According to family, the last two winters the lakes haven't frozen over in winter. In past years in my home town there was a contest to be the last one to drive their car across the lake --usually held in March IIRC.

No story here, just move along, folks.

I'm afraid I haven't worn a jacket in years, but this winter here in Barcelona there were only a couple of days when I even felt the need to put a coat on.

On the other hand all this nice weather obviously has it's dark side. According to William Calvin, among others,the recent warming could just trip the switch to massive cooling. (Just like a little overheating in the stock market can be a prelude to deflation!). It's always interesting to remind ourselves that hard-to-understand non-linearities which cut against the grain of common sense also prove to be chronic in sciences other than economics.

Calvin's ideas about global hydraulics and climate may also help us to better understand better one of Brad's: why Europe. Historically the 'Gulf Stream' factor does seem to have enabled European agriculture to support a far larger population than, say, the Americas. Also it is interesting to note that the melting of the great continental ice sheets 10,000 years ago was one of the factors which kicked-off the 'agricultural revolution'. Finally, it is probably impossible to isolate the impact of the black death from that of the 'little ice age' which is thought to have begun sometime in the thirteenth century. Incidentally, climate is another area where it is obvious that simple aggregate data tell us very little. A rise or fall of one degree in average temperature can hide enormous fluctuations in maxima and minima.

Conclusion, shed your jacket by all means, but keep it handy just in case you happen to need it sooner than you think. And always, but always, try to think outside the box.

Here in Virginia we just had the 7th coldest January. I have an SUV, so I am doing my part to help speed up the process, but its not warming up fast enough.

As I sit here muffled in blankets and shivering in the Michigan woods . . .

Last week-end, I bursted in the car: 'damned! it's so hot in here.' My better and replied 'just promise you don't tell this to anyone outside the Bay Area.' :)

I didn't know professors were still required to wear tweed jackets (or skirts as the case may be). Didn't the Free Speech Movement or the 1968 Paris student actions or something do away with this requirement? And anyway, wasn't it just English professors?

I didn't know professors were still required to wear tweed jackets (or skirts as the case may be). Didn't the Free Speech Movement or the 1968 Paris student actions or something do away with this requirement? And anyway, wasn't it just English professors?