By Robert A. Vella. It may seem paradoxical to laypeople that we would have severe cold weather spells in wintertime given that the world is rapidly warming up due to manmade climate change; and, climate change deniers are quick to exploit this paradox for political reasons. But, it is true. Global warming is increasing the incidence of extreme weather events of every kind from prolonged droughts and powerful storms to deadly heat waves and brutal cold snaps. The following details the basic science behind the phenomenon popularly, though inaccurately, known as the “polar vortex.” The real polar vortex is something else altogether…
Three Worlds One Vision 
I’m glad you posted this, Rosaliene. There is probably a potential experiment out there and perhaps it has been done: determine what the best way is, short of coercion, of getting people who are uninterested in science, intimidated by science, or in climate change denial, to be open to persuasion by articles such as this. Probably at least three experiments would be needed to start, one for each of the groups mentioned. Many more research efforts would need to follow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dr. Stein, I imagine that there will always be people who refuse to accept the reality staring them in the face. As a former practicing psychotherapist, you probably understand this much better than I do.
I’m currently reading The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption by Dahr Jamail, an American, award-winning journalist and accomplished mountaineer. I sense a feeling of helplessness from scientists working in the field as they watch our glaciers disappear. Here’s what Dr. Mike Loso, a physical scientist with the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, told Jamail about the magnitude of change in Alaska’s glaciers which are losing an estimated 75 billion tons of ice every year.
“I ask myself, as a park steward, how to manage the park’s resources for future generations. We can’t manage the climate back to what it was. So we are standing by watching the diminishment of our glaciers without any tools to do anything about it. If the Park Service can’t stop the change, we at least have to bear witness to it. I am trying to tell this story to the people who have no idea as to the seriousness of these changes.” (The emphasis is mine.)
LikeLike
Quote: “If the Park Service can’t stop the change, we at least have to bear witness to it. I am trying to tell this story to the people who have no idea as to the seriousness of these changes.” (The emphasis is mine.)
Science fiction writer/author Greg Bear wrote a novel titled “The Forge of God” published in 1987 which could be a very good analogy of our current situation. In his book he “predicted” the final demise of earth for 1996. A bit anxious, but I suppose he wanted to stay within a time frame most people could relate to. In his allegory it’s alien nanobots that are attacking and “eating” planets along their path of travel. Other aliens who have been tracking and fighting against the nanobots send an ark ship to earth to save a small cross-section of Earthians. As the earth implodes from being eaten inside-out, they make the rescued humans watch the catastrophe from the ship so that they will remember.
We are watching a similar catastrophe brought on not by an alien machine race but by the greedy and the apathetic – minus the alien rescue ark ship. Why are we doing this? I think because this Earthian species has never bothered to evolve itself into a purpose and consequently it devolved spiritually and mentally into global apathy, mindlessness and into plunging the entire planet in wars and genocides that can only end in total decimation of civilization. I see no good reason why the Earthian species should care to save itself, it serves no purpose and subconsciously it is aware of this emptiness of soul.
We made ourselves masters of the universe in our pathetic little brains with no further goal but to consume anything in our travel path… like Greg Bear’s alien nanobots. The truism holds: you reap what you sow.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sha’Tara, indeed, we reap what we sow. With the focus on technological advancement, the human species has, for the most part, neglected our spiritual development to a higher consciousness.
LikeLike
Thank you, Rosaliene. I agree that many (most?) will not be open to change in their point of view regardless of conditions. But, if social scientists could find a way to change even 5% of the intransigent, that would be quite something and, I suspect, politically consequential.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s good to hear from those who are on the front lines and ‘bearing witness’ to the ravages of climate change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing, Ros. I’m also intrigued by Dr. Stein’s remarks about getting people more interested in science. It’s an uphill battle for sure, but one worth pursuing especially for mitigating climate change.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Robert, I’m the one who must thank you for your excellent and comprehensive article about what appears to be an aberration of Nature, in which excess heat could result in extreme cold conditions.
It’s “an uphill battle for sure.” Some time back, I read an article about the difficulty science teachers face in high school when they present scientific facts that contradict the religious beliefs of their students. One high school student actually fled the classroom.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, and the problem isn’t just limited to religious people. I know many non-religious folks who are apathetic or even antithetical towards science mostly because they have a hard time understanding it. There is also a growing philosophical movement (i.e. nihilism) which asserts that objective knowledge is illusory and that subjective opinion is paramount.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Robert, with all of these forces working against the scientific evidence, it would appear, then, that the human species is doomed to self-extinction.
LikeLiked by 1 person
All species go extinct sooner or later. This may indeed be our moment of demise. But, we still have our intellect. We still have the ability to see our likely future and make course corrections where other species cannot. It is the only thing that could save us. If we do not use this ability, then do we deserve to survive?
LikeLiked by 2 people
How intelligent are we as a species, Robert, when the corporate power elite place profits before the Web of Life that sustains us?
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a rhetorical question.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There is a element of world society that has found their “comfort zone” (both physically and ideology) and they will reject any thinking that will possibly cause change to their “comfort zone”… in the case of the weather, they will reject the science unless the weather directly affects them in some manner… I am of the understanding that the dinosaur had the same mindset… 🙂
“Life is a process of becoming… a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.” Anais Nin
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for dropping by, Dutch 🙂 It appears that the human species, like the dinosaur before us, will fall victim to our own arrogance as the dominant species. Anais Nin says it well: “This is a kind of death.”
LikeLike
clear explanation
to proceed accordingly
for those of us
who believe & trust
in scientific methodology 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sadly, David, there are many among us who are very selective in what they accept or not from the findings of our scientific community.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Guyanese Online.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the re-blog, Cyril. Have a great week 🙂
LikeLike
Pingback: The basic science for how climate change triggers severe cold weather in wintertime — The Secular Jurist
Thanks for sharing, GuyFrog. Much appreciated 🙂
LikeLike
So unfortunate ❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
We need radical change now, I’m not even sure how, or if there’s time. Change in human mindset and politics takes so long. I think aristocracy never died, it just went into hiding as Corporations. Creation takes patience/time but destruction is so easy. Scientists have known about this for so long, I remember there was an ecological movement when I was growing up about 30 yrs ago at least, but no change happened because of manical greed. It’s been so cold in Northern California where I live, and it gets so hot now in the summer, it wasn’t like this before. It used to be very moderate weather here with daily fog. There’s no longer fog here. The fog refreshed/cleaned the air and was beautiful. SF used to used known as the foggy city, not at all anymore.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for dropping by and sharing your thoughts, Judy. As you’ve observed in your part of the world, the changes are evident. Because we refuse to accept human activities as the driving force for these changes, we can go on living the way we’ve always done.
LikeLike
We’re so complacent, going off the cliff like lemmings or sheep following the rest to disaster.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Judy, those of us who are awake to reality must join our youth who, thankfully, are now rising up in greater numbers in calling for action.
LikeLike
Yes I agree with you, Rosaliene.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This article needs to be widely read. Sharing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Damyanti, thanks for dropping by and sharing 🙂
LikeLike