Question. If all this global warming is suppose to be occurring how is it that we are having such a cold winter this year in Virginia?

Answer. Beijing, China has its coldest morning in almost 40-years and its biggest snowfall since 1951. Britain is experiencing its coldest snap since 1981. A record temperature of -42 in Norway was observed. Freezing weather is gripping the East Coast from Florida to Maine. One has to really wonder why this is occurring if the earth is in fact warming. But experts say this is merely a blip in the long-term heating trend of our planet and it part of the natural variability. In fact according to the National Climatic Data Center 2009 ranked among the warmest years for the Earth since 1880. We will still have record cold temperatures. We will simply have fewer of them.

Most scientists do not tie the recent cold snap to man-made global warming but rather to a not unusual dip in the jet stream that travels from West to East. This jet stream typically acts as a barrier to keep cold Arctic air to the North of us. The jet stream currently has a wave pattern that has resulted in cold air on the East Coast of the U.S. while the Pacific Northwest and Alaska are having record high temperatures this winter.

The current cold snap has done nothing to diminish the overall and accelerating pace of the warming of the Earth which is most pronounced at the polar extremes.

New on DVD. The Cove. A searing documentary from the man who trained Flipper to save dolphins from slaughter in Japan. It is estimated 23,000 highly-intelligent bottlenose dolphins are killed annually by the Japanese. Recommended.

About the Author: Dale Schulz is the President of Schulz Homes, www.schulzhomes.com. He has been building and renovating custom homes in the area for nearly a quarter century. He is also the President and Founder of Virginia Renewable Energy, which retrofits new and existing homes with renewable energy systems, such as solar PV panel and wind turbines. You contact him as well as send your questions for future columns to dale@schulzhomes.com. His phone number is 540.687.3367. Schulz Homes office is located on North Hamilton St.