Is This Deadly Drought The Knife Edge Of Global Warming?

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Is This Deadly Drought The Knife Edge Of Global Warming?

August 1st, 2012 12:00 am Gene Lyons

Of all the ways nature has to kill you, drought may be the cruelest. The desiccation proceeds day after punishing day. The afternoon sun pounds the earth like a brazen hammer. As I write, the temperature here in Perry County, Arkansas has reached 108 degrees.

The countryside is dying. There’s nothing green in my pastures except inedible weeds. Even pigweed is drooping. Our pond dried up six weeks ago. The ground beneath is bare and cracked. Up on the ridge, some hardwoods are shedding leaves and going dormant; oaks are simply dying.

When I’d turned my cows into their new pasture last year, they kicked up their heels and frolicked like calves. So much fresh grass! Last week, they tore down a low-hanging limb from the persimmon tree they rest under most afternoons. They herded in and stripped the leathery leaves within an hour, the first green thing they’d eaten in weeks.

Lucky cows. Mine is basically a hobby farm, so I can afford to keep my small herd intact. Because spring came a month early, I had enough hay left over to see them through the summer. Neighbors who operate close to the margin have hauled thousands of cows to the sale barn—animals they’d planned upon breeding. Pastures stand barren and empty throughout the region.

The National Weather Service calls it an “exceptional drought.” Nobody I talk to can remember anything like it. 1980 was bad, but the devastation was more limited in scope. What’s happening in Arkansas is taking place across the entire middle of the country—a remorseless, slow-motion catastrophe.

Drought wears you out, beats you down, consumes your hope and native optimism. For months, churches everywhere have been praying for rain, mostly to no avail. Friends track what few stray thunderstorms meander across the countryside. Did you get any rain up your way? You neither? Too bad.

Last week we had a great black wall of cloud, thunder and lightning for hours…then three-tenths of an inch of rain. Barely enough to settle the road dust for a few hours. Sometimes it feels as if it will never rain again.

But of course, it will. In our part of the country, rain has tended in recent years to come in great spring and fall floods—six to 12 inch deluges bookending hotter, drier summers.

Pretty much nobody whose livelihood depends upon the weather denies it: the climate hereabouts is changing, mostly for the worse. The underlying fear, of course, is that the scientists are right: that what we’re experiencing is the knife edge of worldwide global warming.

People don’t much talk about that aspect of it, because the whole thing’s gotten bound up with politics, and rural people tend to avoid issues with ideological and theological overtones. Farm Bureau and Cattleman’s Association publications tend to be filled with strident climate denialism, and regional newspapers with predictable right-wing boilerplate.

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Tags: climate science, drought, Gene Lyons, global warming, weather

http://www.facebook.com/dominick.vila.1 Dominick Vila

There is no question that the polar caps and glaciers are melting at an accelerated pace, and that the consequences of global warming – call it climate change if you wish – can be devastating to our ability to survive as a species, what is not so clear is whether this phenomena is influenced primarily by natural causes or because of man-made pollutants destroying, among other things, the ozone layer. Denying the fact that pollution, especially carbon emissions, are contributing to the problem and very likely accelerating it, is not only irresponsible, it is criminal. In the end, there may not be much we can do to prevent what is happening, but we can certainly do whatever it takes to slow down the process and prepare for life without the abundance we are accustomed to.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Colleen-Klemp/100002683878543 Colleen Klemp

This is the worst drought since the days of the dust bowl. It dosen’t really matter what caused it, what matters is how to deal with it. I think money should be spent in areas where de-saltification equipment can be installed. On the areas of the gulf coast then if possible pump the water throught lines like oil is done. It might be very expensive but can you put a price on the nation’s ability to produce food for the nation?

Stan Kerr

The cost of such a scheme has to be balanced against the likelihood of its being needed in any given year. It would probably become a giant boondoggle and porkbarrel project, soaking the entire U.S. for the sake of the affected farmers.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IKVLH6GGGT6FUGPKBZEB5NNMUQ World Citizen

“The Sake of The Affected Farmer” When you are paying 10.00 a pound for ground beef I think you might feel “affected”.

