Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach
Of course, the media are advancing all kinds of claims about the current drought affecting much of the US, because it is the “worst in fifty years”. They claim that it is clear evidence of global warming, that it shows how much things have changed, that this is the face of global warming.
Figure 1. “Drought in Australia”, or as it is known there, “Australia”.
Does this drought show how things have changed? Yes, for the better. The US drought situation was worse in the 1950s. And before that, it was worse in the 1930s. And before that? Among the first entries when I google “megadrought are these:
Tree rings document ancient Western megadrought
Sierra Nevada 200-year megadroughts confirmed
Scientists find evidence of ancient megadrought in southwestern U.S.
I don’t want to minimize the suffering of those in the drought-affected areas. Droughts are bad news for the people affected. But this is not the worst drought in 50 years—it’s among the best droughts in 5,000 years. So the claim that big droughts are evidence of human-caused warming is a sad joke.
But that’s not my favorite drought joke. It’s this one:
As reported by Agence France Presse (AFP)
Iran drought part of ‘soft war’ by West: VP
The drought in southern Iran is part of a “soft war” launched against the Islamic republic by the West, the Fars news agency quoted an Iranian vice president as saying on Monday.
“I am suspicious about the drought in the southern part of the country,” Hassan Mousavi, who also heads Iran’s cultural heritage and tourism organisation, said at a ceremony to introdue the nation’s new chief of meteorological department.
“The world arrogance and colonist (term used by Iranian authorities to label the West) are influencing Iran’s climate conditions using technology… The drought is an acute issue and soft war is completely evident… This level of drought is not normal.”
You probably didn’t realize that the US was that Machiavellian. You didn’t know we were using our secret weather control technology to create a drought in Iran, while simultaneously not using the same technology to turn off the drought in the US.
That way, you see, we had hoped to throw off Iranian suspicion. We figured that if we had a drought at the same time our secret weather machines were causing the Iranian drought, the Iranians would be fooled into thinking that we couldn’t control the weather… but the crafty Persians are the representatives of an ancient civilization, they were too quick-witted to be taken in by that transparent ploy.
That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it …
w.
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You’ve got your Hanrahans too it seems-
http://www.middlemiss.org/lit/authors/obrienj/poetry/hanrahan.html
It’s the weather that brings them out in their droves.
“…our secret weather machines …”
I knew it !
“The world arrogance and colonist (term used by Iranian authorities to label the West) are influencing Iran’s climate conditions using technology…”
Um… translation is always a tricky business, and nuances tend to be missed. In the original, this could simply be a complaint that the West have industrialised heavily and pumped out lots of CO2, which is causing Iran to suffer a drought. Equally wrong, but a much more understandable claim….
Southern Iran has been in a drought since about 2007. In 2009, the Iranians built rammed-earth dams in the Zagros Mountains along their border with Iraq to divert the streams flowing into Iraq into reservoirs on the Iranian side. When Baghdad complained, Tehran just said, “Tough.” Or whatever the Farsi equivalent is.
Machiavellian is as Machiavellian does…
Perhaps there isn’t an OFF position – so having ‘tested’ the machines in the US first, the situation can only get worse!
No it’s Hillary’s carbon footprint:
“Since becoming secretary of state in 2009, Clinton has logged 351 days on the road, traveled to 102 countries and flown a whopping 843,839 miles, according to the State Department”
Australia has been in a drought situation for as long as it’s been Australia….
Willis,,,
You may find this most interesting. Note his comments re: Midieval Warm Period, and Little Ice Age about societal well being– from Robin Tausch..
http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pep/climatechange/Tausch/index.html
More evidence of colder/drier extended droughts in the Great Basin region..
https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2005AM/finalprogram/abstract_89746.htm
….. Leaving me curious as to why people have this idea that we need a cooler climate?
Bill Tuttle says:
July 17, 2012 at 8:48 am
“Southern Iran has been in a drought since about 2007. In 2009, the Iranians built rammed-earth dams in the Zagros Mountains along their border with Iraq to divert the streams flowing into Iraq into reservoirs on the Iranian side.”
I find this a bit odd…the border between Iran & Iraq runs along the drainage divide of the Zagros for the most part. In order to divert water back to the Iranian side, the Iranians would have to enter Iraq and dam the headwaters of streams that flow down the Iraqi side of the divide.
Awww man! Coffee on the keyboard!!! 🙂
“All your weather are belong to us!”
“Someone set us up the drought!”
