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Old Farmer's Almanac:
Quiet Sun to bring on global cooling
America's oldest periodical still in print, The Old Farmer's Almanac (established in 1792), is taking on the big guys in 2009 by predicting not only that this coming winter will be colder than usual but also that the world will face cooling for the next several decades because of a downturn in solar activity. (The Almanac is not to be confused with its younger rival, The Farmer's Almanac, begun in 1818.)
How quiet is the Sun lately? Here is a fairly typical picture of the Sun, courtesy of the University of Wisconsin, showing lots of sunspots, on March 29, 2001:
And here is a picture of the Sun September 17, 2008, courtesy of NASA:
The Old Farmer's Almanac draws on the work of scientists for its climate predictions, including meteorologist and climatologist Joseph D'Aleo. D'Aleo blogs on climate change at IceCapUS and is executive director of the International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project of the Heartland Institute, which last March sponsored an International Conference on Climate Change that drew hundreds of scientists from around the world who reject the notion of manmade catastrophic global warming. The ICCC issued the Manhattan Declaration
, which has been endorsed by hundreds of leading climate scientists from around the world.
Getting a handle on gas prices
Gasoline prices around the United States rose 10 to 20 cents in the days running up to and immediately after Hurricane Ike's landfall on the Texas coast. Sellers expected that damage to refineries would curb supplies. But damage turned out minimal, and prices are falling again.
On a short time frame, that illustrates well how futures traders convey information about expectations of supply and demand for any commodity. When they anticipate that supplies will grow tight, they bid up futures prices; when they anticipate that supply will rise relative to demand, they bid them down.
Futures traders provide a valuable service to the whole market. Higher futures prices signal opportunity for reward for increased production, and so resources to where they will serve consumers more than sectors where prices are flat or falling. Lower futures prices signal declining profit opportunity, channeling resources elsewhere.
It is largely expectation of rising supply of oil relative to demand that has led to the recent decline in oil prices shown in this graph of the year ending September 16, 2008 (courtesy of WTRG Economics):
So the next time someone says it's no use drilling now to reduce oil prices, remember: It's not just the present supply/demand balance that affects prices; it's expectations of the future balance, too.
Radical greens want a world without people
Yes, you read it right. Radical environmentalists aren't satisfied with shrinking human population--which, because of declining fertility rates as economies develop, is projected to begin around 2050 and continue indefinitely. They won't be satisfied till there are no humans left. A great example is in Alan Weisman's The World Without Us, which looks forward, with relish, to such a world.
Not quite what Western civilization has learned from its Biblical roots, which present human beings as made in God's image (Genesis 1:26), a little lower than God, crowned with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5), to fill, subdue, and rule the Earth (Genesis 1:28). As
Chuck Colson recently wrote, Christians “see humans as producers and stewards, not as consumers and polluters.”
But Weisman’s way of thinking lies at the root of radical environmentalism. That's why the intellectual conflict will never be purely scientific or economic; it will always be religious.
Now, please forward this message to your pastor, other Christian leaders, and friends and urge them to sign the declaration, too!
The more people sign, the stronger the message our leaders will hear that Biblical principles and factual evidence, not media hype about speculative fears like global warming, should guide our care for the environment and the poor.
Gratefully,
-- The WeGetIt.org campaign team
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