Ended up with about 6" of snow. More snow on the ground right now (spring) than at any time during the entire winter!
Regarding the Antarctic ice shelf news below, an interesting piece in yesterday's SmartTimes:
[ Begin quoted story about the article in the New York Times - SmartTimes is at http://www.smartertimes.com ]
The Times reports that "many experts said it was getting harder to find
any other explanation" of the ice-shelf breakup other than the buildup
of greenhouse gas emissions "that scientists believe are warming the
planet."
Well, just to put the matter in context, have a look at John Muir's 1879
essay "The Discovery of Glacier Bay."
Muir writes: "Glacier Bay is undoubtedly young as yet. Vancouver's
chart, made only a century ago, shows no trace of it, though found
admirably faithful in general. It seems probable, therefore, that even
then the entire bay was occupied by a glacier of which all those
described above, great through they are, were only tributaries. Nearly
as great a change has taken place in Sum Dum Bay since Vancouver's
visit, the main trunk glacier there having receded from eighteen to 25
miles from the line marked on his chart. Charley, who was here when a
boy, said that the place had so changed that he hardly recognized it, so
many new islands had been born in the meantime and so much ice had
vanished. As we have seen, this Icy Bay is being still farther extended
by the recession of the glaciers. That this whole system of fiords and
channels was added to the domain of the sea by glacial action is to my
mind certain."
Maybe it was greenhouse gas emissions back in 1879 that caused the
creation of Glacier Bay in Alaska. After all, the antipollution rules
were a lot less strict then than they are now. And maybe the
developments in Antarctica are indeed unprecedented and worthy of
top-of-the-front-page treatment by the New York Times. It certainly has
been a warm winter here in New York. But a bit more skepticism and
historical perspective is probably in order here.
[End quoted story]
Thursday, March 21, 2002
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