JohnJ80

If you like winter, it's pretty great. 9 months of winter followed by 3 months of road construction.

Vermont gets there too.

J.

alan s 

Think of the global impact of plants and insects on the planet. Why are you singling out human beings? Everywhere I look, plants and insects have taken over!!!

And anyway, the topic was the climate, not the oceans, lakes and wilderness areas.

tjspiel

I agree. Take away the plants and the climate would be much different.

You stated the idea that our actions could alter climate was preposterous. My point was to take a look at the very visible impacts we've already had on the environment and maybe it wouldn't be so hard to believe we've made substantial impacts that are less visible.

lostarchitect 

Wow. A lot of people think they know better than 97% of scientists. We really need better public education in this country.

tjspiel

Modern technology has allowed us to enjoy road construction nearly year round.

alan s 

97% of the scientists used to think the world was flat.

lostarchitect 

Not really, no. Perhaps long, long before "scientist" was a word, a majority of "learned men" thought so, but it has been known by the majority of said "learned men" since around the 3rd century BCE. Some unlearned people didn't understand the concept until much more recently, I suppose. It's probably a lot more like climate change than we'd suspect, in that way.

tjspiel

Back to the original question:

Yes I did ride this morning but this afternoon is going to be a game time decision. I left for work later than usual because I had to drop my daughter off at school and even by that time the trails/roads were slushy and icy. It's supposed to keep snowing into tomorrow. As for the duration of the vortex I expect to ride on most days barring another large snow event.

I will confess to being caught a little flat footed. I did a cursory cleanup of my winter bike last spring but since it was my first year using ATF inside my Alfine, I wanted to pull the hub apart to make sure all was OK before riding on it anymore. So the bike sat all summer and there was quite a bit of work to be done to get it ready in time for this morning. I did manage, but I'm a little sad that I didn't get a few weeks of riding on it before the studs went on. Plus I still have some brake work to do.

Looking at the forecast for the next 10 days, it looks like winter is here to stay. By the time the effects of the vortex move off, it will be about the time I'd normally start riding the winter bike anyway.

kickstart

Yes, the climate is changing, its always been changing.

Its the the conjecture about how our actions affect those changes, and its consequences that are in question, not that there's change.

TransitBiker

They are only "in question" to the fossil fuel, petro-distillates & automobile industry, because they depend on doubt to avoid obsolescence & big change. Literally, its not a debate, its not a mystery, its not a puzzle. We are causing warming due to carbon dioxide & methane emissions. It's scientific fact. You can -believe- whatever you want to, but belief is not fact.

Look, I can go on and on forever with facts and just have a grand old time doing it, but if you choose to ignore the facts, then i can't help you. It sucks what is going on, it's costing human lives every day. If you think we are better off lubricating our own slide into oblivion with the lives of those lost from a storm or wildfire that may not have been otherwise, then not only can i not help you, you should feel ashamed.

WATCH: Marshallese poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner speaking at the Climate Summit - UN Climate Summit 2014

Things will change regardless of your fact refusing beliefs, and you will benefit from those changes, as will your children and their children. I will fight this fight all day and all night long, even if you think me a fool for doing so. I ask myself this often, and perhaps you might want to start: what do YOU care about? Why? Will it make a difference to improve something? Am i being the change i want to see happen in the world?

- Andy

lostarchitect 

Andy,
They will change their minds soon enough. Even now you see Fox and the GOP starting to soften their stances. Previously it was a liberal conspiracy, now it's "I'm not a scientist." Pretty soon it will be recognized, and the propaganda will change, easing the doubters into it, and people like the ones you're talking to in this thread will forget they ever denied that climate change was real. Why the delay on the right wing? I don't know. Maybe the existing power companies wanted time to develop green tech? Wish I knew.

alan s 

Hey, many of have elevated CO2 and methane emissions when riding our bikes to work, but it's not fair to put so much blame on bike commuters.

kickstart

That's the problem with this issue, those who question the extreme points of view that is all a hoax, or that its the imminent end of life as we know it are faced with the your're-with-us-or-against-us mentality, and accused of lacking intelligence or morality.

velocity

Supposed to dip doen into the high 20's for one day here. I will ride in it because it will be dry. Cold yes but then I layer like a slayer...
V

achoo

Indeed.



Amazing. Today's CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is a bit under 400 ppm. Which is about as low as it's EVER been - CO2 concentrations have been as high as 7,000 ppm in the past.

Here's another:



NB that temperatures have little to do with atmospheric CO2 concentration.

achoo

Also note that the average temperature of the planet today is something like 12C. The "average average" is probably about 20C or higher, with the most common average temperature about 25C.

In geological time frames, the Earth doesn't have polar icecaps.

noglider 

Therefore, what? Scientists are full of more bunk than the average person? Maybe I don't get your point, but on the face of it, it's distrusting education and praising ignorance.

achoo

And now...

no motor?

Quick, someone mention helmets use, which type of chain lube is the best, guns and Wallyworld.

Fishmonger

I don't ride my bike to save the world. I do it because I enjoy it.

If the world is a little healthier because of me - awesome!

If I'm not making an ounce of difference because global warming is a hoax - awesome!

Shut up and ride! That's the only thing we can agree on, so go keep the peace. Ride.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go idle my car for 20 minutes so that my neighbors don't think I'm a weirdo.

achoo

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Ivar Giaever:

Climatologist and member of the 2007 Nobel Prize-winning IPCC John Christy:

PaulRivers

This was hilarious. "NOAA didn't predict last winter's extremes in last year's winter forecast."

The local weather here in Minnesota has these predictions for the rest of the week:
Tues: 27 / 8
Wed: 25 / 13
Thur: 25 / 6
Friday: 23 / 6
Sat: 24 / 4
Sun: 18 / 4
Mon: 16 / 2
Tues: 17 / 6
Wed: 17 / 7

Apparently the average high / low here -
https://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=USMN0503

Is 43 / 27.

The record lows are all around 0 degrees - 3, -1, -4, 0, 0, 1, -2, -5, -4...

So basically they're predicting temps right around the record setting coldest possible. Sigh.

achoo

Renowned scientist Freeman Dyson:

tjspiel

You might want to do a little research on Nasif Nahle before you take the above charts too seriously.

alan s 

Therefore, the general consensus can be wrong.

No one can prove there is global warming, global cooling or climate change taking place right now. Furthermore, even if you could prove it, no one can prove that human activity is the cause of it. Even if you could prove human activity is the cause of climate change, no one can prove that anything meaningful can be done to change it. To conclude, yes, the "chicken little scientists" are more full of bunk than the average person.