MOSCOW -- If scientists are bent on calling the overall weather mayhem of the past few years "global warming," more power to them, but this winter the term looked like a huge misnomer to the population of Eurasia -- from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
Shivering in their homes with night temperatures outdoors hitting minus 40, Russians, Georgians and Poles cursed not only the cold spell but also the weatherman's vernacular, totally maddening in the freezing environment.
The 2006 cold spell hurt the region more than all the recent terrorist attacks combined: Homeless people froze to death; roofs, overburdened with snow, collapsed, killing people inside; illnesses were provoked or worsened.