“CERTAINLY NOT REAL SCIENCE”
August 3, 2019
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
They’re at it again, frightening small children and kittens, too (and, unfortunately, some adult voters as well). We have only 12 years – or it’s curtains for our planet! You want proof? Look at this summer’s 100-degree-plus temperatures in Northern Europe’s big cities….
Well … let’s just take a look at the facts that surround the current series of “record” highs. The heat wave records they broke – by a single degree or so – were set in the 1940s. So, almost 80 years ago it was just as hot in Northern Europe (and there were no SUVs then). Another very important fact is the actual cause of the high temperatures this year. This summer’s jet stream has shifted and is now funneling hot desert air from the Sahara directly to Europe. Of course, every summer, Greece and Italy get southerly winds that bring red silt from North Africa, and this year’s jet stream pattern in Europe is unusual – but not unique!
We are told to blame carbon dioxide emitted by the combustion of fossil fuels for climate change – and by extension the current heat wave in Western Europe. So, please, somebody explain how a naturally-occurring gas that makes up a mere .04 percent of the atmosphere is causing billions of tons of air currents to bring hot air from the North Africa deserts to Europe! Just exactly how is carbon dioxide the proximate cause of the current-year jet stream phenomenon affecting Europe? Since 99.96 percent of the billions of tons of air surrounding our planet is NOT carbon dioxide, how can this nearly trace amount be so pernicious? How so, especially when it is absolutely essential to life on earth?
More food for real thought! As the earth tilts on its axis northward in summer and southward in winter, the sun’s rays hit the earth’s surface and warm the northern hemisphere in summer. The warmer air at the surface rises as it is lighter than colder air and the pressure differences between the warm and cold air masses cause the atmosphere (air) to move to equalize the pressure. In addition the earth’s counterclockwise rotation moves winds – including the jet stream from west to east, and in the reverse direction in the southern hemisphere (Coriolis force, if you wish to look it up).
So billions of tons of air are heated by the sun and, combined with the rotation of the earth, air currents are created that move warm and cooler air from place to place to equalize air pressure. How does a naturally-occurring gas that makes up a mere .04% of all those vast oceans of air affect any of this?
And, please, take a breath and try to explain to yourself, why do we need to stop heating and cooling our homes, offices, autos, etc? Why do we need to stop heating water with natural gas, oil, or coal to create steam to drive turbines to generate reliable electricity? Why must we stop driving cars and flying in airplanes? How we will produce agricultural products and get them to market without farm tractors, combines, and trucks? How will we keep fresh food from spoiling without electricity? Of course, you probably have a lot of other questions, too.
And we have to figure all this out and act NOW because we only have 12 YEARS LEFT! And how do know this? Because Mayor Pete told us that “science” says so. I hope you will join me in saying “Hogwash” and asking, “What science?” Certainly not REAL science.
Old Frank