Funny how economic concerns pull the mind away from foolishness such as global warming. But weather goes on, and in many places it doesn’t happen the way fear mongers predict. Start with Alaska, a place in the news of late. The state’s glaciers, after two centuries of shrinkage (a trend that began before the advent of the internal combustion engine and smokestack economy), actually grew during the winter of 2007-08.

“In general,” Bruce Molnia, a U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist, told the Anchorage Daily News, “the weather this summer was the worst I have seen in at least 20 years.” Translation: It was so cold that the snow that causes glaciers to expand didn’t melt until later than usual. Meanwhile, the International Arctic Research Center reports 29% more Arctic sea ice this year than last. This doesn’t exactly square with overheated predictions earlier in the year that the North Pole would be entirely free of ice over the summer for the first time in recorded history.

Farther south, midmonth temperatures in Oregon hit record lows, and on Oct. 10 Boise, Idaho, got its earliest snow ever - 1.7 inches that beat the old record by one day and 7/10 of an inch. Much farther south, Durban, South Africa, had its coldest September night in history a month ago, and parts of the country had an unusual late-winter snow. A month earlier in New Zealand, officials at Mount Ruapehu reported the largest snow base ever.

These last four developments, taken together or separately, don’t disprove the global warming theory. But unlike climate projection models, which are often wrong but endlessly thrown in our faces as examples of hard science, they are real world events wholly contrary to the story the alarmists have been spreading.

Global warm mongers are rapidly losing credibility. Mainstream journalists will still believe them because climate change fits the narrative they’ve so carefully nurtured. But eventually the error will have to be admitted. It won’t happen publicly, though, because by the time they come to their senses, the issue will have been long forgotten by the public.