It
has been an unusual year so far in the United States. It has been
80F/27C degrees (average this time of year is 64F/18C) on the West
coast and snowing like mad on the East coast. Season openers for baseball games have been postponed due to snow on the field. People
are asking "When will winter be over?" In Wyoming, this is
a typical spring occurrence--barbecuing in 60F degree weather and
then 12 inches of snow the next day. The rest of the United States
is not as well adapted, it seems. Wyoming also has very strong
winds--70 mph gusts with 35 mph sustained winds much of the time.
The East coast is experiencing these this year and the news is making
a huge deal out of it.
Why
am I telling you about this? Often there are scary news articles
about global warming and what "may" happen. People have
already adapted to many different climates. As I noted, high wind
and rapid temperature changes are common in some places and people
adapt. There are people living in very cold areas , very hot areas
and everything in between. Humans are extremely adaptable, in spite
of the news people trying to convince people disaster awaits
humanity.
Hot and dry climate |
Wind, wind everywhere! |
Palm trees and warm climate |
Is the world warming up? In some places, yes. Others, no. Has this happened before? Yes, and before humans even existed. Sometimes much faster than now. Can humans adapt? All the evidence says they can. Claims that disasters "may" happen aren't scientific, they're more political or wild guesses. For some reason, politicians and others seem to like making people afraid. Maybe so they can "save" us from disasters, which is what they are saying they are doing with global warming.
Are
they trying to save us? Not one can tell what will happen in the
future-- not a scientist, not a psychic, not a politician. There is
no way to know what the world will be like in say 2100 or even 2050.
New ideas and new technologies will come into play as has been true
through all of history. People are very clever and adaptable.
How
should we be dealing with Earth's various climates (remember, climate
applies to small areas, not the globe. The overall average
temperatures of hundreds of different areas is what a has been
increasing. It is not a "real" temperature, but rather a
statistical calculation)? The same way we always have, by building
homes that can withstand the weather, improving heating and cooling,
improving food production. This is what people did after the Little
Ice age destroyed so much of their crops. Today, countries grow a
variety of crops to protect against loss of an entire food source due
to weather/climate changes. It's a proven way to deal with an
unknown future.
People
are very, very adaptable and can handle any changes in the climate if
they so chose. The climate is not something to fear, but rather to
live with and enjoy.
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