Stan Kerr

Maybe not! Globalization is good; we don’t have to rely on Midwest corn for cattlefeed.
Sweeeny

Or when you can’t get it at any price – but the point is that one could invest in a huge infrastructure only for it to be redundant immediately after its finish. A case in point was the UK declared a ban against public use of garden hoses after an extensive drought and almost to the day, tha rains came. Since then record rain for May, June & July. Floods throughout the country and demands for flood control systems. Bet when they’re done we’ll be back to droughts? The real issue – too many people, Period.

http://profile.yahoo.com/NOWA3E42LRZ6VRAFALDFUL4IWM Foot

unlike many other mentalities our looking at survival /heath / the world just year to year ignores the hope that 100 years after ME i hope someone lives. to kill the human race so that the next 1 or 2 generations can drive fast cars or have fries with their shakes is selfish madness ! you get the house and 2 cars but we kill your greatgrand children ? wake-up! we are all connected in race/space and time .

msm859

Unless you know what “caused” it, you cannot intelligently deal with it.

http://profile.yahoo.com/6D3A4HRG47GKD2NJXZOXXV7OFA hotsypotsy

While the climate may very well be changing, the concept of man made global warming was created by The Club of Rome, an organization created by The Committee of 300.
In a 1991 report titled “The First Global Revolution”, published by the Club of Rome, we find the following statement:

“In searching for a new enemy to unite us, we came up with the idea that pollution, the threat of global warming, water shortages, famine and the like would fit the bill… All these dangers are caused by human intervention… The real enemy, then, is humanity itself.”

The two men selected to present this idea to the world at the Summit in Rio were Maurice Strong and Al Gore, both members of The Club of Rome, and both who stood to make a fortune off carbon credits (and both of whom have a “carbon footprint” the size of a small city). The ultimate goal being, of course, global control with the implementation of UN Agenda 21, and their “sustainable development.” While our private ownership and freedoms will cease to exist as they control every aspect of our life, forcing us to live in their “sustainable cities” (google “ghost cities”) where our mobility is limited, along with everything else, the Globalists will be free to enjoy our public lands and parks, control the food and water supply, and will continue to fly around in private jets, enjoying a lavish lifestyle, all the while reaping earth’s natural resources for their own personal benefit. Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the biggest polluters and rapists of Mother Earth are the ones who feel entitled to dictate to the rest of humanity how much energy we can consume, what kind of car we can drive, etc?
While we may be experiencing a major and catastrophic drought at this time, it isn’t an unheard of event. Many African countries have had far more devastating droughts that have lasted far longer in years past.
To quote Joseph Goebbles:
“The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it.”
And that about sums it all up, as far as I’m concerned.

awakenaustin

Really?
http://www.facebook.com/peter.brown.9809 Peter Brown

You are so lucky to have all the answers, it is a gigantic conspiracy by the Club of Rome to increase the profits of their members and starve the rest of the world by destroying the earth’s ability to regenerate water and other necessary sustenance supporting chemicals. The end game for this gigantic conspiracy is for the last Club of Rome member to drink the last unpolluted glass of water and then die as the WINNER.

I am so glad that we now know what “they” are up to so that we can thwart their dastardly plan.

Do you not see the fallacy of the denier’s arguments. Even if true, it has become almost axiomatic that the planet is suffering and some of us cannot walk away from it.
ObozoMustGo

hotsy… I must say… one of the greatests posts on this site that I have read in a long time. I used to think it was possible for AGW to be ocurring, but then I did the math. CO2 is measured in PPM (parts per million). The alarmists claim we have gone from 280 PPM CO2 in the atmosphere to 390 PPM CO2 in the atmosphere. Breaking it down in plain English, that means they think we should alter human existence and economies for 110 one millionths of a change!! That’s 11 Ten Thousandths!!!

Bwwwwaaaaaaaahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Bwwwwaaaaaaaahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha!!!!!!!
Bwwwwaaaaaaaahahahahahahahhahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goebbles was right…. “the bigger the lie, the more they believe it”

At this point though, there is nothing you can say to them. This IS a religious movement for these freaks. Read some of their posts. They are hilarious!!

Keep the posts coming, please.

Have a nice day!

” FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

Stan Kerr

Droughts come and go. The 1930′s was bad; was there ‘global warming’ then? If a slow, steady increase in warmth since the 19th century means global warming, then I suppose so. And so what? The warming has stalled for now. Someday ice sheets will return, let’s hope later than sooner. Warmth is much to be preferred.

