global cooling
by Emma Onom
Published: January 29, 2008
One of the hottest debates of this day and age is, of course, global warming. It is a fascinating topic, because it gets everyone infuriated one way or another, but few people really have any facts. Each time someone rants about whether or not this extreme warming trend exists, the same arguments are thrown out, with little variation.
This article is no exception.
I don’t believe global warming exists, even if there is a pollution fact thrown in here or there. In fact, sometimes I sit in my car, talking on the phone with the heater on, just because I want to. Did I mention the car is IDLING for minutes at a time??
In all my years of being alive and trying to care about the environment, I’ve never heard a statistic I can believe. People love to tout just how hot our summers have become over the last fifty years, ever since our lust for the Hummer began. “Today ties the record for the hottest July 14th since 1904! Don’t forget to bike to work today, people.”
There are two points to consider here: First, our lust for the Hummer and the SUV didn’t really come until the 1990s, and I haven’t seen much data that the world’s thermometer broke during that time. Second, all these “record breaking summer temperatures” are breaking HEAT records set many ages ago. It was hot then, cooler in the middle, then hot again now… Wait, am I talking about some sort of delicious panini sandwich, or does it seem the earth has some sort of cycle it goes through?
I’d bring up the whole Ice Age thing here and data about how there was some sort of cycle back then too - and how the world (or especially obnoxious Ice Age poop) cooled down on its own over a few thousand years and we’ve managed to heat it to boiling point in a few decades - but I think it’s been said a time or two.
One thing that I find interesting is that global warming is even being brought up right now. In the summer when it’s hot because the earth has a fever, it’s natural to feel like things are worse than usual. But in the wintertime, when I’m driving to work and can’t see 100 feet in front of me because of blowing, horizontal snow in my face, global warming isn’t on the top of my mind.
The global warming fad was on my mind, however, as I sat watching the NFC Championship game last week between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers. Players and fans alike had icicles hanging from every orifice as they endured blazing-23 degree weather. I thought for a moment that these people may have never even thought about how hot their world is becoming, but then I saw Coach Tom Coughlin and his face, which had turned beet red from sunburn.
Or maybe he was getting frostbite.
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