EFFin’ Unsound

So much bullshit, so little time:

Congressman Dave Reichert has drawn the ire of the Sierra Club for his “controversial” stance on Global Warming. Seattle Times reporter Jonathan Martin writes about it here. The Stranger piles on at their Slog here.

At stake is whether The Sheriff believes the theory of Global Warming is a man-made phenomenon or simply evidence of a natural cycle of warming and cooling that the Earth has undergone over 3 billion years. There is also the point of whether press accounts have “mischaracterized” Reichert’s stance on the issue.

Well, like Global Warming, all theories are man made. But to suggest that carbon doesn’t trap heat is, at this point, kind of retarded.

I’m not here to get into boring political drudgery, reporter’s quotes and press releases. Dave’s a big guy and he doesn’t need this hicktown reporter carrying his water.

What one can take issue with is the condescension displayed by Global Warming proponents towards scientific evidence which disproves their theory. The standard line is that if you don’t believe in Global Warming you must be some rube or ignoramus or, worse, a shill for Big Oil. Don’t you know that the “majority of scientific opinion” now knows that man is causing the Earth to heat up, sea levels to rise and increasing numbers of hurricanes?

Well how about this line? “If it’s so motherfucking scientific, why can’t they bother to get their ‘theories’ peer reviewed?”

Despite this there are still those who believe in the Scientific Method and that all observable, empirical evidence needs to be taken into account to prove a theory before it is acted upon as a law. Sadly this gets lost when politics enter the realm of science.

Well, that strikes me as an excuse not to enact law. I mean, the best science tells us that plates on the Earth’s surface move around and cause earthquakes. But since it’s possible that some day some scientists may disprove it, I guess we shouldn’t earthquakeproof any buildings.

For definition sake, my use of “Global Warming” indicates the theory that man-made greenhouse gases such as CO2 are causing an increase in the Earth’s surface temperature as opposed to natural global warming which, for instance, occurred after ice sheets from the last glacial ice age receded some 10,000 years ago. Locally, the glaciers reached down as far as Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood and most of the landscape here is comprised of glacial till leftover from millennia of erosion.

Well, that’s the scientific consensus. Of course, since nobody was actually around then, it’s possible that some day some scientists may discover that that’s bunk. So I guess you’re out of line talking about it.

The recent fossil record is a wealth of information in outlining natural climate change. The Irish Elk (Megaloceros giganteus) died out around 5,000 B.C for example. Although fossils have been found in Irish peat bogs, the species ranged throughout the Eurasian continent. In Ireland, the elk found a rich woodland habitat that was probably similar to that of the Pacific Northwest or the United States Eastern Seaboard. But because of natural climate change, the landscape of Eire changed to the green grasslands, pastures and Guinness breweries we know today. The food sources the Irish Elk relied upon went away and, unable to adapt, the animal went extinct.

I have to give it up; the Guinness breweries joke was pretty funny. But, I have to wonder if Don is sure that those breweries are man made.

The Sagas of the Icelanders is really a gift to mankind because much of what is written in the texts has been verified by archeology. The texts are several hundred years old and are based upon the exploits of Vikings living in Iceland and Greenland.

One of the more famous stories is Eirik the Red’s Saga where the scribes tell us that the titian-haired Viking settled at Eiriksfjorde in Greenland. We know it’s true because there’s a settlement there. And when Eirik was forced to build a church because his Christian wife Thjodhild wouldn’t sleep with him anymore evidence backs the story because the walls of the church are still standing.

Never marry a Christian, I say. I’m not sure how that relates to Gobal Warming, but maybe we’ll see.

While sailing from Norway to Greenland on a Christian missionary expedition Eirik’s son, Leif Eirikson made a discovery.

“Once he made ready, Leif set sail. After being tossed about at sea for a long time he chanced upon land where he had not expected any to be found. Fields of self-sown wheat and vines were growing there; also, there were trees known as maple, and they took specimens of all of them.”

In the Saga of the Greenlanders scribes detail the exploits of Leif who explored the coasts of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in eastern Canada. Eirikson’s German foster father Tyrkir is credited for finding grapes in “Vinland”.

“I had gone only a bit farther than the rest of you. But I have news to tell you: I found grapevines and grapes.”
“Are you really sure of this, foster-father?” Leif said.
“I’m absolutely sure,” he replied, “because where I was born there was no lack of grapevines and grapes.”

Well that settles it, Global Warming doesn’t exist.

Using medieval historical texts might seem like dirty pool. But they are a written, if imperfect, record of eye witness testimony describing the difference in localized ecosystems from a thousand years ago compared to the present. What’s also important is that these texts are non-political, at least from a modern perspective. The Vikings had never seen an Algore movie and it would be centuries before they would be hired by Halliburton.

Are we going to get to the science you promised or is a thousand year old text all you have to prove that Carbon doesn’t trap heat? Also, on the next podcast, you should totally try to convince Democrats that there’s no space in Al Gore’s name.

What we do know is that from 986 A.D. to around 1350 A.D. Greenland was able to support a European agricultural-based society. Global temperatures, or at least temperatures in the Northern hemisphere, had to be as warm if not warmer than they are today to allow this.

Most scientific evidence suggests that climate change killed off the Norse Greenlanders. Shorter summers and colder winters starved the livestock the Vikings relied upon to survive. This corresponds with the theory of the “Little Ice Age” which began in the 13th to 14th Century and which did not end until the 19th Century. Curiously this also corresponds exactly to the past century of warmer temperatures that Global Warming enthusiasts point to as evidence of man’s impact on the Earth’s climate.

Well shit if it only killed off the Norse, let’s ignore it now. What possible effect could it have on us? And again, when you publish this in a peer reviewed scientific journal, then it’ll be a bit more relevant. Until then, I’ll believe me some hockey stick.

During the current interglacial period which mankind now finds itself there is plenty of reasonable scientific evidence to back up the beliefs of those who feel that it is a natural warming and cooling process shaping the Earth’s climate and not Global Warming.

So much “evidence” in fact that I won’t bother to list it here. That way you can’t evaluate it yourself. Primary sources are for losers. Also, do they teach you sentences like that at Reporter School?

Some scientists’ analysis of thirty years of satellite imagery and twenty years of computer models could be right that there is warming. They could be right that man is causing it. And they could be right that Global Warming will be detrimental to the Earth and mankind. But it is pure arrogance to unthinkingly assume that this is the only answer and that there are not any other geological, archeological or historic explanations.

Yes, I’m sure that there are a fuckton archeological explanations for Global Warming. And the fact that temperatures are changing faster now than at any time in recorded history, fuck that shit, there were Vikings once.

…Darryl, explains the Reichert flip flop.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Carl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.