ObozoMustGo

Stan… great common sense post. Thank you. You might find yourself being virtually slammed on here though. They don’t like having their man-made global warming religion questioned. And it IS a religion, no doubt.

Keep on posting here in this sea of leftist insanity called “The Memo”. Something tells me you have a great deal of good things to say. I look forward to reading them.

Have a nice day!

” FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

Wa51e4

Stan basically says even if the global warming is for real, he didn’t care since “warmth is much to be preferred.” This is fine statement and honest guy, even as you said a “great common sense post”. However, his view has absolutely nothing to do with your idiotic claim that global warming “IS a religion, no doubt.” So your enthusiastic praise tells me that you’re so low in your logic and reasoning capability that you don’t even know how to figure out when someone agrees with you or not. What a miserably dumb and shameless fella.

One can definitely question, challenge, or refute man-made global warming effect, by using scientific methods to check the validity of the data or the calculations of the heat trapping impact of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, not by just labeling it “religion, no doubt”, “insanity”, and other totally irrelevant empty claims you’re throwing out.

BTW, no one has slammed Stan as you predicted. So much so for your knucklehead prediction.

As to your bible quote, since you did not do any work (meaningful reasoning) when you post your garbage here, “NEITHER SHALL” you “EAT”.

ObozoMustGo

wa… more and more poeple are waking up to the fact that your man-made global warming scare is just a hoax. Those that still believe in it, like you, cling to it with a strong-willed faith. It absolutely IS every bit a religion. Now go pray to gaia, will you?

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill

sigrid28

When we lost our small orchard and black walnut grove to foreclosure, we retired our hedge clippers and tree loppers and moved into town, a place on the Mississippi. Here, wooded hills and bluffs, which survived the glacial bulldozer that created flat, rich farmland to the east and west of us, offer a rugged beauty in what is called the driftless region. And what do the citizens of this hill-top college town want most? You guessed it: nice green lawns.

I see my neighbors pushing mowers over their heads while trying to cut the grass on practically vertical hillsides and ask them, why not just plant these slopes with black raspberries native to the region, in thickets which yield one wave of wild flowers after another while producing fruit that sells for $6 a pint at the local farmers’ market? I wonder, whatever happened to the hedge, a mess of vines and brambles, with deep roots locking in place the soil below and an entire ecosystem thriving overhead?

Next door are two meadow-sized lawns, with grass that is now as brown and crunchy as breakfast cereal, which even the doe and her twin fauns just toss in the air indifferently without eating. I wonder, whatever happened to the tall prairie grass native to the region, with interlocking root systems sunk twelve or fifteen feet down? At the local arboretum, a little, sample patch of prairie grass is the only thing still green.

Waiting to find work, we have been put out to pasture to think these thoughts and dream of better solutions. Like so many others, we are living out the anxious days of a driftless life. But once “the deadliest drought in a century” has begun to “focus people’s attention,” as Gene Lyons suggests it will, you can bet that people like us will be here, waiting to put the earth back to work and retire the lawnmowers.
howa4x

This is a classic case where millions of hard working people are being led astray by the wealthy 1% like the Koch bros and their republican lap dogs. Old and outdated coal burning plants are spewing greenouse gase upward at an alarming rate, not only here but in India and China. The EPA has tried to shut down the worst ones, but the republicans in congress are trying to block this. It’s analogous to 99 engineers saying a plane is not safe to fly on and 1 saying it is. Which one are you going to believe? This is what is happening in climate science. Weather people on local news are disputing climate change and mostly all the climatetologists are saying its happening. Romney is a good example of how the republicans have made an about face. As governor he was very concerned about climate change and as a canidate for president now it’s a hoax. He( Romney used to be a moderate) and many moderate republicans are being dragged rightward and taking positions contrary to what they already know. This is because the oil , gas and coal industries are putting economic pressue on everyone to push climate change to the back burner so they can make a few more billion, and we can suffer the consequencies. We will not feel the full effects of climate change but our children will, and our grand kids will suffer the most. So the choice is very clear, vote for our children or vote to keep millionaires very rich.
http://www.facebook.com/peter.brown.9809 Peter Brown

That was a fantastic piece of damn good writing! Those of us who live and die by the minute changes in CO2 levels already know that Muller and his ilk are whores and that Cal Berkeley is a house of ill repute for when the oilmen come calling with money in their britches and perversion in their souls.

