Regular readers of my scribblings will know that North Woods weather is one of my favorite topics. Mostly, I have complained about the snow and cold and the length of winter. Since I live in a low plateau where the cold rolls in, my home area is often the equal of Hell, Michigan in wintertime lows. Our typical winters have a few days of minus 20 or lower and snow that begins in November and ends sometime in mid-April. This year has been atypical with positively balmly weather for much of the winter including temperatures in the 70s over the last few days. Today was another wonderful shirtsleeve day that had me cheering in support of global warming.
A closer look at our weather reveals that this year was one more in a string of increasingly mild winters. ”The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce has reported that this winter turned out to be the 4th warmest on record in the contiguous United States. That’s not surprising given how much the world has warmed over the past few decades. In fact, all of the seven warmest years in over 100 years of climate data have occurred since 1992, and over the past three decades, a warmer-than-average winter has been twice as likely as a cool one. These data are consistent with how scientists say global warming affects the weather. The risk of warm winters is increasing over time.”
With overwhelming evidence like the above, you might think the idea of global warming has finally been accepted as fact. If you think that, you’d be wrong. A few prominent people continue to believe that global warming is a myth. They think there is debate among the scientific community concerning the facts that support global warming. Even a politician as noteworthy as Rick Santorum has been hoodwinked into claiming that global warming is a hoax.
The truth is that the perpetrators of the hoax idea have been very clever in the distribution of money to public relations groups who are adept in issuing misleading headlines and supposed facts that distort the evidence. As you would guess, money is at the root of the problem in discovering the truth. Scientists who develop data proving climate warming work at national labs and scientific organizations associated with universities. Those who distort the facts are independent groups or persons who do so at the bidding of the energy industry since their profits are at risk with any movement that promotes “green” energy sources. These industry groups have the money to fund any group who are willing to issue climate information that is untrue or ambiguous. The theatrics of these groups and their willingness to create "smokescreen" data recall to mind the antics of the tobacco industry in defense of smoking. We know that didn't end well for anyone.
The fact is that the scientific community around the world is unanimous in their acceptance of global warming and the risk it poses for the future of our planet and our grandchildren. In the last two months, I have heard news reports from two unassailable scientific organizations and both have reported that the scientific community has been unanimous in their belief of global warming and its causes for the last decade. Their report: There is no debate; never has been one, global warming is a fact.
Unfortunately, there is no law that prohibits uttering or publishing things that are untrue. When there is money to be had, there is no shortage of those who are willing to voice whatever someone else is willing to pay for. Like it or not, our generation has used the planet as a toilet for our wastes, and our children and theirs will pay the price in fixing the mess that we are creating.
I don't like it, but I also don't like to think about such things; they are much easier to ignore, besides, just as the tobacco industry claimed, a few doctors really did prefer Camels.
