Like Noah parting the Red Sea, snow ploughers in Japan parted 13 feet of snow to create this surreal path from their home
I prayed for snowfall in Washington over the New Year holiday because I had elaborate plans to entertain nieces and nephews from the Caribbean who had never frolicked in snow. Regrettably, not only did my prayers go unanswered but the weather we had made my family feel as though they never left the beach weather of home.
Damned global warming! Or is it?
Because, as I was lamenting what became of winter, I read with profound envy about a cold spell gripping Asia that dropped unprecedented amounts of snow in Japan and turned warm-blooded Indians into teeth-clattering hermits. So, what gives?
I never had much faith in the science behind global warming. (Although, it might be my little faith that caused God to ignore my prayers….) Nonetheless, I thought enough about the debate that I wrote this article some time ago that I think is worth citing under the circumstances.
For my part, I am now more convinced than ever that arguments in support of global warming are premised more on social and economic values than on scientific data.
Speaking of faith, I think most advocates of global warming have accepted its doomsday scenario as an article of faith, just as Christian fundamentalists have accepted the apocalypse as the imminent fate of our sinful world….Never mind that the sky-is-falling environmentalists have been preaching their doomsday message for over 100 years; whilst the Jesus-is-coming Christians have been preaching theirs for thousands more years.
Anybody care to inform these Indians that all of that coal they’re burning for energy is causing global warming?
Note: Weather forecast for Washington this week has temperatures soaring into the high 60s F; whereas, in Japan and India, the forecast is for more snow and freakishly cold spells.
Technorati: global warming, evironmentalists
Rebecca says
I so agree with you. I think a lot of this global warming stuff is exaggerated. Sorry about your neices and nephews. Invite them back in March, I bet you’ll have snow like Japan then.
Ravic says
You really dropped the ball on this one. If you don’t believe that the science behind global warming is correct, perhaps you don’t understand it. Too many people feel like they first need to see definitive proof before believing it (they can’t accept that hundreds of scientists have worked on this problem for tens of years using the basic principles of science that are hunderds of years old), and yet you refer to God as if you have seen the evidence of His existence.
Lonnie Thompson at OSU has been collecting ice cores all over the world before global warming became a political issue. His research shows that for the first time ice is melting in places where it had not done so before between the last couple of ice ages. This means that this warming is not just a natural warming of the earth, it is unprecedented and it is caused by human activity.
Moreover, scientists really need to do a better job of explaining this, but global warming doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be warmer everywhere all of the time. In fact, localized climate will become more unpredictable as well, i.e. stronger hurricanes, stronger El Nino events, but also unexpected cold and warm weather.
Somewhat related to this, can you do an ipinion on Intelligent Design?
Anonymous says
LOL!!!
Boy you’re going straight to hell – for your blasphemy on global warming, not for what you write about Christianity as one might think.
Anonymous says
pardon my personal economic perspective, but i welcome the mild weather we have had thus far in the northeast. maybe its mother nature’s joke on the manipulative energy companies sitting on inventories of natural gas.
Rage…
Ravic says
Jennifer,
thanks for the pointer on the previous post. I’m a regular, but fairly new reader.
I read his previous article on the topic before my last comment. In it, he mentioned Crighton’s book, which suggests that current warming is due to the earth’s normal cycle. This is why I pointed to Thompsons research, which shows that it is not. Ofcourse this can lead to a whole new discussion on the validity of carbon dating.
Is it correct that doomsday environmentalists have been preaching their message for over 100 years??? Whatever the time, only recently do we know that the current warming is occurring more rapidly than before and ice is melting in places where it has not between the last few ice ages.
I did miss his reference to God and faith. Can I assume that he agrees with the irony of unconditional acceptance of His existence by most Americans, while scientifically proven facts are often dismissed as unconvincing?
Jennifer says
ravic
I guess you have read enough of ALH’s ipinions to know that I’m not nearly smart enough to speak for him on your question about irony.
I think it shows his fair-mindedness though that he ended his article on global warming by saying that given the scientific data on both sides of the issue, none of us will really know who’s right since we’ll all be dead before it can be said.
Jennifer says
ravicI’m a long-time reader of ipinions so I can tell you he has written on intelligent design: https://www.theipinionsjournal.com/2005/09/search-for-signs-of-intelligent-design.htmlAsfor dropping the ball on this one, I think you need to read the article again and read his earlier article that he links to. I think you completely missed his reference to God and faith.Of course, I think he’s absolutely right about global warming.
Anonymous says
clever, funny and insightful article! you have a new fan…
llc3guys says
Very intelligent article on the “theory” (and “politics”) of what is being referred to as Global Warming. There are very good articles and scientific analysis at JunkScience.com, as well.