When Platzek and Pimentel’s anti Biodiesel study came out, Berkeley picked up a $50 million grant for their petroleum institute. I guess Muller was expecting more.

Yes Virginia, global warming is real and soon we may invite the Sudan to a town near you. Meanwhile fracking is destroying water in the ground as fast as CO2 and other pollutants are destroying water in the air.

As we advance in finding feedstock for biofuels in drier and drier stuff, and adapt our equipment to use it, I feel that the consumers are testing our ability to save them from their own stupidity. We may end up planting desert fodder to drive our equipment and dredging algae to keep going, but the downward spiral is there for all to see and as fast as we plant jatropha, we still watch that drought line creeping ever closer to grandma’s kitchen garden fence.

ObozoMustGo

PB… If you are so worried about CO2, stop breathing please. Don’t be a hypocrite.

Have a nice day!

” FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

http://www.facebook.com/peter.brown.9809 Peter Brown

Thank you for that biblical quote. When in trouble it is always a good thing to rely on the wisdom and science that is thousands of years old and brought us a number of deserts.

ObozoMustGo

Hey, no problem, PB! Congrats to you. You at least know the source of the quote. One of your leftist freak comrades actually thought it was a quote from Chairman Mao. I suppose when you are a hammer, you see every problem as a nail, don’t you?

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill

dtgraham

“The test of our progress as a society is not in whether we add to the abundance of those who already have much, but in whether we provide more for those who have little..”
– Franklin Roosevelt

“Every major progressive reform that has added to dignity of mankind has been brought about only after a major struggle against those who have something to gain by keeping conditions as they are.” “This will never change..”
–Ed Schreyer (Premier of the Province of Manitoba, Canada 1969-1977)
ObozoMustGo

dt.. FDR was a fraud! And the spawn of the devil himself! His quote reflects the thinking of a fool, which he was. And a raging hypocrite whom, in his day, was worth the equivalent of billions of dollars which were inherited, not earned. Under FDR, the depression became The Great Depression and lasted a decade longer than it should have. Price controls, collusion with businesses, destruction of food supplies, confiscation of gold, imprisonment of Japanese Americans, confiscation of property, massive, massive growth in government, government jobs that literally involved digging a hole and filling it back in…. all that and more… make FDR the 2nd worst president in American history behind Obozo. That’s the truth, dt.

I don’t know Ed Shreyer, but he’s obviously a socialist. No offense to you, my friend, but we Americans don’t really care about Canadian socialists or what they say. For that matter, we don’t care about what any socialist has to say. At least, that is, we Americans who love liberty and freedom. I am sure the leftist freaks that come around here love any socialist no matter where they are from.

Have a great day, my friend.

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill
dtgraham

Now c’mon now. Ed Schreyer is a socialist and one of my political heroes. Now you’re just hurting my feelings at this point.
ObozoMustGo

Sorry dt! I was hoping you weren’t offended as a Canadian. I could insert any country and mean the same thing. It wasn’t intended as a slight to you and my brothers to the north, per se.

By the way, Weber is a damn good player, and Ithink one of the top 2 or 3 d-men in the world. Besides, it’s not my money that pays him, it’s the Flyers and Comcast. They have plenty of it, so I’m not worried. Still disappointed they didn’t get him. He’d be a perfect Flyer.

Have a great day, dt!
dtgraham

I was only kidding about the tender feelings Obozo. It never occurred to me at the time that you might take that seriously, although later I thought about it. Not a problem my man. I wasn’t serious.
ObozoMustGo

dt.. I wasn’t sure so I just wanted apologize in case. A great deal is missed in the written conversation that would never be so in spoken or face to face. The limitations of a blog, I suppose.

Have a great day, my friend.

“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” – George Washington

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda

Truly astounding obozo. Your lack of understanding of the carbon-cycle is clearly shown by your breathing comment. It is no surprise that some folks come up with such nonsense since they never take into account the other half of the carbon-cycle.

Through photosynthesis, plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen, and also perform some respiration, because they need to eat as well, outweighed by the photosynthesis. Carbon is collected from CO2 in the air forms their tisues, roots, stems, leaves and fruit.

These tissues from the base of the food chain, as they are eaten by animals, which are eaten by other animals and so on. We are part of this food chain. All the carbon in our body comes either indirectly or directly from plants, which took it out of the air only recently.

