I’m not that much of an environmentalist. My wife thinks i use too much aluminum foil and paper towels. I’m not concerned about GMOs or anything like that.
But climate change is a whole ‘nother thing. A worldwide temperature increase of 5+ degrees in 80 years is a hard-mother fucking fact of life, but it’s a fact of life our ass is gonna have to get realistic about. I don’t think we will though, because many wingers and most centrist pundits would rather make Al Gore jokes than try to stave off calamity. Science is hard, let’s go talk about how fat Al Gores is.
In that spirit, let’s have a thread documenting all the idiotic “it’s cold today so fat algore is a poopyhead” stuff that’s been on the internets the last few days.
schrodinger's cat
Wife? When did you get married? Congratulations!!!
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Clearly some of us missed an event announcement.
schrodinger's cat
@a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I know, we would have showed up with green balloons and totes!
C.V. Danes
The science is not hard: we’re pumping back into the atmosphere billions of tons of carbon that it took “Mother Nature” millions of years to sequester. We’re in the process of returning the Earth back to the way it was before that happened.
What is hard is overcoming ideology. The processes behind pumping back into the atmosphere all those billions of tons of carbon are based on a free market ideology that places individual greed over collective best interest. To get them to accept their part in creating climate change would be tantamount to convincing them to embrace communism. Not gonna happen.
The Ancient Randonneur
Is the gold rush really over?
That’s a lot of low hanging fruit. Just go read Cap’n Ed over at Hot Air and you basically get the denialist dirty dozen arguments which keep repeating the mantra that because 40 years ago, or so, scientists believed that we were headed to a new Ice Age they must be wrong this time as well. Sigh.
BGinCHI
Look at Doug throwing around the wife talk.
He’s all growed up now.
Congrats.
Mnemosyne
So in response to the NewsMax headline:
IIRC, one of the reasons that scientists started calling it “climate change” rather than “global warming” is that it does seem that there could be some seemingly anomalous effects where it actually gets colder in some areas because of the overall temperature rise. So, yeah, even a predicted “30-year cold spell” isn’t a ha-ha climate change isn’t real moment, it’s a holy fuck, climate change is going to fuck us up moment.
CONGRATULATIONS!
I have no kids and will – barring a revolutionary event in life extension – be dead in forty years. So I kind of don’t give a shit. Most of the Earth will survive regardless.
That being said, the really annoying change in climate here in Southern California between, oh, let’s say 1976 and now is amazing. Humid summers didn’t show up until the 1990s. Now it’s so bad it rains in the summer. That ain’t normal. You notice these things after having been born in and lived somewhere for almost fifty years.
Congrats on the marriage, Doug. Did mine a bit late in life myself, it was a good move.
Alex S.
@Mnemosyne:
So, do they believe this climatologist but not the others?
Lawrence
While carbon sequestration and oceanic de-acidification are things we should be spending money on, as well as converting off a fossil fuel economy, there are some ham fisted geoengineering schemes that couldn’t possibly go wrong that I am sure someone will attempt. So relax. Why am I thinking of the sunblock ad from RoboCop? Curious…
Walker
@Mnemosyne:
One of the reasons it is getting colder in the continental US is because it is getting warmer in Alaska. Heat pumps work that way.
Michael Bersin
Representative Vicky Hartzler (r – the Chinese are spying on us through our toasters) contributed her insight via Twitter.
Punchy
Ha ha! You’re too damn funny. Show me a GOPer willing to even consider this and I’ll show you a GOPer with 39 candidates ready to successfully primary him/her.
The only way to tackle this is for Obama to come out hard against doing anything to stop it. Cleek’s Law will then take over and the GOP will boost EPA and NOAA funding. Maybe even start a campaign to ban bee-killing crops.
Kryptik, A Man Without A Country
Cripes. Just saw what’s going on in upstate NY. The difference between what Buffalo is getting (or rather, not getting) compared to the absolute burial going on just 5 miles south is ludicrous.
low-tech cyclist
To quote Tom Levenson, why do Republicans hate their children? It’s not like only Democrats’ kids are going to be hit by climate change.
