Hurricanes ravage the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, tornadoes sweep across the plains leaving death and destruction, drought conditions revive worries of a return of the “Dust Bowl”. A depleted Ogallala aquifer only adds to the worry; add in the marginal lands that have been turned to corn production to satisfy an EPA ethanol requirement and the possibility is raised exponentially. While the southwest suffers yet another severe drought and outbreaks of Arctic cold dip to the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
“Lurid Headlines” do not begin to tell the story of climate and the cyclical nature of weather events and trends. Nor do they reflect the realities of scientific studies that do not agree with the claims of dire consequences that will occur unless man desists in creating the so-called “Greenhouse Gases”.
“Skeptical, I am.” This sums up my stand on the subject, my reasons for skepticism are many. Based on my own powers of observation and looking at historical weather events, what I see is simply the planet going through normal climatic cycles. I certainly do not deny that weather can be wild; a Colorado squall that contained “Thunder Snow” with the lightning strikes less than a ¼ mile away, suffice it to say I have a healthy respect for Mother Nature.
What makes me so sure? Consider this; accounts of the winters Washington’s Army spent at Morristown, NJ and Valley Forge PA were just as brutal as the storms that have swept these same areas today. Going further back in history, the Anasazi abandoned their pueblos and cliff dwellings around 1200 AD due to a severe drought, just as the Southwestern US is suffering today.
The one biggest contributor to the Earth’s weather is the Sun. More sunshine, more warmth, less sunshine, less warmth; yes, I know, it’s a little more complicated than that. BUT, and it is a BIGGIE, the sun has more to do with Earth’s weather than man and his actions.
A decreasing number of sunspots have some scientists comparing this to the Maunder Minimum, clearly one of the contributors to the “Little Ice Age”. Volcanic activity is often considered to be a major contributor and the rise in volcanic activity around the Pacific‘s “Ring of Fire” may force the scientific community to address the fact that the triggers for an “Ice Age” may be fast approaching “critical mass”???
Tree ring studies (dendrochronology) of Bristlecone Pine, some of the oldest living organisms in North America, bear out the cyclical dry to wet cycles with some regularity. With living BCP’s as old as 5,000+ years, and dead trees adding an additional 5,000 years of tree ring history to verify the ebb and flow of climatic cycles, the hypothesis that man made pollution is driving climate change, excuse the pun, ” just does not hold water“.
Weather patterns are changing, of that there can be little doubt, but do these changes rise to a level needful of catastrophic adjustment by humankind? I think not, how about you??