.
This winter has been the worse in
the memory of most of us. Areas of the northern United
States have seen as much as one-hundred
inches of snow, ice and freezing rain. Harbors along the Atlantic
that are normally open all winter have been frozen thick enough to require
icebreakers to open a passageway. Even the southern part of the United
States has been hit hard because winters are
normally mild and there isn’t a lot of equipment to clear away snow or ice.
Winter lingering so late in the season makes you wonder if there might be
something ominous in store for us in the near future.
I had never heard of the ‘Year
Without a Summer’ until I was reading a local history written during the early
part of the 20th century. According to the author’s account, an abnormally cold
summer occurred in 1816 when the average temperature of the earth dropped by
0.7 to 1.3 Fahrenheit. There were major food shortages across North
America and Europe, and even in the
southern United States,
a snow or two occurred in June. There was frost and freezing temperatures each
morning during July.
It is believed that this anomaly
was caused by the explosion the previous year of a volcano in what is now Indonesia,
spewing large amounts of dust and chemicals into the atmosphere. This is
thought to be the largest volcanic eruption in the last 1700 years. This
‘aerosol veil,’ as it has been called, was in the upper atmosphere where it was
not dispersed by rain as is often the case after a volcanic eruption.
In Europe
there was a famine that resulted in riots. Widespread starvation occurred when
the price of food and firewood rose to astronomical levels. These conditions
were further aggravated by poor transportation and a lack of management on the
part of the governments involved.
Can this happen again, or I guess I should ask, is it
happening now. There are too many people who dismiss the idea of manmade
climate change because it runs contrary to the agenda they are pushing. Part of
the problem has been caused by the name ‘global warming’ that was initially
used, and when scientist changed the concept to ‘climate change’ it caused
guffaws from world capitols as well as from the ordinary citizen on the
streets. If you are a doubter concerning climate change, go and stand outside
and face into the wind. I live in the sunny south and this time last year I
mowed my lawn for the first time to get rid of some rapid growing weeds, and to
give the grass a chance to grow. Today, they are predicting one to three inches
of snow, and the possibility of another round of abnormal weather. I don’t know
if climate change is real or the figment of someone’s imagination, but there
are people who do know. We ought to hold their feet to the fire until they
produce the facts and figures and insist that our leaders do something about
it. If you want to read more on this subject, Google it on the Internet.
