Sorry but that is such crap. Nothing but very misleading stuff and lies.

I've been following this stuff for a long time and I know propaganda when I see it. This is pure propaganda.

There's something better - see link. I wouldn't worry too much about climate change. It always changes. What Democrats and others want to do is very damaging to economy and others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Actual science on climate change

Yes, climate fluctuates, and throughout the history of the earth it has fluctuated greatly. It also fluctuates in the relatively short term, such as the 'little ice age' which occured in the middle ages.

It seems evident that the present climate is changing again after a long (long to us) period of relative sameness, a sameness that included 20 to 50 year fluctuations of drought and adequate rain in various parts of the world, but there is controversy about what is bringing about such a fast change worldwide; such as polar ice packs and glaciers melting at an alarming rate.

The controversy may not be settled soon, but in the meantime I feel that we, as gardeners and consumers, should study both sides of the issue and do the best we can to prepare and adjust to the changing weather patterns we are seeing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Frontline: Climate of Doubt

I get excited when the 3 day weather forecast is accurate...I sure don't expect accuracy on anything further than that into the future. Our record-keeping for the past climate patterns only go back a few decades and is way too short to make correct judgements on future weather patterns based on these measly records. Just my opinion,
Molly

Sensible post from the Texas Butterfly Ranch.

You may also want to read the article by James Barilla by clicking on the highlight area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Resilience Required in Butterfly Gardening ...

This post was edited by roselee on Sat, May 10, 14 at 18:32

I believe that the climate is changing, much, much faster in recent decades than over the comparable periods of time when changes have occurred previously in the past. Many species are now moving toward the point of being endangered, both because of climate changes and other factors. It's sad, really.

Global Change has been here forever and they keep guessing wrong and now we have politicians who want to give tax dollars to their buddies. One volcano can change our weather more with one eruption than all of mankind can in 10 years.

Yes, Wally, ALL scientists will agree with this about the volcano. I believe this is a normal trend that has occurred through the years since the beginning of time, and mankind cannot change that which is already put into motion by a Higher Being.

Yes! Yes!! Carrie!
And lets not forget to factor in the effect our sun has on the earth too. It goes through its cycles as well.
Mankind has been moving from one area to another through out our time here. Our ancestors moved because they had to survive and they couldn't continue living where they were. The 'climate' has always been changing --for ever. Sometimes slower and sometimes faster..
Mankind does not have nearly the influence or effect some people would have us believe. We can not control it anymore than the roaches, elephants or farting cows!

Taking my money and giving it to someone else who tells me I have to give up even more doesn't do diddly squat to solve anything except make me poorer and frustrate ME. (light bulbs and low flush toilets are just 2 examples)

I better get back out in the yard before I say much more.....

It just makes economic sense to change our ways now. We will save so much more money if we enact changes now instead of in a decade or two. Who doesn't want to save $$$? We in Texas have to watch Climate Change closely...we'll be stymied economically if the current weather patterns continue as they are. Where will get all the water for the people moving here? What will happen to all the farmers and ranchers? Food prices are going up quickly as it is. How about our cost of living? If it's 10 degrees in the winter and 110 in the summer, our cooling and heating bills will be through the roof, not to mention the $$ it will cost us due to more frequent and violent storms. Our car and house insurance rates will skyrocket. Seems to me I can water my lawn less, use swirly light bulbs and put up with a low flow toilet now to save money in the future.

It's actually pretty simple. The long-term average temperature changes that have been tracked correlate well with the CO2 changes. On top of that, models of how the Earth's atmosphere responds to CO2 burden are straightforward, and predict the temperature change that is seen. So it's pretty clear that CO2 plays a major role. If you argue with that, then you argue with atmospheric equilibrium models that have been proven over decades. It's a lot of computation, but the physical principles are actually pretty simple.

Now, we can argue about what has caused the CO2 increase. Of course, that's not what this topic is about, and it makes little sense to change the topic.

By the way, the references quoted above are from the astute-sounding "Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change" (NIPCC). Don't be fooled. This group used to call itself the "Heartland Institute", and decided to change it's name to make it sound more auspicious, like a legitimate alternate authority to the established "International Panel on Climate Change" (IPCC), which is a real scientific body involving hundreds of scientists and think tanks. I won't start any arguments, but please don't hesitate to look up the Heartland Institute if you have any inclination to take their stuff seriously. They are, by the way, well funded by Exxon-Mobil and the Koch brothers.

