Weather musings

[Rhiannon D Harker]

The day before Easter, it snowed. In some parts of North America, that's normal or expected, but not here in Central Texas. We rarely get snow, let alone four or five inches of the white stuff in the beginning of spring.

I took it as a good omen. My son has been hospitalized for the last couple of weeks due to an obstruction and infection in his intestines. we are hoping to have him home in the next day or so.

[Panther]

Earlier this week it was predicted we would get 4-8 inches of snow in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area yesterday, with another storm hitting tomorrow.

We ended up with 2-4, and now they're predicting sunny and 50 for tomorrow.

We can't accurately predict the weather days in advance, what in heavens name makes anyone think they can tell what it is going to be like 10, 20 or 100 years from now?

Sure, the weather fluxuates. But Global Warming doesn't just refer to warm temperatures as much as climate changing. It's just the phrasing.

The debate isn't/shouldn't be about if the climate changes... the problem is the disagreement over "why" it changes.

I watched the Al Gore documentary for a class last semester, and while he clearly has an agenda- everyone does- the one thing that caught my attention was this: 53% of normal media reports quote scientists who deny or play down the effects of global warming, whereas zero such reports exist in legitimate scientific journals.

I've only "heard" this, but getting an anti-man-is-the-reason-for-global-warming type article is hard to get published because of media, activist, and even some governmental pressure (think about how much grant money goes out to places to try and prove the link exists).

I don't have the links handy... but there is plenty of stuff out there to explain things that are happening that are not "global warming". Stuff like if man is causing global warming (versus say... solar radiation), then why is Mars also experiencing some warming? Or studies that show the CO2 levels are not causing the warming, but an effect of it... more heat means plants grow better and longer... what do plants do when they grow? they produce CO2.

Frankly, though, there's enough of a logical connection between pollution and global warning (ie. there's a legitimate possibility we're causing it to some degree), and other factors proven to be caused by pollution (ie. acid rain), that if it takes the spectre of global warming to drive the movement for better care of the environment, I'll wave the banner high.

The part about the overall debate that bothers me is that if you are "anti-global-warming" then are must be anti-environment. The two are not mutually exclusive. Just because I don't agree with the junk science that claims, does not mean I don't think there are things we could do to make sure we don't end up as part of the problem down the road.

Correlations mean little, you need causations. Wet roads to not cause cars to crash. Do you have a better chance of crashing in wet weather? Possibly.... but driver actions (speeding, not having properly maintained tires, driver inattention) are more of a cause of a crash, not the wet road.

[Grayson]

Bravo, Panther. Good points.

[Spiffy McBang]

I've only "heard" this, but getting an anti-man-is-the-reason-for-global-warming type article is hard to get published because of media, activist, and even some governmental pressure (think about how much grant money goes out to places to try and prove the link exists).

Two words: Fox News.

Enormous corporations own most of the media outlets in America. It's logical for environmentalist articles on global warming to be published because it's such a major issue, but it's equally logical for anti-global warming sentiments to get face time when you consider that huge corporations are going to have a pro-business perspective, and politically speaking, pro-business goes hand-in-hand with dismissals of man's role in global warming.

We are ignorant without information supplied by other sources. I can no more say with assurance that man is the single biggest factor in current global warming cycles than you can say man isn't; we choose to believe what makes the most sense to us. But realistically, even if the effect of greenhouse gases, pollution, etc., is overblown, I'm pretty sure we can all agree those factors aren't doing us any good. Therefore, if the theory of man's impact on global warming is sound, even if the results don't match current doomsday scenarios, does it not behoove us to treat it as a problem so we don't shoot ourselves in the foot knowing it can happen?

[Panther]

Therefore, if the theory of man's impact on global warming is sound, even if the results don't match current doomsday scenarios, does it not behoove us to treat it as a problem so we don't shoot ourselves in the foot knowing it can happen?

This is all based on the predication that man can effect such a change. Pollution and such may not be good for man, I'll give you that, but that is not the same as making an impact on the earth itself.

How many volcano's have erupted through the centuries, the millennia? each one of them putting out more carbon than we could ever hope to... and yet somehow the earth continues to thrive.

Why is it that so many of these "high temp" records we keep hearing that we're breaking are not from the last decade, or even the last 30 years... they're from the 20s, 30, and 40s... there wasn't exactly major backups on the interstates back then...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should just be going about our business without an eye to the future... but some of these mandates just don't make sense. E85/ethanol for example... it is 20-30% less efficient then petroleum/gas, take away the subsidies and it costs almost twice as much, and it artificially inflates costs in other areas as well. The demand for corn for ethanol is leading to shortages of feed for cattle, which is leading to higher dairy and meat prices since they are getting feed that is not as good for them and production of milk and weights of beef cattle go down (and this doesn't even consider the effects on the people food supply chain). Add to that it takes more gallons of E85 to ship the same amount of goods the same distances.

The only reason ethanol is affordable is because of the government subsidies... and it will never make a dent in oil consumption... nearly the entire state of MN would have to be turned into a corn farm to supply enough ethanol to meet it's energy needs.

I'm not against alternative fuels, but there are none that are as efficient or cost effective as oil... yes, we should continue to research and develop, but to be mandated to make changes is only going to make things worse in the long run. Oh, and let's not forget folks like Kennedy who is all for wind power, as long as it's not in his state.

[Elijah]

Ethanol is the great white lie of alternative fuels. It's a subsisdy to keep heartland farmers afloat. Here in Colorado we have one of 4 international government sponsored alternative fuel research facilities. The best alternative fuel is the one that doesn't require any connection in the process to using fossil fuels.

Even "watering down" the oil just delays when the oil will run out. Even "watering down" the gas is just watering down the effects that will still acculumate over time to the same disasterous effect if we still use up all the fossil fuels on our planet.

The answer environmentally atleast for transportation is to get COMPLETELY away from any fuels that require some part of fossil fuels.

Though I suspect the worst environmental contributors overall are industrial facilities that pump all kinds of toxins into the air, water, and earth routinely. And that is big corporations with big money in politicians hands. This is where campaign finance reforms come in. Sure they limit the contributions corporations can give directly, but that doesn't stop them for bribing their employees to contribute to campaigns with the promise of bigger bonuses in compensations for doing it.

If you can stop the money, you can stop the stupidity.

[Rhiannon D Harker]

If you can stop the money, you can stop the stupidity.

Truer words have never been spoken!