Howard3569 said...
Some of these same people argue that the polar vortex is proof that global warming is a myth.
Ha! I guess some of us do raise questions about
that. During one of the severe cold blasts earlier this winter, which I think was setting at least a few records in a few places- or darn near it- I saw Al Roker one morning trying to explain "if there is global warming, why is it so danged cold?". I did not think he did a great job of answering that question.
For decades, I very often start my day looking at the weather almanac in our local newspaper. I can't help but notice that, while we do have an occasional record high temp that was set in the last 10 or 20 years, the vast majority of record high temps were set back in the 1930s or even 10 or 20 years before that. And of course, before that no one might have been keeping track, depending on where you live. I also remember lots of 100+ degrees F in the south from my childhood, but seems very rare in recent summers. For example, our high last summer was a downright coolish 96!
I remember when I moved back down south after finishing anesthesia school in Erie, PA in 1979, having spent the recent years up there during what the news and scientists were calling "the new ice age"( I still have a NYT's article proclaiming that after 30years of cooling with no end in sight, a new ice age may have started! ). Some were even suggesting spraying something black over the arctic ice to increase absorption of sun rays to slow down the ice advance! LOL! Then someone threw the switch and turned the heater back on. about
a year or 2 later, a buddy from school had been working in Watertown, NY, and wanted to escape those winters, moved down here. With no AC in his car! Then he was totally distraught on the day he got here in early Sept, and it was 103F! (that was probably 80 or 81) All summer long that year most days were well over 100. Last year, 38 years later, we hit 96 one or two days(I'm not complaining). How has it been where you guys are?
I also can't help but notice that the world record high temperature is still holding. Set right here in Death Valley USA in 1913, 106 years ago, at a whopping 134 Fahrenheit. I personally experienced a 122 in AZ in the 1980s.
Other than the cold outbreak( Polar Vortex? ) earlier this year, it has not been a very cold winter down here(MS). Just dark and grey and rainy. And now I hear an El Nino is on the way, according to Al Roker. We did, however, break a record high for the day not long after that cold outbreak that had Al Roker trying to explain why it was so cold. We broke the record from 1938! 81 years! I wonder what was causing it to be so warm in the winter of 1938, that it took us 81 years to break the record?
Of course, none of this speaks to how warm it might be elsewhere, I am only saying it has not seemed warmer than usual in recent years where I live, if anything maybe cooler.
Another surprise to me is: apparent sea level. I continue to go to the gulf coast beaches I went to as a child. Including many of the motels that were there even back then(or new ones built on the same lot). I figure sea level must be higher after 50+ years of global warming, but I can't tell much difference. Of course, that is not a scientific observation, just a general impression. I did just look at the NOAA site, which says levels have risen 2.4" since 1993, the highest level since the satellite record began, and continues to rise at an average of 1/8" per year. I don't know what the levels were when I was kid, but I guess even a 5" rise might not be apparent to me.
I am for sure in favor of as little air pollution as possible. And we might well be contributing to whatever warming is present. I wish there was a lot more planting of trees(which eat CO2) rather than endless cutting of trees like we see in the Amazon rain forest. I prefer clean air!
Post Edited (BillyBob@388) : 2/16/2019 9:19:17 AM (GMT-7)