Yes, if, in fact, global climate is changing in a unique way, the question is: "who caused it", but I think a bigger question is: "can it be changed, , by whom, and how?

weather records are helpful, but are only available from very recent times in relation to the age of the Earth..
The oldest ongoing instrumental record of temperature in the world is the Central England Temperature record, started in 1659. But it wasn't until the mid-19th century that we started to take the temperature 'globally', and not until 1873 and the foundation of the International Meteorological Organisation that we all started to try and take the temperature in the same way.
Interesting discussion.....

Molly

"weather records are helpful, but are only available from very recent times in relation to the age of the Earth."

Not quite true. We have good indicators of historical temperatures by proxy from rocks, sediments, ice sheets, tree rings, and fossils. The discipline is called paleoclimatology. The temperatures we get from that methodology may be more accurate than from early thermometers.

I don't profess to be any kind of expert on these issues, self made or otherwise. But, as pointed out above, science has ways of determining past climate, including ice cores, that go back eons.

And, from what I am reading, this current rise in global temps is happening at a rate that has not been seen in millions of years. It has "happened" to coincide with us dumping much more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere than has been there for millions of years. Those denying a link haven't come up with any other credible "natural" cycle that explains it. So, lets start trying to undo what we have done. (Pollute, if you will, the atmosphere with lots of green house gasses.) We already know how to do that. Some articles I have seen even claim they can remove C02 in a fairly financially sound basis (there is a market for it). Lets bring economies of scale and technological evolution to these fields.

If that is what it is, we are saving the kind of climate we need and love. If it isn't, we have cleaned up a mess we made, does that sound too bad?

PS, up here we may set an all time record for latest freeze date tomorrow morning, while having gotten one inch of rain this year.

The climate HAS changed. Whether we did it, (did something else pump up the greenhouse gasses?) I don't really care, if there are things we can do to lower them and get back to what we had, I am for getting started sooner rather than later.

From the studies I see, there are things we can do. Odds are the longer we wait, the more drastic the climate changes and the harder it is to make beneficial changes back the other way.

I'm with you, rcnaylor. Rather than arguing about whether humans are causing/speeding up climate change, might just as well fix/prepare/adjust what we can. Somehow I don't think this was the best time for me to move to Texas! I'm in the city with a small front yard. It was all dirt/weed/Bermuda & I'm putting in some bed to reduce lawn area. But I'm going to bite the bullet & put in some zoysia for the tIme being. Would like to eventually eliminate it gradually if I live long enough! And get help from this forum as I know nothing about planting for sun.

May 13, 2014
New Yorker - Defending the Drama: Antarctic Ice Sheet Now in Irreversible Retreat

(excerpt)
âÂÂScary,â Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of physics of the oceans at Potsdam University, who was not involved in either paper, tweeted. âÂÂOne of the feared tipping points of the climate system appears to have been crossed.âÂÂ

âÂÂThis Is What a Holy Sh*t Moment for Global Warming Looks Like,â read a headline on the Web site of Mother Jones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Antarctic Ice Sheet in Irreversible Retreat

May 13, 2014
New Yorker - Defending the Drama: Antarctic Ice Sheet Now in Irreversible Retreat

(excerpt)
âÂÂScary,â Stefan Rahmstorf, a professor of physics of the oceans at Potsdam University, who was not involved in either paper, tweeted. âÂÂOne of the feared tipping points of the climate system appears to have been crossed.âÂÂ

âÂÂThis Is What a Holy Sh*t Moment for Global Warming Looks Like,â read a headline on the Web site of Mother Jones.

Here is a link that might be useful: Antarctic Ice Sheet in Irreversible Retreat

Yes, that is my point. Palaeoclimatology), is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. (Over 800,000 years in some studies).
Can one accurately ferret out what contribution modern man has made and then make accurate determinations as to how to suspend or regress negative global climatic changes?
The inaccuracy of weather forecasts only points out the problem with extrapolating data. I hope i am wrong on doubting the accuracy of many studies.
Molly

Comments from the people living it are at the end of the article. Their words bring it home to those of us not living in the Texas panhandle or Oklahoma and experiencing the worst of it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Parched: A New Dust Bowl Forms in the Heartland...