Sunday, September 17, 2006

Global Warming, Hurricanes, & the Experts...

...on such things are a topic that just sort of popped into my head while driving to my office today. Truth be told, the subject of hurricanes popped into my head because I was listening to the news on 1010 WINS a local NYC news radio station. They mentioned something about Hurricane Helen changing into a category 2 storm, but I think said it posed no threat to the mainland USA. Go figure.

What is it you ask about that I am telling you to go figure? Well I am thinking we should all try to figure out just what is happening with all the talk of global warming, and the claimed effects it is to have on our planet. That is of course if global warming is in fact a real thing. I am not saying it is or it isn't, I think we don't know enough yet about it to say so. Yet there are folks out there who claim to know all about it, and who claim it is or very well could be our doom, and who know beyond a doubt (at least in their own minds) that mankind has caused global warming.

Those very same experts were all tickled pink when Al Gore came out with whatever it was that he came out with upon the subject of global warming. They were all tickled pink when they claimed the polar ice caps are melting. They were all tickled pink when we had all those hurricanes last year (I think it was a record season for number of hurricanes, or at least for number of them at a certain storm intensity). Immediately upon reaching the end of the hurricane season last year, the experts got to jabbering about how we would likely face even more hurricanes this year because of the intensified or continuing global warming. Their predictions were for massive destruction from the predicted storms. They said not only would there be more such storms, but that the intensity would likely increase. Anyone else remember this: they were blabbing about it often enough that I imagine someone else other than I actually heard them.

Well low and behold, here we are in the middle of September; and at the risk of bringing down the wrath of the hurricanes upon our friends down south, or even up here in the northeast, allow me to say the season is almost over, and as I recall we have not been hit by one hurricane this year. As a matter of fact, all of the hurricanes so far this year have pretty much petered out without much more than some extra rain in some areas. I also seem to remember that this was one of the coolest summers I can recall in many years. What is going on, what will the scientists, the politicians, the religious ultra right, the foreseers of doom and gloom, and the whacko environmentalists (note I said whackos because I believe there are also rational environmentalists) have to shove in our faces next year. Well, if we get plenty of hurricanes they will say it is due to global warming, or that global warming is due to man's sins (in the case of the weird holy men). If not, and if next year is like this one, they may make up something else to try to scare us all into falling under their control. Of course they may already try to come up with some new convoluted reason(s) about why we had few hurricanes this year. They may even try to convolute their own global warming theory that supported the guess more big hurricanes would hit us this year than last; they may say this was an outcome of global warming that caused an expected pause and hurricanes will be cyclical every other year - who knows.

Bear (no pun intended, and you are about to understand why I just said no pun intended) in mind that these same so called environmental experts have told us all about the plight of the polar bears. They have told us the ice does not form early enough in the fall, and melts too soon in the spring to allow polar bears access to their hunting grounds on the ice packs. They have told us that the polar bears are getting stranded at sea when the ice melts suddenly, causing them to drown (and wasn't it the same experts who for years have shown us nature films of polar bears, and magazine articles about them, in which they tell us that polar bears can swim for days if need be). Well whatever, now these same self proclaimed experts are saying that the downfall of the polar bears may actually come about because their testicles are shrinking! What is it they will come up with next? As I said - go figure. By the way, if you look hard enough you will find a blog I did on just that subject a couple of weeks ago.

Me I am not falling for it. I am not moving off of Long island to high ground yet. Right now I think the worry about global warming is possibly a real one, but I think blaming a worldwide, decades maybe even centuries long (so far), weather phenomenon on mankind may be stretching it a bit; and I think the sudden doom we are told we may face is a bit far fetched. I also wonder if it was due to man that the earth warmed up after the last ice age? Were there pundits back then claiming this was the case. Oh no that’s right, back then they blamed it on the gods of the sky, the weather, the north wind and so forth - nowadays the whackos don't believe in god so they blame it on mankind. I guess they need a scapegoat. Oh well, maybe that is what it comes down to after all. Finding a problem, then finding someone to blame it on instead of trying to correct it. Anyhow, before I go jump off of a building or anything silly like that (kids, please understand I am only joking in a certain way, its called sarcasm, and I will not be jumping off of a building because that probably would be very dangerous), I am going to enjoy the warmer winters, that is if they really are warming up. Then again, you could have fooled me that the weather has been all that much warmer lately. Oh well, that's it for now, I've got to go grab a sweater, its chilly in here.

All the best,
Glenn B