Have you noticed lately there's been a rather big shift in attitudes towards climate change?
Two years ago, there was a huge groundswell of support for the theory that global Warming equals climate change. It's been a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change almost unanimously agreed climate change is happening and humans are making a significant contribution.
But there have been a lot of opposing views from equally credible sources, so for a lot of us it's become very confusing. Who and what do we believe?
One thing is for sure, climate change is nothing new. It's been going on since time began and this is yet another spanner in the works.
A good example happened in our own backyard not that long ago. In 1991, Mt Pinatubo in the Philippines erupted and created a sulphuric acid haze that reached into the stratosphere.
Immediately, it spread further through the atmosphere and within two months, the ash was affecting most of the world.
It actually impacted Australia, with more vivid and dramatic sunsets and sunrises. That happens when light from the sun passes through the atmosphere and scatters off the added particles, creating brighter colours.
But the real impact was felt over a much larger area. It's thought for two years after the Mt Pinatubo eruption, the world's climate actually cooled, because the large ash clouds refected heat back into space.
So in theory, the climate changed, but unlike the current thinking, it was without any human intervention.
History has many similar tales to tell. In 1783, Benjamin Franklin noticed after a vocanic eruption in Iceland, sunlight directed through a magnifying glass no longer set fire to a piece of paper.
In 1815, after a huge eruption near Borneo, they went through a period known as "the year without summer", again because of the cooling affect of the volcanic ash.
So the debate goes on, but in many ways a lot of this is certainly nothing new.
Comments
Absolutely right Hotalling! Anyone who has studied geology knows that you are 100% correct. Australia is a boom and bust environment. Our rivers only flowed when there was sufficient in the season to do so hence why our native fish (murray cod etc) live in deep pools along the river system because they were used to dry spells without the river flowing. Man made weirs keep the rivers flowing 24/7 now and if they stop everyone thinks the world is coming to an end!
Apr 18 07:28 pmIt is a common misconception that Australia's rivers are supposed to flow all year every year, but up until weirs were built for irrigation etc, the so called greenies who bleat about the ruination of the Murray Darling system forget or simply just don't know that the river systems before Europeans arrived only flowed or flooded when there was a wet season (boom). I am sick to death of these types of misconceptions being used by the warm and fuzzy brigade to indicate how sick our planet
Apr 18 07:35 pmBetween 1885 and 1960 the Murray-Darling River dried up on 48 occasions. And the Murrumbidgee River stopped flowing from 1838 to 1842, and then there was the Federation drought of 1895 to 1903. Google the Australian Bureau of Statistics "Darling River dried up on 48 occasions,” and “The Murrumbidgee River stopped flowing for two years”.
Apr 19 04:50 pmBetween 1885 and 1960 the Murray-Darling River dried up on 48 occasions. And the Murrumbidgee River stopped flowing from 1838 to 1842, and then there was the Federation drought of 1895 to1903. Google the Australian Bureau of Statistics "Darling River dried up on 48 occasions,” and “The Murrumbidgee River stopped flowing for two years”.
Apr 19 04:54 pmTake the soaring 47.2C (117.F) temperature in Mildura on January 10, 1939. Marble Bar Western Australia, experienced heat-waves of over 38°C (100°F) that lasted 162 days, from October 23, 1923 to April 7, 1924. The highest ever recorded temperature was at Al Aziziyah, Libya, 58°C (136.4°F) September 13, 1922.
Apr 19 05:00 pm