Warming? Chilling? Which is it? (LINK)
February 28th 2008 08:02
Hang on, wasn’t there supposed to be Warming?
Hands up all those who thought Global Warming was about to spell the end of the world? Okay, maybe not the end end, but a time when mankind was about to be drowned under rising seas, or fried to a frazzle by heat, or see their skin peel off through the sun burning through the hole in the ozone layer.
All right, maybe I’m exaggerating – using a bit of the old hyperbole. But it seems as if Nature herself has decided that enough is enough and has begun to turn the cold weather on again – with a vengeance.
I’ve been saying for sometime that if this is Global Warming, it seems mighty cold, and in fact in our city last year we had a week of solid snow, and then more weeks of snow later. This doesn’t happen in our city. I can’t remember having that much snow in decades.
But this isn’t an isolated case. A February the 18th report in the London Daily Express showed that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than usual. Ice levels which had shrunk from 5 million square miles in January 2007 to just 1.5 million square miles in October, are almost back to their original levels, according to reports from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Furthermore, the Express reminded its readers of the photograph of polar bears clinging to a melting iceberg. This photo has been claimed as proof of the need to fight climate change. It was used by Al Gore in his
"Inconvenient Truth" lectures as well. But Mr Gore failed to mention that the photo was taken in August, when melting ice is normal. He also forgot to say that the polar bear population has been increasing in recent years.
The most recent winter in Europe has been the coldest in decades, with temperatures in England dropping to –10 C overnight. Central and southern China, the United States, and Canada have had heavy snowstorms. In fact, in China the snow was so heavy thousands of houses collapsed under the weight. Vietnam have suffered severe losses of cattle and other livestock as a result of prolonged cold weather.
Even places we normally regard as being hot have had snow: Jerusalem, Damascus, Amman, and northern Saudi Arabia have reported the heaviest falls in years. In some cases there have been below-zero temperatures. And Baghdad had a snowstorm, something most people there had never seen.
None of this is to say we should now sit back on our laurels and let the world carry on as normal. There’s no doubt the weather isn’t consistent, the way it has been for decades. Equally, this isn’t a time to say, well, Global Warming looks as though it’s on the out, let’s get on with life. There are plenty of challenges for life and the earth, plenty of ways in which we can improve the state of the planet and those living on it. I’ll be talking about these more as I go.
Meantime, keep the winter woollies on in the Northern Hemisphere. Us folks below the Equator will keep walking to work in short-sleeved shirts, basking in a seemingly endless summer!
Hands up all those who thought Global Warming was about to spell the end of the world? Okay, maybe not the end end, but a time when mankind was about to be drowned under rising seas, or fried to a frazzle by heat, or see their skin peel off through the sun burning through the hole in the ozone layer.
All right, maybe I’m exaggerating – using a bit of the old hyperbole. But it seems as if Nature herself has decided that enough is enough and has begun to turn the cold weather on again – with a vengeance.
I’ve been saying for sometime that if this is Global Warming, it seems mighty cold, and in fact in our city last year we had a week of solid snow, and then more weeks of snow later. This doesn’t happen in our city. I can’t remember having that much snow in decades.
But this isn’t an isolated case. A February the 18th report in the London Daily Express showed that there is nearly a third more ice in Antarctica than usual. Ice levels which had shrunk from 5 million square miles in January 2007 to just 1.5 million square miles in October, are almost back to their original levels, according to reports from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Furthermore, the Express reminded its readers of the photograph of polar bears clinging to a melting iceberg. This photo has been claimed as proof of the need to fight climate change. It was used by Al Gore in his
The most recent winter in Europe has been the coldest in decades, with temperatures in England dropping to –10 C overnight. Central and southern China, the United States, and Canada have had heavy snowstorms. In fact, in China the snow was so heavy thousands of houses collapsed under the weight. Vietnam have suffered severe losses of cattle and other livestock as a result of prolonged cold weather.
Even places we normally regard as being hot have had snow: Jerusalem, Damascus, Amman, and northern Saudi Arabia have reported the heaviest falls in years. In some cases there have been below-zero temperatures. And Baghdad had a snowstorm, something most people there had never seen.
None of this is to say we should now sit back on our laurels and let the world carry on as normal. There’s no doubt the weather isn’t consistent, the way it has been for decades. Equally, this isn’t a time to say, well, Global Warming looks as though it’s on the out, let’s get on with life. There are plenty of challenges for life and the earth, plenty of ways in which we can improve the state of the planet and those living on it. I’ll be talking about these more as I go.
Meantime, keep the winter woollies on in the Northern Hemisphere. Us folks below the Equator will keep walking to work in short-sleeved shirts, basking in a seemingly endless summer!
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