Racing great spends 45th in not-so-great a state

Michael Schumacher's friends and family took turns by his hospital bed last night (Central European Time), as fans rallied outside the hospital to support the critically injured Formula One great on his 45th birthday. Schumacher has been in a medically induced coma since last weekend, when he fell while skiing and struck his head on a rock. His manager, Sabine Kehm, says that his condition remains stable but critical. The German driver and his family typically celebrate Christmas, New Year, and his birthday at their ski house in the French resort of Meribel, where the accident happened. Instead, they have been keeping watch over the retired champion at his bedside in a Grenoble hospital, all because he made the stupid mistake of skiing on unmarked slopes. And speaking of stupid mistakes, another outbreak of extreme weather that can be blamed on global warming is coming America's way. In a few days, people in the Midwest and Northern Plains will have reason to be jealous of what their countrymen in the Northeast are going through now - digging out from as much as 2 feet of snow, dealing with the effect of blizzard-level winds, and feeling the heat of below-zero (and I mean below zero Fahrenheit) temperatures. Because as cold as it is now, it's practically tropical compared to what's coming. Think lows in the -20s Fahrenheit across North Dakota and Minnesota, with wind chills of -50 or even more frigid, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow night (Central Standard Time) in Chicago will be a brisk minus 16 to 20, or 35 below to 45 below zero if you factor in the Windy City's wind. Those at Lambeau Field for the Green Bay Packers vs. San Francisco 49ers NFL game may cheer against overtime, given that the wind chill may dip to 50 below in Wisconsin that night. As the weather service's Twin Cities, Minnesota, division warns, "Exposed flesh can freeze in as little as five minutes with wind chills colder than 50 below." Just remember that this freak weather is the fault of polluters big and small. Global warming, despite its name, can actually cause weather events endemic to both temperature extremes. So think before you drive that fuel-inefficient car or burn that pile of rubbish or whatever - future generations are already paying for your poor decision-making.