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With Washington D.C. experiencing heavy snows recently, climate change critic Sen. James Inhofe and his family constructed an igloo near the US capitol. As reported by Geoff Mohan in the Los Angeles Times, what the senator fails to appreciate is the explanation for this winter's weather given by the National Snow and Ice Data Center (no whacko organization here): Arctic
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There will always be climate fluctuations, but one must look towards the larger trends. And that is what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), another non-partisan federal agency not prone to exaggeration, did with its just-released Global Climate Analysis for March 2010. Seems last month was, globally, the warmest March on record with the first quarter of the year being the fourth warmest 1st quarter on record. "On record" means going back to 1880.
So often we miss the bigger picture because we get wrapped up in day-to-day events that may actually represent anomalies or minor fluctuations. In essence, we miss the forest for the trees. And despite what might be said about some studies from scientists who may or may not have been wholly accurate with their research, there are plenty of respected agencies and research groups that are reaching and supporting the scientific conclusions that celebrity spokespeople, like Vice President Al Gore, have attempted to bring to the public's attention only to be pilloried as self-serving opportunists.
We miss the forest for the trees. And someday we could miss the forest because there are no trees.
Read the LA Times article.
Read the NOAA report summary.
Read the NSIDC explanation of Arctic oscillation.
View this Nat Geo video on climate change:
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