In Africa, drought continues for the sixth consecutive year, adding
terribly to the toll of famine victims. During 1972 record rains in
parts of the U.S., Pakistan and Japan caused some of the worst flooding
in centuries. In Canada’s wheat belt, a particularly chilly and rainy
spring has delayed planting and may well bring a disappointingly small
harvest. Rainy Britain, on the other hand, has suffered from
uncharacteristic dry spells the past few springs. A series of unusually
cold winters has gripped the American Far West, while New England and
northern Europe have recently experienced the mildest winters within
anyone’s recollection.As they review the bizarre and unpredictable weather pattern of the past
several years, a growing number of scientists are beginning to suspect
that many seemingly contradictory meteorological fluctuations are
actually part of a global climatic upheaval. However widely the weather
varies from place to place and time to time, when meteorologists take
an average of temperatures around the globe they find that the
atmosphere has been growing gradually cooler for the past three
decades. The trend shows no indication of reversing.
Climatological Cassandras are becoming increasingly apprehensive, for
the weather aberrations they are studying may be the harbinger of
another ice age.
