Now for our last climate story of the day. A new poll conducted by the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup found that 38 percent of Americans lived through an extreme weather event in the past year.

People within that group were more likely to say they feel pushed by circumstances beyond their control, and less likely to say that they "mostly feel able to shape [their own] path[s], even when things are difficult."

In other words, the report, which surveyed almost 7,000 adults from across the U.S., suggests that enduring an extreme weather event such as a flood, hurricane, tornado or hailstorm can make you more anxious and pessimistic about the future.

But it isn't all gloom and doom. The report authors conclude that nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults "believe their community is worth investing in, even when they acknowledge it has room for improvement"-and this outlook doesn't seem to disappear in the wake of extreme weather.

But as the report points out, caring about your community can only do so much if you're not given the tools to actually protect and improve it.

Now that we've swallowed our medicine for the week, here are those treats I promised.

You know that feeling you get during cold and flu season, when it seems like your head is so full of snot that it's hard to picture any room for your poor brain?

Is that just me? I don't think it's just me. Anyway, that's basically what every winter is like for the long-clawed shrew.

They're not full of snot, per se-at least as far as I'm aware-but they are quite literally all nose.

In a study published last Wednesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, scientists report that Sorex unguiculatus, aka the long-clawed shrew, has a wider snout in the winter than it does the rest of the year.