Water World

[lilranch2001]

I think the national media is finally convincing me about climate (earth) change.....

This spring has brought us the wettest weather I ever remember.

I am to the point of being convinced the earth is being changed to "water world".

But I am seeing a conundrum......

The weather has been cooler all spring (global cooling) yet wetter (global warming?)

I guess I am just a old confused white guy!

 

[Diggin It]

Without getting into the whole quagmire (again). The theory is that the Poles are warming, reducing ice there. That raises ocean levels and puts more moisture into the atmosphere. What goes up, must come down, so it rains. And rains, and rains. All of that comes from clouds which cause some cooling in the more moist areas.

Also remember that while the US and some other parts of the Northern Hemisphere are somewhat cooler this past few months, other parts of the world are much above average and very dry .... Australia is an example.

Whether or not the theory holds water (pun intended) is a matter of great debate.

 

[Diggin It]

The other theory that has been gaining traction on and off for decades is a new mini ice age, enough to make life for humans vary difficult.

Remember that Earth works on a clock based in the thousands of years, not the days and hours we do. Simple cycles can be in tens of thousands of years, far beyond what we can perceive. Keep in mind how the Great Lakes were formed for example.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

We had over 6 feet of rain here last year. Almost double the normal. Man it was wet...

 

[MossRoad]

I think the national media is finally convincing me about climate (earth) change.....

This spring has brought us the wettest weather I ever remember.

I am to the point of being convinced the earth is being changed to "water world".

But I am seeing a conundrum......

The weather has been cooler all spring (global cooling) yet wetter (global warming?)

I guess I am just a old confused white guy!

While we have had lots and lots of rain here, my wife made a road trip about 100 miles to the south yesterday. She said the farmers are plowing and planting and the dust was incredible. Many times it's just localized rains. I can remember very wet years, very dry years, cold, warm, etc....

The thing that stick out most to me, however, is how much shorter winter appears to be here compared to when I was young. I used it ice-fish a lot, from right between Thanksgiving and Christmas to about the end of March. Now, I'm lucky to get on the ice in the 2nd week of January, and by the 1st of March, it's getting iffy.

 

[bunyip]

We had a long hot dry summer but now the end of autumn it has suddenly cooled down and we are getting a lot of rain, today is expected to be 13c which is cool for us and not breaking 20c any time soon.
BBit of a shock with the sudden drop from the mid 20's.
High winds and big branches dropping has you looking up a lot.
Some eucalypts will suddenly drop a branch after a long dry spell yet they look healthy with plenty of green leaves, hear a crack, run and hope it's the right way.

 

[ericm979]

Earth's already a water world. About 3/4 of its surface is covered by water.

Global warming means the average temp of the earth surface is rising, not that every place is always warmer (though many places are much of the time). It is changing weather patterns. Some places may get colder on average. Weather timing will change. We're seeing cool weather later in spring here too. But degree days are down most years so plants that need a certain amount of cold (like some apples) are not doing so well. OTOH the poison oak loves the heat and the CO2, it's happier than ever.

I've seen and even been next to trees that have limbs suddenly break off in the middle of summer with no wind. It's unnerving especially when it's a tree that I'd climbed a few weeks earlier. That one was a combination of mistletoe damage and lots of new cones. The whole top broke off and landed next to the truck. Sometimes after a spell of hot weather there's a lot of branches breaking here. I think the heat weakens the trees and the heavy new growth becomes too much.

 

[lilranch2001]

Apparently my sarcasm was not as obvious to everyone as it was to me.....

 

[DIYOrangeDave]

Without getting into the whole quagmire (again). The theory is that the Poles are warming, reducing ice there. That raises ocean levels and puts more moisture into the atmosphere. What goes up, must come down, so it rains. And rains, and rains. All of that comes from clouds which cause some cooling in the more moist areas.

Also remember that while the US and some other parts of the Northern Hemisphere are somewhat cooler this past few months, other parts of the world are much above average and very dry .... Australia is an example.

Whether or not the theory holds water (pun intended) is a matter of great debate.

Nice summary!

 

[Big Barn]

Apparently my sarcasm was not as obvious to everyone as it was to me.....