As the American northeast swelters in the summer heat, it seems a metaphysical certitude that press representatives will use the occasion to increase hysteria over manmade global warming.

Yet, these media minions will completely ignore extreme cold conditions and record snowstorms occurring at the same time in the southern hemisphere.

For instance, last week’s freak snows in South Africa went totally ignored, as likely will the first appearance of the white fluffy stuff in parts of South America since Woodrow Wilson was president.

As reported by BBC.com Tuesday:

Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, has seen snow for the first time in 89 years, as a cold snap continues to grip several South American nations.

Temperatures plunged to -22C (-8F) in parts of Argentina's province of Rio Negro, while snow fell on Buenos Aires for several hours on Monday.

Two deaths from exposure were reported in Argentina and one in Chile.

In Bolivia, heavy snowfall blocked the nation's main motorway and forced the closure of several airports.

In Argentina, several provinces in the Andes have been placed under a storm alert, according to the national weather centre.

This all comes after a very cold May in this part of the world as well:

Bitterly cold weather in May caused some 20 deaths and forced the Argentine authorities to ration supplies as the country's energy system came under strain.

Hmmm. People dying from the cold. Seems newsworthy, wouldn’t you agree?

Of course, some might question why American media should bother reporting weather events outside this country.

The answer: if press representatives are going to tie local weather to global warming, they should also report on events happening at exactly the same time in other parts of the planet that might make specious such a connection.

Or is that expecting too much from journalists?

The reality is that this is indeed a pretty serious cold event in South America, and, in Argentina, is threatening to worsen the existing energy crisis (emphasis added):

Monday's snowstorm struck on a national holiday in Argentina. The authorities are watching the demands on the power grid as the country gets back to work on Tuesday.

However, ministers have already appealed to consumers to save energy where they can.

Correspondents say although Argentina's economy has been growing strongly in recent years, there has not been sufficient investment in infrastructure.

I received an e-mail message from an Argentinean scientist Monday confirming this report:

Demand of natural gas increased as did electricity. Suspension of services are widespread. Pipes got frozen and water does not flow leaving house without water, either cold or hot.

[…]

Roof of many houses have collapsed under the snow. As houses are not built for withstanding the weight of the snow (the slant is good for water, but as it NEVER snows, the snow accumulates and causes the collapse of the roofs).

Sounds pretty serious, right? And, as Alexandre Amaral de Aguiar, communications director for MetSul Meteorologia Weather Center reported Tuesday, this weather is very, very rare for this part of the planet (emphasis added throughout):

Argentina's National Weather Service (Servicio Meteorologico Nacional) confirmed it was the first major snow in Buenos Aires since June 22, 1918, though sleet or freezing rain have been periodically reported in decades since. The Servicio Meteorologico Nacional decided not to issue any snow forecast. The government agency director told the media snow was so rare that the forecasters decided not to issue a warning, despite the indication of the forecast models and the warnings from the University of Buenos Aires’ Weather Service, MetSul Meteorologia in Brazil and AccuWeather’s Jim Andrews in the United States. "This is the kind of weather phenomenon that comes along every 100 years," forecaster Hector Ciappesoni told La Nacion newspaper. "It is very difficult to predict". It was not a difficult event to predict, but an event difficult to believe until the flakes started to whiten the city.

The frigid weather was not confined to Buenos Aires. It snowed for the first time in 35 years in some cities of the northern Buenos Aires Province. It snowed for the first time in history in some towns of the Santa Fe Province. Southern Santa Fe Province  experienced the snowiest day since 1973. Cordoba City the heaviest snowfall since 1975. Mendoza went trough he heaviest snowstorm in decades. Temperature fell to minus 19 degrees Celsius in Patagonia and near all-time record in Bariloche (most famous ski resort in South America). Windchill in Bariloche was record: -minus 22 degrees. Low temperature in Bahia Blanca, Southern Buenos Aires province, fell to outstanding 9 below zero Celsius. Snow also fell in northern Provinces and in Bolivia isolated the capital La Paz from the rest of the country.

The snow event followed a bitterly cold month of May that saw subfreezing temperatures, the coldest in 40 years in Buenos Aires. That cold wave contributed to an energy crisis and dozens of deaths. This 2007 May figured among the coldest in recent decades also in Uruguay and Southern Brazil (GISS global temperature anomaly map for May).

Interesting stuff, wouldn’t you agree? Unfortunately, American media will ignore all of this, because it goes counter to the global warming picture they want in people’s minds.

Yet, if there are deaths or energy crises anywhere on this planet that can be related to extreme or even unseasonable heat, it most certainly will get reported.

How disgraceful.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.