I just love it when the talk about "record breaking" weather in the newly settled countries. In the grand scheme of things a few hundred years of records means zero in a world as changable and ancient as ours. Hell the Vikings were farming Greenland, they would think the current ice coverage was pretty extreme. The dustbowl of the 30's in the US is actually (according to soil samples) that areas "normal" condition and the good growing conditions experienced by the new settlers are the anomally.