I picked a flower yesterday. It was a dandelion.

I live in northwestern Ohio, USA. Yesterday was 30 December 2006. It is supposed to be winter here.

Thirty years ago and more, the normal weather here at the end of December would have been a foot of snow on the ground (at least) and temperatures around 15 - 25 degrees Fahrenheit.

The winters here started becoming more mild around 15 - 20 years ago.

Yesterday, the temperature was 50 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of December ! I went outside, and I picked a dandelion opening in bloom. It was beginning to bloom because the weather here has been mild throughout the month of December: with daytime temperatures in the 40s (Fahrenheit). The beginning of winter has felt like the beginning of spring !

And so, I found and picked a dandelion opening in bloom.

The magnolia tree a few blocks from my house has buds on it. If this weather continues, the entire tree will bloom soon.

The willow tree, out back, is starting to turn yellowish green in its branches: a sign of new leaves and new growth.

If this weather continues, the other trees and plants will follow suit.

This is not an idle matter. I live in a agricultural area. This is where the nation's food is grown. Early spring-like weather could be a disaster if there is then a return to normal winter weather: killing the buds of fruit trees, other trees, and some crops. Also, some fruit trees (like apple trees) need a certain number of "chill days" (days of cold weather) before the tree will produce any fruit. If there is no winter weather this winter . . . what does this mean for spring, for summer ?

I picked a dandelion in December. It should be freezing cold outside with snow on the ground. Amazing !

But, they say that global warming doesn't exist.

Lord, have mercy !!!

-- John

We have dandelions here in the midwest too!

Johns,

The question is whether or not the earth goes through cycles every couple of thousand years or if this is a man-made problem due to factories and industry.

I've heard that a certain ice sheet in Antarctica is melting and receding but the opposite ice sheet is growing!

Maybe some investing in Siberia or Antarctica would be a good idea as they will become more hospitable for living conditions!

Actually, I think the more pressing question is how we are going to adapt. Which brings me to your next point . . .




. . . and maybe a piroghi stand and a Byzantine village.

Shouldn't those already exist in Siberia?

If the earth goes through cycles every couple of thousands of years...that's fine...but a drastic change of climate in the last 15-20 years....is way too quick and short for a cycle every couple thousands of years, don't ya think?

I think it's largely contributed by man.

I don't know, I'm not a meteorologist.

Our November in Southeast Missouri was the coldest on record according to the National Weather Service.

I think this global warming thing is like the diet gurus, no one really knows for sure.

I agree with Dr. Eric. Usually it takes a few decades of life to reach the point at which apocalypse isn't around every corner. The good Dr. has reached that state at an early age. Vineland used to be warm. Now, or at least for several centuries, it is cold. Is it now warming up? New Mexico just had some blizzards. If the earth is warming again we will have longer growing seasons and perhaps a new burst in technology and philosophy. Who knows?

CDL

As a geologist I can offer a bit of my own observations - strong evidence of drastic and short-term as well as gradual and longer-term climatic changes are both present historically in the fossil record. Even the magnetic field of the entire earth has switched over time (making the north magnetic pole actually the south for some time).

I remember in school in the 1970s the teachers talking about the coming "new ice age". Indeed the climate is changing, but what I don't buy is that it is entirely due to anthropogenic causes. The length of time of climate observations due to human influence is very, very limited, and even some of the earlier methods for collecting and recording data may be suspect.
Diak, Kansas Licensed Geologist #383

I would have to agree. Some of us Tennessee Republicans are sure that global warming was created by Al Gore, our once-upon-a-time senator. But all kidding aside, who really knows the cause? I remember attending church with my dad some 50 years ago, and it was 70 degrees on Christmas Day. It has also been freezing cold many years at Christmas time. The History Channel recently had a program on the little ice age that devastated agriculture in Europe for several centuries. So did the air pollution from the Industrial Revolution end the little ice age, or are weather patterns at best, erratic and unpredictable over long periods of time? I don't know!

I still strongly believe that one of the biggest causes of climate change is human influence...even the Pope of Rome said it...both the late John Paul II and current Benedict XVI.

I'm a very conservative Republican who have an OPEN mind to listen what Al Gore had to say in his "An Inconvienient Truth".

I would be ashamed of anybody dismissing Al Gore simply because he's a nutty liberal democrat.

I really don't care what party affiliation or how liberal or conservative one is...we, CHRISTIANS, should be seriously concerned with our environment as a whole...ranging from air, water, climate changes, etc. as we all are stewards of G-d's Earth. If we are truly Christians, we will do our lengths to "DO THE RIGHT THING" by taking care of our Earth along with our moral values.

We need to recycle just about everything as we possibly can. Keep our waters clean, conserve energy, utilize solar energies, dismissing oil, etc.

So, as a conservative Republican, I'm still planning to watch "An Inconvienent Truth". I'm not that narrow minded.

As it says in Ecclesiastes, "There Is Nothing New Under The Sun" and so it is with Global Warming. All one has to do to see that we've already had extreme weather change in the last 1200 years is to read up on the Medieval Warm Period and The Little Ice Age. All of these radical changes occured naturally without industrialization.

I remember in the late 70's National Geographic had an article about the New Ice Age. 10 years later the topic changed to the Greenhouse Effect. Personally I'm thoroughly suspicious of any global iniatives that have the potential to encroach upon US sovereignty.

P.S. 56 degtrees Farenheit in the Chicago area right now.

I was kidding -- as in ;), or LOL, or even . You know, sense of humor - a useful thing to have. It keeps you from going crazy, especially if you are a school teacher. I won't watch Gore because I read his book some years ago, and I don't think he has anything new to say about global warming. I believe that book was titled, "Earth in the Balance," if I remember correctly. But I do think that our geologist friend is right in what he says. Weather records really haven't been kept for that long. It seems that rapid, even sudden climate changes have occurred in the past, and some of those changes have lasted for a long time. Even a 50-year weather pattern is insignificant in terms of geologic time. Enjoy the Gore film. I am going to watch "Eragon" myself. My students have read the book and are quite excited about it.

So good to see you back, Charles. I have been off line this past week while traveling to the SW again...so missed your reentry. (I think).

Frankly, I am not really sure what's up with all of these weather changes. Maybe I need to check out more sources. Of course, I do think it wouldn't hurt to work at taking better care of the environment but not to the complete determent of the welfare of humans. As we run low on fuel oil we will need the oil from Alaska even more; even though it might kill off some more caribou, etc.

Last night it was below freezing here in Tucson...which isn't really too normal for this time of year. (not for here, anyway). Hmmmmm....one wonders?

Time will tell what the climatic changes mean, I guess, but then in some decades I won't be here to figure out what happened. For better or worse though my descendents will.

Happy New Year...from,
Mary Jo

Thanks. Unfortunately, school starts again in 3 days, so I will have very little time to read the Forum until spring break. Our weather has been pretty normal this year. An old saying here is, "if you don't like the weather in East Tennessee, stick around. It will change in 30 minutes." I wish a very happy new year to you and your family.

Charles