Does anyone realize that the environmentalists seem to have been correct?

Question

I've been hearing so much about "those whack job enviros" claiming we'd be getting an ice age in the 70's. Now thats been used as an argument to global warming. I guess if they're wrong once then everything they say is gonna be false.

But now everyone's getting slammed with record low temperatures and severe snow storms. h**l even Iraq, where it's NEVER snowed.

Is this the start of that ice age they warned us about?

Answer 1

On one of the charts that BOB posted a while back, and keep in mind, he is a supporter of global warming, the chart highlighted the glacial periods.  And it was funny because the glacial periods started while it was still warm.  Possibly because the warm causes excess evaporation over ocean and precipitation over land.

Answer 2

Oh, I thought you were going to point out how environmentalists were right about humans causing acid rain or the hole in the ozone layer or smoking causing lung cancer.

No, I don't think many environmentalists were predicting an ice age in the '70s.  I think you're thinking of climate scientists, not environmentalists.  How would an environmentalist know about climate science?

A few climate scientists were predicting global cooling in the 1970s, but most were correctly predicting global warming, as I discuss here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

What you're talking about is not the start of an ice age.  It's winter.  You can tell this because the average global temperature continues to rise:

http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs...

Answer 3

It is good to be concerned with the Environment.

Many variables need to be taken into account when looking at global and even regional weather.

Sure the 1970s claim of an Ice age coming was in the short run an error, but those alive back then can recall heavy snow falls and cold weather. Now in late 90s and early 2000s the Summer appear to have been hotter than normal. The answer than of course from current crackpots is to dictate that trillions of dollars per year  be spent to reduce the sliver (globally) of man made  CO2 pollution emissions compared to natural sources like ocean vents, fires, volcanoes, mammals (including people) breathing. C02 in the environment exists as a trace amount   ~350 ppm

Global weather trends will be what mother earth and Solar effects cause it to be. People can monitor situation and adapt to it. Plant trees and avoid poisoning the oceans with  synthetic chemicals and heavy metals and things will be wonderful for millennium's.

Answer 4

If you noticed, during the past ice ages,the ice only covered the continents.  The vast oceans didn't freeze over.  Bob was right when he pointed out that the oceans were warmer when the ice ages started.  The excess evaporation from the oceans formed clouds that covered the continents,and precipitation increased,as temps dropped to below freezing during winter.  The increased precipitation then fell as snow and ice. With abnormal amounts of precipitation,the snow built up,and didn't fully melt in the summer months. That's how the ice ages started.  See any correlations today with the changes in precipitation,and snow fall? I do! Just imagine a walk-in freezer with a warm shower going in the middle. By morning the freezer will be a big block of ice with a hole in the middle!  Any questions?

Answer 5

Global does not mean every single spot on earth . Overall the earth is getting warmer . It's measurable , and it's here . It takes only a few degrees above normal world-wide to throw the whole thing out of whack .

Answer 6

I've lived in Missouri since the summer of 2001. When I first moved here, during winter times it would snow once every other week for about 3-4 inches. Since the winter of 2003 there have been maybe 1 or 2 snows of this caliber in a season and more ice. The last 2 years have seen the worst ice storms in recent history. It could be, that the temperature overall warmed just enough to cause freezing rain when it would have been snow normally. The reason they say warming will cause freezing is because of the convection currents in the ocean. The ice caps melt causing the normally cold salty water to not sink because fresh water is less dense. This could disrupt the current that brings warm water to colder regions. They speculate that this would trigger an ice age. But all this is speculation, the good news? We may see what will become of the climate in our lifetimes.