Earth Could Soon Face a New Ice Age

Puppy Someone suggested that I blog about this article: Russian scientist says Earth could soon face new Ice Age.

It would be tempting to do so, to quote from the head of a space research lab at the Pulkovo observatory in St. Petersburg, who said that in 2008, global temperatures would drop slightly, rather than rise, due to unprecedentedly low solar radiation in the past 30 years, and would continue decreasing even if industrial emissions of carbon dioxide reach record levels.

The scientist explained, "By the mid-21st century the planet will face another Little Ice Age, similar to the Maunder Minimum, because the amount of solar radiation hitting the Earth has been constantly decreasing since the 1990s and will reach its minimum approximately in 2041."

The person suggesting I blog on this alerted me to the final paragraph of the article: "Mankind will face serious economic, social, and demographic consequences of the coming Ice Age because it will directly affect more than 80% of the earth's population, the scientist concluded."

But I've decided not to blog on it. The so-called "scientist" doesn't have his Ph.D. in Global Climatology, unlike climate change spokesman Al Gore, and so is unqualified to speak on this issue. He likely receives his funding from Big Oil, and so is bound to be unethically deferential to their interests. His views differ from the scientific consensus on climate change. And he speaks Russian, and is therefore unable to communicate clearly; something likely was messed up in the translation.

So instead, I'm blogging on cute, fuzzy puppies. I like puppies. Except when they exhale CO2, of course.

Comments

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1. JB said the following at 2:33 PM on Jan 23:

Ted,

I met a guy on the street the other day who says that the sun has nothing to do with warming or cooling the Earth - all the heat is generated by volcanoes. Why are you buying into the lie that solar radiation is warming?! Are you in the pocket of Big Solar Energy and the wacky environmentalists? The sun is, like, really far away as anyone can see. Fie on your so-called "Hot Sun" "consensus!"

2. Nikki said the following at 3:20 PM on Jan 23:

Not this again...please.

3. Sarah P. said the following at 3:24 PM on Jan 23:

lol. Nice. Well, not so nice, since (God willing) we'll all be alive while it's happening.

The last "Little Ice Age" stranded a colony of Norse people in Greenland, which actually was green beforehand. The colony on Iceland could no longer make it over to bring supplies, because ice cut off the waterways. Interesting, huh?

4. Andrew R. (aka Canadian Boy) said the following at 3:34 PM on Jan 23:

A coming Ice Age? Cool.

5. Matthew said the following at 4:32 PM on Jan 23:

I agree with Nikki and groaned when I saw this. Being cute and sarcastic doesn't make your point of view any more convincing. I personally would expect a little more maturity and thoughtful discourse from Boundless Line.

And before you start complaining that no one actually bothered to deal with science in the article you posted, let me point out that this was an interview with a news service, not a peer-reviewed journal article. To the best of my knowledge, his work on the subject of global warming hasn't been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

6. Ted Slater said the following at 5:18 PM on Jan 23:

Matthew -- thank you for pointing that out. Yes, this pseudo-scientist, whose work is certainly funded by Big Oil, who's irrational in his resistance to established "scientific consensus," who doesn't speak a civilized language, and probably plays a balalaika in his off-hours to boot ... is not presenting his argument in a peer-reviewed journal article.

That's why I prefer to blog about puppies. Everyone likes puppies. Except GW alarmists, who'd prefer they exhale less frequently.

;-)

7. Andrew R. (aka Canadian Boy) said the following at 6:17 PM on Jan 23:

Matthew:

"I personally would expect a little more maturity and thoughtful discourse from Boundless Line."

You're new here, aren't you? ;0)

Ted, I know you're being ironic here, but you do realize that Gore is more or less just a spokesman for GW, and his evidence is backed by dozens of scientific organizations? That this isn't an Al Gore-only thing- it's a science thing? Because, ironically, you're using irony to show support for something that one- count it, one- scientist said, while dismissing the voices of tens of thousands.

Puppiez is cutes, tho.

8. Bridget said the following at 6:29 PM on Jan 23:

Puppies are most definitely worth their Co2 emissions.

9. Phil said the following at 7:21 PM on Jan 23:

Oh great.
-from Canada

10. Chris said the following at 8:26 PM on Jan 23:

Looks like it might be a correlation does not equal causation issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_variation#Solar_variation_theory

11. John said the following at 8:28 PM on Jan 23:

Matt,

Get a sense of humour!

But hurry up, before soon we're going to burn up or freeze, depending in whom you believe.

12. Fred said the following at 9:27 PM on Jan 23:

I agree with Matthew, being cute and sarcastic doesn't make your point any more convincing, the facts make your point just as well - the cuteness and sarcasm do help though - Nice work Ted.

13. Eliza said the following at 9:41 PM on Jan 23:

I believe this is called an apophasis, specifically alluding to something that you are NOT going to mention :).

14. Shauna said the following at 12:39 AM on Jan 24:

Um, are you joking? Al Gore's PhD was honorary, which means nothing academically. Such degrees are motivated by the publicity the university granting the degree receives. His grades in school were notoriously bad, including the science class he took. So why is he suddenly such an expert in climatology? If he didn't earn that PhD the real way, I can't give him any credence, no matter how persuasively he argues. If he can publish research proving his points in a peer-reviewed journal like all the real PhD's do, then I will listen to what he has to say. By the way, the scientific community is anything but agreed on the topic of global warming. Check out this senate report:

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=f80a6386
-802a-23ad-40c8-3c63dc2d02cb&Issue_id=

15. Chris Krycho said the following at 6:44 AM on Jan 24:

I laughed when I read this. Well done, Ted!

