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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Weather

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  • From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Weather
  • Date: Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:59:37 -0500


In the 70's, I recall scientists 'predicting' a mini ice age because of a couple of cooler years.


Actually, that isn't quite true. This is a problem with getting our information from the news media who are always trying to simplify and to sensationalize. The scientific consensus was never for global cooling. True, you can always find SOME scientists who will say anything. And they will tend to get at least as much press coverage as the mainstream consensus, especially since they are liable to be more newsworthy. (We see that in the global warming "controversy" today. Controversies, even manufactured ones, are good for media sales.)

A few scientists back then did talk about the cooling effects of particulate pollution, but remember, we've done a lot since the 1970's to control particulate pollution - and nothing to control carbon dioxide. Even then, the consensus was that carbon dioxide emissions would have a bigger impact, therefore the planet would be getting warmer (which is exactly what happened). And since we cleaned up a great deal of our particulate pollution, that had an effect, too. Well, that was the whole point, right? We wouldn't expect particulate pollution to have the same impact when we made an effort to lower it.

But I must say that I absolutely agree with Spidra that this isn't the place to debate global warming. And look at the title of this posting. "Weather" isn't "climate." When we get a cold day, or a cold year, we all laugh and say, "so much for global warming," but of course we all know that's not valid. It's just a comment, just a joke. You can't tell ANYTHING about global warming by looking at our local weather, especially over short periods of time. (And how much can laymen tell, anyway, when we can always find *someone* who'll argue what we want to hear? This is a very complicated science.)

I think we would be far better off to just skip this topic, since it's not directly related to fruit-growing. What's the point, really? It's easy to get off-topic, and a little of that isn't a problem,... but too much might be. And this is too good a group for that!

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life. You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist. - Michael Bloomberg




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