Posted on 05/27/2002 9:27:47 PM PDT by liberallarry
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:34 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
IQALUIT, Nunavut -- And so it has come to be, the elders say, a time when icebergs are melting, tides have changed, polar bears have thinned and there is no meaning left in a ring around the moon. Scattered clouds blowing in a wind no longer speak to elders and hunters. Daily weather markers are becoming less predictable in the fragile Arctic as its climate changes.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The last big thaw in that region started about 1300 years ago, during the Viking explore/pillage/trade era. Greenland was colonized during the warm 10th century, a time when the British were growing wine grapes. By the year 1500, the "little ice age" was running full-force, and the Norse settlers of a now-icebound Greenland disappeared. The Inuit may have intermarried with the last few; we don't know. But this points up the fact that natural climactic change is constant, and needs no human interference to work its ways.
Pointing to the Kyoto treaty does no good; its blatant political aims are to beggar prosperous countries (like the USA) while heavy polluters like China get a bye. So much for environmental concerns!
I remember in the 1970s we were taught as gospel truth (though it was some half-baked theory) about the coming ICE AGE! We were all gonna FREEZE! And somehow it was humanity's fault. So take your pick. Is climactic change caused by: Solar fluctuations? The Atlantic Conveyor shutting off the flow of warm ocean water? Magnetic drift? Volcanic eruptions? Probably all of the above.
If they're having trouble figuring out the changing weather in Iqaluit, they can surf here. Western culture has its benefits.
The second thing is to decide what to do about it. As you say, this is a major political issue...involving - as always - finger-pointing and blaming by various interested parties trying to protect or advance their interests.
The sad thing is that this pollutes the science and hinders realistic adjustments.
Bullsh$t. Post #2 very succincly pointed out the the mild changes we are seeing are nothing like the changes during the Medeival Warming Period. Even those were only "major" in so far as being majorly beneficial.
I find it very arrogant that humans think they are so special as to be able to change the global climate. It would appear that the enviro-whackos have done a good job of brainwashing a majority of our population into thinking man can bring about global climate changes.
The change we're now experiencing is the most radical in the modern period where we have detailed temperature measurements - since roughly the mid 1800's - amd even that is not detailed enough to give real understanding.
The changes you refer to are much less well understood or documented; there are some historical records and some indirect evidence. If you go back even farther we only have the fossil record.
My understanding is that we have almost no knowledge about how long it took these changes to occur; just that they occupied periods ranging from several hundred to several thousand years.
Well, you've probably got a few years to stew about it, Larry.
Then you'll either be hot or cold.
End of the world may be approaching, who knows?
Or we may get hit by a meteor.
Or something.
But surely a government grant will cure it all.
Right. That's why I ended my post by saying it's nothing a government grant can't cure.
Eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow you die.
Works for me....
Eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow you die.
Well, liberal, I was raised in Southwest Oklahoma during the 20's and '30's, and I know what "hot" means.
I could do with a little less perfervid doomsday rhetoric.
At my age, I'm just grateful when I wake up each morning. But I think my grandchildren (and I have a bunch) will live out their lives on an earth that may warm some or cool some, but they'll adjust to whatever happens.
I hope they don't throw their lives away trying to "SAVE THE PLANET". In my opinion, the planet takes care of itself very nicely, thank you.
Yeah, we got dusted frequently.
You could see the dust storms coming (mostly out of the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles), and they resembled severe thunderstorms coming up - that is, things got pretty dark.
For protection, we would wet cloths and hold them over our mouths and noses.
And then spit grit and dust for a week afterward.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.