Another storm is bearing down on New England today, with up to 18 inches of snow expected in southeastern Massachusetts. Other areas within the storm’s target area can expect up to 10 inches. It may also affect the turnout at tomorrow’s NH primary as folks may choose to stay home rather than venture out into single-digit temperatures to cast their votes. One Massachusetts resident is wondering when global warming is going to kick in.
A custodian for the U.S. Postal Service, Sean Nardone, told the Associated Press that he doesn’t like the snow very much, and hopes “global warming friggin’ helps out this winter.” Not wanting to sound “selfish,” Nardone simply wants a little warmth after the recent storms this winter. Even Punxsutawney Phil of Groundhog Day fame predicted an early spring a few weeks back.
But compared to last year, which broke records across New England for snowfall accumulations, this winter is turning out to be a walk in the park thanks to a naturally occurring El Niño that affects the climate globally. Instead of having a wretched, bitter cold winter, El Niños give the Northern Hemisphere a break from normally frigid temps. This has the effect of skewing temperatures warmer, much to the chagrin of global warming alarmists.
But Nardone may not realize that NASA and NOAA have already declared 2015 to be the hottest year ever, and expect 2016 to be just as warm. How much warmer? About 0.5 degrees Celsius globally. If that sounds like small potatoes, that’s because the instruments that measure temperatures have higher margins or error. They also base their forecasts and proclamations on computer simulations (or models), where if the data doesn’t fit, you just don’t quit.
As James Wanliss of the Patriot Post noted in an op-ed today: “Huge sums have been thrown at studying global warming, nowhere more than at NASA, whose annual budgets for that alone now tally in the billions. Given lavish funding to blame global warming on human carbon dioxide emissions, NASA has done just that.”
He goes on to say that the biggest problem is that the observable data doesn’t match the computer simulations. The alarming warming one keeps hearing about is more a figment of a modelers’ imagination than reality. “Their climate models simulate two to three times the observed warming,” he says. “And no models predicted that for about 20 years there’s been no warming apparent in NASA’s satellite records, the most reliable data source because it’s the least contaminated and least ‘adjusted.'”
Another New England resident, Raj Patel, likes winter storms as they bring customers in who like to stock up on everyday essentials like milk, bread, and water. And if they live nearby, they can just walk over instead of dealing with snow-covered roads and driving in blizzard-like conditions.
