One Sunday afternoon in 1969 the filthy, oil-coated Cuyahoga River in Ohio caught fire and quickly became a potent symbol of industrial pollution, helping galvanize public opinion and set the stage for passage of national environmental laws the following decade.
The combination of Hurricane Sandy and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that he was endorsing President Obama largely because of Obama’s actions on global warming could do the same thing for climate change, say scientists and political observers.
“This may be that sort of Cuyahoga River moment for climate change,” said Michael Mann, a leading climate scientist and Penn State University professor. “It has galvanized attention to this issue and the role that climate change may be playing with regard to the intensification of extreme weather.”
Coming on the heels of this summer’s crop-withering drought in the Midwest and destructive wildfires in the West, Sandy provided a glimpse of what scientists say the nation can expect with global warming.
Sandy a galvanizing moment for climate change? – latimes.com
This has nothing to do with science, and everything to do with superstition. Historical records show that none of the issues described above are either unusual, or getting worse.
The US had the fewest fires in over 20 years.
National Interagency Fire Center
National Interagency Fire Center
The US is experiencing the longest period without a major hurricane strike since the Civil War.
www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/hurdat/ushurrlist18512009.txt
The US is getting wetter, with fewer droughts.
Contiguous U.S., Palmer Modified Drought Index (PMDI), August-July 1896-2012
Climate news is dominated by superstition rather than science. Not a recipe for societal success. Bad weather has always happened, and pretending that we can do something about it is as stupid as humans get.
2012 fire season: there has been no year in the record from 1960 when so few fires have burnt such a large area, and so far 2012 sees the third greatest area burnt since 1960,after 2006 and 2007.
Eight of the nine years with over 7,000,000 acres burnt have occurred in the period 2000-2012 inclusive.
Lots of large grass fires. Grass grows back in a few weeks.
2012 had the fewest fires in over 20 years. The world is not falling apart.
I’m glad they sought the opinion of a Nobel Laureate for the story – Michael Mann. That puts it into perspective.
“The combination of Hurricane Sandy and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s announcement that he was endorsing President Obama largely because of Obama’s actions on global warming could do the same thing for climate change, say scientists and political observers.”
The accuracy of their political prognostication is only exceeded by their climate models.
BTW, the “Necessarily Skyrocket” ad–featuring a Joe Biden loop at the end (“I think our energy policy is the best it’s ever been.”)–began airing in the Pittsburgh TV market Saturday, right in front of the Steeler game and on every news broadcast. The market extends into Ohio.
Weather happens! It doesn’t matter how much tax you pay to fight it.
It’s all an exercise of the Hegelian Dialectic. We are all supposed to live in concrete boxes and eat argugala, or whatever the hell that stuff is!
Strange. I just had quite a few of these climate journalists wearing disguises show up at my door last wednesday night demanding I hand over my candy stash or bad things were going to happen.