When we breathe out, all the carbon dioxide we exhale has already been accounted for. Performing cellular respiration, we are simply returning to the air the same carbon that was there to begin with. The carbon cyccle is not a straight line.

Besides if you care to look it up, you will see that the CO2 that has been increasing provides an isotope reading easily detected that is directly traced to the burning of fossile fuels and not our breath. Radioactive isotopes are very telling indeed.

ObozoMustGo

Hi Lynda! I hope you’re well today.

First, CO2 is NOT a polutant, by the very definition that you gave.

Second, there is only 110 One Millionths (.000011, or Parts Per Million) difference in CO2 in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution. Saying this makes any difference is akin to cutting 10 hairs off your head and proclaiming you lost weight! It’s a joke. And it requires a religious faith to think it makes any difference.

Third, I hate to inform you of this, but the climate of the earth has NEVER been static. We have had droughts and floods and ice ages and warming periods and hot and cold and weather changes since God created the earth. This will not change.

Fourth, There is NOTHING we can do to alter the climate. To think that there is, you must believe that the climate and the earth are so fragile that the most infinitecimal change in any variable would have a predictable and linear cause and effect. This is clearly NOT the case with anything, except with the most immature and juvenile thought processes.

Fifth, Man-made global warming is a hoax. Even IF we could alter the CO2 in the atmosphere, to do so would cost TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS of dollars in economic output, and by the so-called “climate scientists” own admission, we may not change global temperatures by MAYBE 1/2 of 1 degree. So who benefits, really, who benefits by continuing this hoax? Well, Al Gore is now a billionaire. Maurice Strong is now fabulously wealthy. Thousands of professors have gotten a permanent fix to the governmental teet for their junk science efforts. They all havea financial interest in perpetuating the hoax. Funny thing is that in the 1970′s they were proclaiming the dangers of global cooling. Hmmmmmmmm

Don’t be so easily duped, my friend.

Have a nice day, Lynda!

“FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

Wa51e4

While the increase of 110 parts per million in CO2 concentration in the atmosphere sound like an extremely small number, the pre-industrial period CO2 concentration is only 280 parts per million to begin with. This means the heat (infrared light) trapping capability of the atmosphere has increased by about 40%, a very significant amount, and its effect on the temperature of the Earth surface is neither negligible nor a hoax. CO2 molecules do not care what you call them, they do their job and do their job well according to physics.

Unless the CO2 concentration data is wrong, the global warming, or at least the threat of global warming, is not a hoax.
ObozoMustGo

wa… I know it’s a religion to you guys, but it’s still a hoax. Your faith in the myth of man-made global warming is so strong that you cannot face reality when it is thrust upon you. In fact, you retrench further into your religion as it’s challenged. And, inflating a statistic when the numbers are infintecimally small is deliberately misleading, and you know it. It’s still only 110 ONE MILLIONTHS of the atmosphere in change. And we really don’t know for sure why CO2 fluctuates with or without us. It’s simply not credible! Sorry!

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill
Wa51e4

Looks like you’re really clueless as far as science is concerned.

Do you realize that if the atmospheric CO2 concentration is not “infinitecimally small”, say, it’s 300 part per thousands instead of 300 part per million, the Earth surface could be so hot that the life may never survive here? This has nothing to do with religion as you’re accusing, it’s just pure physics.

A small number may sound small, its importance may not. A simple example. How much Vitamin C do you need in your body? Only 60 milligrams per day, right? What fraction of that is in your daily food intake? If you eat two pounds of food & water a day, 60 mg = 60 parts per million, since 2 pounds = 1 kg = 1000 g = 1 million milligram. If you do not have this “infinitecimally small” amount of micro-nutrient in your body, you get sick or even die. So if your doctor asks you to take Vitamin C for your health because you don’t think “infinitecimally small” has any effect on anything, you call him “deliberately misleading” you? If he explains the reason why you need this, will you say “I know it’s a religion for you guys, but it is still a hoax”?

Based on what I read, you are incapable of detecting a hoax (“credible” or not), use religion as a weapon on others to hide your scientific ignorance, and make irrelevant quotes to appear educated. You may know a quote or two from the Bible or Churchill, but you do not know the real meaning and importance of “infinitecimally small” things such as CO2 concentration in the atmosphere.

What we usually call this kind of folks? An idiot.

