New cooling climate phase may be under way

For many years, scientists have been talking about global warming and how our planet would be in serious trouble if temperatures were expected to rise over the next 10 years.

As we continue to burn fossil fuels, more carbon dioxide is thrown into our atmosphere. This heat-trapping gas is believed to be responsible for the overall recent rise in temperatures across the globe.

I believe that human activities may be enhancing the warming of Earth, but not the direct cause. As mentioned many times in previous articles, I believe we’re in a cycle of wide weather extremes, the worst in more than 1,000 years since the days of Leif Ericsson, the mighty Viking who farmed Greenland before ice covered that region.

In order to cool our planet, prominent scientists suggest that we deliberately add more pollution to our atmosphere. Much of the dirt that is spewed into the air is composed of sulfur dioxide, a common air pollutant that reflects solar radiation, which supposedly would cool the planet.

This theory gets some support from the huge volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991. That explosion was so big, it sent tremendous amounts of sulfurous debris into the upper levels of our atmosphere. Over the following year, Earth cooled about a degree, a significant drop for our planet, similar to recent degree of global warming.

It is my opinion that deliberately adding more pollution to our atmosphere to promote cooling may not be such a good idea. Many regions in the higher latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres have been experiencing harsher winters and shorter growing seasons in recent years. Some glaciers, especially ones over land, have been expanding while others over water have been breaking apart due to the warmer than normal ocean temperatures in the arctic regions.

But, in the Southern Hemisphere, for the first time since June 1931, a huge iceberg was spotted from the shores of the South Island of New Zealand.

One 85-year-old woman last saw an iceberg when she was 10 near Dunedin, on the southern tip of South Island. A number of icebergs, some as big as houses, were first spotted earlier this month just south of New Zealand.

It’s certainly unusual to see icebergs this far north in the Southern Hemisphere. They seem to be surviving much longer than expected due to the combination of powerful winds from the Antarctic regions and cooler than normal ocean temperatures south of New Zealand. These icebergs have also become a tourist attraction, with sightseers paying more than $300 each to fly over them.

Perhaps a new climate phase is already under way. If solar radiation were to suddenly be inhibited, Earth could cool down to where we may see a new developing ice age.

Inland Empire longrange weather outlook

Since Nov. 1, more than 3 inches of rain has fallen at the Spokane International Airport and the Spokane Valley and more than 5 inches of precipitation in Coeur d’Alene. The normal for the entire month of November is 2.08 inches at the airport and 2.97 inches in Coeur d’Alene. The all-time record for November precipitation at the Spokane International Airport is 5.85 inches, set back in 1897.

Lately, due to the warm, wet and moderate El Niño in the Pacific Ocean, most of our precipitation has fallen as rain, especially below 2,500 feet. But, now with colder air invading our part of the country, we’re beginning to see measurable snowfalls in the lower elevations plus lots of snow above 4,000 feet for the skiers and snowboarders.

Next month, we should see some additional snow shower activity in the lower elevations between the warm rainstorms. The heaviest precipitation from these systems should head southward into California, typical of El Nino. It still looks like January will be our coldest and snowiest month of the winter.