By Douglas V. Gibbs
As heavy California rains shut down freeways, flood urban areas, and cause evacuations around last summer's burn areas because of massive debris flows, the rest of the country, and in fact much of the rest of the world, is suffering from incredibly cold wintry conditions.
Hmmm, where in the heck is that global warming when you need it most?
In Flagstaff, Arizona, four homes have literally washed away due to flood waters. . . and in Utah an entire town is being evacuated because the heavy rain has the local dam leaking, and the fear is that the dam could burst.
In the Midwest the snow is being measured in feet, and a number of deaths have resulted from the inclement weather.
And ten years after everyone was saying that because of man-made global warming, the children in Europe will never get to experience snow again, the coldest winter on record is slamming those nations with so much snow that much of the transportation industry is crippled.
Then again, when it comes to natural disasters, and incredible weather events, this has been an extraordinary year.
Ah, but before you go blaming it on man-made global warming, let's be big grown-ups for once, and realize that many of the events are not temperature related, and secondly let us remember that (based on leaked E-mails and WikiLeak information, common sense, and real science regarding the sun and solar flare activity) man-made global warming is about as real as Martians, unicorns, and leprechauns.
Anyway, it seems we have had our share of just about everything. Worse, the deaths that go along with the natural phenomena has made this the deadliest year in the terms of "death by natural disaster" in more than a generation. At least a quarter million people have died in 2010 due to natural events, and the stuff just keeps coming at us.
Some blame our failure to properly prepare for such events as having been a large part of the problem concerning the deaths. Poor construction and development practices in many parts of the world has also contributed to the number of deaths. The reality is that we cram people into cities. It's like driving an SUV. The vehicle may not necessarily be more dangerous, but the fact that it carries more people than the average vehicle means that when the SUV crashes, more people are at risk of dying in one fell swoop.
220,000 people died in the Haiti earthquake, and another enormous quake hit Chile a month later. The only reason the death toll was fewer than a thousand in the South American country was because the Chilean earthquake fortunately struck a less populated, and better constructed, area.
This year there were 20 earthquakes measuring over 7.0, four more than normal. And regions all around the world were hit. Haiti, Northern California, Chile, Turkey, China and Indonesia were all struck with major earthquakes.
Flooding has also been a major killer this year, killing more than 6,300 people in 59 nations. Flooded areas have included many parts of the U.S., China, Italy, India, the Philippines, Colombia and Chad.
Last winter's blizzards are being rivaled by this winter's cold and heavy weather. I suppose we could call this year's wintry conditions Snowmageddon II. Last winter's weather paralyzed the U.S. mid-Atlantic, and Russia and China were slammed with record snowfalls. This year, Western Europe is already breaking cold weather records, and the snow has been incredible in both Europe, and parts of the United States. Three months ago, here in Los Angeles, we recorded our hottest day ever at 113. Now, we are in the midst of one of the heaviest rainstorms in recent memory. In Florida it was so cold that cold-blooded iguanas were becoming comatose and falling out of trees. Then it became the hottest summer on record for the region, only to change back into unusually cold weather.
A volcano in Iceland blanketed that part of the Earth with its smoke, paralyzing air traffic for days in Europe, disrupting travel for more than 7 million people. Other volcanoes in the Congo, Guatemala, Ecuador, the Philippines and Indonesia sent people scurrying for safety. New York City had a rare tornado, Los Angeles viewed a few water spouts off the shore.
A nearly 2-pound hailstone that was 8 inches in diameter fell in South Dakota, and Indonesia suffered from a deadly magnitude 7.7 earthquake, a tsunami that killed more than 500 people, and a volcano that caused more than 390,000 people to flee.
During the summer oppressive heat waves hit a number of northern hemisphere locations. In Russia the landscape was hit with record heat, and numerous wildfires. California, though the summer was a bit more mild most of the season, also suffered incredible wildfires, record heat at the end of the summer, and a very dry season. Meanwhile, points south (like Pakistan) suffered from mass flooding.
Preliminary data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever. 79 major natural disasters struck the United States, triple the normal number.
As the solar flares causing natural global warming enters a less active cycle, the planet should begin cooling, now. Of course the hysterical environmentalists will still claim it is humanity's fault, and will now start preaching that we are heading into a new ice age, caused by man, as a result of their mythical man-made climate change. They will tell you that if you don't start riding a bike, driving hybrids, and planting trees, the whole thing will get worse and it'll be our fault. They will tell you that if you just funnel money into environmentalist programs, make less babies, and toss gold coins into Al Gore's private jet and limousine, things might get a little better.
Despite the hysteria of the leftist myth-makers, the truth is that the Earth works in cycles, naturally. And though it may be true that we may be entering a cooling period, and possibly even a mini-ice age, it has nothing to do with the tiny little percentage of gases we spew into the air.
Our contribution to the "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere is but a thimble-full compared to an Olympic size swimming pool. We have neither caused the changing climate, nor can we prevent it. The real root of the environmental hysteria can be found when you follow the money. This is not to say we shouldn't be good stewards of our surrounding environment. If there is gunk in the water, let's clean it up. If there is gunk in the air, let's not spew so much into it. But let's not carry environmentalism to a religious level, and place people like Al Gore on some kind of golden pedestal.
Be sane, be reasonable, understand natural climate trends, study sunspot activity, and let's be safe out there. The weather is murder.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
Flood waters wash away 4 homes in northern Ariz. - 590 KTIE The Talk Of The Inland Empire
Utah town evacuating due to Virgin River flooding - 590 KTIE The Talk Of The Inland Empire
Western states soaked, storm to head east; Heavy rain soaked southwestern states, while sleet and snow socked the Midwest - Reuters
Midwest blizzard dumps nearly 2 feet of snow across region - Charles City Press
Snow traps drivers in cars on Indiana road; airports, roads still crippled by weekend snow storm - New York Daily News
Heavy snow, cold blasts Europe - CNews World Watch
European Commission hits out at 'unacceptable' snow chaos and tells airports to 'get serious' - Telegraph U.K.
The Death Throes of Global Warming, Here Comes The Ice Age - Political Pistachio
More bad news for the Church of Global Warming - Crippy's World
Changing climate: natural phenomenon? - Delta Farm Press
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