Many climate scientists winced earlier this year when a
well-meaning nonscientist tried to use extreme weather to argue that
global warming is real. "We can choose to believe
that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the
worst
wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a
freak coincidence. Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming
judgment
of science—and act before it's too late."
That was (the) President ...a in his
State of the Union address. The fact is, there is little or no evidence
that global
warming steered Sandy into New Jersey or made the
storm any stronger. And scientists haven't even tried yet to link
climate
change with particular fires.
Now for those of us who lived through the early 1950s on Staten Island we should well remember the hurricanes which were even worse, twenty feet of water flowing over the shore. Is it s freak coincidence? No it is just a repeat of what happens every fifty years or so. Mother Nature has been doing this again and again. There are even Nor'easters. Storms happen and the causal link with any form of climate change is a true and oftentimes unsubstantiated stretch if not a false fabrication.
The article continues:
In March and September 2012,
for example, climate and media researcher
... surveyed more than 1000 Americans.
In September, 74% of those polled agreed that "global warming is
affecting weather in the United States." That was up by
5% from March, after a summer of record drought,
high temperatures, and powerful storms. And substantial majorities said
global
warming had worsened every one of six recent
extreme weather events in the United States—from high temperatures to
forest
fires to a blustery "derecho."
A survey is NOT the way to do science. One should at least look at the history of the place. They continue:
Links between extreme weather and climate change are not only often
scientifically suspect, they may also be a risky strategy
for persuading the public to take climate change
seriously. "What disturbs me is assigning anything that comes along to
global
warming," says professor emeritus of meteorology
John M. Wallace of the University of Washington, Seattle. "That may
work
in the short run, but I don't think that kind of
conversion has staying power." Indeed, surveys coming out on the 1-year
anniversary
of Hurricane Sandy's landfall (29 October) show
the concerns about hurricanes that spiked in the wake of the disaster
have
nearly faded away.
Fading away is the key problem. On Staten Island they went and totally disregarded history, almost recent history at that. The built a massive Hospital and Mental Health home on the very land that even thirty years ago would be under water in a rainfall. Then they built a road that made the lend a veritable bucket to hold any water flowing in. Namely the water would flow in but since the land was lower than the ocean side street it just stayed there and got higher. Much of the damage on Staten Island was due to building where one should not have done so and the very construction done by the City to expand roads. Global warming was not the problem, it was humans disregarding nature.
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