Climate Change. Was: FROST
J.E. Shields (Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:50:46 PST)

Hi all,

I agree with Bob Pries, let's not get into the politics of climate
change. The science of climate change is different from Newtonian physics,
which seems pretty cut and dried to most of us at this point -- unless we
start moving at relativistic speeds, then Newton fails us.

Science is never absolute, it works by building a series of ever-better
approximations. The computer models for climate change are certainly not
perfect, and a recent article suggested that there is a theoretical limit
to how accurate they can ever become. Climate is, after all, one of those
mathematically chaotic systems. Our so-far brief tenure as rational,
scientific residents of this planet also limits the length of our set of
precise data. We can't even be sure that the Northern Hemisphere climate
tracks the Southern Hemisphere climate very closely, or vice versa.

I did see one suggested mechanism for increased ice mass on Antarctica as a
result of global warming: Warmer world, warmer oceans, therefore more
moisture in the atmosphere overall. The coldest spot on the planet is
usually the South Pole, so a lot of the extra moisture ends up condensing
out and falling there as snow. Seems to work for me, but is not
necessarily important to where and how my bulbs are going to grow in the
future. They don't grow in Antarctica anyway.

"If" and "How" the climate is changing are quite relevant to us a plant
people. Are our beloved bulbs going to face greater and greater
environmental/climate threats as time goes on? Can we do anything to
preserve threatened species of bulbs? These are points we could and I
think we should be addressing, here and in all plant groups.

Best wishes,
Jim Shields
in central Indiana where the weather is about to change (again) from summer
to winter

*************************************************
Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd.
P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/
Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA
Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA