

From golf to Black Hawk Down, the things we blame on global warming

Posted on February 15, 2013

Tim LesmeisterIt doesn't matter if you're a global warming believer or a global warming detractor, there are things that get blamed on climate change that are sure to get folks scratching their heads in wonderment and maybe even generate a laugh or two.

This crossed my mind as I read Rob Drieslein’s blog about the diminishing population of moose in northeastern Minnesota. The article does state that biologists studying this phenomenon don't know exactly what might be causing the moose numbers to decline, but they did state that climate change was a potential suspect along with parasites and predators. Drieslein makes a good argument for this and I agree with him and understand that it’s a problem in search of the solution.

In the meantime I brought up my favorite search engine and sought out some of the tragic repercussions that global warming is causing around the world and found that climate change is wreaking havoc on aspects of life that got past me.

Some will be sad to know that the Loch Ness Monster has fallen to global warming. An American, Robert Rines has spent 37 years hunting for Nessie with sonar equipment. He claims hundreds of sonar contacts over the years, but the trail has gone cold and Rines believes the Loch Ness Monster might be dead, a victim of global warming.

It may have happened almost 20 years ago but the crash of a U.S. military helicopter in Mogadishu that became the film "Black Hawk Down" was blamed on global warming by a Massachusetts congressman in 2008.

"In Somalia back in 1993, climate change, according to 11 three- and four-star generals, resulted in a drought which led to famine,” Rep. Edward Markey told a group of students who had come to the Capitol to discuss global warming, according to "That famine translated to international aid we sent in to Somalia, which then led to the U.S. having to send in forces to separate all the groups that were fighting over the aid, which led to Black Hawk Down."

There are more of these head-scratching anecdotes here. They're worth checking out.

It seems like every time we have a snowstorm, hurricane or flood we blame it on global warming.  When the salmon don't run, when the ducks don't fly, when water levels go down, when the water levels go up, it gets blamed on global warming.

My buddy, Mike Starck was a two handicap golfer 30 years ago and now he golfs to a 12 handicap. Why? According to Starck it's global warming. The additional carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has thickened the foliage and made it hard to find the occasional ball he sends into the jungles off the rough. One or two penalty strokes pushes your handicap up.

The problem with blaming everything on global warming is when we have a sincere situation like the Minnesota moose population decline, how can we take the statements by the scientists studying the problem seriously? We have so many bogus claims that obscure the issue. We’ll just have to use our built-in common sense meter to wade through the outrageous and give credence to that which counts.

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