Dickinson to Durban » Archive
Where’d the Snow Go
As early as the 1930s, the person on the street was discussing how “the weather wasn’t what it used to be.” How is your personal experience with the weather congruent or incongruent with what climate scientists are telling us? Growing up in Massachusetts, I’ve seen a lot of snow. Waking up at 5 in the morning, running downstairs to watch the news to see if school was canceled. As I have gotten older though, it seems the quantities of snow we see each year have dwindled. The storms that come to the area are not as severe and the quantities tend to be less for every storm. So, what happened? It seems that the scientists are on to something. The concept of global climate change is now widely excepted, and from my personal life experiences and observations … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses, Weather
Weather, Climate Change, and the Necessity of New Thinking
Climate change poses humanity with the sort of problem it has not evolved to handle. This is the result of several factors in our evolutionary history, deriving from the very different world our pre-historic ancestors inhabited. The early days of our species were fraught with immediate physical perils, such as the scarcity of food sources, constant threats from wild animals, the lack of shelter, and so forth. All of these problems require attention in the present; otherwise, one would starve, be eaten, freeze, etc. So harsh was this early human existence that it left little time for thinking about anything else – like the future, the long run. Hence, focusing on the present at the expense of the future provided a survival advantage. And this short-sightedness was relatively harmless, for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Summer Reading Responses, Weather
Hiding Global Warming
Oreskes and Conway contend that a small number of scientists have merchandised doubt on many of the most important issues of our time by fighting scientific evidence and spreading confusion (page 9). In the case of climate change, is the evidence for their contention convincing? Climate change has clearly fallen victim to the same tactics as the other case studies looked at in Merchants of Doubt by Oreskes and Conway. When it has been known since 1995 that global warming is a reality and people are still unsure or confused, clearly there is something out of place(169). One of the main themes through out the book is the industries claim that the media needs to keep a balance of the sides of the argument. But just as with the other case … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses
New England weather is fickle, but to this extent?
As early as the 1930s, the person on the street was discussing how “the weather wasn’t what it used to be.” How is your personal experience with the weather congruent or incongruent with what climate scientists are telling us? Memories of the storms and extreme weather of our childhood are always exaggerated. Yet in my short 21 years living, I believe that we can see the difference in weather from previous years and decades that scientists have predicted. Just looking at the weather of the east coast of the United States over the past years, shows that we truly are in times of change. The Discovery of Global Warming by Spencer Weart highlights the seemingly contrasting changes I have noticed in the weather and storms throughout my childhood. The most basic … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses
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