Sorry.
ObozoMustGo

wa…. you are a fool! CO2 is measure in ppm….. THAT’S PARTS PER MILLION you idiot! You have shown yourself to be not only a religious fanatic about man-made global warming, but also an ASS!

Here’s a link: en dot wikipedia dot org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide
[they dont let you post links here. cut and past and replace "dot" with "."]

This is what it says in the first paragraph of the first section entitled “In the Earth’s Atmospher”:

“Carbon dioxide in earth’s atmosphere is considered a trace gas currently occurring at an average concentration of about 390 parts per million by volume or 591 parts per million by mass”

You stupid moron!

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill
dtgraham

It’s only a trace gas right? Any element that’s extremely powerful, and measured in tiny amounts, doesn’t really count right?

A micro mineral like selenium is measured in tiny amounts. You wouldn’t want more than 200 mcg a day for optimal health, although 5000 times that amount is frequently recommended for vitamin C intake.

The one constant in the past, for periods of cooling and warming, are levels of co2 concentration. The causal factors of these elevated or depressed levels in the past are not fully understood, although solar activity is sometimes mentioned. It’s a trace gas. There were never outrageous increases by factors of thousands. We’re not talking those kinds of numbers because we don’t have to be. Co2 concentration in the atmosphere can be measured going back thousands of years. We’re going into a period where the concentration will be off the charts compared to the geological data.

One thing is clear. A 40% increase in co2 concentration since the dawn of the industrial age is huge. Another thing is clear. We are obviously adding greatly to that level by pumping co2,and other greenhouse, gasses into the atmosphere.
ObozoMustGo

dt… how’s my Canadian commie friend doing? I am well. Sucks Flyers didn’t Shea Weber.

Your analogy of a trace mineral in the human body as compared to the atmoshpere or environment is interesting. One of the militant leftist freaks on here made the same argument to me. Of course, the human body is NOT the atmosphere. But if we take your analogy to conclusion, the truth is that you could survive perfectly fine if you did not have any selenium for considerable time. Or let’s say you had 50 mcg a day. Then increased it to 500 mcg per day. You would have increased your intake by 1000%! {sidebar: The leftist nutjobs out there would be screaming that we have a nutritional crisis because selenium intake has gone up a massive 1000%! Tax the rich more and we could solve this crisis.} But that’s not the point. The point is that even with such seemingly MASSIVE fluctuations, the reality is that the human body can function quite well with “large fluctuations” in trace minerals. Just like the atmoshphere and earth are just fine with “large fluctuations” in trace gases. So even your analogy itself, frankly speaking, disproves your own theory!

CO2 is NOT a polutant. You exhale it with every breath you take.

Trust me, Chicken Little, the sky is NOT falling. 20 years from now, you’ll look back on this and say to yourself “boy was I fooled on that global warming crap”.

Have a great day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill
dtgraham

I was just trying to use a simile, but was aware that it might not be appropo for the subject matter, as they’re often not.

I wasn’t going to make any comment at all, as I try not to if I don’t think I can add anything useful on a subject matter that I don’t have a lot of information on. Somehow got sucked into it anyway. I’m no climate scientist Obozo, but I know what they say, and the vast majority of them disagree with you. One of the well known “deniers” has recently changed his mind and came out in favor of man made global warming. He was on the Rachel Maddow show last week although I can’t remember his name. He’s a scientist whose work is funded by the Koch brothers of all people. Have a feeling that funding is about to dry up.

Shea Weber….14 million for 10 years. Are you kidding me? Jim Rhome on ESPN radio can’t believe it either.
ObozoMustGo

dt… nice to hear from you. I know who you’re talking about, the guy that supposedly turned from skeptic to believer. In religion, that’s called a “conversion”. No different in global warming, which is a religion. What’s interesting is that he has “converted” only after the funding he got had been used up and he needed new funding, which of course comes from who????? That’s right, the tax payers.

Have you ever wondered why the funding for the global warming religion is almost 100% from taxpayers through politicians, while the funding for studies that counter that religion are almost, if not all, 100% from private resources? Does that make you question anything at all? Like, this whole thing seems like a politically motivated issue and NOT a science issue?

Computer models are what they use to justify their findings. Has anyone wondered how easy it is to manipulate models so that end results are exactly what you want? How scientific is that? I could make a computer model that would predict I’m going to be the next President of the USA. Doesn’t make it right, does it?

