30-yrs of global....cooling?

Wagner · #1 01-12-2010, 06:16 AM

Wait, Al, I'm confused...I thought the planet was warming? I'm pretty sure I heard all the 'scientists' saying that...ya know, the planet is 3 degrees warmer than it was 190yrs ago..or something.

Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive - EPA: Global warming threatens public health, welfare - Blogs from CNN.com

Pretty sure CNN has a whole series documenting the "Planet in Peril" hmmm.

FOXNews.com - 30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says

Carlin said it best...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjmtSkl53h4

Weasel · #2 01-12-2010, 09:10 AM

Wait, are they back on cooling again? Didn't they say that back in the 70's too?

motordavid · #3 01-12-2010, 09:26 AM

Not exactly related, and no arm wrestle, but the science of the recent
cold spell across the US & Europe...
Those damn high pressure ridges in the Arctic:

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here’s Why.
By KENNETH CHANG

Published: January 9, 2010

A bitter wind has been blowing over parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Some places have been colder than ever, like Melbourne, Fla., which dipped to 28 degrees last Thursday, a record low. Europe has been walloped by snowstorm after snowstorm.

What’s going on? Global cooling?
Nope. A mass of high pressure is sitting over Greenland like a rock in a river, deflecting the cold air of the jet stream farther to the south than usual.

This situation is caused by Arctic oscillation, in which opposing atmospheric pressure patterns at the top of the planet occasionally shift back and forth, affecting weather across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

What’s notable this year is that the pattern of high pressure over the Arctic is more pronounced than at any time since 1950.

In most years over the past few decades, the opposite has been true: there has been lower-than-average pressure over the Arctic, and higher-than-average pressure over the mid-latitudes — the middle of which cuts through Maine, across the Great Lakes and on to Oregon.

That pattern allows the jet stream to blow unimpeded from west to east and keeps the cold Arctic air largely north of the United States. The result tends to be warmer temperatures across much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

No one is quite sure what drives these flip-flops in air pressure.
“I tend to think of it as a random thing,” said John M. Wallace, who is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. “I don’t think we understand any reasons why it goes one way one year and the other way another year.”

What does seem clear is that these oscillations have nothing to do with global warming, or, for that matter, global cooling. For one, they’re not new. And this winter’s cold has not been global. Santa, by North Pole standards, has been experiencing a balmy winter.

“Pretty much all of the Arctic is above normal,” said Dr. Walter Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. In some areas, the temperatures are as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

In terms of global average temperature, this winter’s arctic oscillation “probably roughly cancels out,” Dr. Meier said. (In fact, last year ranked as the fifth-warmest year on record since 1850, the United Kingdom’s Met Office says.)

And it is certainly not the coldest air that has descended on the United States. In a great blizzard that swept across the East Coast in 1899, even parts of Florida dropped to below zero.
“We’re not close to those types of things,” said Michael Vojtesak of the National Weather Service.

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here?s Why. - NYTimes.com

MrLabGuy · #4 01-12-2010, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motordavid

Not exactly related, and no arm wrestle, but the science of the recent cold spell across the US & Europe

Just goes to show there are MANY variables which make up our weather patterns. One major variable often overlooked by the doomsayers of global warming is that glowing ball of fire in the sky. Sure...We should work to keep global pollution down to a minimum; but don't bring down the economy in a knee jerk reaction to something science has yet to fully understand.

I just love how this cold weather pattern coincided with that freak show circus in Copenhagen.

Wagner · #5 01-12-2010, 04:31 PM

nice pull MD...so if it is cold it is global warming and if it is warm it is global warming. Sounds like a win/win for the environmentalist industry..woohoo.

Blame it on your dog, it has a larger carbon footprint than your SUV

Dogs Have Bigger Carbon Footprint Than SUVs | Drudge Retort

Point is, it is BS to change your entire way of life (or a nations), go in debt and stop the world on this bogus research

Quote:

Originally Posted by motordavid

Not exactly related, and no arm wrestle, but the science of the recent
cold spell across the US & Europe...
Those damn high pressure ridges in the Arctic:

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here’s Why.
By KENNETH CHANG

Published: January 9, 2010

A bitter wind has been blowing over parts of North America, Europe and Asia. Some places have been colder than ever, like Melbourne, Fla., which dipped to 28 degrees last Thursday, a record low. Europe has been walloped by snowstorm after snowstorm.

What’s going on? Global cooling?
Nope. A mass of high pressure is sitting over Greenland like a rock in a river, deflecting the cold air of the jet stream farther to the south than usual.

This situation is caused by Arctic oscillation, in which opposing atmospheric pressure patterns at the top of the planet occasionally shift back and forth, affecting weather across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

What’s notable this year is that the pattern of high pressure over the Arctic is more pronounced than at any time since 1950.

