Grant
money! Every major event is an
opportunity to pocket some cash if you are smart about it and position yourself
just right. Hurricane Sandy was bound to
break out the moneybags for those that have positioned themselves in the Global
Warming apocalypse crowd. Go to the
internet and both sides are speaking “truth” at you (and I choose “at”
deliberately.) So, is there any hope of
finding truth? Not really because this
is a well crafted conspiracy theory type argument so either side can argue that
it is isolated data or watered down data.
The new fence sitters choose the position of Global Climate Change which
is really just the sister sorority of Oxygen Breathers R Us. We are all now unwitting pawns in a greed
struggle. What the whole argument lacks
is a healthy dose of common sense.
Plenty of
evidence exists to support science’s claim that the planet has endured dramatic
freezing and thawing cycles. Apparently,
the solid rock beneath our feet that we take for granted is actually hurtling
through space at a rather high rate of speed and while on a fairly predictable
orbit about the Sun it experiences slight variations and shifts in the tilt of
its axis. There have been at least five
major Ice Ages on the planet Earth, the Huronian, the Cryogenian, the
Andean-Saharan, the Karoo, and the Quaternary glaciation. In the Quaternary glaciation one can count as
many as eight interglacials, the most recent of which ended 20,000 years ago[i]. 20,000 years ago, aren’t we about due for
another? Well, indeed apparently others
caught on to that question as well; so starting in the 1940’s we can witness a
steady rise in hypotheses of global cooling.
Remember
when most of us were in school and the next Ice Age was coming? In the 1960’s saw the steady rise of interest
in this subject becoming formalized at conferences and in studies. In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich wrote The Population Bomb, and referenced the
“greenhouse effect” created by increases in carbon dioxide that cause global
cooling.[ii] Where have we heard that one recently…oh
yeah, that is the alleged cause of global warming. Do not have one of these people draw your
bath water! This hysteria reached its
climax (I resisted using climatic climax) circa 1975. Newsweek magazine pointed to "ominous signs that the Earth's weather patterns
have begun to change" and pointed to "a drop of half a degree
[Fahrenheit] in average ground temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere between
1945 and 1968." The article claimed,
"The evidence in support of these predictions [of global cooling] has now
begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep
up with it.[iii]" Ah, the makings of a conspiracy theory, the
evidence is insurmountable and the experts just can’t keep up. Oh well, this is still a moneymaker for
Hollywood into the 80’s.
Now fast forward, and add the fact
that apparently being an ex-Vice President is not a highly sought after or
desirable job, which necessitates supplemental income. If the data fell through on global cooling
maybe we can just start from there and call it global warming. Victory and cash! Couple of convenient books later and the
conspiracy argument is complete and ready to defend against all critics. If it is exceptionally cold, then global
warming causes dramatic vacillations. If
it is a hot summer day, well, then duh.
Have a case of severe weather?
Well, do I have an argument for you.
This brings us eventually to Hurricane Sandy, the most recent and tragically
devastating storm to hit the East coast.
In true Saul Alinsky form, never miss an opportunity to capitalize
(irony intended) on a catastrophe. Cue
the media to capture the stunned New Jersey resident looking at his flattened
house and saying, “this only happens in Missouri.” Replay and print!
That’s it, right? Not everyone is on board. I know, we have already dealt with those too
ignorant to perceive the truth. But what
if unlike most of us who are merely participants in the planets daily weather
game, these naysayers were experts? One is
an outspoken chief meteorologist of Accuweather. Reliable source? Don’t know; but I do know I determine whether
my commute will be by car or by motorcycle everyday based on Accuweather and am
rarely disappointed. In a transcript
from a recent radio appearance Joe Bastardi states, “My father used to call it “the shortcut
storm.” He said he was confident he would see it before his days were numbered,
and he's finally seen it, okay? That's the first thing. Second thing is, get
used to it along the East Coast. Maybe not this kind of track, but we are in a
perilous time because the Atlantic's warm; the Pacific's cold. It's the 1950s
all over again. It has nothing to do with global warming, it has everything to
do with nature, and then we'll go back to where we were in the sixties and
seventies.[iv]”
So who is right? Not sure.
But as long as people are profiting from their version, I choose to be
skeptical, especially in the face of dramatic evidence that this planet has endured
massive changes long before and I’m sure long after man. Add to that we are merely riders on an
intergalactic baseball subject to odd fluctuations. If that isn’t enough to give you pause, then
spend a little time at sea, weathering a couple of storms out there is good for
clarity and reflection.
[i] . "Global
Cooling." Wikipedia. N.p.. Web. 1 Nov 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling>.
[ii]
Ibid
[iii]
Peter
Gwynne (April 28, 1975). "The Cooling World". Newsweek.
[iv] . "Bastardi:
Global Warming Didn't Cause Sandy." Fox Nation. N.p., 30 2012. Web.
1 Nov 2012.
<http://nation.foxnews.com/global-warming/2012/10/30/bastardi-global-warming-didnt-cause-sandy>.
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