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View Full Version : Global Warming, 1948 style


Regis Philbin
Aug 3rd, 2006, 09:40 PM
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmI1M2I4MDk3ZWI1YWIyNTA5MzQ0ZThhMmE0ODE4NTA=


Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Global warming, 1948 style [Iain Murray]

A scientist friend discovered an article from 1948 entitled "The Present Climatic Fluctuation." Written by Professor Hans Ahlmann of the University of Stockholm, it begins:

The present climatic fluctuation has been discussed since the 1920's almost exclusively in scientific circles, although it has recently become a subject of more than academic interest...Ordinary people are beginning to realize that something has happened and is happening which is of great interest to themselves. The last dry summer, which transformed large parts of Western Europe into a virtual steppe, increased this interest and also caused anxiety, though this drought cannot be said with any certainty to belong to the present climatic fluctuation.

Sound familiar? All that is missing is adocumentary by Thomas E Dewey on the subject. Anyway, Ahlmann documents rapidly rising temperatures, glaciers melting like crazy, atmospheric circulation changes, species shifting, sea level rise, and so on from all around the world. But he concludes:

If we find in the Antarctic similar evidence of the present climatic fluctuation as has been found in other parts of the world, we shall be justified in concluding that the present fluctuation is a world-wode phenomenon and probably the result of variations in solar activity which, slow as they may be to take effect, are actually resulting in an improvement in the climate of our world.

How times change!

pinky
Aug 4th, 2006, 01:23 PM
Just a quick question or two....

Had the polio vaccine been developed in 1948?

Was space exploration more than science fiction in 1948?

How big were computers in 1948?

How many sheep had been cloned by 1948?

Did we have super-antibiotics in 1948?

Okay, I admit that was more than one or two. Can you possibly admit that maybe we know more now than we did in 1948, Richie?

db44
Aug 4th, 2006, 01:40 PM
More importantly, with the 1948 technology, were they able to get as clear pictures of the hole in the ozone layer then as now? Had Russia shot a dog into space yet with the first satellite?

BrokenHalo
Aug 4th, 2006, 08:31 PM
Hey, even Pat Robertson (ack) believes in Global Warming now: http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/03/robertson-global-warming/

"They have broken heat records in a number of cities already this year and broken all-time records and it is getting hotter and the ice caps are melting and there is a build up of carbon dioxide in the air. We really need to address the burning of fossil fuels. If we are contributing to the destruction of the planet we need to do manage about it."

Never thought I'd agree with him on anything, but hey, it was bound to happen sooner or later :P. (Of course he said "*if* we are contributing..." so we'll see....)

Java
Aug 4th, 2006, 08:37 PM
The rapid and unprecedented retreat of ice caps and glaciers should be evidence enough. If one takes into account how many BTUs are required to turn all that 32 degree ice into 32 degree water, and the fact there is progressively less ice to work with as time goes on, this should paint a very pronouncedly scary scenario for what the near future has in store for this world. One cannot deny this.