Sunday, April 02, 2006
Remember the "Little Ice Age"?
George Will does. As do I.
One Sunday morning in January or February of 1977, when I lived in western New York State, I drove to the news stand to pick up my Sunday Times. I had to drive my business van because my car wouldn't start. (Odd, I thought.) I arrived at the stand around 8:00 a.m. The temperature sign on the bank across the street then read -16 degrees (Fahrneheit). The proprietor informed me that when he opened his shop at 6:00 a.m. the reading was -36 degrees.
That was the nadir of the coldest winter I can remember. The village reservoir froze in January and stayed frozen until March. (The fire department had to pump water from the Genessee River to the village's water-treatment plant.) Water mains were freezing solid, even though they were 6 feet below the surface. Many homeowners had to keep their faucets open a trickle to ensure that their pipes didn't freeze. And, for the reasons cited in Will's article, many scientists -- and many Americans -- thought that a "little ice age" had arrived and would be with us for a while.
But science is often inconclusive and just as often slanted to serve a political agenda. (Also, see this.) That's why I'm not ready to sacrifice economic growth and a good portion of humanity on the altar of global warming and other environmental fads.
One Sunday morning in January or February of 1977, when I lived in western New York State, I drove to the news stand to pick up my Sunday Times. I had to drive my business van because my car wouldn't start. (Odd, I thought.) I arrived at the stand around 8:00 a.m. The temperature sign on the bank across the street then read -16 degrees (Fahrneheit). The proprietor informed me that when he opened his shop at 6:00 a.m. the reading was -36 degrees.
That was the nadir of the coldest winter I can remember. The village reservoir froze in January and stayed frozen until March. (The fire department had to pump water from the Genessee River to the village's water-treatment plant.) Water mains were freezing solid, even though they were 6 feet below the surface. Many homeowners had to keep their faucets open a trickle to ensure that their pipes didn't freeze. And, for the reasons cited in Will's article, many scientists -- and many Americans -- thought that a "little ice age" had arrived and would be with us for a while.
But science is often inconclusive and just as often slanted to serve a political agenda. (Also, see this.) That's why I'm not ready to sacrifice economic growth and a good portion of humanity on the altar of global warming and other environmental fads.
