Does the Old Farmer’s Almanac credit Global Warming?
Yesterday as I was standing in line at the grocery I saw the Farmer’s Almanac and I wondered how accurate it is these days with the influences of global warming. When I got home I checked it out.
Aside from one article created by their web content creator which supported global warming as real (and took serious hits in the comments for doing so), everything else apparently disputes it. In fact, the almanac claims the earth is actually cooling.
And then there’s this:
An excerpt from the 2013 Farmer’s Almanac, pages 68-69 written by Evelyn Browning Garriss:
“Active space weather and solar flares can have adverse effects on Earth, including the disruption of satellite systems and power grids, GPS failure, and particle radiation exposure.
According to astronomers, the year 2013 may be an unlucky one, featuring solar flares that blast Earth with hot, ionized gas. Solar cycle 24 is reaching its maximum, and our satellites and electrical grids are at risk! In the words of Sir John Bedington, the United Kingdom’s chief scientific adviser, during a February 2011 meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a severe solar storm could cause a “global Katrina” that would cost the world’s economies as much as $2 trillion!
So now I think I understand where some of the climate deniers are getting their information! Then I thought, now wait a minute, how can the almanac doubt global warming when the USDA has changed their growing zone maps?! Well, there was an answer for that too - check it out:
Note: This USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map was updated in January of 2012, the first update since 1990. About half of the country is a half-zone warmer. According to the USDA, this is not a statement on global warming; rather, the scientists are using a differerent set of long-range data and more sophisiticated computers for a more accurate map, especially in challenging areas such as mountain zones which may have been rated too cold or warm in prior iterations.
-source- (i added the emphasis on the first update since 1990)
Yikes! The USDA is denying global warming?!
Well certainly the USDA Secretary, Tom Vilsack, doesn’t make it easy to understand where he stands on the matter these days since he refuses to talk about it. But why?
“Vilsack’s unwillingness to discuss climate science represents a Romney-like shift from less than a year ago. Speaking at an event at the Center for American Progress Fund in September 2011, Vilsack initiated a discussion on the links between climate change and agricultural disasters, saying it is “hard to explain” that anyone could not realize that the climate is changing..”
-source-
I do not think that he’s changed his position because of his beliefs. I think there is something else behind it. It’s either a political policy thing or maybe a big ole paycheck from or future job hopes with deniers. Who knows. He’s a support of GMO and industrial farming so he’s entrenched in the old paradigm and he can’t get out. With states passing laws that require ignoring climate science (like NC), it’s no wonder all politicians are flakey. But it does look like the overal USDA position is that Global Warming is real and mostly anthropomorphic. After all they formed the The Climate Change Program Office focusing only on potential impacts to their mission. Playing it safe - of course.
So sadly, after a lifetime of enjoying the Old Farmer’s Almanac, I think it’s time to let go of that relationship until they get their act together.