What is the obsession of the left with the Koch brothers and money in politics? Why are they not screaming and whining about George Soros? Or the Kennedys, or Rockefellers, of John Kerry? All of them, by the way have wealth that makes Romney’s look like pocket change. What is this obsession? Other than more of the same old clap trap garbage of the leftist freaks to stir up class warfare.

Gotta run. Busy day today, my friend.

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IKVLH6GGGT6FUGPKBZEB5NNMUQ World Citizen

Not that I doubt global warning but every weather event can not be blamed on it. It is not uncommon to have a summer that is hot and dry. What about England it is the coldest and wettest summer they have had in a long time. High temperatures reaching only in the 60′s. What about that?
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IKVLH6GGGT6FUGPKBZEB5NNMUQ World Citizen

What amazes me is that lack of preparation for potential drought. What about using de-salinization equipment? We always boast about helping victims is Ethiopia where it is in the desert with innovative irrigation methods etc. Physician heal thy self…

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda

Just where do you suggest that these de-salinilzation machines get the salt water for Kansas and the rest of country thousands of miles from sources? Besides de-salinization is extremely expensive while just being used for drinking water. Industrial scale is just not practical and way too expensive.

ObozoMustGo

Remember… today is Chick Fil-A Day. Great chicken and salads.

[click image to enlarge]
ObozoMustGo

On topic…. You know it is sort of strange that once man showed up and started industrializing and burning fossil fuels, all of a sudden the earth is at peril from global warming and droughts. I mean really!!! Doesn’t everyone know that the earth’s temps and weather were all exactly the same for millions of years? Doesn’t everyone know that there were no such thing as ice ages or warming periods or hurricanes or droughts? Come on people… man has caused all of those things. You should know this by now as we have been indoctrinating you long enough. The earth was perfect before we showed up, wasn’t it???? Yeah right! Sure, sure!!

Anyone believe that? I’m a brige salesman and I have a good price on a great selection of bridges you can buy! Just reply back to me with your desired bridge and amount you have to spend. Thanks!!

Have a nice day!

” FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

mah101

We actually know a lot about trends in the eart’s climate, variations in insolation, effects of ocean currents and air masses, effects of variations in atmospheric composition, contributions from major vulcanism, and on and on. We also see the strong correlating between what humans do, what the put in the atmosphere, and how this alters earth’s climate. The fact that YOU don’t know any of this, or would be able to understand it given your big blinders, does not alter the underlying reality – which is that the planet’s climate is changing.

Oh, and you can keep the bridge.

ObozoMustGo

mah…. sorry to offend your envionmental religion, but truth is truth. See some of my other posts here for explanation. AGW is a hoax.

And, too bad for you. I have a sale going on a few famous suspension bridges. They are going quick. You leftist nutjobs seem to love buying them as much as you love buying scary hoaxes like man-made global warming.

Have a nice day!

“FOR EVEN WHEN WE WERE WITH YOU, WE COMMANDED YOU THIS: IF ANYONE WILL NOT WORK, NEITHER SHALL HE EAT”

Wa51e4

It’s not “all of a sudden” at all in our normal sense of time. It took more than a couple of hundreds of years for scientists to notice and then try to figure it out why. In geological terms, however, it IS actually “all of a sudden” as compared with natural processes. It’s thus more of a reason for humans to be careful to study if this is indeed the case and what is the potential consequence, and if possible do something to avoid to get ourselves into some unforeseen disastrous downward spiral. Climate science is difficult and complicated and the more we study, the more we know. Calling it religion or insanity does not help anything.

On the other hand, even if man-made global warming is real, will the fate of the Earth is always bad? Maybe it’s actually good if the Earth is getting warmer a bit. Maybe all these precautions and worries are not for real. Sure, it may be the case. But it may not be. It may introduce horrific drought or hurricane, raised sea level that takes our coasts away, we do not really know, do we? But when the stake is high and the consequence is grim, it’s better to take some precautions when you can, as folks say it’s better late than sorry.

Using Titanic as a metaphor, you’re most likely the guy who would stay in the cabin drinking booze when other folks try to leave, ignoring all the tell-tale signs that the ship is sinking. Your argument and logic? “The ship is sailing for days just fine, and all of a sudden it’s sinking, I mean really!” If someone tells you to see the booze level in your cup is tilted, you sarcastically shot back, “does the level always stay exactly flat in a ship at the sea? Yeah right! Sure, sure!”

