Whatever happened to global warming

It could be referred to as the first major crippling snowstorms of the 21st century, as the snowflakes continued to cover the east coast. The current winter of 2010 will long be remembered by its natives as one of the worst snowfalls to hit the Keystone State in more than a decade. Whatever happened to Global Warming? Perhaps we need to consult ex-Vice President, Al Gore, for further consultation on his theory of the subject matter. His movie documentary was well-received, earning him an Academy Award nomination a few years ago.

We're experienced a terrific blast of DEEP FREEZE since December, and the monstrous snows keep falling from the heavens. Just like the song lyrics, "Baby It's Cold Outside." This is putting it mildly since the temperatures have declined to a single digit a number of times. This is the deepest, most crippling snowfall we've seen since the 1990s that plagued the coal regions.

The shovels and snowplows have been working fast and furious to clear pathways for walking, as well as plowing highways to keep traffic moving. There's been a reprieve from harsh, heavy snowfall the past seasons. We've been so blessed with rather milder winters, until this current season when the "deep freeze" lowered the atmospheric temperatures with a vengeance. We have sufficient snow to prevail through March. It isn't going to melt so quickly, unless Ole Sol shines daily and its fiery rays penetrate the towering snowbanks.

Was Global Warming only a tease? Were scientists misguided, building our confidence that the atmosphere was developing toward a much warmer trend to forego severe, bitter cold winters? Mother Nature has become more wicked and violent as years progress. She played her hand to full devastation on January 12, when the island of Haiti was violently rocked with a thunderous earthquake, destroying hundreds of buildings and claiming hundreds of thousands of human lives. Will the Haitian people ever recapture a life of normalcy? It was a poor country to begin with, their economy was virtually reduced to poverty.

Getting back to our prolonged snowstorm; it's been a picturesque winter wonderland as the white powder fell from the sky. The denuded trees are a thing of beauty as their branches glisten with silvery diamonds effect in the moonlight. Beauty is abound everywhere you look, as the deep snow lays virginal on the mountaintops. But sometimes Beauty can become the Beast and cause our lives to bear many problems we otherwise don't need.

Like the flooding rains of Ranchipu, India, depicted in Louis Bromfield's adventurous novel, "The Rains Came." Though it wasn't rain but ultra-tons of snow that covered our region. The unendurable snows that persisted to blanket Pennsylvania is one reason why retired people travel to Florida for the winter. Through the land of warmth and sunshine also experienced lower temperatures in the 20s, during this current winter onslaught. Even 20 degrees, minus ice and snow and those unbearable winds, would be an improvement over the profound blizzards.

The blizzard of 2010, wrecking havoc over the Eastern Seaboard will soon turn to springtime, leaving this deep freeze a memory we soon won't forget! But we all need to count our blessings, the people of Haiti weren't so lucky... they don't have a house; no material possessions and surviving on the streets is truly the depths of total despair. When you lay your head on the pillow tonight, thank God you have a warm, comfortable bed to sleep in.

Earle E. Stahler

West Penn Township