Putting the weather in perspective

Ok, yes I posted the vid because it was humorous, perhaps if you live in Toronto, insulting...but think about it...
Throughout history has there not been any alarmingly cold winters or blizzards that buried entired towns , or people who froze from lack of electricity. Rick has a very good point and one I felt the need to make here. Everything has become an apocalyptic scenario weather wise,whether fact or fiction.
Think in 1912 when Niagara Falls froze solid, it was the end of the world? Nope, we are still here...and despite the polar vortex hovering above I believe the falls is still running at this moment.
Fear and paranoia spread quicker than wildfire. True we may be experiencing some freaky weather that perhaps we have not seen in our lifetime. Does not mean it is apocalyptic. It also does not help when meteorologists keep inventing new terms or redifining old ones. Did you know the criteria for wind chill factor changed a decade or so ago (if my time frame is correct) and what is now deemed a windchill of -40, -50, was then -50 to -60. The conditions deemed blizzard like must include wind conditions and temperature now, not just snowfall. Very hard to compare the records of old to our current when terms and factors are altered.
Point blank, there is enough doom in the world. Whether the weather, enjoy your day.

reply to post by AccessDenied


It's supposed to reach a balmy 22 degrees here where I live.

I'm ok with that. It's winter. Stuff happens

Its cold as hell right now here in Texas. Last week, i was wearing shorts.

Typically our first ice storm will be in January. This season, it was in November. And it was pretty intense.

I hope this puts some global warming discussions into proper perspective. Just a couple hundred years ago there was a 'mini ice age". When George Washington sailed the Delaware, he did it amongst ice flows. The Delaware hasn't frozen in the lifetime of anyone alive that I am aware of.

Weather changes. Its just the way it goes.

reply to post by AccessDenied


I haven't watched the video yet but I agree with what you say.

See I live in the states and in the southern part. So truly and honestly, we are never really surprised by the weather. Our winters never get too cold but sometimes they do. Whenever I shoot the sh1t with someone about the weather...we always end up saying at the end.. 'Well that's the southern weather for ya'

Weather is wacky...and can sure be fun ... But cold. I'd rather do without

Now on to watch the video.

Peace to you friend ~>>

Eta--I can't watch the video.. Hmm...

I have to agree with you. Even about how they keep making up new terms. In fact, I had a good laugh this morning as our weatherman was basically blowing off the term "Polar Vortex" and called it what it really is, the old name, to which I cannot remember now to save my rear.

It's bad weather, yes. But remember, it can always get worse!

Trontarded? Yeah that doesnt sound like a nice thing to call people from Toronto that overreact to weather.

Want to see over reacting to weather come to the uk some time. Anything but grey cloud cover gets everyone in a panic.

Biigs
Trontarded? Yeah that doesnt sound like a nice thing to call people from Toronto that overreact to weather.

True, but it has been a running joke ever since they called in the armed forces to help after a snow storm. It snowballed after that.

bigfatfurrytexan
Its cold as hell right now here in Texas. Last week, i was wearing shorts.

Typically our first ice storm will be in January. This season, it was in November. And it was pretty intense.

I hope this puts some global warming discussions into proper perspective. Just a couple hundred years ago there was a 'mini ice age". When George Washington sailed the Delaware, he did it amongst ice flows. The Delaware hasn't frozen in the lifetime of anyone alive that I am aware of.

Weather changes. Its just the way it goes.

That is exactly my point. I grew up beside a deep river, and in my grandparents time it was not unheard of for them to use the ice as a road, for both horses and cars. Something done even with caution now in the far north. Can you imagine anyone doing that now? Even those with snowmobilies up here rarely go on the ice anymore and ice fishing season is down to about two weeks versus half the winter because it's just not safe. I don't see global warming or cooling, just changes. Not any more radical than in decades past. But when we are already suffering from panic overload about everything else in the world, it's easy to let it spread to something else without thinking.

reply to post by Biigs


People only complain about cold weather in Britain, when they clearly have not prepared for it, or when they are unlucky enough to be experiencing power outages or some form of failure in their heating systems at home.

