Four days ago, George Monbiot decreed that cold winters were in fact a product of global warming. And he may be right, although one is bound to ask what kind of weather pattern he would accept as evidence that there wasn’t global warming. My point isn’t about meteorology, but about pessimism. Why should we focus only on the negative aspects of climate change? Aren’t snowy winters, for most of us, rather delightful? Or – to return to the more usual AGW narrative – mightn’t there be an up-side in a two degree temperature rise in Britain?
To put it even more simply, aren’t we capable of adapting to climatic shifts? Mean annual temperature in Helsinki is 5.6 degrees centigrade, in Athens 17.4 degrees, in Rio de Janeiro 26.6, yet all three cities seem capable of supporting large populations. I think we’ll get by somehow. Anyway, I’m going out for another snowball fight. Joyeux Noël, as we Old Brussels Hands say, and bonnes fêtes.
A couple of degrees wouldn’t be enough for me…. No winter tires or windshield washer fluid, no road-salt damage so no need for anti-corrosion treatments. No need for winter clothes and lower heating bills. The guy that plows our lane and driveway would be out of a job, but I could always hire his plow/grader for landscaping my new garden that would survive much longer…
All in all, a tempest in a tea-pot that is full of kool-aid.
Cheers for the holidays and here’s hoping that 2011 will see a return to common sense and an end to profligate wasting of our resources on CAGW and rather a change for the better.
Look, honest, we’ve got a much bigger problem than we think….
Since we now know that CO2 causes it to get colder too, how much is too much, how much is too little. How in this world are we going to jiggle it so the temperature stays on that thin little “normal” line?
Since the last decade was obviously a fluke and it’s getting colder fast, shouldn’t we start increasing CO2? Then we don’t know how much? Too much and we can have run away global warming, where’s the tipping point?
Be afraid, very afraid…..
“..what kind of weather pattern he would accept as evidence that there wasn’t global warming?”
Best. Question. Ever.
In general, a very well-written article from Daniel Hannan. As a person who believes in basic AGW (though not necessarily the stated magnitude), but not in CAGW, this article sums up several of my thoughts well. Even the commenters on the original article are pretty tame.
-Scott
I’m sure the folks in Winnipeg at Portage and Main will be pleased with -38C instead of -40….
How about putting out a wager…$1,000 to any CAGWer telling the world what kind of observation if anything would disprove CAGW…