Climatologists believe that global warming is pushing the weather to extremes.
And, because of shifting population patterns and increasing wealth, the economic costs of bad weather are spiraling. Records indicate that the earth's average temperature has risen an average of 1.1F since 1900. Moreover, each year in the decade was one of the top 15 warmest of the century. During the same month, Texas and the high plains were sweltering, and daily record highs were being set through the region. But cities, from Milwaukee and Tulsa to Binghamton, N.Y., were racking up records for earliest snowfall or most snowfall on a particular date.