posted December 20, 2007
More evidence that global warming is occurring. We haven't even started winter yet and just look across the country. I believe I saw a figure that 60% of the country was under snow or ice. Oklahoma is sure experiencing that warming trend.
According to David Deming of University of Oklahoma 2007 is the year that Buenos Aires was under snow for the first time since 1918. It is the year that 200 people died of cold in Peru. It is the year that 1.5 billion of produce was destroyed by cold in California, 95% of South Carolina peach crop, and 90% of North Carolina apple crop. Meachem, Or. set a record low temp by 12 degrees this year. The South Pole has set a record for ice this year. The North Pole that everyone says is the evidence of warming is freezing back faster than it ever has before.
There was a story also that ocean temps are falling and yet that was the core evidence in past years that we were going to die soon because the temps in the ocean were rising.
Our Congress continues to believe in this myth because they passed laws mandating our use of bio-fuels which will increase again our corn prices and thus our cost of food. I know we all need food don't we. This is a reaction the myth of global warming.
Bruce Caldwell
Signal Mountain
sarmattt25@comcast.net
* * *
Mr. Caldwell,
It was delightful to read your latest global warming fairytale. It is the holiday season and a time for good cheer and fun.
However, you failed to note that those pesky Antarctic ice core records indicate atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels today are 25% higher than any levels recorded over the past 650,000 years. What a bummer. I hate facts like that getting in the way of a good story. Sadly, the atmospheric CO2 levels have risen 30 percent in the last 150 years, with half of that rise occurring only in the last three decades.
Geesh, that kinda coordinates with the industrial revolution. What a fluke that must be.
Let's look at glaciers: the Mt. Kilimanjaro glacier, which has been around for 11,000 years, is currently at risk of disappearing by 2020 if present rates of melting continue. Guess what else? Here closer to home, Glacier National Park is also shrinking. The number of glaciers in the park has dropped from an estimated 150 (in the mid 1800s) to
approximately 35 today. At this rate, 2030 is the year when Glacier National Park will need a name change.
So what's so bad about a warmer earth? Well, vanishing glaciers,
early snowmelt and droughts will cause water shortages in the American West. However, sea levels rising will lead to coastal flooding on the Eastern seaboard, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico. Warmer sea surface temperatures will fuel bigger hurricanes in the southeastern Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Most of us will face troublesome new pests and more mosquito-borne diseases. Disruption of habitats such as coral reefs and alpine meadows could drive many plant and animal species to extinction. Pardon the pun, but this is just the tip of the global warming iceberg.
But, hey, if we all keep our heads in the sand we won't see a thing.
Merry Christmas,
Wes Ellis
* * *
About this global warming marlarky....CO2 does not cause the temperature to rise, yet when temperatures rise CO2 levels do rise. When you exhale you are emitting CO2.....so, gee should we all take a collective holding of our breaths and see what happens with that dastardly CO2?
We burn coal for energy...where does coal come from?.....fossilized plant matter. How did the carbon get into the plants? From the air. We are pretty much re-releasing the carbon back into the air.
The Mt. Kilimanjaro glacier is sublimating due to the destruction of the rain forests around it. Yes, man has a hand in changing some things, but we really need to think about our old Mother here...Earth. This big blue marble has been around for four and a half billion years. What is lacking here is the presence of true science. We would not be a green planet without CO2......it's plant food. During the time of the dinosaurs the level of CO2 was 16 times higher than it is now. Check the stomata of fossilized ferns. Pick up a science book and read it...then maybe read a few more. CO2 can perculate through ice. So that core sample that you base that 650,000 year number on may be corrupted. It's always what that used car saleman does not tell you that you should be looking for.
Please, folks, do not base your ideas upon a movie. Please do recycle, carpool and do whatever you can to be wise with our resources....I do. Haste does make waste and the "science" of Mr. Gore's movie is possibly going to push us into the biggest waste of our focus, time, resources and yeah....another green thing....money. We all need to turn the TV off a bit more and stop being swayed by the snake oil salesmen.
Reba Miller
Chattanooga
* * *
I have taken an interest in the global warming contreversy, but can find no sound data regarding the trend.
Mr. Caldwell's letter makes some interesting points regarding recent cold trends. Mr. Ellis's letter was in reply to Mr. Caldwell's, yet he does not address any of the points Mr. Caldwell made.
Regarding Mr. Ellis's letter, I must question who was keeping CO2 records 650,000 years ago. Science can't even agree that the earth is actually that old.
It is obvious some type of climate change is upon us, but we are working with maybe 500 years worth of recorded data and even within that time science has been reworked many times over.
I like Reba Miller's approach of conservation and common sense.
Michael Rhudy
Rossville
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |
