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~ The issue of climate change is one that we ignore at our own peril. There may still be disputes about exactly how much we're contributing to the warming of the earth's atmosphere and how much is naturally occurring, but what we can be scientifically certain of is that our continued use of fossil fuels is pushing us to a point of no return. And unless we free ourselves from a dependence on these fossil fuels and chart a new course on energy in this country, we are condemning future generations to global catastrophe. ~ Barack Obama
Except jet fuel - we can use all the jet fuel we want for Air Force One. Oh, and my Chrysler 300 Hemi. I can drive my 300 Hemi all I want also.
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.
But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.
Such was the finding reported last week by Marco Tedesco and Andrew Monaghan in the journal Geophysical Research Letters:
A 30-year minimum Antarctic snowmelt record occurred during austral summer 2008–2009 according to spaceborne microwave observations for 1980–2009. Strong positive phases of both the El-Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) were recorded during the months leading up to and including the 2008–2009 melt season.
Apparently people who think snow or cold weather means we don't have a problem with global warming or climate change do not understand the science that supports it.
You can't use a single event like a snowstorm or a hurricane or even an entire season to prove long-term climate change, one way or the other.
Have you ever found out someone just passed away and said "Wow, that's terrible. I didn't even know he was sick." Just because you saw this person at work or grocery shopping, doesn't mean that he didn't have a small tumor or a heart problem that took years to kill him.
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