Dan's Outside

If It Is Getting Warmer, How Come It Seems Colder?

The global warming skeptics will grab at almost any straw rather than see the what consensus now regards as the obvious. This includes misinterpreting some “cold” weather as “proof” that the planet couldn’t possibly be warming and that “all those silly scientists must be wrong.” Or maybe it is a global scientific conspiracy. (To what end is difficult to imagine… :-)

Here is an interesting discussion that sheds some light on what is likely going on.

If global warming is occurring, why was the winter of 2007-2008 so cold and snowy?. The planet was much snowier and warmer than usual during the winter of 2007-2008, according to statistics released today by the National Climatic Data Center. Snow cover extent over the Northern Hemisphere during the period December 2007 – February 2008 was the fourth greatest on record, and was the greatest on record for January. Satellite-derived snow cover records extend back to 1967. Some regions of the Middle East, such as Baghdad, Iraq saw their first snow in …
Read More [Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog]

A short story includes the following: Even in times of climate change there will be periods that are above “normal” (new normal or old normal) in terms of temperature, precipitation, and so forth. The weather never has been the same from year to year and global warming won’t change that. Counterintuitively warmer weather can lead to more snow in some places.

Read the link to find out more.

March 14, 2008 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary, Environment | Comments Off on If It Is Getting Warmer, How Come It Seems Colder?

Please Make It Stop!

SFGate: Bush intervention led EPA to scale back ozone limits:

The Environmental Protection Agency weakened one part of its new limits on smog-forming ozone after an unusual, last-minute intervention by President Bush, according to documents released by the EPA.

EPA officials initially tried to set a lower seasonal limit on ozone to protect wildlife, parks and farmland, as required under federal law. While their proposal was less restrictive than what the EPA’s scientific advisers had proposed, Bush overruled EPA officials Tuesday and ordered the agency to raise the limit, according to the documents.

“It is unprecedented and an unlawful act of political interference for the president personally to override a decision that the Clean Air Act leaves exclusively to EPA’s expert scientific judgment,” said John Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

March 14, 2008 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary, Environment | 1 Comment