The August 7 print edition of the
Danish Jyllands-Posten, features a full 2-page article bearing the
headline: ”The behavior of the sun may trigger a new little ice age”
followed by the sub-headline:
“Defying all predictions, the globe may be on the
road towards a new little ice age with much colder winters.”
The JP writes that “many will be startled” by the
news that a little ice age is a real possibility. Indeed, western citizens have
been conditioned to think that nothing except warming is possible. Few have
prepared for any other possibility.
In its latest 2-page report, the JP now appears to
tell its readers that our views on climate science have to be much more open
minded and unshackled from the chains of dogmatism.
JP starts by reminding readers that it was just over
100 years ago that the world had clawed itself out of the little ice age, which
extended from 1400 – 1900, a time when the Thames river often froze over. All
paths in determining the cause of the little ice age all seem to converge to a
single factor: solar activity. Read more:
Senator Barbara Boxer said Thursday that wildfires
like the fast-moving Silver Fire should be a wake-up call to the reality of
climate change.
The Silver Fire near Banning grew to 14,000 acres
Thursday and prompted additional mandatory evacuations. It was 20 percent
contained as of Thursday evening.
Boxer charges that climate change is contributing to
what could become one of the worst California fire seasons in a century, with
hotter, dryer and longer summers fueling the fires throughout the west.
Among those doubters is Orange County Congressman
Dana Rohrabacher.
“I challenge Barbara Boxer to a debate on climate
change, on global warming,” the congressman said. “I challenge her to defend
her positions, and not just call a bunch of names, not just try to scare the
public into accepting her expansion of government power over our lives.”
The debate comes as the California Environmental
Protection Agency released a report Thursday calling climate change an
immediate and serious threat to California.
Read More:
Debate over the plausibility of a catastrophic
release of methane in coming decades due to thawing Arctic permafrost
has escalated after a
new Nature paper warned that exactly this scenario
could trigger costs equivalent to the annual GDP of the global economy.
Scientists of different persuasions remain
fundamentally divided over whether such a scenario is even plausible.
Carolyn
Rupple of the US Geological Survey (USGS) Gas Hydrates Project told NBC
News the
scenario is "nearly impossible." Ed Dlugokencky, a research scientist
at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) said there has
been "no detectable change in Arctic methane emissions over the past two
decades." NASA's Gavin Schmidt said that ice core records from previously
warm Arctic periods show no indication of such a scenario having ever occurred.
Methane hydrate expert Prof David Archer reiterated that "the mechanisms
for release operate on time scales of centuries and longer." These
arguments were finally distilled in a lengthy, seemingly compelling essay
posted on Skeptical
Science last Thursday, concluding with utter finality:
"There is no evidence that methane will run out
of control and initiate any sudden, catastrophic effects." Read more:
Yeah Right!
We have all heard this before…
No comments:
Post a Comment