By Alan
Caruba
After decades of environmental
claims that “global warming” would plunge the planet into catastrophic harm to
its human and other inhabitants—at the same time blaming humans for causing
it—the sheer arrogance and ignorance of these claims always ignores the real
power that is represented by the Earth itself and the beginning of Spring should
be proof enough for anyone paying any
attention.
This year, Spring begins in
the northern hemisphere on Friday, March 20 at 6:45 PM EDT. In the southern
hemisphere it marks the beginning of Autumn.
Spring manifests itself in
ways we take for granted yet it is a combination of many events that should make
us marvel if we gave them any thought. For example, where does all the snow go?
The U.S. and the rest of the world set records of snowfall levels throughout
Winter.
As noted by the U.S. Geological
Service, “in
the world-wide scheme of the water cycle, runoff from snowmelt is a major
component of the global movement of water.”
“Mountain snow fields act as
natural reservoirs for many western United States water-supply systems, storing
precipitation from the cool season, when most precipitation falls and forms
snowpacks…As much as 75 percent of water supplies in the western states are
derived from snowmelt.” Snowmelt ensures
sufficient water for all of us and for the Earth that depends upon it for the
growth of all vegetation.
How do the flowers know it is
Spring? In a 2011 article for the Inside Science News Service, Katherine Gammon
noted that “Just in time for the birds and bees to start buzzing, the flowers
and the trees somehow know when to open their buds to start flowering. But the
exact way that plants get their wake-up call has been something of a
mystery.” A molecular biologist at the
University of Texas, Sibum Sung, has been trying to solve that mystery and has
discovered “a special molecule in plants that gives them the remarkable ability
to recall Winter and to bloom on schedule in the
Spring.”
Nothing on Earth happens by
accident. It is a remarkable inter-related system to which we give little
thought. The sheer power of all those blooming flowers and trees should tell us
something about the power of Nature that dwarfs all the claims that humans have
any influence whatever on the events of Spring or any other time of the
year.
Then think about the role of
the animals with whom we share the planet. In the Spring many come out of
hibernation in their dens, while others such as birds make lengthy migrations
from the warmer climes to those in the north. The huge migration of Monarch
Butterflies should leave us speechless. Spring is a time when many animals give
birth to their young.
A sign of the Spring that
leaves us breathless is the way it is the season for the aurora borealis. Dr.
Tony Phillips of NASA notes that “For reasons not fully understood by
scientists, the weeks around the vernal equinox are prone to Northern Lights.
From Canada to Scandinavia they provide a great show.
“Such outbursts are called
auroral substorms and they have long puzzled physicists,” says UCLA space
physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos. They represent “a potent geomagnetic storm.”
The equinox in Spring and Autumn is a time when magnetic connections between the
Sun and Earth are most favorable.
One book, “Silent Spring”, by
Rachel Carson, first published in September 1962, started the environmental
campaign against pesticide use for any reason, leading most famously to the ban
on DDT in the U.S. What Carson neglected to tell readers was how they were
supposed to cope with the trillions of insects that come with the advent of warm
weather.
No pesticide use does not mean
less mosquitoes, less termites, less flies, less ants, or less of any other
insect species and the diseases they spread, property damage, and the damage
they cause to crops of all descriptions. And, of course, the much of
the pollination of crops and other vegetation depends on insect
species.
Carson’s claims of a silent
spring bereft of bird species was a blatant lie. Rich Kozlovich, an authority on pest
management, noted that “Bird populations were never so high in North America”
despite the use of DDT and other pesticides. “Carson’s claim about how the poor
robin was going to disappear was not only wrong, she was deliberately
lying.”
“Carson was a science writer
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and absolutely had to know that in 1960
there were 12 times more robins, 21 times more cowbirds, 38 times more
blackbirds, 131 times more grackles, etc., compared to 1941
numbers.”
Spring is a time of renewal in
the northern hemisphere and it occurs with enormous levels of natural power.
Most people, however, are oblivious to that power as they enjoy the sight of
flowers and trees blooming.
I could almost guarantee that
you will read or hear about “global warming” or “climate change” being
attributed to the arrival of Spring. Do yourself a favor. Keep in mind that
those claims, like Rachel Carson’s, represent an anti-humanity, anti-energy, and
anti-capitalism agenda of the environmental movement.
Instead, celebrate the
seasonal renewal of life on Earth and give thanks for the energy that permits
you to control the environment of the structures where you live and work, that
provides you the means to get in your car and go anywhere, and that powers every
device you use.
©
Alan Caruba, 2015
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