Flash: Everything In The Whole Wide World….

….Is caused by global warming. In the latest trivialization, it is now being blamed for the collapse of dozens and dozens of gingerbread houses. No, honest, AFP says so.

Gingerbread houses latest victim of global warming

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Sweet-toothed Swedes who have spent hours constructing edible Christmas gingerbread houses are seeing their creations collapse in the Scandinavian country's unusually damp winter, suppliers said.

"The damp weather spells immediate devastation for gingerbread houses. The problem is the mild winter," spokesman at Sweden's leading gingerbread wholesaler Anna's, Aake Mattsson, told Swedish news agency TT.

Gingerbread houses are a popular Christmas tradition in Sweden and across the Nordic countries, with many people buying slabs of pre-baked gingerbread from stores which they decorate and stick together using icing sugar and brightly coloured confectionery.

What a tragedy. (Of course experienced gingerbread house builders say the problem might have a bit more to do with a too-liberal use of the frosting which imparts dampness to the gingerbread. But that would ruin the cool headline, so they stuck that at the bottom of the story.)

Reports coming in from Stockholm at this hour describe a scene of complete horror as scores of gingerbread men are trapped in the wreckage of the collapsed buildings. Police have given up on using dogs to find the survivors, however, after finding out that the dogs adore gingerbread.