Earth growing colder, threatens crops

[Gardengirl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/5525933/Crops-under-stress-as-temperatures-fall.html

[mcgonser]

Gosh, does this put a hole in Al Gores global warming theory??? Tell me it ain't so.

[Freethinker]

Where's it colder at? Someone blow a little of that cold air into NW Okie. We hardly even have winter anymore.

[kimmi]

Exactly!  I have sat in heat indexes this week at 100 degrees.  Clearly people don't understand that global warming not only makes things hotter, but it effects all weather to the extremes - even cold.  How many hurricanes should I look forward to this year since the Gulf of Mexico has been unusually warm in recent history.  These back to back hurricanes are not a fluke in the weather systems.  There is a real reason why we are having so many.  And why is there no snow in the southern states when there used to be?  So many people here talk about the snow they used to get when they were little - this is going back to the 40's through the 60's.  The record snow storms that the North East has seen is another example of the change in weather patterns.  I remember as a child having "lake effect" snow until Thanksgiving because Lake Erie wasn't frozen until then.  Now the lake barely freezes over and there is lake effect snow throughout the season.  This is where the 3 foot snow falls (at one time) come into play in OH, PA, NY, and the New England states. 

This has very little to do with Al Gore.  If you don't want to hear his very informative take on it, fine.  But please go educate yourself. 

[mcgonser]

Kimmi, I have educated myself. There are a lot of scientists that say we are acually cooling down, not heating up. For some silly reason they are not being listened to. It could be because Al baby got a nobel peace prize for his work in global warming or some other reason. I will not quote anything on here because some of you just put it and me down and don't except any data that does not agree with their opinion. But you can google global cooling or go to the university of texas science dept and inquire there. Probably you could inquire at about any college science dept. or science think tanks. I do not appreciate you telling me again that I do now know what I am saying or know. You are the one who is ignorant. If you disagree with me, fine, there really is no reason to make it personal and put me down for what I think. After all I am always saying it is JMO. I don't try to come off as some guru who knows it all. I am smarter than that kid.

[mageepet]

It is very odd for me to have only had the a/c on three days by the middle of June in Kansas.  Also, it is the middle of June and no devastating tornadoes in Kansas, truly unheard of. I have been thinking on the weather patterns myself, and I BELIEVE, I MY OPINION that it appears that the areas of hot and cold maybe changing.  It seems that Kansas except for the giant snow a little while back has been moving toward a more even temperature all year long. I can go out and look at my hot weather plants and see we are not hotter here.
Perhaps there is a subtle shifting in the poles of the planet, re-aligning the hot and cold areas of the earth.

[mcgonser]

I myself noticed that things started changing after Mt. St. Helens blew. Our winters are warmer with less snow and our summers are cooler with more rain. We also have had less tornados per season. Just an observation.

[Freethinker]

If there is a pole reversal, it will make global warming look like child's play.

I worry more about the increase in asthma and other lung problems.

[mageepet]

There was a movie made several years ago about pole reversal. It was quite dramatic.  Fictional, but dramatic.

[Exterminator]

Here's another example of all of the old bitties jumping on the bandwagon after finding an article that says what they want to believe rather than the truth.  Perhaps you'd like to subscribe to some of Christopher Booker's other views as well...he claims that white asbestos is chemically identical to talcum powder and poses no risk to humans so feel free to breath all you'd like.  Likewise with second hand smoke...he claims that there is no scientific evidence to support the notion that it causes cancer so I don't want to hear you bitch about it.  And don't worry about that pesky mad cow's disease, Booker says that there's no connection between it and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease so you can all rest a little easier.

Of course, he believes in Intelligent Design as well, ironically claiming that Darwinians "rest their case on nothing more than blind faith and unexamined a priori assumptions".  Wow!

LMFAO!  Back to the trough, sheep. 

[Freethinker]

Scientifically speaking... I do believe that humans are leaving a huge negative footprint, that one of these days the Earth will get a belly full of and stomp out.

