So, the IPCC is terrorising the population again with their
tales of impending climate catastrophe! It’s not just climate-change or
global-warming, there
is a climate catastrophe coming our way!
'We're doomed, we're all doomed!'
Ok, before you all head for the hills, or loot the local
supermarket to stock up for the Armageddon that is, supposedly, just around the
corner, let me just say, don't panic, don't panic!
When it comes to global-warming, because I believe in global
warming, I know you thought I didn’t but it is a real thing and the amazing
thing is, I figured it out all by myself!
Woo hoo! So, just to set your mind at rest, here is how it
works and this is all you need to know about it - every day the sun comes up
and warms the earth, and here is the important bit, every night the sun goes
down and the earth cools down again. See, simple, really
when you think about it!
Ok everyone, panic over, relax, drop your shoulders and
breathe! Aaaahhhhhh...now let's be realistic about this, what difference
would 1.5 degrees really make in your life or the life of the planet?
Little or no difference because no matter how hot is gets during the day, that
temperature never stays the same and even when it is hot, it's only hot for a
few hours because that temperature goes up and down every day, up and down,
changing all the time because that's the thing about the temperature, it is
seldom the same in any two places for very long.
'But it was really hot this year and not just here but in other
places?' I hear you say. Yes, it was hot, it was summer, and we had a
good one, for a change! I remember we had one
back in 1995 and in 1976, and back in the day, when we got a hot summer or a
bit hotter than average(?!) we called them 'heatwaves'. Someone even
wrote a song about them, you may know it, 'We're having a heatwave, a tropical
heatwave! The temperature's rising, it isn't surprising...because it was
the summer, that’s why! Maybe the IPCC could adopt it as their theme
tune. This is a bit like the hurricane Harvey terror of 2017, there was a
hurricane in a place called Hurricane Alley at a time called hurricane
season! I know! Go figure??!!
But, back to global-warming/climate change. Back in the
middle-ages, the earth went through a warming period, it was so warm, the Danes
were living and farming on Greenland, see, the clue is in the name, 'green'
land. Logic would dictate that if the Danes were able to farm on
Greenland then the Arctic ice must also have been gone. Did the world
drown in 100 metre sea rises? No, it didn't, because even if the ice
poles melt, the sea will only rise by about 8 inches. If you think about
this logically, it makes sense too. The Arctic is ice and the majority of
that ice is under the water. Now, when water freezes, it expands so if
the ice melts in the Arctic, it will contract, so won't really add that much to
the oceans. Antarctica is bigger than the Arctic but it is a continent,
land with ice on it but again like the rest of the planet, it goes through
seasons so even if it warms up a bit in the summer, it will cool down and
freeze again in the winter. Also, a recent report from Antarctica
identified that the ice in Antarctica was melting from underneath not from
above. It was melting because of volcanic activity below the ice, not
temperature rises above the ice.
So, there we go, panic over, nothing to worry about here...well,
apart from pollution from plastic, species loss, fishing the oceans dry,
incompetent leaders, deforestation, junk food, fake news, obesity... Oh, and
you are doomed, sorry about the bad news but we are all going to die, some day,
maybe even today! But then again, maybe not, so to leave you on a happier
note, while we are here, lets live a little or live a lot, if you can, enjoy
each day as it comes and if you are really worried about the planet, then plant
some flowers or a tree or two, then sit back, relax and enjoy the day for what
it is and don't worry about the earth. It
has survived worse than mankind and will in all probability outlive us too.
Ok, panic over, resume your positions and carry on…