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January 18, 2010

Putting the chill on global warming

<font size="3">Sweet Talk</font>

<b>By Guinn Sweet</b><br><a href="mailto:sweettalk@mineralwellsindex.com">sweettalk@mineralwellsindex.com</a>

Global warming has become a political/scientific controversy – greater in the news media than in the scientific world, according to recent studies.

The division of thought and study indicates that poor measurements can be part of the problem. Millions of dollars in funding is also an issue and keeps the topic hot. The lack of credible measurement of atmospheric temperature also clouds the reality of an increase in global warmth.

Colon has pointed out that it probably wasn’t measured accurately during the last ice age anyhow.

Some scientific historians point out that global warming has always been a cyclic phenomenon and this is just another cycle in infancy, with little to fear of long-term consequences.

My main concern is whatever happened to global warming in Texas? As I recall, last July and August I had a close relationship with the concept, became intolerant of the high temperatures and wished for a normal, warm, Texas winter with some needed moisture, a few clouds and the need to wear a light coat or a sweater. Time passed and the answer to my wish became a reality to the point that our latest electric billing was more than double the previous one and I developed a permanent runny nose, blue toes and fingers and dug out my pink long johns one of the girls gave me for Christmas a few years back.

My theme song is now, “I’m Dreamin’ of a Warm Christmas or Just Any Day in January,” with a strong humming sound to the tune of “The Weather Outside is Frightful and Will Never Again Be Delightful,” and its refrain of “stop the snow, stop the cold, stop the blow.”

I have been known to joke about how long it takes a fat lady (me) to get warm after a cold winter. I have always considered the middle of June is my date, but I think that the summer of 2010 will not be long enough for me to fully thaw out this year.

I am a fan of author Clive Cussler’s books. During the recent cold spell I was reading one of his latest, “Deep Six,” or something like that. It mentioned the historic Northwest Passage search across the North American continent via the arctic polar cap. It would ordinarily seem that a book of that sort would be more comfortable to read in the summertime, in that it would cool off our mental processes. Contrary to that idea, this book about large ocean-going ships being captured and frozen in the polar ice for hundreds of years was actually very warming, thanks to my cold hands, my icy feet and vivid imaginings.

A 19th Century poet, Christiana Rossetti, waxed more poetic than I ever could about the cold. She was not only poetic, but truthful, as I see it. In “Mid-Winter” she says, “In the bleak mid-winter, Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, in the bleak mid-winter, Long ago.” Sounds pretty, but feels cold. I feel quite sure that she was:

“Beside the roaring fireplace,
And sitting at her table;
Viewing so-called beauty,
When actually it was fable;
The snow she saw was whiter,
Than newly laundered sheets,
And she was nice and snuggly,
In her hands and in her feets;
She had no need to move about;
Not even feed the cat,
She only had to write a verse,
And that was simply that,
in the bleak mid-winter, Long ago.”

(This latest verse was written by 21st Century poet … me.)

Whether we are defiling our atmosphere with gaseous emissions, etc. or not remains to be seen, and until something dramatic happens to it soon we may never find out. It won’t be a loss if we assume the fact and make efforts to remedy the situation, but if we can just get it stabilized to my comfort for now it will suit me. Brrrr!

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