Zirconia;1932452:
This is completely irrelevant. How in the world does that PROVE global warming? To prove the theory of global warming, one must not only show that the EARTH as a whole (not just California) has risen in temperature, but also that this is due to man. I have no problem admitting that the average temperature of the Earth has risen in the last century, albeit minimally. However, science has no ability to show that this is not simply a cyclical process that occurs every 1000 years or so, which in fact many scientists believe.
The fact that you cite California as proof of global warming just shows how ethnocentric and egocentric Americans are. For every California, there is a Buffalo, New York. Are you now going to tell me that Buffalo getting about 14 feet of snow a week or two ago is proof of a coming ice age?
Didn’t realize Italy and Costa Rica were part of California…
Now let me make myself a little more clear.
Growing olive trees near the Alps is a sign that something about the climate has changed; plants and animals migrating to higher elevations is another sign that something about the climate has changed: it has gotten warmer!
I cite California as an example of the changing climate, because its extremes are not normal either, just like it is abnormal to be growing olives near the Alps and wine grapes in England. The analogy from Buffalo, New York, is flawed because it is perfectly normal for Buffalo and the surrounding region to get snow in February.
But it is not perfectly normal for this region to be in the midst of a multi-year drought, and it is certainly abnormal to have weeks of triple-digit temperatures in the summer and weeks of below-freezing temperatures in the winter in a place known for its Mediterranean climate and not known for temperature extremes either way. If this were normal, no one would be growing temperature sensitive crops either here or in the Central Valley. Places known for their iffy climates are not usually the ones that have billion-dollar citrus industries. Is the climate changing? Based on firsthand experience of trends toward drier years and increased temperature extremes, I would say that it is.
Based on evidence from agricultural trends in Europe and ecological trends in Central America, I would say that it is; based on evidence from the Caribbean, where coral reefs are dying because the water is too warm for them, I would say that it is.
And I live and work in California, along with forty million other people, why should I not be concerned about it?
Zirconia