Persistence remains the forecast with a subtle warming trend likely into the weekend. Look for more early morning cloudiness followed by mostly sunny skies during the afternoon hours over the next several days. We should see a brief breakdown in the ridge of high pressure for Sunday into Monday, and that should open the door for at least scattered showers and storms during that time. After Monday it looks like our seasonably warm temperatures will continue. Interestingly enough, I do not see a significant cool front through the first week of April.Â
I finally had the opportunity to see “An Inconvenient Truthâ€, the Al Gore documentary. I did like the movie overall as the picture gives those not up to speed a sense of where we are right now and how global population and consumerism are going to be bigger issues in the future…in our lifetime. Whether you feel the global warming debate is “over†or you’re a skeptic about the science, I would recommend the movie as the cinematography and graphics were great. I am no global climate change expert, nor am I a movie critic, but I felt that the movie was self-serving and spent too much time telling me how Mr. Gore has worked tirelessly to get his message out. The movie opens with Mayor Ray Nagin crying for help a few days after Katrina and pretty much indicates that Katrina happened and the death and destruction that followed were directly attributed to global warming. From all of the science that I have researched, there is no direct correlation to our current warming trend and the increase in tropical activity of the last decade, never less a single storm. We understand the oceanic circulation belt goes through enhancing cycles, and it has been well-documented that we are in the midst of this upswing. Now one could infer global warming equals hotter oceans and thus more hurricanes and an increase in their intensities, but the science is not even close to giving us an answer to such a complex question. So for me, credibility of the picture comes into question with repeated Katrina references. I think we are a society that just feels the need to assign blame, whether it’s El Nino or global warming, the truth is that weather happens, period. Weather changes everyday and climate can change in a lifetime. The question presented to all of us, is where are we going?  Hopefully this movie will get more people to be more ecologically responsible and aware. We all have to get off the mindset of being a “throw-away†society with inexhaustible natural resources.  I will stay away from how the movie treats the CO2 processes and its influence on our atmosphere as that’s another can of worms. I’ll talk more about this tomorrow.