A Skewed View of the World

    The recent cold snap that has enveloped the Eastern half of the United States has led to some serious (and some ridiculous) debates over the past week.  The loudest comments have come from those who do not believe that Global Climate Change is happening; people like Donald Trump, who went on Fox News and proclaimed Global Warming a joke.  (I guess filling in acres and acres of Wetlands to build casinos that require more and more coal-generated electricity to power them makes you a climate expert.)  If Global Warming isn't true, then obviously the human race can't possibly having an effect on the climate, these people reason.  They point to the fact that since we are seeing record breaking low temperatures right now, then Global Warming is a farce.

    Except, its Winter here in the Northern Hemisphere. Its supposed to be cold now. It is January after all.  Global Climate Change theories do not forecast the end of Winter; they predict more frequent swings from one extreme to the other. They indicate that climate patterns could begin to shift back and forth more frequently. They suggest higher highs and--believe it or not--lower lows are likely become more commonplace.

    If you read my last post about the Polar Vortex, you will remember that higher temperatures in the Arctic can disrupt that fairly stable and consistent weather pattern, forcing the jet stream farther south than normal, bringing with it colder temperatures. Global Climate Change could not only disrupt that weather pattern, but many, many others. It is called "Climate Change" for that very reason. We once thought that rising temperatures would mean just melting ice and rising seas. Now we see evidence that not only will we witness those particular effects, but we will also see wildly fluctuating temperatures and weather events.  And not just here, but everywhere in the world.

    Case in point: As I sit here in my office typing this, it is in the low 30's outside and raining. A cold,  chilling rain. This morning there was freezing rain and snow, making driving conditions treacherous. Tomorrow's forecast calls for temps in the low 60's with possible thunderstorms. Did I mention that the low temperature on Tuesday was 7 degrees Fahrenheit here in Severna Park, a mere three days ago? Now, thats a pretty big swing from one extreme to the other.  I am not a meteorologist, but it seems to me that these types of swings are becoming more frequent as the years go by. Does anyone else notice that, too? Does anyone notice how often I typed "frequent" or "frequency" in my last two posts?

    Let's be honest. This is just one week in one small part of the world ( and yes, the Eastern United States makes up just a small percentage of the world's total area, believe it or not).  What's happening right now along the Eastern Seaboard cannot be taken as a definitive sign of Global Climate Change. We have to look around elsewhere to see if similar events are taking place.  Like in Australia, where they are experiencing record breaking heat. Again. They are surpassing the records set over the last few years in many places on the Australian continent this week, and barely anyone is talking about it.  Why?  I can only speculate, but its probably due to the Northern Hemisphere bias that exists in today's world.
                                                                                   
    Did you realize that such a bias existed?  Its logical , if you think about it.  Most the of the world's population lives in the Northern Hemisphere.  It is estimated that around 10% of the world's population lives in the Southern Hemisphere, which makes sense since most of the land mass of the world is located in the Northern Hemisphere. That, coupled with the Western slant that our news, policies, events and activities have due to political power, population density and resource allocation, prevents us from seeing the whole picture.  We don't hear about record high temps in Australia or Super Cyclones in the South Pacific because those places are far away and no one really lives there. If hardly anyone lives there, why should we care?

fig 1 courtesy of econstudentlog.wordpress.com

    Well, we should care because it gives us the whole picture, not just of what's happening in our portion of the world, but what's happening the world over. The Earth is a series of systems and interactions and processes that are uniquely and delicately intertwined.  Changing small variables in one system can have a cascade effect on many others.  It is extremely complicated and we are only scratching the surface (in my opinion) on how they work in tandem and how they can be disrupted.  Ignoring all of these variables and focusing on just a small portion of the world can lead to unreliable conclusions.

   If your car was running strange, knocking and pinging, belching out dark sooty material from the tailpipe and dripping a gray sludgy material from the muffler, you would most likely take it to a mechanic, right? If that mechanic looked at the battery and tugged on a fan belt under the hood and said your car was running fine, would you feel confident he was right and be on your merry way? Or would tell him to look at the fuel injectors, the pistons, the exhaust system and the muffler since the battery and the fan belt seemed to have little to do with the tailpipe?  You don't have to be an expert on cars to understand he did a half-assed assessment of the problem, do you?  Why don't we take the same approach when it comes to our planet, our wellbeing and our future?

    It is fine to debate scientific theories and predictions. That's what makes science great!  Peer review,   deliberation and further study are what moves science forward and leads to a better understanding and more accurate theories.  But one must to look at as many variables as possible, or things will be incomplete and can lead to misconceptions.  Ninety percent of the world's population may live in the Northern Hemisphere, but weather patterns exist all over the globe. They are inter-connected.  Examining that data over long periods of time will give a more accurate picture of what is really taking place.  Latching on to one severe cold snap that occurs over a three day period to debunk decades and even centuries of data is irresponsible, especially when we are seeing another year begin with record breaking heat and extreme weather in other places in world.