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Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Chill Out!

No Snow= No Shave: Day 6

I made this graphic for Good Morning Maryland in honor of Primary season. Yup, we got the record, and we are proud to say we called it from the Storm Center. If you look back at last week, I was the first person to point out our the potential of 60s right here in this blog- a shock to many considering the hard freeze we were in. so we ended up a little higher. We are in a pattern of an amplified trough and ridge. While we are on the warm side, I have confidence we get back to the deep freeze soon. Today is just a small step in that direction.

If you look at yesterday's posting, I pointed out the record we would break- one set 78 years ago. I have made it my purpose here to point out scientific data and facts- and not scare anyone. Unfortunately that is what we are bombarded with daily on TV, newspapers, etc. For some reason, I was attacked by a reader for having a political agenda. Regardless, read that posting and there is nothing to warrant the comment I got from 'Anonymous'. Anyone like me who shows that the current variety of weather has happened before, is subject to this stuff. I am open to any intelligent debate, but don't assume any motive for my scientific points. My environmental conscience might surprise you. If you want to play fair, then show yourself. If you remain anonymous- then you are a coward. Besides, to take every warm day and claim Armageddon is not science. Chill out! Oh, I'm sorry, you'll take that the wrong way... so Lighten up!
Last week, it was the deep freeze, and we could very well be there again, soon. This article in the Boston Globe from last week went there. We may have not had snow for a month, but much of the nation has. Record snow and cold in many spots. Last year was expected to be the warmest on record, but the last 6 months changed that. This is not politics, just observations. I know some of you label me a bad person for sharing this information, but I am not. I am a snow lover, and have confidence that more it is not a lost cause. Please check out my new SNOW PAGE (on web site tabs up top). Let me know what you think.
While I have studied and taught climate change- I will leave the specifics to the experts. Please take a few minutes and watch this video below. John Stossel interviewed climate experts who, well they'll tell you their research and has happened to them. Some hints at a coastal storm with snow for us next week. I'll tackle that tomorrow.

2 comments:

Shireen said...

Good grief! Why on earth would you want to back your comments with a 20/20 video segment by John Stossel? He's about as credible as Geraldo.

I have no idea why these scientists disagree with the IPCC conclusions and Al Gore. But Stossel has done them a disservice by not allowing them to clearly make their cases, in their own words, about it.

Don't have time to go into a blow-by-blow criticism of Stossel's story. But here are a few comments:

- why interview kids? To show parents how those mean scientists are scaring kids about GW? Playing that fear card was totally unnecessary.

- clips of Al Gore, John Edwards, the UN-sponsored IPCC, Nobel Prize. What's the message Stossel's conveying? Clearly, human-induced GW is liberal propaganda.

- the "gotchas", like video of frolicking polar bears proving they're currently doing just fine; the CO2-temperature correlation plots showing CO2 levels increasing before temperature; Arctic warming event early last century when CO2 levels were still low. Note to Stossel: hire a fact-checker! There are other explanations for them.

I could go on and on, but it's past 4am and I'm tired. Look, Stossel's not interested in balanced fair reporting; he's decided what he wants to believe and has selectively picked audio and video clips to promote his point of view. It's sloppy irresponsible journalism.

Climate change is an extremely complex subject. We can't expect most people, myself included, to understand every single subtle aspect of it. But when a large group of scientists from across the world come together to compare their data and results, and reach a similar conclusion that we humans are responsible for the rise in global temperature which could have catastrophic effects, I see little reason to question their collective judgments.There may not be a 100% consensus among all scientist, given the complexity of the phenomena, but there is enough of a critical mass of agreement to indicate that GW is caused by humans.

Justin Berk, AMS CBM said...

Shireen,
I am glad to post your comments since you can be adult about this. Many activists resort to name calling and childish accusations. Stossel was the only one to approach the subject on network TV. If you heard the scientist in the report, they are credible and disagree. You are right, this is very complex. CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas, but it has been the target. Methane traps 20 times more heat, but hardly mentioned. I think over population and actual pollution are bigger problems than GW. Humans contribute 2% of global CO2.
The problem is what the media has created- a monster. A great deal of bad information has been presented, and needlessly scaring people. That was the purpose for the kids. They are scared. What happens when they expect 20 foot sea level rise, and on 6 inches is the case - they and many lose respect for scientist. How many studies on diets or foods contradict themselves over time. While warming was dramatic and peaked in the 90s, so did El Nino Activity. Also, solar activity. Please read the article in the Boston Globe I linked to and read about 2007.
Nature itself has proved that climate is not constant. Even this current warm spell or any severe weather can not be attribute to GW, but it is on TV. Just look back to the extremes in the past. 1930s-Dust bowl. 1930s-1950's Hurricane peak. No one event can justify this cause. That is straight out of the IPCC- but ignored in the public forum. Fear = viewers and readers.