December 16
With "news" predicting that at the current rate the North Pole may completely melt as early as 2010, will Global Warming steal Christmas??
Generally I try to keep my web-facing side from being too political, but over the last year I've been resisting an urge to use this blog as a soap-box for global warming. And while I've made a few comments here, until a couple of nights ago I had kept myself from entering into any online discussion of the topic. I was browsing through various articles on the subject when I came across a somewhat flame bated comment that started off like this:
Yep, Michelle, Global Warming is a hoax, sure…….Why can’t you conservative windbags get around the fact that this IS NOT a poltical issue?? In the past few years in the US, we have witnessed a Tsunami that virtually wiped out a city , fires that are destroying much of the West Coast, a record number of Tornadoes [clip]
Quoted from:
I cut off there because that's as far as I got into his post (which degreades from there) before the twitch that started at the word Tsunami turned into an uncontrollable surge towards the "Submit Comment" button. Normally I wouldn't bother with someone who acredits a seismic tsunami to climate change, but this guy just got on my last nerve, and I had to scratch that itch. I find a real irony in that he seems to be refering to the tidal waves that hit the small town of Crescent City and did a bit of damage in the harbor, when a couple years ago whole island nations clean off the map. It would seem nothing that happens outside of the U.S. gets this guys attention, who thinks he's up on what's happening globally.
Here's my reply, which was originally posted on the link provided with the quote above:
Keef, I assume you are referring to the Tsunami that hit Crescent City? That was minor compared to the one that hit the same spot in 1964 - no deaths vs 122 in 1964, $700,000 in 2006 dollars vs over $7 million in 1964 dollars. I used to live in Crescent City, there are still boats and anchors along the 101, well inland of the shore.
But that’s not the point…. the real question is what this has to do with global warming, as it was caused by a 8.1 earthquake off of Japan, in the Ring of Fire, an area historically known for great seismic activity. Blaming this on global warming is exactly the kind of alarmism that takes this out of the realm of science and into the the realm of junk science, fear mongering, and yes, politics.
Something to realize about a “record number of tornados”, the correct statement would be a “record number of observed tornados”. Previously remote areas areas are populated more now than ever, and even where there isn’t a trailer park for one to hit, doppler radar has allowed us to detect tornados that would previously never have been recorded. But even given that, if we take a look at the tornado records you’ll find what you are saying is not true:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado_records
In fact, here’s a record set this last year: “Before the Greensburg EF5 tornado on May 4, 2007, it had been 8 years and one day since the US has had a confirmed F5 or EF5 tornado. The last confirmed F5 or EF5 hit southern Oklahoma City and surrounding communities during the May 3, 1999 event”.
As for the West Coast burning down, I’ve lived here for most of my 39 years, mostly in southern california, and it’s an accepted norm that we get hit by firestorms every 2-3 years. The only difference now is that more and more people are building houses in mountainous suburbs, so there is a lot more property damage potential than ever before.
Sorry, not all things can be blaimed on global warming,
Yep, I really did end that with a comma
December 13
Wow, the Pope himself has spoken out about global warming alarmism!
Pope Benedict XVI has launched a surprise attack on climate change prophets of doom, warning them that any solutions to global warming must be based on firm evidence and not on dubious ideology
The leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics suggested that fears over man-made emissions melting the ice caps and causing a wave of unprecedented disasters were nothing more than scare-mongering.
At a time when popular exposure to only one side of the debate has become pre-ordained, it is good to see this... the media and the environmental movement attack and supress anyone who brings any contradictory evidence to our attention, but the Pope might be harder to ignore. I say that, but I've yet to see this story covered by network news...
Ironically, a search for other articles yielded this account from earlier this year, when the environmental movement thought the they had the pope in their pocket:
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