How often does Mother Earth get the hot flashes?

Maybe every time she's around Al Gore. Thanks to our inconveniently truthful ex vice-president Al Gore, we are now fully aware that our future survival is in jeopardy because the ice caps are melting. But is this a once-and-for-all catastrophe or does our home planet Mother Earth get herself hot flashes every now and then? We all watch the weather reports on television but do you notice that following today's temperature report we are always told what the record high and record low temperatures were. "Today's high was 88 degrees but back in 1905 it was 101 degrees."  Next time you watch the weather report take note of the year that the record high was made. If our planet is warming now what was it doing when the last high record was set? 

Google News reported this story yesterday and it has already been attributed to the effects of Global Warming.

Australia shipping alert over massive iceberg

(AFP) – 1 day ago

SYDNEY — Australian authorities Friday issued a shipping alert over a gigantic iceberg that is gradually approaching the country's southwest coast.

Read the highlighted passages in red. 

The headline read: Australia shipping alert over massive iceberg and the story reads,  “The Bureau of Meteorology said the once-in-a-century cliff of ice, which dislodged from Antarctica about a decade ago before drifting north, was being monitored using satellites.” And “Young earlier told AFP that an iceberg of that size had probably not been seen in the area since the days when 19th century clipper sailing ships plied the trade route between Britain and Australia.”

Doesn’t anyone see the reference here to conditions that have existed before? If massive icebergs such as this were seen 100 years ago wasn’t this a sign that weather and climate conditions were going through the same warming cycle then as they are today? People who dismiss the fanatical warnings of Global Warming know that our climate goes through cyclical changes so it is obvious the people reporting these events are not connecting the historical facts. Scientists tell us the Sun goes through 11-year cycles with peaks and lows in sunspots.

A scientific paper titled: Solar-Cycle Warming at the Earth’s Surface and an Observational Determination of Climate Sensitivity. written by Ka-Kit Tung and Charles D. Camp explains the effect of these cycles on terrestrial climate. Another solar cycle involves the ejection of charged particles called the solar wind. As Wikipedia explains it:

The solar wind is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons. The solar wind can have a large influence on our planet, particularly in times of the active Sun (near sunspot maximum) when the wind is strong and can contain bursts corresponding to flares and coronal mass ejections from the Sun. The solar wind has a significant influence on our ionosphere, the Earth's magnetic field, on Earth's auroras, and on telecommunication systems. For example, there is reason to believe that a burst of particles from a coronal mass ejection detected 5 days earlier by SOHO may have killed the Telstar 401 communications satellite on January 11, 1997.

Next year, in 2010 the sunspot activity will be reaching another peak and it is expected to interfere with cell-phone and satellite communication. The doomsayers should have a field day with this. Last Summer we had the coldest July on record and everyone I know was asking, "Where was Al Gore when you really needed him."

UPDATE: MORE CAUSES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE!

Exploring the Climate and the effect of volcanoes, a teachers guide to classroom discussion: http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vclimate.html says:

Volcanoes & Climate
Volcanic eruptions can alter the climate of the earth for both short and long periods of time. For example, average global temperatures dropped about a degree Fahrenheit for about two years after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, and very cold temperatures caused crop failures and famine in North America and Europe for two years following the eruption of Tambora in 1815. Volcanologists believe that the balance of the earth's mild climate over periods of millions of years is maintained by ongoing volcanism. Volcanoes affect the climate through the gases and dust particles thrown into the atmosphere during eruptions. The effect of the volcanic gases and dust may warm or cool the earth's surface, depending on how sunlight interacts with the volcanic material.

What about the melting polar ice caps?

Much has been said today about observations that the polar ice caps are melting but what if this is just a normal occurrence that happens every few years? Here are two interesting photos to illustrate this point. 

U.S. Navy records describe the above photo: "Skate (SSN-578), surfaced at the North Pole, 17 March 1959." 

 

The caption on the above photo from official U.S. Navy records says: "Three crewmembers of the Skate (SSN-578) checking the ice on deck while above the Arctic Circle in 1959. So where did all the ice go? If there was ice present above the Arctic Circle in 1959 why wasn't there ice found at the North Pole? According to Wikipedia, the Skate: "On 30 July, 1958 Skate steamed to the Arctic where she operated under the ice for 10 days. During this time, she surfaced nine times through the ice, navigated over 2,400 miles (3,900 km) under it, and became the second ship to reach the North Pole". The only proof these photo show is the presence of Polar ice varies from place to place and year to year.

USS Skate returns to the North Pole in 1962. The ice is back!

The Skate (SSN-578) above the Arctic Circle in 1971. Where is the ice?

All four photos of the USS Skate are from the U.S. Navy submarine records.

AND NOW A LOOK AT THE SOUTH POLE

Recently word hit the news about a massive iceberg 9 times the size of Manhattan Island (New York City) has sheared off from the Antarctic continent and drifted toward Australia. Here is the alarmist headline from the Democrat Underground web site: Antarctic ice shelf collapses in runaway disintegration, putting larger area at risk. REALLY? The opening comment in this post describes how an iceberg this size hasn't been seen in over a 100 years, but it still isn't a new event. Read the following description of how much ice has increased in Antarctica in the last 10 years.

Antarctic Sea Ice For November 2008 Greater Than 1979

Admin, Monday 29 December 2008 - 00:02:19

Both ice extent and concentration are greater now than when measurements began in 1979. This year has so far seen 10 out of 11 months where sea ice has been greater this year than in 1979. Update: Please see the December 2008 Antarctic update for this year's month by month comparisons.
Antarctic Ice Extent and Concentration for November 1979 and November 2008

From the National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado

Sea ice extent and concentration for November 2008 is 4.4% greater than in 1979 (when satellite measurements began). In November 2008 ice extent was 16.6 million sq km, for November 1979 the ice extent was 15.9 million sq km. Ice concentration shows equal increases, from 11.2 million sq km in 1979, to 11.7 million sq km in 2008.

So far this year there have been 10 out 11 months where sea ice concentration was greater in 2008 than it was 1979. Obviously the southern hemisphere isn't suffering from global warming. Satellite measurements are also in direct conflict with what you hear on the evening news about global warming melting ice in the Antarctic.
Ice Concentration - percentage greater in 2008 than 1979:

January   - 14.7%
     February  - 15.0%
     March     - 34.6%
     April     - 13.0%
     May       -  3.7%
     June      -  1.0%
     July      - (-3%)
     August    -  1.5%
     September - equal
     October   -  2.2%
     November  -  4.5%

Interior ice is increasing at an even greater rate. According to NOAA GISS data winter temperatures in the antarctic has actually fallen by 1°F since 1957, with the coldest year being 2004. All the while global CO2 levels have gone up and the main stream media has been reporting near catastrophic warming conditions. They regularly show Antarctic sea ice shelves breaking apart, which is an entirely normal process. The MSM and certain segments of the scientific community truly must have no shame.

Mother Earth or Nature if you will, constantly undergoes natural changes. Sort of like my wife wanted to rearrange the furniture. Big Deal!