Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Scientists connect global warming to extreme rain

11 comments:

Megan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PBM said...

If your not going to believe scientists, who are you going to believe?

Megan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Megan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PBM said...

Your acting like they've never been right. As was discussed before, our climate is very complex. Global warming could cause extreme drought in some places and extreme rain in others.

In the recent case of Brisbane, Australia, the area experienced severe drought which was followed by extreme rains. This created a perfect environment for intense flooding because an extremely dry ground cannot soak in water very quickly, which caused water to rise dramatically, flooding an area the size of France and Germany combined in a matter of days. I'm not saying this is all because of global warming but please just read the article before making snide remarks about how you doubt everything scientists say about everything.

And honestly, who do you think we should listen to instead of people who are extensively trained on climate systems? If not them, then who has the appropriate authority, in your eyes (or the eyes of any other skeptic), to convince you that this phenomenon is not a hoax?

I don't mean to be rude or dismissive, I would just like to know who or what could convince you if broad scientific consensus does not do it.

PBM said...

I'm sorry that last comment was so aggressive. But I get frustrated when I feel like we have settled something (that global warming is happening and that there are steps we should be taking to address it) only to put up a post that's relevant to our past debate and have it automatically shut down by you. Skepticism and ignoring reality are two separate things. I mainly put this link up to contrast it with one that our professor put up from the WSJ that debunked extreme weather events' connection to global warming. I'm not trying to say "I'm right, and your wrong," I just wanted to point out the most recent scientific developments on an issue we have been debating for the past couple of weeks.

PBM said...

And when I say most recent I mean released today.

Megan said...

Ok perhaps my statement was a little too sassy. I just think that if activists did not spread themselves so thin by connecting global warming to EVERYTHING like droughts in the Southwest then studies like this would be taken much more seriously. Many conditions that have been linked to climate change have not been scientifically proven. As far as I know- please correct me if I am wrong- no droughts have been proven to have been caused by climate change, scientists have merely speculated that climate change could result in droughts. I guess you are right that I should not discredit scientists because of the overwhelming number of connections being made by activists (I'm surprised the state of our economy has not somehow been linked to climate change). Although I will note that many scientists believe that these scientists are stating their claim with too much confidence. I DO believe in climate change and I DO think it needs to be addressed I guess I was just being an instigator and I apologize.

Ross Perot said...

http://imgur.com/tCp90.gif

Megan said...

I took down my comments. They were rude. You're right. I'm not helping to separate science and politics if I keep citing claims that activists, not scientists are making.

Megan said...

And Ryan you bring up an excellent point.