New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco won't 'wash away' anytime soon
Al Gore and others who lead the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) movement insist that manmade global warming will "significantly raise sea levels around the world later this 21st Century."
Cities like New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco will eventually be submerged by "a rise in the average coastal sea level gauges of 23 feet," according to Gore in his best-selling book, "An Inconvenient Truth."
But the 2007 report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), upon which Gore's book was supposedly based, suggests that average sea levels will "increase by only 2.5 inches this century," a gross exaggeration by Gore of nearly 10,000 percent.
More surprisingly, the IPCC 2007 report stated: "There is only a 50/50 probability that human activity has any affect whatsoever on sea levels, whether rising or falling."
But, politicians like Mr. Gore and other AGW proponents repeatedly insist that "many Pacific Islands will soon be under water, thanks to Man's adverse activities."
Dr. Nils-Axel Morner, a Swedish geologist and physicist and the former chairman of the International Commission of Sea Level Change, forcefully disputes Gore's claims of rising sea levels. He believes that New York City, New Orleans and San Francisco are safe.
Dr. Morner said recently, "the seas aren't rising. They haven't risen, except for a very minor fluctuations, in at least 50 years. I don't expect them to rise more than an inch or two, if that, in the next 50 years." For more details, read Dr. Morner's book, "The Greatest Lie Ever Told."
I rest my case on the 'rising seas fable.'
Before I go on to other subjects weatherwise than global warming in coming weeks, let me try to answer one last question that I've received from at least a dozen subscribers. It's a religious question that threatens our freedom.
Some readers want to know if the AGW movement is actually a 'RELIGION,' the 'CHURCH OF GLOBAL WARMING,' worshiping the 'creation' rather than the 'Creator.'
One subscriber wrote, "the manmade global warmists seem to be worshiping the 'gods' of the sun, moon, trees and the earth itself (Mother Earth)."
Michael Barone summed up the current environmental fanaticism in his fascinating article written for the Washington Examiner in this way:
"The secular movement of global warming has all the elements of religious faith."
#1: Original Sin (we are polluting the planet).
#2: Redemption (Renouncing our evils against Mother Earth).
#3: Ritual (Going 'green' and recycling our waste.)
#4: The Sale of Indulgences (carbon offsets).
Mr. Barone goes on to say:
"We are told that all arguments, as Al Gore says, must cease. The science of global warming is settled. All other opinions are "climatological blasphemy."
As in most other religions, global warming followers must have FAITH, blind or not.
They are encouraged to PERSECUTE HERETICS! Global warming 'skeptics' are worse than Holocaust deniers, we are told."
As for me, I choose 'FATHER GOD' over 'MOTHER EARTH,' but I still believe in freedom of religion, as Sholeh Patrick shared in her interesting column in the Press this past Tuesday.
I still love my AGW brothers and sisters. There's room for 'religious harmony,' as Sholeh puts it, for all opinions, beliefs and creeds. Even atheists should be able to express their creator-less views.
P.S.: No, John, there will be no bad weather in heaven. Every day will be sunny and warm. I guess that I'll be out of a job!
Next week in 'Gems': Volcanoes are 'popping their tops' all around the world.
NORTH IDAHO WEATHER REVIEW AND LONG-RANGE OUTLOOKS
As of this 10 a.m. June 16 writing, 2011 was the wettest year to date on record since at least 1895 in Coeur d'Alene with a whopping 21.41 inches of precipitation. No wonder farmers can't plant their crops. A 500-YEAR FLOOD has swamped parts of Montana. Many roads have been washed out.
We've topped the 20.44 inches set from Jan. 1 to June 16 in 1996, which went on to be the wettest year on record with an incredible 38.77 inches of rainfall and melted snow. I doubt that the second half of 2011 will see record rainfall amounts, but anything is possible weatherwise in this strongest cycle of 'extremes' in at least 1,000 years.
Not only has 2011 been the wettest year to date on record, but the spring of 2011 will go into the record books as the third coolest ever since at least 1895. Only the spring seasons in Coeur d'Alene in 1939 and 1951 were cooler than this season, which was an amazing 3.8 degrees below normal in town. This was the fifth straight cooler than normal spring season since the sun went silent in 2007.
The Spokane area still hasn't seen a single afternoon this year at or above 80 degrees for the first time on record for so late in the season. We had 81 degrees on May 14, but that's been it on Player Drive as far as warm weather goes in Coeur d'Alene. Global warming has apparently missed the Inland Empire.
But, with 'La Nina' biting the dust in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, there's still hope of much warmer and drier weather patterns not that far down the meteorological highway. High pressure should build into North Idaho and the surrounding Inland Empire by the end of this month into the July 4 holiday weekend.
Both Randy Mann and I see lots of warm to hot 'Sholeh Days' at or above 90 degrees in July, August and early September. Precipitation amounts should be less than normal in the region into early October, maybe later, if the expected high pressure ridge remains in a stationary position for at least 90 days.
I still see GREAT WEATHER for this August's annual North Idaho Fair and Rodeo. I look for afternoon highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s with very sparse amounts of rainfall.
IRONMAN WEATHER OUTLOOK
Following a midweek warmup into the mid 80s, "Ironman Sunday" should see a low temperature near 50 degrees and an afternoon high in the lower 70s. Skies will be partly cloudy with just a slight chance of a shower or two. The water temperature of Lake Coeur d'Alene should be just under 60 degrees.
Cliff Harris is a climatologist who writes a weekly column for The Press. His opinions are his own. E-mail sfharris@roadrunner.com