I wouldn't give one worry to a water moccasin (cottonmouth); they just trying to get out of your way. I have never ever heard of anyone getting bit from one in a swimming hole around my parts. What is of SERIOUS concern to me now, for the first time in my life, is alligators. We NEVER had gators here as I grew up; it seems their northern march continues. We have them everywhere now, I've seen them up to 12' long. I see people swimming with kids, in the river and I know for a fact gators are all over that area cuz I see them when I go catfishing at night. The gators are smart, they wait till I leave the area in my boat and then steal my fish that get hooked on my limblines. They're in ponds, bayous, lakes, rivers, all over now. My best friend roped one crossing the road after it, apparently, left my aunt's pond. Rope didn't do it, it ain't no cow. Had to call game warden. It was 12' long, huge beast. Dog, cat, kid playing in shallow water, one chomp, gone.
That is true indeed. However, as for people noticing the difference, it takes 2 degrees to feel the difference.
Actually most of the official temperatures are taken at airports. But yes, for sure it gets hotter in the asphalt jungles.
Maybe.....but that's another thing we will never know one way or another, right? For only keeping weather records a bit over 100 years, its amazing the propaganda they come up with to serve the end result. I remember when we were told dinosaurs went extinct due to not enough food, disease, glaciers and just natural evolution! I am on the 5th theory of why there aren't any dinosaurs left (for the most part). There are way too many things that are shoved down our throats with "scientific search results" that are nothing more than theories to support someone's personal views. And that's fine. They have their views, I have mine!
Some are, a lot aren't. Downtown/uptown/airport temps always given on just about every cities radios.
I agree but still the official is still usually at the airport. One here is interesting. On NOAA for Saginaw you can look through the day and one temperature is given but the next day reading the official highs and lows they usually do not agree. The simple reason is that for some unknown reason, during the day they read it at Saginaw but officially it goes by the Tri-City airport near Freeland. (The name of that airport has changed but right now the name is not coming to me.)
I talked with my 91 year old neighbor about just this. I put a lot on what he says and really respect his opinions and knowledge. He said that he has noticed more of the cycles than just warming. He also said since the 50s a large part of the changes we have brought on ourselves by how we have physically changed at least the Northern Great Plains. The rain and erosion that has gotten so bad used to be controlled by farming practices forgotten long ago. He said at least 1/3 of the land actively tilled now never was years ago or it was rotated. Back with horse power he said most farms had 1/3 of the land into grass & hay for horses, cattle, sheep, ect. Before commercial fertilizer they planted 1/3 of the farm into clover and would cut it once then let it grow til fall and till it in as green fertilizer. Now he said with it all tilled all you have is black field and no good root structures to hold soil and no organics going back in and keeping the soil soft and full of food for the worms bug and bacteria that feed the next years crops. He also feels the damming of all the rivers has changed the ground water and these man made bodies of water attract atmospheric moisture and change how rains fall. He claimed when Garrison Dam was built and Lake Sakakawea filled in behind it that it has as many miles of shoreline as California has with the ocean they said touting the greatness of man conquering nature. Lastly he said he thinks the sun is stronger some years than others and not all changes can be controlled or caused by man and we need to live with nature instead of foolishly thinking we can control it and act with abandon. I think he is right.
This reminds me of some research done with the awful High Park Fires (not plains, but the land below the mountains). Long term drought was a drought, but it was exacerbated by the change in the land. What once was pasture and crops and had a cooling effect on the fronts coming over the mountains that would produce almost daily rain showers (I do remember those vividly, worked at an outdoor pool years and had to call the kids out like clockwork between 1 and 3 almost everyday for lightening), but as the pastures and fields became houses and asphalt, the cooling effect was gone, thus no rain showers on top of the drought. And I also saw it before my own eyes, the lights in the city were sparse besides a few large buildings, and now it looks like Los Angeles at night, the whole city is lit up. And ps yooperdave , our airport was moved, the news for years would report the "new official temp" AND the "unofficial temp) which was the previous airport.....
Me thinks when that big red ball in the sky wants to change the climate, on any of the planets in our solar system... it's gonna. Hard to get me head around but... the sun is 1,300,000 times (in volume) the size of our lil earth rock. And, our moon's gravity pulls hard enough on our oceans to create the changing tides, every 12 hours. Add to that, the earth's rotational axis changes over time, making entire areas on the planet go from warm to cold climates. This only scratches the surface. But one thing is for sure... and the $cience is $ettled... man will always figure out a way to scare folks into coughin' up their money... ...
