Those meddling kids
The recent release of the "State of the Rockies Report Card" from Colorado College sparked some serious thought here in ski country about the potential for a decreased ski season due to global warming. I myself was skeptical when I read the Vail Daily article set in 2085 with a sickening description of a three month ski season and snow only at the top of Vail Mountain.
After a year of near record snowfall, I wasn't about to let some punk kids from Colorado College keep me up late worrying about the possible effects of global warming. Of course, the alleged effects are much more catastrophic to plant life, wildlife, and the over-all ecosystem, but my privileged, spoiled, and selfish mentality could not handle the thought of less than 400 inches of snowfall in a year. I decided to do some investigation; I called up the report and hammered through the gory details.
The report was certainly compelling. They cited lots of scientific analysis and had all these graphs and color coded charts, not to mention the results of research from scientists using complex computer models (they're pretty damn tough to argue). My skepticism was brought to near extinction when I finished reading. My blood pressure then proceeded to rise faster than the mean global surface temperature from 1976 to 2085.
The EPA claims (and Colorado College agrees) that the Earth's temperature has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past one hundred years. This was the number that kept my global warming anxiety relatively calm for years because I figured at this rate it would be a good four or five hundred years before we had real problems. However, the CC report predicts a temperature increase in the Rocky Mountain region of 3 to 10 degrees Celsius (that's 5 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit and I have no idea what that is in Kelvin so don't even ask). I still find it hard to believe that over the past century we've risen 1 stinkin' degree (Fahrenheit) and now we're going to skyrocket 5 to 18 over the next. However, they certainly did a hell of a lot more research than me and they probably had better technology at their disposal than a free Fahrenheit to Celsius converter from NOAA.GOV.
Irregardless (that's a word right?), we've most likely got some problems. Like most American's however, my personal problems rival in importance those of mankind so I guess I'll just fill my tank up with another fifty bucks worth and hope those kids at Colorado College forgot to carry a one.
After a year of near record snowfall, I wasn't about to let some punk kids from Colorado College keep me up late worrying about the possible effects of global warming. Of course, the alleged effects are much more catastrophic to plant life, wildlife, and the over-all ecosystem, but my privileged, spoiled, and selfish mentality could not handle the thought of less than 400 inches of snowfall in a year. I decided to do some investigation; I called up the report and hammered through the gory details.
The report was certainly compelling. They cited lots of scientific analysis and had all these graphs and color coded charts, not to mention the results of research from scientists using complex computer models (they're pretty damn tough to argue). My skepticism was brought to near extinction when I finished reading. My blood pressure then proceeded to rise faster than the mean global surface temperature from 1976 to 2085.
The EPA claims (and Colorado College agrees) that the Earth's temperature has risen about 1 degree Fahrenheit in the past one hundred years. This was the number that kept my global warming anxiety relatively calm for years because I figured at this rate it would be a good four or five hundred years before we had real problems. However, the CC report predicts a temperature increase in the Rocky Mountain region of 3 to 10 degrees Celsius (that's 5 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit and I have no idea what that is in Kelvin so don't even ask). I still find it hard to believe that over the past century we've risen 1 stinkin' degree (Fahrenheit) and now we're going to skyrocket 5 to 18 over the next. However, they certainly did a hell of a lot more research than me and they probably had better technology at their disposal than a free Fahrenheit to Celsius converter from NOAA.GOV.
Irregardless (that's a word right?), we've most likely got some problems. Like most American's however, my personal problems rival in importance those of mankind so I guess I'll just fill my tank up with another fifty bucks worth and hope those kids at Colorado College forgot to carry a one.
posted by John Poole at 8:12 PM
1 Comments:
Hard to argue with science. I wasn't sure about irregardless so I looked it up myself: Usage Note: Irregardless is a word that many mistakenly believe to be correct usage in formal style, when in fact it is used chiefly in nonstandard speech or casual writing. Coined in the United States in the early 20th century, it has met with a blizzard of condemnation for being an improper yoking of irrespective and regardless and for the logical absurdity of combining the negative ir- prefix and -less suffix in a single term. Although one might reasonably argue that it is no different from words with redundant affixes like debone and unravel, it has been considered a blunder for decades and will probably continue to be so.
I will keep using debone and unravel but won't pick up irregardless.
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