Where are the 'Chicken Littles" Now?

This winter is one for the record books, and not just here in Dubuque. Winter records are being tied and (more often than not) shattered all around the globe and yet it is not being reported on the same level as those reports about Global Warming.

• China reports coldest winter in 100 years;

• Antarctic sea ice is at record levels;

• Snow falls in Middle East;

• Record cold in South America, Australia and Greece to name a few.

While the talking heads of the likes of the Weather Channel's Heidi Cullen and former US Vice President Al Gore are pushing their agenda for Global Warming, they are in the middle of a backpedal because the latest reports show that the earth is actually cooling. These reports are not just hypothetical or even projections, but hard-core readings from the scientific community showing that the earth's recent cooling trend (-.7 degrees) pretty wipes out everything the Global Warming kooks have been able to attribute to greenhouse gasses and man's ultimate demise.

So, what does this mean? The end of Global Warming? A pending Ice Age? Neither and both. I have sided for years with those that espouse the theory that the climate is cyclical and that there is little that man can do to change that. As I was born and raised in the desert Southwestern US, I remember years when we would have floods that were so bad the bridges would wash out and areas of our communities would be cut off by the normally dry washes running bank to bank. I also remember years when it was so dry that the lakes would practically dry up completely.

History shows us, even the casual observer, that the climate cycles. Late 1800's cold, early 1900's warm and dry (remember the Dust Bowl?). Early 1970's cold. Early 2000's hot. Seems to me every 30 years the temps fluctuate from one extreme to the other. I am just a casual observer though, not a scientific scholar.

Then again, there are a lot of us non-scientific types out there that have come up with some pretty ingenious theories that proved to be be remarkable life changers (eg. Christoper Columbus, Thomas Edison) and there are those that are still seen as quacks of the likes of Darwin and Freud. Famous one and all.

The following articles were used in preparation of this post: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=332289

http://www.dailytech.com/Temperature+Monitors+Report+Worldwide+Global+Cooling/article10866.htm

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080227/D8V2CFRO0.html

Here We Go Again

I know, it is the weekend and I really should be out doing something. I have photo shoots I am planning and have overdue. I really want to go fishing, go to the museum, practice my drawing or watercolor in the field or something - anything other than being cooped up in the house on a day that I am not at my "daily grind." Alas, I sit here in my home office and surf the 'net, play Dark Ages of Camelot and work on my websites and blogs. All because we are dealing with yet another cold blast of snow and ice.

Being that I am from Arizona - a place that even areas that are supposed to get snow get very little of it - driving and even walking in this stuff is very, very foreign to me. I know how to do it, but it is not yet ingrained as second nature. Therefore, for the protection of myself and others (mostly to protect others from my inexperience), I chose to stay off the roads and indoors when at all possible.

Staying indoors does have it's drawbacks of course. Naturally, these storms have been hitting late-week or on the weekend and so the only times that I have available to do the fun and relaxing things I want to do are cancelled by the weather.

I am not alone in the complaining about the weather here this winter - even the natives are a bit anxious and complaining. In my opinion, I think that means that it is a particularly bad winter, which gives me plenty of reason to complain.