When I think that my son could live to see the year 2100, it really brings home the consequences of GOP insanity.
sparrow
@The Ancient Randonneur: Also, there was a peer-reviewed study of this particular notion (that scientists were doomsdaying about global cooling), and unsurprisingly, it’s almost entirely false. There were a few academics that thought there was a possible cooldown coming (nothing like a consensus in the community), and unscrupulous media outlets ran away with the idea (think tabloids). I’ll try to find that study.
JPL
Since I no longer care about niceties, I just laugh and say that’s funny. I know you understand the difference between weather and climate.
Punchy
@Kryptik, A Man Without A Country: Just looked at a weather site to see what you’re referring to. 5 to 6 FEET (no, not inches) expected. With consistent 20-20 mph winds gusting to 40mph. That’s unfuckinfathomable.
Having known a person from that area, she said that in such conditions, they only might close the local schools. Amazing.
mai naem mobile
Hey Doug do you need to be blocked on the Twitter machine by another poopy head? If so head on over to CNBCs Joe Kernens twitter feed and he’ll dazzle you with his climate denial. And the fool has some kind of science degree from MIT.
Trollhattan
@Alex S.:
Probably a “climatologist” like Rand Paul is an “opthomologist.”
And congrats to Mr. Married Doug.
tazj
What’s going on in Buffalo? Lake effect snow is going on, unfortunately. I live in Hamburg, NY which is south of the city and it’s snowing like crazy. My husband tried to come home from the hospital this morning and had to turn around and go back to the city to stay, as the Thruway and the Skyway (route 5 along the lake out of downtown) are closed.
bobbo
I read on the internet that people who correct people’s grammar on the internet are the worst people on the internet. Unless, of course, it is a really annoying mistake. So anyhoodle, it’s “a whole other” not “a whole nother.” “Nother” is not a word.
xoxoxo
Linnaeus
It surprises me, though maybe it shouldn’t, how many otherwise intelligent people really do express sentiments like that specifically and denial of climate change generally.
Several months back, an acquaintance of mine from high school posted an article from a 1974 issue of Time that was about the potential for global cooling and a “new ice age” sometime in the future based on some findings from some climate researchers. When I said, “Hey, this article’s from 1974”, my acquaintance responded that this was his point and that scientists (except for some who supposedly know the real truth) have reversed course in a scientifically unsound way. I considered pointing out that 1) climate science has become more sophisticated in the past 40 years and 2) that even in 1974, global cooling was by no means a majority or consensus opinion among climate scientists. Most at the time time either leaned toward warming or felt that they couldn’t draw any conclusions yet. But I didn’t bother because I didn’t think it would do any good.
Then another high school acquaintance chimed in that you couldn’t trust climate research because it was contradictory – how could record lows and snow be reconciled with global warming? Again, I didn’t bother explaining.
These guys aren’t stupid. One (the second guy) was our high school valedictorian and the other was probably in the top 10-20 in our class. They both attended the same university that I did (a pretty good one) and they both hold jobs that do require a good degree of intelligence to do. But one is a conservative Republican and the other is a libertarian, so it boils down to ideology, IMHO.
gene108
@sparrow:
If I remember my history of Earth history correctly, in the 1970’s, they had figured out that sunspots have an 11 year cycle that correlates to the Earth’s weather patterns, as well as getting the raw data to verify Milankovitch cycles, so some folks ran with it to try and predict another Ice Age, which on a geologic time scale, had just ended in the blink of an eye 5,000 to 6,000 years ago and we theoretically should be due for another some time in the near (on a geologic time scale) future.
Belafon
@Linnaeus: And a rocket scientist work a gawd-awful shirt made by a female friend. Being good at one thing doesn’t make you smart in everything. (I’m sure you know that.)
The one thing about the cooling article is that subsequent views didn’t back it up. And the science since then has only gotten more conclusive, not less. See the 94+% of climate scientists.
RAM
It was 23 degrees warmer in Nome, Alaska this morning than it was in my town 40 miles west of Chicago. The weather is badly screwed up, as is the climate.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
Shout out to ruemara for some awesome stills of Phoebe that are the basis of the animation she’s doing for my Kickstarter.
dmbeaster
@CONGRATULATIONS!: Maybe there is an increase in rate (I dont think so but cant say), but humid summer weather spells with occasional rain have been occurring in SoCal for as long as they have kept records. The same weather pattern makes July and August in Arizona slightly wetter than the winter months, which gets hit by this subtropical moisture much harder.