In most years over the past few decades, the opposite has been true: there has been lower-than-average pressure over the Arctic, and higher-than-average pressure over the mid-latitudes — the middle of which cuts through Maine, across the Great Lakes and on to Oregon.

That pattern allows the jet stream to blow unimpeded from west to east and keeps the cold Arctic air largely north of the United States. The result tends to be warmer temperatures across much of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains.

No one is quite sure what drives these flip-flops in air pressure.
“I tend to think of it as a random thing,” said John M. Wallace, who is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. “I don’t think we understand any reasons why it goes one way one year and the other way another year.”

What does seem clear is that these oscillations have nothing to do with global warming, or, for that matter, global cooling. For one, they’re not new. And this winter’s cold has not been global. Santa, by North Pole standards, has been experiencing a balmy winter.

“Pretty much all of the Arctic is above normal,” said Dr. Walter Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. In some areas, the temperatures are as much as 15 degrees Fahrenheit above normal.

In terms of global average temperature, this winter’s arctic oscillation “probably roughly cancels out,” Dr. Meier said. (In fact, last year ranked as the fifth-warmest year on record since 1850, the United Kingdom’s Met Office says.)

And it is certainly not the coldest air that has descended on the United States. In a great blizzard that swept across the East Coast in 1899, even parts of Florida dropped to below zero.
“We’re not close to those types of things,” said Michael Vojtesak of the National Weather Service.

Feeling That Cold Wind? Here?s Why. - NYTimes.com

FSETH · #6 01-12-2010, 12:34 PM

I think the truth about global warming probably lies somewhere between Wagner and Mr. Gore's opinions. A few cold winters don't disprove anything. Big picture...big picture.

Dannyell · #7 01-12-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSETH

. A few cold winters don't disprove anything. Big picture...big picture.

Well said

MrLabGuy · #8 01-12-2010, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSETH

I think the truth about global warming probably lies somewhere between Wagner and Mr. Gore's opinions. A few cold winters don't disprove anything. Big picture...big picture.

How about a Decade of declining temperatures?

Funny how the global warming crowd never talks about the giant glowing ball we see in the sky sometimes. I seem to remember holding my hand up to the "SUN" and feeling a warming sensation on my hand. I wonder if it goes through cycles

...Hmmmmm. Solar cycles.

FSETH · #9 01-12-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrLabGuy

How about a Decade of declining temperatures?

Funny how the global warming crowd never talks about the giant glowing ball we see in the sky sometimes. I seem to remember holding my hand up to the "SUN" and feeling a warming sensation on my hand. I wonder if it goes through cycles

...Hmmmmm. Solar cycles.

I am not saying I have all the answers, but even a decade is a flash in the pan. This topic is about as polarized as religion, but I happen to think it is very possible for what we have been doing to the planet to have some adverse affects on temperature. We have messed with the earths atmosphere big time and it seems silly to hear some people be so sure that becuase it snowed in April or that temperatures have declined for 5 or 10 years that there is no way what we are doing is affecting anything.

For every story about declining temperatures someone has, someone else has a photo of grass covered field that was just recently covered with a glacier.

I also don't subscribe to the "don't worry about it" and "no major action needed" groups. Global warming aside, we need to change the way we live anyway. How can limiting what we use and how much we pollute be a bad thing? Less waste, less pollution, more recycling, cleaner cars (especially large fleets like city busses) less electricity...all of these are good things and much better for our health and envirionment anyway. Why not participate and make the air we breathe and the water we drink cleaner for all of us? Makes no sense to me.

blktoptrvl · #10 01-12-2010, 07:34 PM

Excellent points.

Even if global warming is cause 100% naturally, it will have an effect on our civilization and something will need to be done to mitigate the effects. Arguing about why it is happing is pointless as long as it is happening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FSETH

I am not saying I have all the answers, but even a decade is a flash in the pan. This topic is about as polarized as religion, but I happen to think it is very possible for what we have been doing to the planet to have some adverse affects on temperature. We have messed with the earths atmosphere big time and it seems silly to hear some people be so sure that becuase it snowed in April or that temperatures have declined for 5 or 10 years that there is no way what we are doing is affecting anything.

For every story about declining temperatures someone has, someone else has a photo of grass covered field that was just recently covered with a glacier.

I also don't subscribe to the "don't worry about it" and "no major action needed" groups. Global warming aside, we need to change the way we live anyway. How can limiting what we use and how much we pollute be a bad thing? Less waste, less pollution, more recycling, cleaner cars (especially large fleets like city busses) less electricity...all of these are good things and much better for our health and envirionment anyway. Why not participate and make the air we breathe and the water we drink cleaner for all of us? Makes no sense to me.