‘Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past’
By Robert Bradley Jr. -- March 5, 2025
“Children just aren’t going to know what snow is.”
– David Viner, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (2000)
One argument against the climate alarmism is the failed predictive record of the scientist-activists themselves. One salient example can be found in The Independent (March 20, 2000), “Snowfalls are now Just a Thing of the Past. The prediction belonged to David Viner, a senior research scientist at the climatic research unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia (yes, of Climategate infamy).
The Independent has deleted this article, but secondary sources have captured it for posperity. As in: never forget….
“Britain’s winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives,” the article began. Continuing:
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.
Recent, anecdotal evidence was controlling.
The first two months of 2000 were virtually free of significant snowfall in much of lowland Britain, and December brought only moderate snowfall in the South-east. It is the continuation of a trend that has been increasingly visible in the past 15 years: in the south of England, for instance, from 1970 to 1995 snow and sleet fell for an average of 3.7 days, while from 1988 to 1995 the average was 0.7 days. London’s last substantial snowfall was in February 1991.
The UK’s global warming was winter-oriented:
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.
Back to (then) recent, anecdotal evidence:
The effects of snow-free winter in Britain are already becoming apparent. This year, for the first time ever, Hamleys, Britain’s biggest toyshop, had no sledges on display in its Regent Street store. “It was a bit of a first,” a spokesperson said.
Fen skating, once a popular sport on the fields of East Anglia, now takes place on indoor artificial rinks. Malcolm Robinson, of the Fenland Indoor Speed Skating Club in Peterborough, says they have not skated outside since 1997. “As a boy, I can remember being on ice most winters. Now it’s few and far between,” he said.
Michael Jeacock, a Cambridgeshire local historian, added that a generation was growing up “without experiencing one of the greatest joys and privileges of living in this part of the world – open-air skating”.
