Climate Change, Global Warming, Flash Floods, Droughts, And Crazy Weather

[Coldspring]

This morning's serious flash flood in SW Arkansas got me to thinking. I don't know if I'm just getting older and have began to have a boring life that involves thinking about the weather all the time, but is it just me or has the weather seemed strange the last two years? I don't really believe one way or the other, but how do you feel about it from your personal observations?

[Gilly]

The 'older' thingy you mention does come into play for me too. Depending on where you live these weather events probably have happened before......maybe a couple generations ago, maybe more. This past winter I ranted to my wife about how cold and snowy it was, like never before I maintained. Then she got out the albums and proved me wrong. The weather patterns may vary north to south, east to west but I would guess a specific area has seen it before. However I haven't and some of this extreme weather gives me great concern.

[eric1978]

Scientists are kicking themselves for originally calling it "global warming" instead of "climate change." Because global warming causes dramatic fluctuations in the weather in all four seasons. It makes normal and natural events more severe and more frequent, hence a changing climate.

You can't argue with the facts. The earth's average temperature is rising, and rising faster than it ever has in recorded history. Is that caused by man? That's debatable, but I personally believe it is. I'm definitely not going to deny it just so huge corporations aren't fined and taxed for polluting, which is the only reason I can gather anyone would deny it.

[stlfisher]

It certainlty seems to me the instances of extreme weather are related to our changing climate. I hope we haven't reached the tipping point yet.

[Al Agnew]

The thing is, we've been in the climate change regime long enough that many of us don't remember the way it used to be...the last three winters we've had in MO have been colder and a little snowier than the 20 or so years before, but certainly not colder than the average winter before the last two decades. In effect, in MO we've had three winters that would be considered normal back in the 1970s, after having a whole bunch of warmer than normal winters. And our "normal" winters have been balanced by warmer than normal winters elsewhere.

Anybody can cherry-pick statistics to fit their own beliefs in something as complex as global climate, which is part of the problem we're having with reaching a public consensus that human-induced climate change is real and dangerous. But here are a few "statistics".

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, global temperatures have apparently risen about a degree Celcius. A NASA study in 2008 found that warming on that scale was enough to trigger a 45% increase in thunderstorms over the ocean.

The same increase in global temperatures brings about 6 percent more lightning over land, according to one respected climate scientist.

Total rainfall across North America has increased 7% in the last two decades.

Across the planet, flood damage is increasing by 5% per year.

Data shows dramatic increases--20% or more--in extreme weather events across the eastern half of the U.S. Vermont, for example, saw three flood emergencies in the 1960s, two in the 1970s, three in the 1980s, ten in the 1990s, and ten more up until 2009.

When you look at things like that, and things like the decrease in Arctic ice cover, the melting of glaciers all over the world, the lengthening growing seasons and migration disruptions, the melting of permafrost, the expansion of the tropics by 2 degrees of latitude north and south, the increases in droughts over the also expanding subtropics, and a whole bunch of other concrete things happening, there is no doubt that climate is changing and changing fast. The question will always remain as to how much of it is natural and how much human-caused, whether it will continue, accelerate, or stop on its own...at least those questions will remain among the general public and the politicians. And...what if anything we should or could do about it.

I recently read the book "Eaarth", by Bill McKibben, which has the premise that it's already too late to really fix things. We can work to slow down and eventually stop the human-induced portion of climate change, but in the meantime we simply better get used to living on the planet as it is now and will be worse in the future, rather than expecting a return to what we used to think of as "normal".

[flytyer57]

The Book of Revelations in the bible tells it all. In the end days, there will be floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, etc.

I don't believe in god and all, but one does have to wonder sometimes.

Is "global warming" real or is it just cyclic? I guess I won't live long enough to find out for sure. I just think I should do my part to help out those who will.

[Coldspring]

I have about the same beliefs and wonderings as you flytyer...

When the 100 year floods are every 5 years, downpours of 10 inches precipitation in a few hours, tornado outbreaks, daily thunderstorms, high winds, DERECHOS, widespread ice storms, hailstorms, constantly, we never get a break to recuperate. Or I'm just getting older and paying more attention?

And whatever happened to the cloud seeding that was so prevalent? I don't see much anymore, here. Does your area have lots of cloud seeding now?

I just wonder.

[jdmidwest]

Did everyone think that it just may be that we live in a more "connected" time now? We have access to weather anywhere, radar, river gauges, forecasts, trends, and historical data all on the net. Years ago, we got it on the radio or tv, and it was local, and it was alot of guesswork. Now we have more accurate data, quicker and faster.

That and the fact that mass media loves to make hay over a good storm or tragedy. It gets replicated and blown up and sometimes out of proportion. Global warming was a hoax, just a normal cycle of the Earth. Climatic changes are measured in epochs, not administrations.

Of course, it really could be the book of Revelation coming thru...... Conflict in the Middle East, lost morality, Obama, floods, etc all seem to make you think about the words in the last chapter of the Bible.

[Al Agnew]

The whole climate change thing quickly devolves into political and ideological bickering, which is not and should not be allowed on this website. And this one could quickly devolve into religion as well, also not allowed.

But jd, seems to me we could debate this on facts and statistics without getting into the political stuff. Your blanket statement that global warming was a hoax and a natural cycle REALLY needs some concrete evidence that I doubt that you have. Yep, climate changes on epochal time frames, as you said. There is also evidence that it can change pretty rapidly. We seem to be in a VERY rapidly changing climate even by "natural" cycles. The problem is that there is no convincing evidence that it IS natural. If so, there should be things we can measure...increased solar activity, changes in the earth's orbit, even natural sources for the greenhouse gases that scientists believe are causing the present climate change. But nobody has found them. Instead, we KNOW we have a nearly 40% increase in one greenhouse gas, CO2, in the last 100 years. And other greenhouse gases, like methane, are also increasing in the atmosphere...and it's due to human activity. We are taking carbon that nature has taken millions of years to bury, and "liberating" it into the atmosphere and the oceans in a matter of years.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably ain't a cow. Just because climate goes through natural cycles doesn't necessarily mean this one is natural. It's kinda like saying that because people die from natural causes all the time, that bullet in the head must be natural. And no good cop automatically assumes natural causes when they see the hole in the victim's head.

[Amish Bill]

I read a magazine or watched a history show can'y remember and I guess it really doesn't matter but here goes...they've (can't remember who they are) drilled down for core samples at the south pole and found vegetative matter way deep meaning a hundred gazzilion years ago it was green and warm at the south pole...I don't think there was an industrial revolution going on at that time. My thought is the earth is doing what it has always done,and it's pretty egotistical of man to think we can cause worldwide change like you are describing. Besides that if we could how are we going to change it? Is China, Russia, India or any other industrial countries other than the U.S. going to shut industry down? I don't think so. Anyway my 2cents feel free to tear it apart.