Big ole hound
Right from the start if this problem had been called something like “weather intensity increase” rather than “global warming” then support for change would be more widespread, even in Congress.
Mnemosyne
@RAM:
It’s always been that way — Chicago gets the arctic winds straight down from Quebec, but Alaska has a little buffer over there on the west coast so, ironically, they don’t get as cold as Chicago or some of the other prairie states like Minnesota or North Dakota.
This is one of the reasons I now live in California, not Chicago.
vikram
love the Pulp Fiction reference. This is why I come back to this blog again and again..Also too, fuck the Republicans..
Woodrowfan
oh yeah, well if
global warminggravity exists then how do you explainthe snow outsidebirds and airplanes! libtard!patrick II
It would be hard to top Jeff Dunetz 12 reasons why Climate change isn’t really happening in his article What the mainstream media wont tell you about global warming.
Number 3 is my personal favorite: Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is not a pollutant
Svensker
@bobbo:
Not a grammar “mistake” when it’s a colloquialism, which this is. A well known colloquialism, to boot.
Also, too, yay DougJ and Mrs. DougJ!
Karen in GA
@Mnemosyne: Then again, it’s also warmer right now in Nome, Alaska than it is in Atlanta, Georgia. Not that that has any bearing on what you said re Chicago. But still: WTF, weather?
And congrats, Doug and Mrs. J!
Peej01
@Kryptik, A Man Without A Country: that’s what lake effect will do for you.
Mnemosyne
@Karen in GA:
Well, yeah, that’s not natural. :-) But people have this illusion that Alaska (at least, the more populated parts) is colder in the winter than the Midwest, and it’s never been true. Trust me, I looked all of these things up 20+ years ago when I was deciding where to go to college. Even at the time, I was surprised by the Alaska information.
Kryptik, A Man Without A Country
@Peej01:
As if living near Buffalo wasn’t bad enough.
*I apologize to all those living in Buffalo, sorry for insulting your current predicament of being in Buffalo.
Villago Delenda Est
Faux Noise and Noisemax assure me that “Global Warming” is a hoax perpetrated by greedy scientists looking to cash in on government grants that will make them gazillionaires.
Villago Delenda Est
@Karen in GA: Rush Limbaugh does not live in Nome, Alaska.
Therefore, “Global Warming” is a hoax.
You read it here first, people.
slag
Listen to your wife and stop using too many paper towels and too much aluminum foil. At least that way your marriage has a chance to outlast Florida’s coastline.
Karen in GA
@Mnemosyne: Oh, yeah — I was talking to my husband once about going there, and he protested, saying it would be too cold. It was 80 degrees in Anchorage that day.
We’ll go there one of these days.
@Villago Delenda Est: And Al Gore is fat. JUST LIKE RUSH LIMBAUGH. Which makes Rush Limbaugh right!
JPL
Well cows fart so climate change if real is made by cows.
Villago Delenda Est
@JPL: My borderline wingnut sister actually made this comment to me, and I asked her, “Why are all those cows gathered in one place and porting methane into the atmosphere?”
She had to interrupt her rant for a moment to think, and suddenly it dawned on her that the cattle wouldn’t be farting so much methane if there were not so many of them to be a food source for humans.
Duh.
These people are such idiots. Rant, rave, not think things through. Critical thinking skills – nil. Zero. Nada. Kein.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@schrodinger’s cat: Clearly our invitations were lost in the mail.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@Villago Delenda Est: Just tell her we all need to become vegans.
opiejeanne
@Karen in GA: And Nome is about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle. I would think it would be a whole lot colder right now just because of that.
DougJ
Thanks to everyone for your kind wishes.
Mike E
@JPL: And volcanoes belch, so, you know.
Neil deGrasse Tyson did a nice job walking the dog along a beach to illustrate the difference between weather and climate. He also said we are in the midst of a 50,000 year interglacial period. Too.
