Setting the Record Straight

Fifth grader sought to act as resource and provide basic science lessons. Good grammar and spelling a plus. 

Are you smarter than (or at least as smart as) a fifth grader? If so, you probably know the difference between "weather" and "climate." In case, however, you find yourself having a senior moment and wouldn't mind a little refresher, here's a brief one courtesy of good ol' Webster's New World College Dictionary:

weather (weth' er)  n. 1 the general condition of the atmosphere at a particular time and place, with regard to the temperature, moisture, cloudiness, etc.

climate (kli' met) n. 1 the prevailing or average weather conditions of a place, as determined by the temperature and meteorological changes over a period of years.

Oh, and one more:

global (glo' bel)  adj. 1 round like a ball; globe-shaped 2 of, related to, or including the whole earth; worldwide.

Why the science refresher course? Well, in addition to serving as a useful primer for any readers who might be contemplating a tryout for the popular TV game show hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy, a review of these definitions might just provide a little assistance to some state lawmakers who recently made the mistake of attempting to speak out on an important subject without first checking their old elementary school text books.

The lawmakers in question are State Senator Andrew Brock of Mocksville and his House colleague, Representative John Blust of Greensboro, and the subject is global climate change. Brock, among other things, runs the borderline extremist website, "Wake Up America" and is the Senate's up and coming prince of malapropisms. Blust is a conservative lawyer and loyal water carrier for the market fundamentalist cause who, to his credit, retains a sense of humor and a willingness to try and engage in serious debate on occasion.

This past week, in an apparent (but failed) attempt at humor and pseudoscience, the two men sought to use the recent cold snap that has affected parts of the U.S. as grounds to urge Senate President Pro Tem Basnight and House Speaker Hackney to disband a House-Senate study group known as the Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change. 

Open mouth, insert foot

Here is Brock's original email:

"From: Sen. Andrew C. Brock
Sent: Wed 1/6/2010 2:29 PM
To: @All Exchange Users
Subject: Dismissal of commission

Speaker Joe Hackney and President Pro Tem Marc Basnight,

Hope you are staying warm as we are experiencing one of the coldest winters on record. I will add with new discoveries that information used in Global warming studies were altered for false representation of climate data.

At this time in our state's economy it is imperative that we be wise stewards of the Taxpayers' money.  With that being said, I call for the immediate dismissal of the Global Warming Commission.  It has not produced any reports or information during its four years of existence, only costing taxpayers an exorbitant amount of money.

Thank you,

Andrew"

To which, Blust quickly added:

"From: Rep. John M. Blust
Sent: Wed 06-Jan-10 4:23 PM
To: Sen. Andrew C. Brock; @All Exchange Users
Subject: RE: Dismissal of commission
 
Can the global warming commission provide any advise (sic) for staying warm and for how I can pay for my humongous heating bill?"

And finally, Brock again:

"Also can a commission that was passed into Legislation as Global Warming Commission legally change its name to Climate Change Commission? 

For NC, please cancel the meeting schedule next week before the taxpayers have to pay all these people (many of which do not take mass transit) to travel to Raleigh.

Senator Andrew C. Brock"

Setting the record straight

First of all, it's not clear what Brock is talking about when it comes to his beef about the name of the Commission.  The legislation that created it in 2005 dubbed it the "Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change" and that's what it appears to be called today.   

Regardless of such details, however, the Brock/Blust emails will undoubtedly be dismissed by Senator Basnight and Speaker Hackney as the drivel and lame attempts at humor that they are. Indeed, if that were all there was to this story, they wouldn't even deserve any further attention. Unfortunately, the sad truth is that these emails are symptomatic of a bigger and more dangerous problem - namely, that many people (some in positions of power) actually think this way!

From Fox News to the market fundamentalist think tanks, the notion that that short-term incidents of cold weather somehow disprove the phenomenon of global warming and climate change continues to rear its ugly head. It's a brand of "logic" that's as scary as it is shallow.

Remember, the point of Brock's and Blust's emails is that North Carolina should halt its study of the issue. This is like calling for an end to public studies of child abuse because the number of cases in one jurisdiction dropped for a few weeks.

Of course in fairness, unlike child abuse, Brock and Blust see the recent cold weather as proof that climate change and global warming aren't even taking place.

So, one more time, for the lawmakers' benefit (and anyone else whose attention may have wandered), here's a quick and useful refresher from the website "UN Dispatch":

"Weather is the conditions in the atmosphere in a certain place during a certain time. Weather is always changing.

Climate is what the weather is generally like over long periods of time, such as years or decades in a particular area. A place that has little rainfall has a dry climate, and a place that has high temperatures has a hot climate.

Climate, obviously, is what the scientific community is worried about…The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was formed in 1988, and, ever since then, they've published periodic reports that represent the consensus view of thousands of climate scientists. These are some of the most peer-reviewed papers in scientific history. Everyone in their right mind believes these reports. In fact, they receive a lot of flak for being too conservative, as they tend to be quite cautious in their findings and predictions (as scientists are wont to be).  

The most recent IPCC report came to these conclusions:

Warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

Observational evidence from all continents and most oceans shows that many natural systems are being affected by regional climate changes, particularly temperature increases.

Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations.

There is high agreement and much evidence that with current climate change mitigation policies and related sustainable development practices, global GHG emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades…. In short, the last IPCC report signals that the scientific debate is over and has been for quite a while. We have changed our planet, and that change will have dire consequences. 

…We are already beginning to see the consequences of a lack of action — rising sea levels, droughts, increased storm activity. The list goes on.  We can't yet say with 100 percent certainty that these are a direct result of increased global temperatures, but we do know for sure that we'll be seeing more of the same in the future if we don't turn the corner. People will die because of something that these people are using as a yuk-yuk one liner. And, if you don't care about that, it will devastate the world economy, as the Stern Review makes plain."

In other words…

There are at least three facts worth taking away from the discussion of this matter:

1)    Despite overall planetary warming, it will still get cold in winter.

2)    The reality of human-caused global climate change and the need to study it and do something about it ought to be clear to anyone as smart as a fifth grader.

3)    Maybe it's time to send some people in positions of authority back to school.   

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 at 10:15 am and is filed under Setting the Record Straight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.