Like most of you in North America, I am ready for this winter to end. In fact, I have never looked so much forward to spring as I have this year, and admittedly, it's not all about the weather in my case, either. But that's a personal note, and not relevant to the issue that this blog will focus on.
But yes, I am tired to the cold and the ice. Tired of scraping the windshield, and hearing that harsh sound is the process. Tired of treading carefully on icy sidewalks, or worrying about falling while on stairs, as I did yesterday (hurting my foot quite a bit in the process, and still feeling it now while writing this). Tired of having to worry about upcoming storms, and having to drive in slippery, snowy conditions. Tired of having to try and plan around storms, and tired of the cabin fever that inevitably hits during the actual storms.
Winter is coming to an end, as this is the last month of it. We are in the homestretch now, although it hardly feels like it at the moment, with more snow expected tomorrow night.
Yet, despite the inevitable end of this particular winter, the news headline screamed out to me that, essentially, we can expect much more of this in the future. More severe winters. More severe storms.
So, you know when news like this starts to hit, people are going to misunderstand, and see it as "proof" that global warming was one big hoax.
In that case, it is important to read what actually is being said. Here is the opening paragraph to the article that prompted this blog entry (the information from, and links to this article, "Jet stream shift could prompt harsher winters: scientists" by Jean-Louis Santini, can be found below :
"A warmer Arctic could permanently affect the pattern of the high-altitude polar jet stream, resulting in longer and colder winters over North America and northern Europe, US scientists say."
That's right. That's the part of "global warming" that most people, particularly the skeptics, either do not understand, or refuse to try to understand. You hear a term like "Global Warming", and then it stands to reason that the temperatures just keep going up and up, without end. And, of course, when we get a winter like the one we are presently experiencing, the skeptics mock global warming, and claim that the brutal cold and snow and ice are proof that global warming is merely a hoax.
What they do not understand was that this is exactly what scientists have been predicting now for a very long time. Not just merely a warming, but more extreme weather from a global (as opposed to all regions at all times) warming When the temperatures rise in the arctic, both north and south, ice melts. When the ice melts, the oceans rise, and when there is more water in the oceans, there is more precipitation, more severe weather. In this case, more snow and ice.
Exactly as they forecast.
But, of course, you can bet that the deniers will try to jump on and capitalize, claiming that it is all some big, money making scheme designed to line the pockets of Al Gore and other "environmental wackos". I know some people who mention Al Gore's name literally every single time that global warming is mentioned, as if mentioning his mere name discredits something that a vast majority of scientists agree is happening.
The debate as to whether climate change is real or not is pretty much over. It is happening, there have been very extreme storm, and weather trends have not remained "normal", as compared to what they once were. Things have changed, and changed radically, and it is enough to frighten many people.
That much is clear.
The real debate now has shifted to whether human activity is responsible for the climate change, with the undertone always being about economics. Those who stand to benefit by denying human responsibility are the ones who fund alternative "scientific" research, hold up as proof the opinions of those few scientists who deny climate change (yes, there are still some) and now, more commonly, to those who deny that there is a link between climate change and human activity, in an obvious attempt to discredit scientists and environmental activists.
It should be remembered that, not long ago, they also denied that climate change itself was real. Back in the eighties and early nineties, environmental activists were considered a fringe group, and easily dismissed by the mainstream media.
As time went on, and evidence of strange trends in the weather, with more severe storms and, indeed, a consistent rise in global temperatures resulting in the melting of polar ice caps in Antarctica, in the Arctic, and in Greenland, seemed to verify the more extreme weather. We have seen more severe winters in North America and in Europe, like predicted. We have seen more serious, deadly weather and natural catastrophes, just as predicted, in places like Asia and the Indian Ocean, as well as in Europe and North America (and elsewhere). We've seen tsunamis in Asia kill record numbers of people, and devastation unlike anything that we have seen before. A storm in late 1999/early 2000 knocked out half the trees in France. We've seen Hurricane Katrina bring a major American city to it's knees. And more recently, we have seen Hurricane Sandy similarly bring coastal New York and New Jersey to it's knees.
To my mind's eye, we are gambling with decisions that will impact the future. We can actually listen to what scientists have to say, and make a determination based on the evidence presented to us, and then take appropriate action. Or, we can do as we collectively have always done before by ignoring scientists and betting the ranch, betting everything that we have, on the assumption that the deniers are on to something, that indeed, such claims are overblown, and that the costs of implementing the changes that scientists suggest would minimize carbon emissions are simply too costly, and would hurt the economy too much. The fact that the deniers have already lost the debate as to whether or not climate change is real to me is not only telling, but damning. Yet, we keep hearing them remold their arguments to fit the present situation, and essentially pounding away the notion that big corporations should not be held to higher environmental standards, because it costs too much money. This, at a time when many of these corporations, particularly the oil industry, have regularly recorded record profits.
Ultimately, it is a choice that we are making, and the weight of our choice will have a lasting impact for future generations. And, unfortunately, it looks to me like we are making the same decisions that led us to such monumental problems in the first place.
It is a gamble, and the problem is that if we are wrong, the whole world, not just now, but for a long, long time in the future, will pay the ultimate price.
So, I will remind the readers of the words from another prominent scientist, from another age, who's wisdom we can still profit from. The scientist is Albert Einstein, and the words are these:
"You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it."
We shall see what it will be. it seems to me, at least at times, that a new consciousness is being born in the world. People are more aware, and more active in finding alternate solutions to those that previous generations felt were fixed. This has been out of necessity, as much as out of some greater degree of intelligence and awareness.
Yet, there are always those who drag their feet. And right now, those who drag their feet are the ones who seem to hold the power, at least in the United States. In western Europe and in Japan, they seem to have recognized the seriousness of the threat that we are faced with, globally. They have made changes, and tried alternative solutions to the old reliance on traditional energy sources. In the process, they have taken the lead. Even countries much smaller, and much less wealthy, than the United States are leading the US in these technologies, and to my mind's eye, this is criminal. It is not just short-sighted and arrogant of our leaders but, frankly, the same can be said of the people who continually elect limited and limiting people into positions of tremendous power.
The choice, by now, is clear. Adapt to change, and try to survive what is coming. Or, continue to conduct business as usual, because we are too stubborn or scared either to admit to past mistakes, or our own personal, and societal, responsibilities in creating these conditions that now threaten to change our lives, and our world, like literally nothing before has. Stick to our guns and bet the ranch that this is all a hoax, or start recognizing the signs that this just might be real, and make all the adjustments that we can.
That choice is ours, of course. And it helps to stay informed. To that end, I am attaching this article, which is as scary as it is informative and fascinating:
"Jet stream shift could prompt harsher winters: scientists" by Jean-Louis Santini, February 16, 2014:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gRATyEqJNYEkuLb_12r2gh86GqrQ?docId=0e8aa38a-f890-4f3a-8068-bad3b6a90be6
http://news.yahoo.com/jet-stream-shift-could-prompt-harsher-winters-scientists-132931128.html
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