Bitterly cold storms have been sweeping across the United States. President Elect Obama promised during the campaign, at some of his more grandiose moments, that his selection as presidential candidate marked the time when the planet would begin to heal, the oceans cease to rise, and the world would begin to cool.
Well, you have to hand it to him. Without passing one piece of legislation through Congress or promulgating one Federal regulation his world (the United States) is facing an extraordinarily cold winter. And so is Europe, the UK, and China.
Chicagoans are trying to cope with 30 degrees below freezing. Maybe its got something to do with corrupt political machines--a speciality of the region. "Bone numbing" cold has been felt not only in the Midwest, but in New England. Seattle was hit by a rare snowstorm over the weekend. Even Las Vegas was visited by the white stuff.
According to Joe Bastardi, Europe and the UK are also facing a severely cold winter. He writes:
SEVERE COLD WAVE TO HIT EUROPE
The development of a major blocking high pressure system over the north atlantic and its subsequent backing west is about to throw most of Europe into the coldest winter weather pattern in many a year. In fact, Temps over the next month or so are liable to average 6-10 degrees F below normal over the center part of the continent with the northwest coldest last, but still getting into the games. Intuitive with this is the likelihood of more than normal snow and ice. As the upper block backs west, arctic discharges from the north and east are liable to bring shots of severe cold back into England and with it enhanced snowfall.
While it has been "chilly" so far, what is about to come is the worst in many a winter, perhaps the sign that the warm AMO is reaching its maturity. The US winter has been much like those around 1950 which was the benchmark winter in the pac northwest of the US and was the warning shot that the warm cycle of the 30s 40s and 50s was starting its end game. It should be comforting to people worried that we are pushing our planet over the edge that things that happened before are happening again, though the discomfort caused by cold is a big problem.
I wish to point out, with no malice intended, that the two countries who have major scientific organizations that have been pushing the global warming idea, Britain and the UKMET and the US with NOAA have been burned by the cold that has developed here. NOAA had a December forecast for a warm central US for November that they were forced to revise and the UKMET forecast for a rather bland winter for Europe speaks for itself. Its anything but bland, whether it averages out near the average or not, because what is coming has not been seen in years.
Now that could mean that its testimony to how warm it is... it hasnt been seen in years. But the fact it hasnt disappeared completely, the fact it is coming back and catching people off guard (hopefully not you) means there is no rout on, but plenty of doubt. If an enemy is vanquished, it should not be able to launch attacks of this magnitude.
Now, it is worth while keeping in mind that the coldest months in the Northern Hemisphere usually come after Christmas (January/February)--so winter this year is shaping up to be a real doozie. Canada is looking like it will have an all-white Christmas--the first since 1971.
And let's not forget China. Remember the once-in-a-hundred-year snowstorm there last year. Well, it looks as the centuries pass quickly in the Golden Kingdom. Already Beijing has recorded its coldest December temperature for 57 years. My--how a hundred years flashes by when you are not paying attention.
Maybe the Chinese should double up on their coal-burning power stations and put a bit more CO2 out into the atmosphere to warm things up a bit.
No comments:
Post a Comment