Global Warm... Er... What's that again?

This is the view out my front door this morning. Oh, and I had already shoveled that walk to get the kids to school! That's the snow that fell between 745 and 9 am. Sigh.

So, this is my issue with Global Warming... This season has already produced massive early season snow, out-of-the-ordinary winter conditions, here in Europe and it's only the 3rd of December. Do I believe in global temperature change? Yes. Do I believe in global warming? Please see above photo for my answer.

Why? Global temperatures have fluctuated for eons, and to assume that the recent trends indicate anything other then the Earth going through another temperature shift is astronomically dumb. That the temperatures in recent times have been mild has been a lovely thing, however, that was not destined to last. The ice record tells us, if nothing else, that the Earth has never maintained constant mild weather systems; rather it's history is filled with massive temperature fluctuations. I'm not going to cite any of this information; it is both well known and easy to find. The fact that it is both well known and easy to find, yet seems to be totally ignored in our modern culture, is shocking to me. This intense winter cold may very well be attributed to the Iceland volcanic activity of the spring, as was the little ice age of the 1790's. The mechanisms of global temperatures and fluctuations are so complex that no sane person should ever claim to understand them.

So, please, don't use the fact that this last summer was really hot to claim that SUVs are evil and making the polar caps melt. Though Mar's polar caps are dry ice, and not water, they are receding as well. Why? Increase exposure to sunlight. Shockingly there aren't a bunch of SUV's on Mars, and yet temperatures have changed to the point that the frozen CO2 is evaporating. Wow, okay, so our solar neighbor is being hit with more sunlight, yet OUR global temperature fluctuation couldn't possibly be related to the big glowing thing in the sky. Right.

I'm not claiming that human activity hasn't had a negative impact on the world, or the creatures contained thereon. All I'm saying is that the global warming, now revised as global temperature change, hype has created an idea of black and white within nature. That all evil is attributed to people, and that we are in control of a system as massively complex as the weather. Talk about arrogant. It has also led to a serious issue of hate between people, of sides, and of right and wrong. The vitriol and anger leveled at the "deniers" by the "hypers" has become an evil all its own, and is so sad to see. Instead of having real conversations about honest issues, it all comes down to who is in power, and who is in control. Just ask them man who uses enough energy to power a small town, yet has made an enormous fortune bashing those "destroying the earth". Is it scientific truth, or is it political power?

So anyway, to those of you not fighting snow to get to school or work, I envy you! And to those of you with even more snow then me, I empathize.And to all of you, I hope your season is filled with joy!

-The DO

(The skull sorta kinda caved, but just slap a hat on and no one will notice! Oh, and the nose kept falling off. And it's only two snowballs tall cause the third one fell off. So this snowman really is proof that joy is locked within attitude. With all that, we still smiled, laughed, and thought this was a most handsome snowman!)