2nd Place, or Not First place???
Yesterday in the news, I heard the spin that 2006 was the second hottest summer on record. It was said in one sentence with obvious implications that we should concern ourselves with global warming. It's getting hotter than ever --- right?
Today a Drudge headline answers the only question remaining in my mind.
SUMMER 2006 TEMPS FAIL TO BREAK RECORD SET IN 1936.
Was global warming to blame for that as well? Could we have stopped it then too?
Labels: Man-Made Global Warming?
posted by BeeJiggity @ 8:50 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Greenland.
Whenever people talk to me about global warming, I point out that the Vikings settled Greenland, lived there for several hundred years, grazed sheep and cattle in the pastures. It was never as "Green" as the Viking recruitment pamphlets let on -- but it did not become an Arctic waste until what climate scientists call "The Little Ice Age." This followed the Medieval Warm Period. Maybe we're going back to something like that. Maybe it will be warmer than that. Who knows?
What I know is this: Climate change is real, and is inevitable. It has happened throughout the history of Earth. But our giving up cars and other attributes of modern technoloy will not stop climate change from happening. It may slow it down. It may speed it up. I'd rather we spent our resources trying to develop better predictive models so we know what is most likely to happen -- and where.
Thanks for stopping by my site; hope you'll drop by again -- and thanks for having one of my "hot button" issues addressed in your most recent post.
1976 was a really hot one for us in England.
Crum,
Interesting point. I always refer to Greenland. There are always other common sense questions like the question of whether we are a cause, and an explanation for the "coming Ice age" of the late 70's.
I think the advocates have a reasonably weighty spin when they say that doing something and being incorrect is better maintaining than the status quo and later learning that we can have some effect, but it is too late.
Comment on the first comment -- I don't think we need to abandon modern conveniences, but we could probably be a lot more reasonable about what we do. Like, instead of driving a Hummer, with one person in the car, on a 50-mile commute, how about a smaller car, or carpooling, or living closer to work, or public transportation, etc., etc.
Parlancheq,
Thanks for the visit!
The only reason to be more "reasonable" in this context is to prevent more warming. Anything else is just false piety. If there is no danger in a driving a Hummer, then there is no reason to restrict driving it.
I think we often fall into the trap of those who want us to have less when there is no appropriate reason to use restrictions.
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