People like to believe that the universe revolves around them. Thus, every generation has nutcases who insist on believing that they live in exceptional times. The story in 1871 was no different from today.
IMAGINARY CHANGES OF CLIMATE.
January 10, 1871a plentiful crop of speculation from weather prophets and projectors, and half-instructed meteorologists, and all the philosophic tribe of Laputa in general, to whom the periodical press now affords such fatal facilities. We have often noticed that in the tabular statements of those compilers of weather records who write to the Times, useful and welcome as their communications are, every season is sure to be “extraordinary,” almost every month one of the driest or wettest, or windiest, coldest or hottest, ever known. Much observation, which ought to correct a tendency to exaggerate, seems in some minds to have rather a tendency to increase it.
weather prophets… or false climate prophets. I’m gonna start using that one. It’s so accurate.
You can see the same hype being played out every day on the Weather Channel. It’s like watching little kids putting on a school play about fairies or other fantastic creatures.