Well there was good news and there was bad news. First the bad news, the other day we had snow in 49 of the 50 states. But the good news, the only state spared the “white stuff” was Florida and in my part, Ft Myers Beach, we had the warmest weather in the country. Even more bad news, the wintry chaos in the rest of the country upped the number of “snowbirds” and tourists clogging our highways and byways, and making it hard to eat at my favorite restaurant. Â
I would wager that this year’s unprecedented snowfall - the highest snowfall  ever recorded in South Bend, Indiana the day before the pro football playoff game in Indianapolis, the highest snowfall ever recorded in Niagara Falls, the country’s leading site for snowfall, the roof over the football stadium in Minneapolis caved in under the weight of the snow and they know how to deal with snow there, record numbers of cancellations of flights in and out of Atlanta’s airport, the busiest in the USA, as well as airports throughout the country - will push global warming even further back on the government’s agenda.
Meanwhile we find that the last ten years have been the wettest on record throughout the world. Given that the scarcest resource in the world today  is fresh water, I would have thought this news would be greated with a huge sigh of relief. But no, it is being used to warn us of the “dangers” of global warming.Â
As I have said before, I welcome global warming. The world is basically a cold place and a warmer planet would be more comfortable for human habitation. Now I see that global warming is also helping us overcome a serious shortage of fresh water. Where is the downside to this happy event?
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hehe, nice one! though i do hear the polar bears don’t like it very much
i’m no scientist as you know, but it’s my understanding that fresh water from the melting ice goes right into the oceans, and so is no longer fresh. and i know in these parts we’ve been hurting for rain for a year, and nearby in the Hill Country they’ve had drought conditions for several years.
Ah Leo,
The most significant event for the Northern Hemisphere is the melting of the arctic ice cap which is dumping fresh water into the North Atlantic and decreasing the salinity of the Gulf Stream, which may be causing it to sink just enough to reduce its warming impact on Norther Europe.
The NY Time recently had an article by a climatologist…before the latest round of snow in the US which noted that the snow pack, (not the Arctic ice cap) in Siberia is thickened because of increased moisture in the air (due to the melting of the Arctic ice cap.) In turn, the Siberian snow pack is changing the way the Jet Stream moves over the North American continent causing snow. This may or may not become the new normal.
The models which meterologist and climatologists use can only predict
very generally what will happen as the earth continues to warm. Hence the new term “global climate change.”
Don’t mess with me, Leo. I chased tornados with my son and now he is a meterologist and he knows stuff, much better than Rush, et.al.
Mishelle The sun heatin bodies of water forms vapor that forms clouds. The clouds come over the land where different temperatures caused by rising land or other winds cool the clouds making rain or snow. This is our only source of fresh water other than underground water that originally came from rains, in some cases many years ago. We also get a small supply of fresh water from desalinization plants. Obviously “global climate change” has altered our weather patterns and thus altered rain patterns. However, the news is that the first decade of the 21st Century was the wettest decade on record. And, as I stated, this is good since we have been running out of fresh water.
Joey I do not dispute the fact that the world is getting warmer, it has been doing so for the last 10,000 years. My dispute is with calling this warming trend “bad.” I maintain that it is good for two reasons, first the earth is bascially a cold place where, if it were not for our elaborate systems of heating, shelter and clothing, humans would, in most places, even south Florida, expire of hypothermia. Second, the warming trend produces greater amounts of rainfall, which we desperately need, since we are running out of fresh water. Of course “global climate change” will change weather patterns. But this too has been happening over these last 10,000 years and we have been able to adapt to the changing patterns. I look forward with pleasure to a warmer world with more abundant fresh water. Why would you want it otherwise?
Joey Who is Rush, a climate expert?
In the past they used to teach that a hypothesis was a possible explanation for the observed data. It became a theory when it made predictions which where subsequently proved correct. The theory of global warming has in the past made a number of predictions which have come true, for example the temperature of the stratosphere (30 to 50 thousand ft) should cool slightly as the surface temperature increases.
Thank you to both gens and Leo for forcing me to be a bit more exact.
Luckily, my meterologist son does not read my posts and so is not aware of how I might be mischaracterizing the terms of the debate.
I prefer the term “global climate change” because it is not clear what short term impact that global warming may have. It may well result in much, much colder weather in the Northern Hemisphere. I should probably say “rapid global climate change.” This makes even more difficult to predict what will happen as the earth continues to warm. It also makes it very difficult to create models which could predict the impact that changes being proposed to reduce carbon emissions would have. Think “unintended consequence.” If Peace Corps/DC had been about its business, PC would be the experts on how to monitor change in order to identify “unintended consequences.”…..but nooooooo.
More moisture in the atmosphere may not result in more fresh water for the earth’s population, if that rain creates flooding and mud slides. It would be necessary to create huge reservoirs to catch and contain the water…and the technology to transport it to where it was needed. This would also demand models which could accurately predict where that rainfall would occur.
When climate change occurs relatively slowly, plants and animals have some time to adapt. Rapid climate change precludes that.
Joey You are right, the dinosaurs did not have enough time to adapt to the cataclysmic force, usually ascribed to a meteor hitting the earth, that caused major changes in the world’s climate patterns. However, I believe we will have plenty of time to adjust to the changes we are now undergoing. For example I will have 100 years to move my Florida home to higher ground. We can build to contain and control new flows of rain water.
The flooding in Australia is an example of no time to plan. The torrential rains which are associated with a La Nina year were rendered much more distructive this year because the ocean waters near the continent were the warmest ever recorded. An climatologist specializing in oceans explained that this combination caused the rains which caused the massive flooding. There is fear now that the waters have carried away the topsoil in Austrialia’s “bread basket.”
The cold weather in Northern Europe may well be caused by the earlier Volcano erruption. I don’t know. But, that would be an example of those unantcipated events which cause damage, such as the dinosaurs extinction.
In regions of severe extremes, arctic or desert, plant and animal life have evolved to exploit the environment to enhance their chances of survivial. If those environments change rapidly, there is no time for the slow process of evolution.
An excellent book you might want to read, Leo, is “The Wave.”
Joey Tthe worse flood in US history was the Johnstown flood in the 19th Century and the worse hurricaine hit Galveston in the early part of the 20th Century. We will always have natural disasters.
As for living in delicate enviornmental situations, my home in Florida is 18 inches above the Gulf of Mexico and my home in Mallorca is 50 meters to the Medierranean Sea. The one in Florida sits on an island created by a hurricaine and the one in Mallorca sits on a rock slide from the mountains behind. Will these homes suffer disasters in the future, you betcha. Should I worry? Not when I ride motorcycles which have a much higher propensity for disasters.
I am so glad that you are dry and safe. I think it important that we look at the rapidly warming earth and do our best to anticipate problems and to prevent those that can.
What’s wrong with global warming? If the ice caps melt, then your home state of Florida will be underwater.
Bob
The worse estimates calculate that global warming will raise the world’s sea level by two inches in 100 years. Plenty of time to raise my house footings.