One of the biggest worries all along should have been all the warmongering and bombs going off, and the debris floating around the planet.

The disappearing green is also a major concern. Green calls the rain, and when the green is gone, so is the rain.

But what is the Gweinies (Green Weinies) answer to all this... Planting gargantuan windmills everywhere to drive all the wildlife insane, and to color the horizon with flashing red lights in the evenings.

We already have a vast desert area where the Gweinies could build huge power grids, powered by their fave "alternative" energy, and not be destroying the rest of the planet they "claim" to care about.

[Exterminator]

Scientifically speaking... I do believe that humans are leaving a huge negative footprint, that one of these days the Earth will get a belly full of and stomp out.

One of the biggest worries all along should have been all the warmongering and bombs going off, and the debris floating around the planet.

We actually agree on something?!?!  Mark your calendar...

The disappearing green is also a major concern. Green calls the rain, and when the green is gone, so is the rain.

LMFAO!  Really?  Is this 'scientifically speaking' as well?  You might want to do a little reading on photsynthesis...it really is a fascinating process.

But what is the Gweinies (Green Weinies) answer to all this... Planting gargantuan windmills everywhere to drive all the wildlife insane, and to color the horizon with flashing red lights in the evenings.

We already have a vast desert area where the Gweinies could build huge power grids, powered by their fave "alternative" energy, and not be destroying the rest of the planet they "claim" to care about.

You should have quit while you were ahead.

[Freethinker]

They don't call them rain forests for nothing, bub.

LMFAO!  Really?  Is this 'scientifically speaking' as well?  You might want to do a little reading on photsynthesis...it really is a fascinating process.

First describe to me how photosynthesis works... not artificially, btw. Let's see, uhhhh... are plants involved? LMFAOAU

And scientifically speaking, can you explain to me how all those gargantuan windmills are NOT leaving a heinous footprint, considering the low percentage of energy they produce as compared to like... natural gas?

I eagerly await your learned response -- and hope it is not gratuitous propaganda.

[Exterminator]

They don't call them rain forests for nothing, bub.

So it's your position that it rains more in the rain forests because there is more flora and not that there is more flora because it rains more?  Are you serious?

First describe to me how photosynthesis works... not artificially, btw. Let's see, uhhhh... are plants involved? LMFAOAU

I have neither the time nor the inclination to educate you about photosynthesis but am terribly interested in what you mean by 'artificially'?  WTF is artificial photosynthesis?  Are you implying, for example, that for plants grown in hydroponic medium under artificial lighting photosynthesis is somehow a different process?

And scientifically speaking, can you explain to me how all those gargantuan windmills are NOT leaving a heinous footprint, considering the low percentage of energy they produce as compared to like... natural gas?

I eagerly await your learned response -- and hope it is not gratuitous propaganda.

I know that you're so fixated on wind power as the only alternative to nuclear power that it'll be difficult for you to wrap your tiny little brain around this but I'll humor you nonetheless...

The solar energy industry is currently making significant advances and as it does so, the cost  (unlike nuclear energy) is quickly decreasing.  The output of new solar factories is projected to increase to 5GW in 5 years meaning that solar power will install the equivalent of several new nuclear power plants each year at a lower cost and, in sunny areas like the southwestern U.S., will be at grid parity (same cost) with other sources of power in those areas.  If a nuclear power plant went online today with a half life sometime during the 2030's (at which time, the power it is providing will certainly be significantly more expensive than renewable sources of energy), how is it an economically feasible long-term alternative?

[Palehorse]

Scientifically speaking...

. . . Green calls the rain, and when the green is gone, so is the rain.

No, not even close to true.

Considering that precipitation forms due to water vapor given off to the atmosphere by the planets oceans and fresh water lakes, in reality the lion's share of precipitation is created by the water on the planet, not the plants. Water vapor that results due to plant respiration does contribute, but not at the level this statement would seem to indicate. . . Remove the green and eventually we will starve, but there will still be rain. . .