The Winter Olympics in Vancouver could be affected by a shortage of the most essential winter sports ingredient as a result of the warmest January on record.
However, the sea lions of the Galapagos Islands aren’t complaining. They’ve extended their range to northern Peru for the first time.
Would be fair to mention that the US is currently suffering the worst snow storms in living memory wouldn’t it?
Snow storms are weather. Sustained warming which enables seals to expand their habitat is climate.
Totally unfair, in fact. The massive snow originated in the takeup of extra moisture into the air over the Gulf of Mexico. This air got shovelled north and became snow. The additional moisture in the air is entirely consistent with global warming.
Warm air holds more moisture than cold air.
Ignore the concern troll, people.
So it’s not a communist plot but a sea lion one?
I for one welcome our new sea lion overlords.
Yep, it’s when you see animals’ habitat ranges changing; expanding in the case of the seals, reducing in the case of Poley bears, that you’re seeing indisputable evidence of climate change.
Expanding tree growth times, changes in butterfly migrations, and so on are happening regardles of what the denialists say.
To paraphrase old G Galilei, Yet still, it warms.
In furious agreement with your first para, Brett Coster.
As a trained and practicing biologist I’ve attended numerous conference seminars which document range shifts across a variety of animal and plant species. Further, the proportion of these presentations across conferences seems to be on the increase (note that I am not referring to conferences with a specific climate-change theme here, rather gatherings which share only broad meta-themes such as molecular biology, mammalian biology zoological ecology etc).
Its this unexplained ignorance of a significant aspect of the climate change debate which annoys me most. It appears that the primary objections from sceptics and ‘believers’ alike revolve around climate modelling (the limitations of which are understood within scientific communities) yet completely ignore the tangible biological effects which are rarely disputed and therefore controversy free.
The Winter Olympics may be about El Nino. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009443185_bluebox10m.html.
Which is not to say that the situation is also associated with Climate Change.
Geoff @8, good link! Did you notice the short time intervals between El Nino events these days? We hardly get over the effects of the last one, when we are hit with another…
“VANOC says it has invested in snowmaking machines and snow movers and will stockpile snow if need be. It wouldn’t say how much money was invested in the backup plan.”
Good job nobody counts these costs for long-run climate adaption. It’s only the Winter Olympic Games anyway, so it doesn’t really matter…
“El Nino also presents potential problems for the Northwest fishing industry. NOAA says warmer oceans can lead to a reduction in the seafood catch off the West Coast, and fewer fish can also impact food sources for several types of birds and marine mammals.”
Good job the Northwest fishing industry isn’t that important either, for long-run adaption costs. Monckton could pay for it out of petty change from his speaking fees?
Incidentally, I wonder if the seals turning up on the coast of Peru are hungry? Maybe that is partly why they have extended their range?
The comment @ 3 illustrates the complexity of it all. The scientists know something is up but because the models can’t predict everything the polluters can forever say ….”prove it!” What Two-sided Tony can’t deal with is the fact that it is a risk management exercise and the so-called-’conservatives’ need to seriously consider their every step very carefully if they are to capture the young vote or they will disappear without a trace.
THE WORLD TURNS…..
They should also remember that their every pronouncement is captured on the internet for all time, and will serve as testament to their inaction decades hence.
What did you do, Pop? Ah, forget it, I’ll google it.
“Geoff @8, good link! Did you notice the short time intervals between El Nino events these days? We hardly get over the effects of the last one, when we are hit with another…”
Really? It’s always seemed to me that they’re years apart and I’m not aware of any change in the trend.
sr @5: “So it’s not a communist plot but a sea lion one?” Yep. Stalin looked like a walrus. Personally the arrogant expressions on the faces of sea lions remind me of Trotsky. Watch out.
Geoff @ 12, then you haven’t been watching the data.
Have a look at the area under the curve, for red and blue, pre-1980 to post-1980. Have a look at the number of high red peaks over time.
Brett@6 exactly
Eppur si scalda
The winter is coming and it is going to be colder every year because of global warming..
Sam @ 16 is not me.
Elise @ 9, how the fuck do you stockpile snow? What with summer and everything.
I think either I’ve missed a very subtle joke (because of the bottle of red that’s gone down my neck) or there are some seriously deluded Canadians out there.
David, I assume you stockpile snow by putting it in a big pile so it doesn’t melt as easily as it would if you spread it out over the snow runs.
I wasn’t only warm in Vancouver in January, but all over or more precisely the global-average lower tropospheric temperature anomaly January, 2010 was the warmest January in the 32-year satellite-based data record.
This image is the best I can find on ENSO. It seems that it changed from about 1977. As I recall they are not sure why and whether it is going to continue in the present pattern.
@David…didn’t they used to transport ice in massive blocks in the age of ships by wrapping them in a layer of woodchips? There are some really really odd ways of keeping things warm.
They probably did, tssk. I remember my grandmother talking about ice-houses. (She grew up in North Dakota, I think.) I’m pretty sure the ice didn’t last all summer, though.
tssk @20, I seem to recall reading that they had buildings with multiple walls and insulation layers, and multiple airlock doors.
Worked quite well, and they made a squillion selling the ice until some ratbag invented refrigeration technology…
The ice kings went bust in a spectacularly short amount of time, despite trying their best to undermine the new technology, with a determined rearguard action:
- claims that it was “unnatural, unhealthy,…”, etc, etc
- attempts to lock up distribution networks, exclusive supply contracts and efforts to block sales
- attempts to get legislation banning the dangerous new machines
- attempst to buy up and shut down fledgling fridge manufacturers
Etc, etc. They tried every deviant thing to try and block progress, in the name of their own profits of course. Didn’t work in the end. Thankfully.
Still no snow in Vancouver. And the Opposition Organ’s sports reporters aren’t toeing the house line on reporting such inconvenient truths.
I’m on the other side of the country to Vancouver but it has been a surprisingly warm winter to date. At least in my little section of the country.
What has also surprised me is the complete lack of anything about the Olympics. I’m a Sydneysider who was in Sydney for the games and I remember the constant discussions in day to day conversations. Keeping in mind that it was the host city, I am surprised by the lack of talk about the Olympics. I guess it doesn’t help when the main story in these neck of the woods is the military commander who is a suspected serial killer after being charged with two murders and two sexual assaults.
Maybe VANOC just needs to have a chat to Obama and asked Biden to bring some snow with him from DC.