Global warming equals vicious winter who knew
One of my talking points on this site is the infamous Global Warming debate that rages around the world. There are those that say it’s happening and those that say it’s not. And then there are those that sit in the middle and say, yes it’s happening but so what, nothing is really happening. What I want to know is, if it is happening, when exactly is it going to start getting hotter?
There are record freezes around the USA and the UK for the winter of 2010. It’s COLD. CNN has Little Rock Arkansas getting as cold as 10 degrees in this article. That’s freakin cold. Here in the nation’s capital it’s quite chilly as well though not down to those temperatures. And I hear that it’s not going to change any time soon. So what is really going on here?
Lets set some records straight first. I don’t want to be called ‘a nut job tea party wacko who thinks that global warming is a bunch of hooey…hey look there’s Russia’ kinda person. I am not a Republican in any way shape or form. That said, I’d like to point out a few facts.
1. We are putting out a lot of carbon into the atmosphere. This is just true. If you look at cars, all that smoke they spew, that goes up into the atmosphere. Just watch it, it happens.
2. Carbon is a greenhouse gas. So, if there is more of it up there it gets hotter. Simple enough.
3. It has gotten approximately 1 degree hotter over the last hundred years.
Wait, what? Well that settles it then. Global warming is real, right? I mean, if it has gotten hotter, even by 1 degree, then that is Global Warming. Well, not so fast. The argument between those who are not nutso is in fact is global warming happening because of humans, not just is it getting hotter. The earth is getting hotter, albeit by a small amount, but it is.
Here’s why it’s very easy to get confused on this subject. We know we’re putting carbon up there. An interesting fact is that oceans and trees are eating more carbon in recent years, a fact that is acknowledge by all sides. A recent report from the university of Bristol in the UK that carbon levels in the atmosphere are not increasing. We are experiencing mild summers and brutal winters in the last few years. And not to mention the climategate email disaster of recent memory.
All that adds up to a very murky picture for us laymen in the world. So, in a bid not to sound like a teaparty/birther idiot, please excuse us for not jumping on the bandwagon. There are two competing web sites that I look at weekly now. One, http://www.skepticalscience.com/ is filled with data supporting the idea that humans are making the earth hotter and we are in for some trouble. The website http://www.worldclimatereport.com/ is more middle of the road. They are pointing out that, yes global warming has occurred but lets take a closer look at the data to see just what this really means. One of the biggest and most confusing points on these sites is that skeptical science reports that oceans are getting warming while world climate report showed a study was done indicating they are getting cooler. Confusing to say the least.
Really, at the end of the day, doesn’t it come down to common sense? We put tons of a greenhouse gas into the atmosphere and its going to have an effect. No one can dispute that. The effect may be that trees get bigger or the ocean absorbs more carbon. Or the effect may be that the earth gets hotter as more gas gets trapped. Bottom line, one degree in one hundred years is nothing something to get worked up about.
That all said, someone please tell me how Global Warming is causing it to be freezing outside?
