AP writer quotes a skeptic on blaming extreme weather on global warming

A road crew works to contain a fire alongside I-95. Sparks and tossed cigarettes often cause brush fires along highways. (Photo: The US Report)

You really don’t have to read what the Associated Press’ Seth Borenstein writes when he tackles global warming and weather.  Borenstein is fully in the camp of government bloc experts who blame carbon emissions every time there’s a weather-related disaster.

However, Borenstein actually quoted someone he disagrees with in a recent story, and that is something to note. There are a few assertions in his story worth noting and commenting on as well.

It’s not uncommon to hear a government-allied expert who may not be a scientist blame global warming for wildfires that turn out to be human caused,  or for catastrophes like Katrina. Katrina was preventable, but no one took steps to address engineering shortcomings ignored by local and state officials.  

Borenstein takes the usual “We told you so” approach about the wildfires in Colorado and the mega storm that cut a swath along the East Coast. What Borenstein didn't mention is that the wildfires in Colorado are currently being investigated as possible arson by the FBI and others.  

As for the storm that hit Washington, D.C., that’s not unprecedented. As a matter of fact the capital city as we know it would probably not look the same had it not been for extreme weather. U.S. forces were fighting British forces on Aug. 24, 1814. The heat ranged around 100 degrees.

The British aimed to capture Washington, payback after Canada’s capitol had burned. American officials had left Washington, and the British forces set fire to the city.

By the next day, fires were still burning when, according to The Washington Post, a storm began. The paper said, "As the storm neared the city, the winds began to increase dramatically and then built into a 'frightening roar.'"

The paper described a “small tornado” spinning from the storm:

Several buildings were lifted off of their foundations and destroyed. Other buildings were blown down or lost their roofs. Feather beds were blown out of homes and scattered about. Trees were uprooted, fences were knocked down, and the heavy chain bridge across the Potomac River was buckled and rendered useless. It was noted that cannons were tossed into the air.

Extreme weather anywhere in the world is nothing new. One day, government bloc experts will have to admit that and perhaps we can put all those billions of dollars to good use preparing for actual disasters that may imitate history.

As a matter of fact, the storm media refers to as a derecho is not uncommon even in Washington, as the website WattsUpWithThat? notes:

According to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, the Washington DC area gets a derecho about once every four years….

Borenstein missed that tidbit.

However, it is somewhat comforting to see the Associated Press actually include dissenting remarks, although you can tell it pained the writer a bit. Here’s what Borenstein said:

While at least 15 climate scientists told The Associated Press that this long hot U.S. summer is consistent with what is to be expected in global warming, history is full of such extremes, said John Christy at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He's a global warming skeptic who says, "The guilty party in my view is Mother Nature."

Those of us who grew up in rural areas where we grew, hunted or caught a lot of what we ate know Christy’s words are true.

Had more of those “15 climate scientists” ever tried to sustain themselves in a manner environmental extremists want to foist on the rest of us, those experts would soon learn the power of Mother Nature is unfathomable and at present largely uncontrollable, delivering both fury and beauty depending on her whims.

In 1814 Americans believed the hand of God saved America from the British. It’s not likely public school kids will hear that fact. You’d have to say the word ‘God’ in the classroom.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/July 3, 2012)

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