And to everyone else: does no one have any appreciation for satire? Goodness, you must all positively loath Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Dante, etc. Lampooning an opponent's position by demonstrating its folly in a literary version of reductio ad absurdum is a classic (and hilarious) tactic.

You don't even have to agree to appreciate the humor of the ironies posted by Ted.

I like cute, fuzzy puppies!

16. P&P said the following at 8:05 AM on Jan 24:

My only issue with puppies is the expulsion of methane.

Find a new topic to bust on, will you? It's an election year, there's plenty of material on both sides of the fence upon which to unleash your snark.

17. Matt said the following at 9:34 AM on Jan 24:

I can't disagree with you more. I like dirty ragged looking puppies. I like muddy puppies and I like sleeping puppies. I like bad puppies that steal people-food. I can't believe you would take such a firm stance on an issue like this. You Boundless authors... UGH.

Matt

18. John said the following at 11:15 AM on Jan 24:

It's climage change. The temps are getting colder, so libs have to change the words to not look AS stupid.

I love the post about methane, that's the enemy, kill the cows, then the puppies!

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KevinJames/2008/01/21/global_warming_the_all-purpose_farce_to_control_your_life

http://jevica2003.townhall.com/Default.aspx?mode=post&g=a657c785-4d74-4296-9a81-493692524c40

http://blogassault.townhall.com/Default.aspx?mode=post&g=f692c26b-46fc-4cfc-8aa1-741fd9b072d8

19. Matthew said the following at 2:23 PM on Jan 24:

Chris K,
but... it's not satire. Nor is it reductio ad absurdum, really, since it's not particularly absurd to distrust someone's arguments for any of the reasons that Ted mentioned (except for the Russian thing, which isn't that funny anyway.) Trust me, I love a good joke at my (or my camp's) expense-- c'mon, I read The Door and Lark News. I just didn't think it was funny.

Now, if he had said something like, "Have you ever seen how dogs pant? They must exhale a lot of CO2 when they pant. We should sign the KyFido protocol to eliminate dogs and thus prevent global warming." That would be satirical and reductio ad absurdum.

And Ted, I tried to deal with the facts in my second paragraph because last time you blogged about global warming you complained that no one actually responded to the overwhelming evidence against global warming from astute scientific authorities like the Pope. I guess we just can't satisfy you. : )

20. Rhonda said the following at 5:45 PM on Jan 24:

We are in an ice age. Currently. Anyone notice the glaciers? Aware of the North and South poles?

(Seriously, we're coming out of an Ice Age.)

21. Andrew (tlw) said the following at 8:01 PM on Jan 24:

Given the impending likelihood of governments imposing carbon taxes on their citizens, I think your piece contributes enormously by identifying a group who, until now, have gotten off scot-free.

I’m talking of course, about cute puppies, lovable cats, mischievous budgies, and household pets of all kinds. Animals whose main activities seem to be eating, sleeping and demanding attention.

I mean to say. We expect our children to grow up, get jobs, and go to work to pay their taxes. Why should our pets get all that free time off to howl at the moon and create mess and havoc in the garden? At our expense, no less? It’s time they did their share.

The lack of an opposable thumb, or coming from a non-English barking background, has nothing to do with it. These animals are plainly lazy.

Everybody has a role to play. If we’re at all serious about saving the plant, we should start thinking about how we can all contribute.

And I know just what you’re thinking right now … where is my Rover going to get work? He is so terribly unskilled. He’s going to have a lot of trouble getting an entry level job.

But what I do know is this. Our heroic government stands ready to take all reasonable measures to get your pets up to speed. And if it comes to it, they can serve their country by joining up the newly created National Animal Corp.

I foresee a time when your pets will gain enormous satisfaction by putting in a good few hours digging corn rows for seeding, herding sheep, or perhaps supplying fertiliser for food production. Well, all that ethanol to run our Humvees has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it?

You know, if children have to go to school, then animals will just have to get with the program and do their share.

There’s be no more lazing around, looking cute for years on end. It’ll be off to school as soon as they’re spayed and trained to use a litter box.

And if Rover has to file with the IRS and get himself a job, well, that’s just the price that must be paid to save the planet … one paw at a time.

22. John said the following at 8:03 AM on Jan 25:

The Pope and the scientists who fought to have their names removed from the IPCC, the british documentary, hundreds of climatologists, etc, etc.

The Pope is in good company:)

23. Eric said the following at 8:47 AM on Jan 25:

You do know that puppies are completely carbon neutral, right?

The only carbon dioxide that matters in climate change is that released from long term storage mechanisms in the Earth system, like coal, petroleum, tar sands, methyl hydride deposits, carbonate rocks, volcanic degassing etc. Puppy exhalations are simply returning C02 to the atmosphere that had been sequestered by plants a few months to a few years before (not to mention in volumes that are irrelevant to the debate).

So to all cute puppy owners out there, you can think that they're adorable without remorse.

In all seriousness, while this Russion researcher may be correct about the magnitude of the change in insolation the planet is going to experience, that is only one of many factors affecting the behavior of the climate system. We don't yet fully understand how they interact, so it could get colder, or it could get warmer... or it could get colder in the mid-21st Century, only to end the century even warmer than ever before.

24. Matthew said the following at 1:08 PM on Jan 25:

I must be totally out of it, John. I tried to make a joke and I got a serious response. Sheesh. I give up.

I do like the idea about making dogs work. That would be a much better use of their time than licking my face when I'm trying to take a nap on the couch.

25. John said the following at 10:09 AM on Jan 26:

As well you should. It was a bad joke.