The record breaking storms of ice and snow covering much of the USA promise to “ice” any remaining concern about global warming.  Hard to heed warnings about the earth seeing its average temperature rise by 2-3 degrees C by the year 2100 when you are trapped by snow in your home or on a road or in an airport with no hope of getting out for several days. Needless to say there will be a massive outcry if the storms make it impossible to get to Dallas for the Superbowl this coming Sunday.  You can’t get there today.
Fortunately the matter of global “climate change” has turned away from trying to stop rising temperatures, to focusing on how to cope with the changes. This is what I have been pleading since I began this column. We have adapted to all kinds of changes brought about by changing weather patterns and I am sure we will be able to adjust to these new directions.
Of course this does not satisfy the hard core which opposes any change in the earth caused by man. These are the ones who see any action by man as upsetting “God’s work” or “Mother Nature” or “The Natural Order” or whatever other altar where they worship. I am at the opposite end of this spectrum of opinion since I believe that there is nothing in nature that man cannot improve. I offer as proof the implacable migration of people all over the planet from rural to urban areas. People everywhere abandon each day the more “natural” habitat of the rural areas for the man-made habitat of cities.
Well I hope those of you caught in this monster storm can unfreeze your hands long enough to log in and read this. Oh, what’s that you say, you have no electricity?
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Leo, I want to thank you for this quote:
“I am at the opposite end of this spectrum of opinion since I believe that there is nothing in nature that man cannot improve.”
I think it exemplifies the attitude with which Peace Corps addressed the world in the 60s.
A Warming Planet Can Mean More Snow
Actually there is no contradiction between global warming and record snowfalls (and record rainfalls). The amount of snowfall is determined largely by the amount of moisture in the air - not by how cold it is. With global warming, higher temperatures cause more evaporation from the oceans, producing more snow and higher rainfall.
Here’s a story I published last year on slashdot about the phenonenon with more information:
“With snow blanketing much of the country, the topic of global warming has become the butt of jokes; but for scientists who study the climate, there’s no contradiction between a warming world and lots of snow. ‘The fact that the oceans are warmer now than they were, say, 30 years ago means there’s about on average 4 percent more water vapor lurking around over the oceans than there was… in the 1970s,’ says Kevin Trenberth, a prominent climate scientist. ‘So one of the consequences of a warming ocean near a coastline like the East Coast and Washington, DC, for instance, is that you can get dumped on with more snow partly as a consequence of global warming.’ Increased snowfall also fits a pattern suggested by many climate models, in which rising temperatures increase the amount of atmospheric moisture, bringing more rain in warmer conditions and more snow in freezing temperatures.”
Read the entire story at:
http://slashdot.org/story/10/02/16/2146227/A-Warming-Planet-Can-Mean-More-Snow
Best Regards,
Hugh Pickens
Hugh I do not dispute global warming and I did not suggest there is a contradiction between global warming and record snowfall. I meant to say that it is hard to get people worried about global warming when they are hunkered down in their homes trying to keep warm or get to the Super Bowl in Dallas. Ian a previous blog I noted that one of the “evil” results of global warming is increased rainfall (or snow). Since the fresh water is the most scarce resource in the world today increased rainfall is a “good” not a “bad” thing. My point, yes the earth is getting warmer but this is good, not bad.
I think saying climate change or global warming is a good thing ignores the problems that it will create. If certain parts of the world experience more drought and they are unable to grow crops, this could lead to huge problems. Rising oceans could cause many problems. I think humans have the ability to solve problems but we shouldn’t be too arrogant to think that we don’t have the ability to harm our environment.
David
There are good things that global warming will bring. First, the ratio of deaths from hypothermia to deaths from heat prostration is about 10 to 1. Thus a warmer earth will mean relatively fewer people will perish from temperature extremes. Second, our most scarce resource is fresh water. A warmer earth will have more rain which is the source of almost all fresh water. Third, the human body stays alive at 22 C or 70 F. We consume alot of our resources to keep the body warm, e.g. food, heat, clothing and shelter. Any increase in the earth’s temperature will reduce our consumption of these to keep our bodies warm.