Climate and the NCR

I'm taking a day off from thinking about the accession of Cheeto Jesus before my moral and ethical circuits overload.  Instead, as I was slip sliding away to work this morning my thoughts turned to climate change.  It was slushy and raining today on the NCR, which could be attributed to a traditional "January thaw".  However, there was no snow on the ground when this latest weather system arrived and according to the long range forecast, it will be off and on rain and snow showers for the next 10 days with temperatures ranging from 30 to 45 degrees.  This following a moderately cold and nearly snowless December has me thinking in terms of getting my garden seed orders in as quickly as possible.  Without appearing to be one of those old fogies who relentlessly relive the past, I have to say in just the 16 years I have lived in the North Country the overall change has been more than transient.   In the early 2000's, there were winters where the temperature stayed below freezing for weeks at a time with interludes where it stayed below 0 for days.  This simply does not happen any more.   My biggest fear is a repeat of the ice storm of  1998 when the temperature hovered near freezing for a week and rain froze on everything in several inch deep layers of ice which created havoc for months afterward.  The more I think about it though, the less likely the conditions would repeat, as the highs would likely be in the 40s which would melt the ice before significant damage could occur.  Without the continuation of government efforts to mitigate climate change, I believe snow and ice will increasingly become rarities in this area.  Unfortunately, there are other changes such as summer droughts and increasing year round warmth which will impact all of us in ways we can't imagine yet.    Which brings us back to the current political regime....may the Flying Spaghetti Monster have mercy on us all!