Within a week

“Whatever happened to global warming?” was a familiar refrain recently, as temperatures plunged into the single digits, driving many of us indoors to escape the frigid conditions that struck the Upper Delaware region for several days following the turn of the new year.

But only days earlier, temperatures had climbed high enough to melt all ice in the Delaware River where it passes through Narrowsburg, NY, enabling fishermen to take to the waters of the Big Eddy in boats. By week’s end, regional lakes had frozen sufficiently to allow for ice fishing. Two days later, fishermen were back on the open waters of the Delaware near the Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen, PA.

Such unusual or wildly vacillating weather patterns are thought to be a hallmark of climate change. See this week’s editorial on page six for more on this matter.