All too often, when there is a windchill here on the coast which brings the temperature down to minus 20 c or less in the deeps of winter, you will see clubbers wandering about in shirtsleeves, wondering why their fingers turn a little blue when they are waiting for a cab after midnight, or ladies tottering about in heels, wondering why they cannot feel their feet, or maintain balance in the ice.

Then I stroll past them, fully prepared. You see, I live three miles from town centre, which means if I want a beer, or to visit friends, I have to walk, because cabs are pricy, and buses and trains are unreliable. Therefore, I walk, and to allow that to happen without risk to my health, I have assembled a wardrobe which effectively counters the worst weather we get here in the Shoeburyness, and Southend on Sea area. It consists of the following:

Thermal socks
Thermal under trousers
Thermal long sleeve t shirt
Combat trousers
Sweater
Fleece jacket
Wind proof waistcoat
Ankle length trench coat
Combat boots with chains for grip
Knee pads
Heavy leather gloves
Neoprene divers balaclava
Aviator goggles
Plastic, faux leather covered helmet.

I also never leave the house without three energy bars and some water in a thermos flask in a backpack, just in case fate throws a curve ball past my preparations and I end up stranded somehow and need to keep my energy up.

It doesn't look cool, it gets me some damned strange looks, but unlike most people, I am not wandering around frozen solid and blubbering about the weather, while occasionally whispering 'mummy... Help me mummy' . Fact is, that if people were prepared to dress for the weather, the only thing that would get complained about would be the public transport failures which regularly befall our town. I do not know how it is with people across the pond, but it seems to me that not giving a crap how gormless one looks when out and about is the first step to actually preventing death and serious injury during harsh weather.

Oh, and the Fahrenheit scale? Why use that rather than a sensible measure, just wondering!

chiefsmom
I have to agree with you. Even about how they keep making up new terms. In fact, I had a good laugh this morning as our weatherman was basically blowing off the term "Polar Vortex" and called it what it really is, the old name, to which I cannot remember now to save my rear.

It's bad weather, yes. But remember, it can always get worse!

No, the term "polar vortex" isn't something that they just made up. I took meteorology in 1993 and was taught that it was referred to as the "circumpolar whirl" or "polar vortex" for short. The latter is just less of a tongue twister. If you do a simple scholarly search, you can actually see a number of papers on the subject of the polar vortex. In a quick debunk to this idea that the term was just made up, I present to you a google scholar search:

scholar.google.com...

Second link dates from 1986. Nuff said.

To the OP: I've been watching the polar vortex for several years now as it is what is primarily responsible for our weather here in the US. One can watch its interactions and see how things happen. It's both amazing and awesome to behold. Our planet is freaking cool (no pun intended). Usually, the polar vortex looks pretty tight and is quite beautiful really as a fast counterclockwise swirl with more swirls along its circumference sitting at the top of our planet. This is what it looks like right now and I can say that I haven't seen it look like this over the years: climate.cod.edu...

While I'll agree that the mainstream media really tends to overhype subjects, including the weather, because they really are sensationalistic by nature. Nothing grips an audience more than catastrophic doom coming from a "reputable" source (I put reputable in quotes for a reason). However, what has been occurring with the polar vortex and the jet stream has really been almost disturbingly quite on the media front. It's actually an important story as it has profound effects on our weather patterns and storm systems. The floods, the droughts, the freak monster storms--it's all tied in with what's called the Arctic oscillation.

There are all sorts of things that contribute to our weather patterns and storm systems. There's a number of oscillations, like the Arctic oscillation, that exist on our planet. Other planetary activities, such as volcanic eruptions, can also affect global temperatures. In fact, that cold snap of 1912 that was referenced in the OP? Well, that didn't just "happen". In 1912, Mt. Katmai erupted and produced a kind of "nuclear winter" effect. Weather is amazingly complex. I remember learning the parable about how a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon could cause a monsoon in India aka "the butterfly effect".

The butterfly effect is partly why trending weather patterns, fluctuations in the Arctic oscillation, and temperatures is so important. It kind of sorts out the riff raff of the freak that may have a "butterfly" (or an eruption) at its root. Now what's really interesting about the interaction between the polar vortex and the jet stream is that its basically turned the jet stream into having the strength of a cooked spaghetti noodle (negative Arctic oscillation). This is what is thought to be causing a good deal of the weird weather phenomena we're having over the last few years. Floods, greening deserts, droughts, and monsters developing all across the Northern Hemisphere--a lot of it may actually be related to extreme kinks developing in the jet streams. In a way, it's a little SNAFU.

