First this clip from the 2013 stage spin-off of the Yes, Prime Minister television series:
Now, to Australia for this Malthusian prediction on snowfall - from the Australian Broadcasting Company:
Scientists warn of bad outlook for future ski seasons as climate change affects snowfall
Skiers and other snow lovers have faced a torrid time in the Australian alpine region lately with hardly any natural snow to enjoy since the start of July.
And:
Research conducted by Griffith University's Environmental Futures Research Institute has warned that snow regions in Australia must adapt to warmer conditions caused by climate change, that is increasingly turning the alpine landscape from white to green.
Study co-author Professor Catherine Pickering said the current trends did not look promising and good years like the recent snow dump had become less frequent.
"The snow cover in the Australian alps is declining and it has declined a lot since 1954 when there was the longest snow course on record," she said.
"We have found that it was originally a 30 per cent decline and now the latest data indicates we have got to a 40 per cent decline over that period.
Of course, boots on the ground measurement (as opposed to computer models) have this to say - from Australia's 9NEWS:
Wintry conditions bewitch and wreak havoc
It's the cold snap that put snowmen on the main street of a Queensland town.
Anyone remember this little nugget from March of 2000 - from the UK Independent:
Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past
Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives.
Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain's culture, as warmer winters - which scientists are attributing to global climate change - produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries.
And:
However, the warming is so far manifesting itself more in winters which are less cold than in much hotter summers. According to Dr David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia,within a few years winter snowfall will become "a very rare and exciting event".
"Children just aren't going to know what snow is," he said.
The good Doctor Viner is a political hack and a clown, not a scientist. A thing of the past indeed.
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