But, whatever you do, don’t fuck with Big Weather! You might not survive that unfriending…
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@opiejeanne: Nome is right on the ocean, which moderates temperatures. During the coldest months, it’s not much colder than in Minneapolis. Of course, it doesn’t get nearly as warm in the summer.
Now, if you go inland to, say, Fairbanks, things get motherfucking cold in a motherfucking hurry.
goblue72
@schrodinger’s cat: Dougie FreshJ mentioned it awhile ago I think – before a change in his job duties meant he couldn’t post much here. I swear he solicited folks for song suggestions for his wedding.
replicnt6
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
If you actually look at average temperatures, you’ll find that Nome is about 10F colder than Minneapolis in Nov, Dec, Jan. About 20F colder than Chicago.
Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN)
@replicnt6: I guess we’re going to have to fight it out over the definition of the phrase “not much.” As the challenged party, I say we use boat anchors as our weapons.
Sunil
The main raw material for producing aluminum is electricity. Most of electricity is made using coal. Coal for power is one of main culprits for causing global warming.
Your careless use of aluminum foil contributes to global warming. Know that things are inter-connected. There are no facile ways out.
ellennellee
@Mnemosyne:
um, no; quebec is half a continent EAST of chicago; it’s the jet stream that pulls the cold air down from the arctic that does part of it. the other part is the fact that the japan current pulls warm up from the south pacific and around to alaska’s coastline.
what messed with my head is that my brothers in northern AL and GA had colder temps late last week than we did up here in ice-achusetts.
cold here now, tho.
ellennellee
major congrats, doug; most sincerely.
and, just as sincerely, both to appease your wife and do the world a big favor, please put some of your ample neurons together and cease with the decoupling of the environment and climate change. WTF?? you think these are somehow unrelated?
here’s a tip that will endear you to your wife forever. instead of using paper towels, keep up with all rags, especially towels, even pick some up at your local salvation army or such. use these to mop up spills etc., throw them in the wash, and hang them out in the sun.
you’re smart enough to do the quick mental calculus that shows just how much energy you save this way, compared to all that goes into the logging industry, paper mills, packaging, trucking to market, etcetcetc.
same goes for foil; limit use to absolute necessity (which often means committing to elbow grease for cleaning), and try to keep purchases of the stuff down to some kind of budget (mine is one smallest box every two years, but i live alone and don’t do meat). just be conscious of it.
if you are not thinking and acting ENVIRONMENTALLY, you are flirting with being as bad as the deniers.
sorry, dude; too true.
;-)
tazj
@Kryptik, A Man Without A Country: No need to apologize, I’m still thrilled I don’t live anywhere near you.
joel hanes
@CONGRATULATIONS!:
Most of the Earth will survive regardless.
Ecologists predict that 50% or more of multicellular species worldwide will go extinct within the lifetime of a child born today.
Chopper
WIFE??!
Reader K
I liked you more when you were single and spitting nails. Never mind the paper towel usage…cheers!
barbequebob
@The Ancient Randonneur:
Yes, its “After the Gold Rush”
Chopper
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym (JMN):
Plus when nome gets a cold snap it gets motherfucking cold.
JenJen
@Woodrowfan: I love you.
Tehanu
The planet will be fine. It’s the human race in general and civilization in particular that will be fucked. BTW I’m reading Tom Holland’s book Rubicon, published 10 or 11 years ago, about the last days of the Roman Republic, and the parallels to today’s politics are … scary … even more so than when the book was published. Oligarchs and conservatives haven’t changed one bit in 2000 years.
opiejeanne
@Chopper: My BIL lived in Barrow for about 10 years, and when he and his then-wife talked about how cold it was I couldn’t comprehend it, nor could I comprehend survival in such a place.
cmm
My Foxoholic hard right wing parents live on an east coast barrier island and after Sandy, even my mom is willing to admit that things may be a-changing. But then she shrugs and says, “I’ll be dead before it happens though.” But jeez mom, don’t you want to have your grandkids know that going “down the shore” doesn’t mean going to Cherry Hill?
Theodore Wirth
Love Balloon Juice but I still have to say this: dude, cutting back on tin foil and paper towels (especially Koch Brawny paper towels) is an easy way to mitigate climate change.