I personally am glad that they finally brought up the subject in the media. The question is why is it happening and, in my opinion, there's probably a field of butterflies at work. Just seems to be how our planet works.

More info:
en.wikipedia.org...
www.noaa.gov...
www.wunderground.com...

reply to post by WhiteAlice


That was an amazing response. Consider me skooled...

reply to post by AccessDenied


Thanks. I can totally get where Mercer is coming from because a lot of time, the news really does act rather stupid and sensationalistic about things. The problem is that it's just as easy to take the extreme opposite position and say that because the media tends to behave like this, there really isn't a problem outside of a doom seeking press. That's just as wrong and just as much wrong as saying that we've had coldwaves before. We definitely have. Heck, the Ice Age was a huge and prolonged coldwave. Instead of taking stuff like this as an opportunity to learn something though, it's too easy to say "this has happened before so big deal" without looking into why it happened before in the first place. Like the cold of 1912.

I do think that there is a very serious problem that seems to be going on. I'm not a meteorologist. I'm just somebody who took a boat load of science including ecology, climatology and geology and holds a degree in biology. What I mostly see is a struggle to grasp just what is going on, what's causing it, and will it be permanent? We have to remember that although we have so much historical data, a lot of it has been accumulated over the last 50-100 years. Science isn't omniscient and there are always variables that may have been overlooked because the weather is so amazingly complex. That's why the butterfly effect is such an incredible concept. Think about everything that goes on every day on this planet and imagine for a second what all those various interactions can cause from high up in the atmosphere to deep below the crust. It's epic.

I love this planet.

I have noticed a big swing in weather reporting. It parallels reporting on other subjects.

The weather is something to fear. I agree you need to respect it and prepare but why the hype? I got they need to sell commercial time but really? How pathetic of a human being am I supposed to be? Afraid of the cold, then afraid of the heat, then afraid of storms, then afraid of whatever calamity will befall us next. Polar Cyclonic Vortex of Death and Destruction! Run!

Just tell the facts/predictions straight and let people adjust accordingly. The not-too bright ones will make good follow up news stories.

I guess I really do not want to be a part of the 'fraid Americans.

reply to post by ABNARTY

Like I said above, I'm not a meteorologist and am just somebody that has been watching this issue closely for the last couple years with some background knowledge. Worst case scenario that I've come up with is significant climate change including more potential severe weather extremes, more of what we're seeing right now (though probably seasonal), more Sandys and Haiyans, more droughts and flooding as existing weather patterns shift. It could have a lot of impacts but the worst one that I foresee could be in food production due to drought and flooding hazards.

That's the worst case that I can foresee and to be really honest, I don't think that there is any way to really prepare for it because it's global. I don't think we should all hide under our beds. At worst, things could get rough for a while but the earth will adapt and so will we.

reply to post by WhiteAlice


Agreed on the adaption part.

From what I gather, the rise of our modern civilization occurred during a relatively calm and mild period of climate. At some point that most likely will change. So will change our way of lives. I think most humans will surf that change well.

reply to post by ABNARTY


I'm not so sure. Historically speaking, smaller interruptions of climate have had dramatic effect on humanity and civilization.
Weather played a significant role in the collapse of the Mayan Civilization. www.news.ucdavis.edu...
The Harappan: www.sci-news.com...
The Bronze age: en.wikipedia.org...
The eruption of the Black Death is linked, as well, to a change in the weather: www.usu.edu...&Civ/chapters/06PLAGUE.htm

I should've added my concerns about the increase in disease prevalence. We are seeing that already in both bees and bats as both are dying en masse with the lead suspects being fungi and climate change. If you consider the fact that both bees and bats live in relatively contained environments (hives and caves) and consider that subtle temperature and humidity shifts have likely made a very large contribution to these fungal eruptions, then really, they are like our canaries in the mines.

I suppose I was remiss in not pointing that out in the worst case scenario. If it does play out like it has in prior history, then, people will die but humanity as a whole will likely survive. It truly is a tale as old as time.