point #2 is that we now have many years of global satellite measurements of precipitation which shows that the annual amount of precipitation that falls on the Earth stays remarkably constant from year to year. The AREAS where it occurs just happen to move around a whole lot. Again, we used to call that “weather."

4) Global average temperature anomalies (departures from seasonal norms) have been falling precipitously for about 12 months now. Gee, maybe these snowstorms are from global cooling! Someone should look into that! (I know…cold and snow from global cooling sounds crazy….I’m just sayin’….)

COMMENT:  Are you getting the feeling that we've been had by "climate change" proponents?  Remember that much of the "research" in this area is generated by the UN, which has its own political agenda.  And we haven't even begun to explore the amount of money being made.

For those of you in the path of today's Midwest storm:  Enjoy the warming.

February 2, 2011