[MD] Clouds

[Dan Glover]

>From: "Case" <Case at iSpots.com>
>Reply-To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
>To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
>Subject: Re: [MD] Clouds
>Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 15:31:42 -0500
>
>[Platt]
> > How come the world was hotter during the Middle Ages?
>
>[SA]
>Where did you source this from?  I've been hearing that the hottest years 
>on
>record have been within the last 10-15 years.  I'm open to the actual 
>facts,
>so, if you have a more accurate source I'd like to see for myself, thanks.
>
>[Case]
>The period of warming Platt refers to was followed by the Little Ice Age in
>Europe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period
>
>The vital point Platt misses is that climate is a chaotic system.
>Disturbances in the system can have far reaching, unpredictable and long
>lasting effects. Since what we are talking about, climate, is basic to all
>life on the planet it would seem that knowingly mucking about it would be
>regarded as a bad thing.

[Dan]
It has nothing to do with climate being a chaotic system. Platt has been 
outright deceived if he actually believes the Middle Ages were warmer than 
now. It is simply not true. The polar icecaps obviously did not melt. Nor 
did the glaciers that are fast disappearing around the globe.

We are talking globally now. It is true that during the Middle Ages some 
regions experienced a warming trend and even the southern shorelines of 
Greenland were free of ice. But the icecap that covers the inland continued 
to grow. Now it is melting and will be completely gone in just a few 
decades. For more information:

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/globalwarming/medieval.html

Here is a particularly telling quote:

"What records that do exist show is that there was no multi-century periods 
when global or hemispheric temperatures were the same or warmer than in the 
20th century."

So what can we do, you ask. Well, actually no one has asked but regardless 
there are some options open to us all. To be continued...