Another 'Global Warming' horror story
In mid-December, Dr. Lee Coppess, D.D.S., sent me a rather 'scary' article on global warming. On Jan. 17, Tom Stafford sent me the same article. So I guess that I should share this frightening piece with our Coeur d'Alene Press subscribers. Here goes:
"The Arctic is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and, in some places, the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Com-merce Depart-ment yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen, Norway.
Reports from fisherman, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees and 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts, which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt, the sea will rise and make coastal cities uninhabitable."
Oops. Never mind. This report was from Nov. 2, 1922, as reported by the Associated Press and published in the Washington Post more than 28 years ago!
Next week, I'll review a recent 26-page report from NOAA detailing the extent of the recent strengthening cycle of global cooling that began in the late 1990s following one of the warmest periods on earth in at least 1,000 years, since the days of Leif Ericsson, the mighty Viking chieftain.
NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE UPDATE
Our winter of wide 'extremes' continues across North Idaho and the rest of the Inland Empire. It seems that we're either much warmer than usual, with thawing conditions and lowland flooding, or cold and snowy. Weatherwise, and otherwise, there doesn't appear to be any middle ground, only wild pendulum swings.
For example, last Sunday on Jan. 16, we observed a record high for the date of 51 degrees in town, which broke the previous mark of 50 degrees in 1967. There was flooding along the Coeur d'Alene River near Cataldo. Flowers like buttercups and crocus were blooming in the warmer areas of the region. Ice fishing was becoming a rather risky sport on area lakes. Many were talking about "an early spring".
But, less than 48 hours later, with the arrival of an expected colder and snowier "full moon" cycle, we saw the return of wintry conditions with Wednesday's high of just 30 degrees in town and a frigid morning low of 17 degrees.
As I wrote this North Idaho weather update Thursday morning, moderate snow, like what we saw during the same full moon cycles of November and December, was falling on Player Drive. Gusty northerly winds and temperatures in the low to mid 20s made it seem more like North Dakota weatherwise than North Idaho.
Our seasonal snowfall as of 10 a.m. on Thursday was approaching 78 inches, a bit more than 14 inches below my predicted 92.4 inches expected this "La Nina"-enhanced 2010-11 winter season.
As I said last week, it's still possible that we will crack the 100-inch mark in total snowfall this winter for the third time in four seasons since our all-time snowiest winter in Coeur d'Alene occurred in 2007-08. But, only time will tell. Stay tuned ... Cliff Harris.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. E-mail sfharris@roadrunner.com