Word: weathers
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Namias and other meteorologists agree on the immediate reason for the bitterly cold weather. The high-level westerly winds-including the jet stream-that whistle through the upper atmosphere high above the U.S. have been circulating in an unusual pattern. Normally in winter these winds flow more directly across the country from west to east. This winter they are cutting across the Rockies much farther to the north than usual and then, as they head toward the East Coast, dipping much farther south than normal...
...product of that unusual pattern is this winter's wild weather. According to Namias, the jet stream has been picking up Pacific storms and guiding them across the U.S., "pepping up" each one as it crosses the country. The resulting heavy snowfalls that have accumulated on the ground in Eastern states further refrigerate Arctic air as it moves down from Canada. The snow covering also contributes to the dramatic difference between land and water temperatures, which in turn stimulates more storms along the East Coast-including the nor'easters that have been battering oil tankers. All the while...
...Whatever the cause of current weather patterns, they cannot yet be related to any of the long-range cooling -or warming-trends foreseen by scientific Cassandras. Says George Kukla, a climatologist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory: "Just because we can't get our cars started, are suffering from frostbite, and have a few feet of snow in our driveways, we should not start worrying about an Ice Age." Among scientists who fear that significant worldwide climatic changes have already begun, there are those who believe that another Ice Age is not far ahead-as well...
...thousands of factories, small plants and even schools that depend on a vital energy source: natural gas. Pointing to rising consumption of the clean-burning fuel, as well as dwindling supplies, gas-industry experts had been forecasting severe shortages for several winters, only to have mild weather make it appear that they had been crying wolf. But this season, the early warnings had been sounded as far back as November-and suddenly they proved all too accurate. "The past four or five winters have been comparatively warm," said Carl Suchocki of the Natural Gas Supply Committee, an industry lobby...
...take some time for those reserves to be rebuilt. Says an official of Southern Natural Gas Co. of Birmingham, Ala.: "The gas situation is so tight now that we won't be able to fulfill our industrial requirements for three to four weeks. Even a snap of warm weather won't help...