This whole collective snow shoveling/blowing/plowing frying pan we suburbanites repeatedly beat over our own heads every Dec-March(or May-Sept) should raise not a few flags and ring a few bells:
SHOULD HUMANS EVEN BE LIVING in cold/snowy regions of the planet - even where such weather occupies half to one quarter of one year??
Certainly, living where mother nature repaves your driveway with a white layer of anything from fluff to the frozen variety does create an 'economy' - by spurring the design and sale of snow blowers, plows, and drivers of pickup trucks and other hefty vehicles willing to make cash on the side by strapping one on.
But is that economy worth it? Is it worth the occasional stroke or heart attack from not using powered snow removal resources where the depth might warrant it? Worth being delayed to work or calling out for a day or two altogether? Worth risking a low pitched roof collapsing under the likes of the freak 60-90" snowfall that hit Buffalo NY last fall? And of course, worth an accident on our roads or being stranded on an over- whelmed highway?
I think not. In fact, I'd wager a bet that there's enough space on Earth for the entire current population to live BETWEEN the 40th degree north & south parallels, plus an additional half billion over the next 30 years.
This would move 95% of the population out of exposure to anymore than two inches of snow, period, and temperatures below freezing.