By Alan Caruba
Reports of recent blizzards in the
Midwest and Northwest filled the television news and print media, but blizzards
have always been part of the history of the nation and are occurring worldwide,
taking a human toll.
We tend to dig out and forget them,
but they are testimony to the power of Nature and have nothing to do with
“climate change.” The four seasons are “climate change.” Blizzards, hurricanes,
tornadoes, and floods are “climate change.” It is wise to keep this in
mind.
In the northeast, the great blizzard
of 1888, March 11-14, wrote a chapter in the history books as one of the most
severe. Snowfalls of 40-50 inches fell in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts,
and Connecticut. It had sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour and
produced snowdrifts as high as 50 feet.
In a new book, “Disaster! A History
of Earthquakes, Floods, Plagues, and Other Catastrophes” by John Withington
($14.95, Skyhorse Publishing, softcover) provides a look at some of the greatest
blizzards to strike the nation. Writing about the Blizzard of 88, the author
notes that “It paralyzed the east coast of the United States from Chesapeake Bay
to Maine, as well as affecting parts of Canada.” The great plains of the nation
had been hit by a comparable blizzard just three months earlier in January 1888.
It killed an estimated 236 people.
The Blizzard of 88 literally shut
down life for those impacted by it. “On land, an estimated 400 people died,
including 100 in New York City. At least 100 seamen died.” It led to the
creation of a subway system that was authorized in 1894.
There was no blather about “climate
change” because people understood it was a natural event. Just like
Hurricane Sandy or, earlier, Hurricane Katrina, that struck New Orleans and the
Gulf States.
While there have been any number of
big storms that have struck the nation, a blizzard in March 1993 was called
“the storm of the century.” As with Hurricane Sandy, it was forecast due to
advances in meteorology such as weather satellites. “On 12 March, though, snow
began to fall as far south as Georgia and Alabama, with Birmingham recording
twelve inches.” It closed airports from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Atlanta,
Georgia. Altogether, 500 people died, many from heart attacks as they shoveled
snow.”
IceAgeNow.info, a website maintained by Robert
W. Felix, the author of “Not by Fire, But by Ice”, arguably the leading
authority on past ice ages and based on the best science available, notes that
the planet is on the cusp of a new ice age. His website tracks news of frigid
weather events.
Since December 21, IceAgeNow has
reported that dozens died in a Ukrainian “cold snap” that recorded at least 83
deaths, gripping that nation. In Poland, more than 60 have died since October.
At
the same time, heavy snowfalls occurred in Bulgaria. Russia has been
particularly hard hit.
In the U.S. up to 18 inches of snow
fell on West Virginia and we have noted the recent blizzard that hit the
Midwest. California’s mountains have experienced heavy snowfall with 13 feet
recorded on Mt. Shasta.
There
is a strong possibility of more monster storms in America and worldwide. It
could portend a new ice age because the average length of interglacial periods
between ice ages is 11.500 and that
is the length of time since the last ice age.
In
addition, solar scientists are worrying about a natural cycle of the sun which
is producing less radiation (warmth) in recent years.
When
people like Sen. John Kerry, nominated to be the next Secretary of State, cites
global warming as “the greatest long term threat to our national security” you
need to pay attention because it demonstrates not just ignorance of the facts,
but a dangerous stupidity.
As
Dr. E. Kirsten Peters says in her new book, “The Whole Story of Climate: What
Science Reveals About the Nature of Constant Change”, “Thus, if the Earth
continues to behave as she has for the past two million years, we must expect a
return to bitter cold at some point, with ice sheets that reach as far south as
Nebraska once again. And, as scientists have recently learned, the change to
that bitterly cold climate regime is likely to be fast, happening over a
generation or two.”
“If
we think of climate change as our enemy, we will always be defeated.” The last
ice age was one in which “glaciers had once buried much of Europe and a good
measure of North America.”
This
is the reason to ignore the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change that has been falsely predicting global warming since it conjured up the
Kyoto Protocols in 1997 to require participating nations to reduce carbon
dioxide emissions that it claims cause global warming; a warming that is not
happening and a baseless claim.
It
is a reason to ignore and excoriate Al Gore who has greatly profited from the
global warming scare campaign. It is a reason to be deeply suspicious of
President Obama who continues to speak of “climate change” and the members and
agencies of his administration such as the Environmental Protection Agency that
justify a flood of regulations based on this false claim.
The
politicians and pseudo-scientists have misled Americans and others worldwide who
are beginning to experience a very different reality.
©
Alan Caruba, 2012