After
decades of environmental claims that “global warming” would plunge the planet
into catastrophic harm to its human and other inhabitants—at the same time
blaming humans for causing it—the sheer arrogance and ignorance of these claims
always ignores the real power that is represented by the Earth itself and the
beginning of Spring should be proof enough for anyone paying any attention.
This
year, Spring begins in the northern hemisphere on Friday, March 20 at 6:45 PM
EDT. In the southern hemisphere it marks the beginning of Autumn.
Spring
manifests itself in ways we take for granted yet it is a combination of many
events that should make us marvel if we gave them any thought. For example,
where does all the snow go? The U.S. and the rest of the world set records of
snowfall levels throughout Winter.
As
noted by the U.S.
Geological Service, “in the world-wide scheme of the water cycle, runoff
from snowmelt is a major component of the global movement of water.”
“Mountain
snow fields act as natural reservoirs for many western United States water-supply
systems, storing precipitation from the cool season, when most precipitation
falls and forms snowpacks…As much as 75 percent of water supplies in the
western states are derived from snowmelt.” Snowmelt ensures sufficient water
for all of us and for the Earth that depends upon it for the growth of all
vegetation.
How
do the flowers know it is Spring? In a 2011 article for the Inside Science News
Service, Katherine Gammon noted that “Just in time for the birds and bees to
start buzzing, the flowers and the trees somehow know when to open their buds
to start flowering. But the exact way that plants get their wake-up call has
been something of a mystery.” A molecular biologist at the University of Texas,
Sibum Sung, has been trying to solve that mystery and has discovered “a special
molecule in plants that gives them the remarkable ability to recall Winter and
to bloom on schedule in the Spring.”
Nothing
on Earth happens by accident. It is a remarkable inter-related system to which
we give little thought. The sheer power of all those blooming flowers and trees
should tell us something about the power of Nature that dwarfs all the claims
that humans have any influence whatever on the events of Spring or any other
time of the year.
Then
think about the role of the animals with whom we share the planet. In the
Spring many come out of hibernation in their dens, while others such as birds
make lengthy migrations from the warmer climes to those in the north. The huge
migration of Monarch Butterflies should leave us speechless. Spring is a time
when many animals give birth to their young.
A
sign of the Spring that leaves us breathless is the way it is the season for
the aurora borealis. Dr. Tony Phillips of NASA notes that “For reasons not
fully understood by scientists, the weeks around the vernal equinox are prone
to Northern Lights. From Canada to Scandinavia they provide a great show.
“Such
outbursts are called auroral substorms and they have long puzzled physicists,”
says UCLA space physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos. They represent “a potent
geomagnetic storm.” The equinox in Spring and Autumn is a time when magnetic
connections between the Sun and Earth are most favorable.
One
book, “Silent Spring”, by Rachel Carson, first published in September 1962,
started the environmental campaign against pesticide use for any reason,
leading most famously to the ban on DDT in the U.S. What Carson neglected to
tell readers was how they were supposed to cope with the trillions of insects
that come with the advent of warm weather.
No
pesticide use does not mean less mosquitoes, less termites, less flies, less
ants, or less of any other insect species and the diseases they spread,
property damage, and the damage they cause to crops of all descriptions. And,
of course, the much of the pollination of crops and other vegetation depends on
insect species.
Carson’s
claims of a silent spring bereft of bird species was a blatant lie. Rich
Kozlovich, an authority on pest management, noted that “Bird populations
were never so high in North America” despite the use of DDT and other
pesticides. “Carson’s claim about how the poor robin was going to disappear was
not only wrong, she was deliberately lying.”
“Carson
was a science writer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and absolutely had
to know that in 1960 there were 12 times more robins, 21 times more cowbirds,
38 times more blackbirds, 131 times more grackles, etc., compared to 1941
numbers.”
Spring
is a time of renewal in the northern hemisphere and it occurs with enormous
levels of natural power. Most people, however, are oblivious to that power as
they enjoy the sight of flowers and trees blooming.
I
could almost guarantee that you will read or hear about “global warming” or
“climate change” being attributed to the arrival of Spring. Do yourself a
favor. Keep in mind that those claims, like Rachel Carson’s, represent an
anti-humanity, anti-energy, and anti-capitalism agenda of the environmental
movement.
Instead,
celebrate the seasonal renewal of life on Earth and give thanks for the energy
that permits you to control the environment of the structures where you live
and work, that provides you the means to get in your car and go anywhere, and
that powers every device you use.
©
Alan Caruba, 2015
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