If it’s global warming, why is England so cold and wet?
TomRude says:
July 17, 2012 at 8:53 am
No it’s Hillary’s carbon footprint:
“Since becoming secretary of state in 2009, Clinton has logged 351 days on the road, traveled to 102 countries and flown a whopping 843,839 miles, according to the State Department”
[SNIP: You may well be right, but this doesn’t add to the topic at hand and really is a bit too far. -REP]
Antagonizing anybody whom you even *suspect* of having the power to control the weather has always been a bad idea.
Ask Lucifer.
Ask Zeus or any of the lesser denizens of Mt. Olympus.
Some progress anyway… the American media are consistently hitting the “worst since 1956” line instead of their normal “UNPRECEDENTED! HISTORICAL FIRST! WORST SINCE THE BIG BANG!” nonsense. When they emphasize the repetitions, it’s easier for listeners to remember that Nature goes in cycles.
How many acient American Indian cultures were lost due to severe droughts?
“All your weather are belong to us!”
“Someone set us up the drought!”
Post of the week. Thanks! You owe me a monitor…
Another excellent video from Climate Crocks
[ http://youtu.be/b0NrS2L6KcE ]
REPLY: I wouldn’t call it “excellent”, bear in mind that the purveyor of these is an Al Gore trained climate activist. His intent is to smear, not to enlighten. And, he’s missed the most important fact of all, that the Washington DC derecho is not anything new and that climatology shows it to be about a 1 in every 4 years event. But that doesn’t support his “OMG the sky is falling worst in history run for your lives” argument. Crock indeed. – Anthony
Went to college in Socorro, New Mexico. After about three years living there, you can tell when the desert turns green in the Spring. For all two or three days of it. Drought in the Southwest? We’ve had a drought in the Southwest for 800 years! That pre-dates the Industrial Age by a little bit.
There you go, – to anybody who ever thought they could keep a “Weather-machine” secret for very long, I can only quote W C Fields: “Think again!”
Oh and more soylent green! says on July 17, 2012 at 9:35 am:
“If it’s global warming, why is England so cold and wet?”
===========
That’s down to the “Jet Stream” giving CAGW a rest bite for now. – Just you wait and we’ll all be “bar-be- qued”
Bravo for a larger perspective.
Droughts and mega droughts are very much normal!
And I don’t see any science to believe increased global temperature
has a significant bearing on drought frequency.
Part of the problem is that heatwaves ( which last from days to weeks ) and droughts
( which last from years to centuries ) are not particularly well understood.
Other things remain constant, but the circulation changes to leave some areas
persistently hotter or drier for extended periods.
In such situations where scientific explanations are weak, superstitions
and plausible but unproven ideas are bound to encroach.
Like sacrificing virgins, or modern economies.
Across the Columbia basin from my ranch is an area of sand dunes now covered with pine trees. Obviously a dryer time (drought?) existed that did not erode away prior to the pine trees taking over. Evidence of less rain/snow. Do deserts have droughts or are deserts the result of extended drought? Maybe drought is the norm and wetter is not the norm. Not sure how to post the picture so all can see how interesting it is. (scenic as well 🙂 )
“The drought in southern Iran is part of a “soft war” launched against the Islamic republic by the West..”
The claim that the west has launched a drought against Iran is no more bizarre than claiming the world’s climate is out of control because of drivng your SUV, or that building a wind turbine will fix it. Iranians are just like us.
more soylent green! says:
July 17, 2012 at 9:35 am
If it’s global warming, why is England so cold and wet?
____________________________________
YOU STOLE that rain from IRAN, just ask them.
Here is how the UK stole that rain from the middle east. link
The folks at the Weather Channel have felt compelled to chime in
http://www.weather.com/news/drought-disaster-new-data-20120715
2012 Drought Rivals Dust Bowl
Of course the article doesn’t really provide much to support the headline
“However, when excluding areas in “moderate” drought, the historical rankings change a bit. Some historical droughts were extremely intense, but more focused on specific regions rather than sprawling across large swaths of the country.
For example, infamous droughts in 1988, 2000, and 2002 each included over 35% of the country in the “severe” to “extreme” drought categories on the Palmer drought scale. By comparison, severe to extreme drought covers 32.7% in June 2012.
In short, the overall 2012 drought now covers more territory than any drought since the 1950s; but the more severe drought categories don’t cover quite as much land now as did the droughts of 1988 and the early 2000s.”