But the Earth isn’t human. Take 33 degrees vs 31 degrees. You have liquid water and solid water with only 2 degrees difference
WOW what a day to pick to check the forum for the first time in a couple months! I'm one of the younger members here (35), but for me and my perspective, I have noticed a change. Its funny the OP mentioned burning less wood as I have thought the same thing. The 3 year plan may become the new 5 year plan! Anyways I believe the earth is cyclical and has natural changes and patterns. However I definitely believe we as a species have contributed to speeding the cycles up. Lots of the things people talk about are related to the climate change and they dont realize it. Pine beetles killing vast amounts of trees in the west (it doesnt get cold enough for long enough to kill them). Ticks in the east and popping up in places that never had them. Geese migrations or lack of, in my area there are more and more "resident" geese they don't have to fly as far to escape the cold. Watch the news during weather events and "100 year floods" are the new norm. Or someone saying "I have lived here all my life and never seen anything like this". Now this last part might upset some but I say it with respect and am not trying to offend anyone. I don't get or understand the non belief of climate change or the mentality of climate change being a money play? The fact that 97% of the people who do this day in and day out for a living agree that it is happening and we are playing a role in it should count for something. But say you choose not to believe them and say in 30 years we come to find out that they were wrong. What is the harm in bettering the planet? Less pollution, cleaner air, water, species of animals being saved from extinction, these are all good things. My children, your children, our grandkids will be in a better place isn't that something we all want? And on the money side of it who is it that stands to make all this money off climate change? Just look how much more we currently spend in disaster relief year after year. Look at the financial estimates of what it would cost us to pollinate plants if colony collapse keeps happening? The large corporations who currently make tons of money while not helping improve the planet are somehow better than one who implements cleaner, safer energy? They privatize the profits and socialize the losses, it happens time and time again. Ok, that is all. I hope when i sign back on in a few months I still have friends here . I am going to keep making changes to better myself and this planet to the best of my ability. Just be nice to people and the planet and we will all be in a better off place!
I’m all for a better planet, as long as I can afford it. I’m also very tired of being taxed more every time Chicken Little dreams up a new version of the sky is falling. There are so many billion and trillion dollar rackets being ran, it’s impossible to distinguish fact from fiction with 100% accuracy. A billion or a trillion buys lots of fiction.
I don't think theres been any significant change either. Some winters are warmer, some colder...same with summers. In the long run I don't think its changed at all. If anything, sometimes I feel like its shifted to the right a little...winter seems to start a little later and run a little later, but that might just be in my head. I think in the day and age of constant internet, news, social media...every single person carrying a high def camera in their pocket to snap pictures and videos of it, I think we are all much more subjected to the world events/weather...and I think that makes it seem like these terrible storm events are happening more often. Not that long ago (less than 20 years even) we did not have this type of technology...if a tornado devastated some place in Kansas or a flood hit some city somewhere, not everyone else would necessarily see/hear about it. I think thats playing a huge part in the overall psyche of everyone in making it appear things are getting worse. As for sea level rise - 50 years ago (even less) ocean front property was not as highly coveted as it is today...every square inch of ocean front property wasnt built on. Fast forward to 2020, you can't touch ocean front property, humans have filled every inch they can with structures. That too is making it seem like flooding/sea level rise is getting worse...theres buildings everywhere. Sea levels fluctuate, they go up and down with tides, moon phases, storms...flooding happens. Its just a big news worthy deal today because theres houses and people everywhere. Ive spent the last 12+ years on ships in ports on every corner of this planet, I have yet to see any ports that are underwater. They all still have piers, bollards and every other type of maritime structure right where they were built 50, 60, 70+ years ago. The sea level doesnt appear to be rising to me.
Just be nice to people and the planet and we will all be in a better off place!... bullseye. And just for the record... of course climate change is real. For billions of years. Both, when it warms and when it cools. As for the money part, if folks want to spend their extra money to save the planet, I think that's wonderful. It needs all the help it can get fighting pollution. But, when folks have their money taken from them, in the form of yet more taxes, to "save the planet"... not so great. I'm kinda short on the extra money part...
Our planet will become uninhabitable one way or another,whether it is from humans, asteroids, super volcanoes, nuclear fallout, aliens, colliding galaxies or some other calamities. Gary
Well I'm retired and I will say that the winters are warmer now. I live in southern New Hampshire and 40-50 years ago I never saw it rain during the winter but now it does at times. Don't get me wrong we still get some good storms and it does get cold but the snow doesn't seem to happen as often. I remember as a teenager going deer hunting and we always had tracking snow but now most deer seasons are bare ground. I am not a big believer in the climate is changing because of man's use of fossil fuels or this or that. 12,000 years ago the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered New Hampshire in at least 5,000 feetof ice and I doubt anyone was here burning fossil fuels, etc. Just seems like the earth has cycles where it warms up and cools down. Not saying I'm right. Just my opinion.
Don't forget about the little ice age period that gripped northern Europe, I believe sometime in the 1500s or 1600s. It made the Scandinavian countries almost unliveable and the Thames river in London was freezing with 2-3 feet of ice every winter. They probably thought it was the end of the world, but it was just one of nature's cycles.
