People in general are always talking about how bad the weather was in their own lifetime. Cobmoosa lived with extremes in weather for nearly 98 years. Noonday died at age 100. Each generation has been battered by the weather. The weather of today is the same weather of yesteryear.
Many think it is worse, but the reality is instead of living father apart we live like sardines packed into a tiny can (concrete and asphalt jungles). The more condensed communities become the more damage tornadoes, hurricanes and typhoons, wind and thunderstorms, the more premature deaths. The weather is no more violent today than the past. Mother Nature calls the shots.
Whatever happened is constant only to the people who were living at that time. As a historian I hear many people complain about how bad the 21st century weather is across America; the rainstorms, snowstorms, floods, firestorms, tornadoes, etc., but the weather today carries the same extremes in cold, heat and precipitation. There was a time shortly after the Treaty of 1836 when Indians who were traveling felt the Great Spirit was furious at them for selling tribal land to the Federal government.
The wacko fringe scientists today are alarmists and try to scare us about the extremes of "Global Warming or Climate Change" because of burning too much fossil fuel (hydrocarbons) creating ozone that keeps all the hot air from escaping. They continually "say how cold or how hot it is" and are always citing temperature is increasing in summer and cold in winter - but it has risen less than 1 degree. Weather extremes in recorded history are no worse today than yesterday. The earth is not sick, the weather is no worse than 200 years ago depending on where you live in the summer and vacation in the winter. The Indians considered the Grand River and Kalamazoo River valleys as tropical paradises, because within a half-a-mile of the river temperatures in winter are 10-15 degrees higher than inland. Mackinaw Island Indians spent winters in the Grand River valley, because in the Straits region, the temperatures were sub-zero in the winter.
Sure across the country in 2015 four hundred plus tornadoes have raked across the mid-west and Great Plains country, but that is normal each year. Deluges of rain have flooded many towns, even deserts, and yes, there is an extreme drought in California and hundreds of forest fires. Sorry water shortages occur when green golf courses are built in the desert - what a waste of Colorado river water.
In the polar region, yes, ice is melting in the summer, but in the Arctic and Antarctica sorry to report the 90-95 degrees F. for one week in the Arctic and Antarctica is normal. Ice does melt at alarming rates, but what they don't tell you is that during previous winters cold below normal temperatures created twice the amount as lost ice. When are people going to understand history - the earth is evolving the same as man. Nothing stays the same - it is always changing for the good or bad. Yet they are quick to point out that since the ice is melting the west coast is going to be under water miles inland and for all the melting that has occurred already, the sea has risen less than one inch in 200 years, but now predict a rise of four to six feet before the 22nd century. Must be scientists don't understand condensation.
As I see it surface heat off of black asphalt highways - the more you create the more heat rises - well gosh it brings about more deluges and floods. Warm air plus cold air make water. I don't believe in global warming, but do agree we don't need more black asphalt roadways to spice up the atmosphere. Black absorbs heat - concrete doesn't. It isn't the people or the burning of fossil fuel that is the problem - the problem is climate change and man's need for money.
You might not believe it but just because we've had many tornadoes over the mid-west this year it's a drop in the bucket for what happened in weather just after the Ottawa Indians signed the Treaty of 1836. In the summer of 1836 more than 200 tornadoes ripped thru West Michigan in a months time. Everywhere the Indians walked they saw the destruction of the forests - mangled and twisted trees, fields and forests obliterated as if a giant grinder passed by. Some Indians were terrified by the howling winds at night.
In 1847-49, the Grand River was but a trickle. Summer of 1847 more than 100 degrees for more than 60 days. The Grand River valley was scorched and tinder dry. No 4th of July celebrations - so hot the leaves on trees fell and trees barren in July. Indian's that had not yet removed to reservations couldn't recall anytime in their own history when it had been so hot.
Leaves were on the trees in February 1848 and off before July at a time when America's railroad engines wherever traveling burned 47,000 cords of wood daily. Heat rising. During the mid 1860's tornadoes were on the increase, too. From winter 1897 to 1901 it was so cold the temperature never got above -10 degrees F. for 40 days. Cold killed most of the fruit trees in Michigan - hardest hit was the Traverse region. The weather has always been as bad as those seeing it happen.
When one or two tornadoes touch down in Michigan in one year we think devastation was bad, but it was nothing compared to the devastating years (1832-1901) in Michigan weather history. I don't have faith in weather scientists not when in 1986, the water levels were the highest in history and those same scientists said it'd take more than 100 years to fall 4 feet - it fell 4 feet in four years. It rose and fell again in the 1990's then rose up again slowly and now is higher in 2015 than the last record. Lake Michigan was nearly 80% frozen in the winter of 2014 & 2015 so too in the late 1890's. And for the past winter year it was El Nina and El Nino summer weather due to the warm than normal water temperatures near the equator.
Mother Nature has dominion and there is nothing man can do, but complain about the weather in his part of the world. Tell me what in life never changes? (continued)
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