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At the same time, heat waves and droughts are intensified in some regions of the world, as precipitation patterns also shift. In the past year, we have seen the hottest summers ever in Russia, the heaviest monsoons ever in South Asia, the worst floods in decades in China and the greatest Arctic melting ever recorded. These extreme occurrences, coupled with extreme winter weather elsewhere, led commentator Thomas Friedman to suggest that global warming is better seen as global weirding, as climate change leads to increasingly severe but erratic conditions. In the long run, as the climate continues to warm, the freakish weather events will increasingly be of the warm variety such as monsoons and hurricanes, particularly in the middle latitudes, where the ocean and atmosphere are warmer. However, especially for the short run, whenever the temperature drops into the freezing range, stormy weather will take the form of blizzards, like the ones that have been blasting the Midwest and Northeast. The next Super Bowl will be played at an indoor stadium in Indianapolis, substantially north of Dallas. No one is predicting the weather for game day, but it would be prudent to bring a parka, or at least a raincoat, for the trip to the stadium. ______________________________________________________________________________ Lowe is a San Diego land use and environmental lawyer. Butler is an environmental planner and adviser to the San Diego Foundation.