The simplistic and shallow view of yours, the lack of basic logic and reasoning ability, the absurdly empty claims you throw out left and right pretending you know something that you have absolutely no clue of, and the fact that you like to post all these idiotic commends with laughable arrogance are the tell-take signs that you’ll be the one left on a sinking ship.

Then you’ll have a really nice day.

ObozoMustGo

wa…. your religion is a hoax. There is no such thing as man-made global warming. While there may be global warming… after all, you must agree that it wasn’t my SUV that melted the last great ice age… there is also global cooling. In the years I studied geology at college (I was a finance/accounting major that took my electives in geology and liturature) global warming or cooling periods, transgressions and regressions of the oceans, whatever the geologic event, were always mesured in eons, hundreds of thousands, or millions of years. We’ve only had accurate thermometers for what, 150 years maybe? And the same guys that can’t accurately tell me what the weather is going to be 3 days from now are the same ones that are telling me the earth is going to burn up in 10 years, and I’m supposed believe them?

The real point of the hoax is the same as all of this “crisis mentality” crap from the left: MONEY!!! They are using this scare as a political football to extract more money from citizens that earn it. That’s all it is. Have you notice that the solutions they propose always involve raising costs, taxes, or fees? Or it involves grand schemes from the UN to extract money from the United States (that’s MY tax dollars) and redistribute it to other countries? Doesn’t this scheme make you the least bit skeptical? It should. But I know for leftist nutjobs, manipulation of the people for their utopic ends through financial extraction and legalized robbery IS EXACTLY what they want.

You will see, Chicken Little. The sky is NOT falling. Really, it’s not! Relax and live your life knowing that you will be here 10 – 20 -30 years from now looking back and wondering why you bought into such a hoax back “when you were young”.

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill

Landsende

While democrats and republicans fight over tax cuts for the rich, birth control, same sex marriage, affordable health care and fewer regulations on businesses a consensus of scientists and climatologists have said we are in the midst of global warming since we’re experiencing the worst drought ever covering 75% of the United States. Rivers and lakes are drying up. Some towns are already experiencing water shortages. Yesterday on the news they warned that some areas will start experiencing power outages because their is not enough water to cool the power plants. Instead of enforcing regulations to cut toxic chemicals being spewed into the atmosphere and our water sources, the republicans want to do away with them and cut funding to the EPA. From the wildfires in Colorado to the severe tornadoes and weather in the northeast to the record high temperatures all over we see signs of global warming and yet there are still naysayers with their heads stuck in the sand. It’s time for democrats and republicans to work together to find a long range solution.
http://profile.yahoo.com/OIWHIIHWEWBKKLVU4FQS3XQQKE Todd

The religion of AGW is showing again. This drought is no where near the depth of the 1936 drought. Global temperatures are still going down, so there is no way this drought is connected to “global warming”, since there isn’t any. Just go to Anchorage, Alaska and ask them how their temperatures are. The coldest winter and summer in their entire history. North Florida, the Houston area in Texas, and south Georgia have had floods in the last 2 months. Manmade global warming is a myth and nothing more than a religion. A religion is something you believe in even when you can’t see it or prove it.
Antarctica is getting colder as is the Siberian penninsula so where is this global warming? It isn’t there.

ObozoMustGo

Todd… “where is this global warming”?……. it’s in the hearts and minds of those who have faith that this hoax can be an effective tool for wealth redistribution. It is, in fact, their religion.

It cracks me up that every time these elitist idiots, like Algore, have their conferences, they do so by flying their private jets to elaborate and luxurious locations spending 10′s of millions of other people’s money to discuss global warming during snow storms! hehehehehehe

Anyone that believes that mankind can control the weather by just giving the politicians more of my money is nothing short of an enormous FOOL!!!!!!

Keep the good posts coming.

Have a nice day!

“Socialism is a philosophy of failure,
the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy,
its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery..”
– Winston Churchill

http://profile.yahoo.com/HE4FWPKSWIPLPH4NXZIAT4NDGY pat

Even those that feel that this is a normal cycle in weather should see that anything that we can do to slow this progression is a plus for everyone. Even the 1%. They could profit from new energy. Some will always be stuck in “but we’ve always done it this way”. We will continue to use less & buy local-no A/C, a sweatshirt in winter,6 min showers
& walk whenever we can. Every bit helps.

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