Global warming biggest since Viking era

Cox News Service ^ | Friday, February 10, 2006 | MIKE TONER

[garyhope]

Hi Quant,

Actually you're right. Mt. St. Helen's made a mess around the world for quite a time. So did Krakatoa. There are probably more "natural" causes to a lot of pollution.

[dufekin]

That's entirely bogus. The last record of the Vikings in Greenland occurred in 1408, although they presumably lasted somewhat longer; perhaps Basque pirates finally annihilated them. But the Little Ice Age was in full swing, taking its toll on European-style animal husbandry as wintertime snowfalls melted later for increasingly fewer pasturage days during the summer. Ice floes usually blocked European fleets from reaching the Greenland settlements, and many (perhaps even most) simply sank and disappeared in the viciously stormy seas.

Greenlanders abandoned the Western Settlement circa the 1350s. The Chinese fleet never reached European shores. Although they *MIGHT* have reached America somewhere, the Chinese could not have circumnavigated Greenland, then an ice-choked island populated solely by Inuit.

[GladesGuru]

Regarding the bogus bit, may I suggest reading a book titled 1421, authored by Gavin Menzes.

[GladesGuru]

The book is titled 1421 and the author is Gavin Menves. He has a web site which a quick reference to Google will bring up. The book is most interesting.

[dufekin]

Based on what I've seen of it, that book consists largely of fanciful speculation. It's a well-established fact that Chinese seafarers reached East Africa and entirely possible that they explored other locations. But the climate record does not support any possible circumnavigation of Greenland in any craft not specially outfitted for icebound polar navigation circa 1421. No evidence exists to suggest that the Chinese possessed such equipment. Even reaching Greenland in those days (without meteorological satellite data or modern telecommunications) would make one quite lucky. Superior Chinese shipbuilding technology, however, probably would allow their fleet to weather some nasty storms, but even the Titanic couldn't survive an iceberg.

[sangrila]

I had never heard that they had either. Another poster posted the title of the book that claims they did. It is kind of difficult to believe, but I would be interested in reading about the claims.

[DOGEY]

The Vikings sailed throughout large sections of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean and while doing so emitted large quantities of flatulence from their ships. During their long journeys beans were a staple of their galleys.

Historians erroneously assert that lands that were visited by Vikings feared the Vikings ferocious violence, looting and raping. This is inaccurate. The Vikings could be smelled coming from several miles away and the victims fled in utter fear of the odor.

It is for this reason apparently that temperatures rose significantly during this period.

Anyone believe this?

[VOA]

Maybe cutting down all those trees to make their homes and ships,
then burning down captured towns and chieftain's funeral boats
released all those greenhouse gases...

[SunkenCiv]

A Blast from the Past.

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[dirtboy]

The analysis of data from tree rings, fossil shells, ice cores and actual temperature measurements from 14 locations on three continents shows that the current warming trend is the most extensive change — warm or cold — since the time of the Vikings.

Well, then, we should all celebrate a return to the famine, death, and despair of the onset of the Little Ice Age over the relative prosperity of the Medivial Warm Period - because who cares about the welfare of serfs when polar bears might just be starving somewhere?

[RightWhale]

Why was it warmer during the Viking era? Was it CO2 from burning villages?

[Wiseghy]

Ummmm...except, Greenland still isn't green, at least not yet.

Why is it that we must always point to the obvious when discussing this subject with journalists and "scientists".

[RobbyS]

In any case, what are they saying to the Chinese, who are filling the air with dirty coal smoke? Nada, nada, nada. Fact is that in 1930, the air in New York and other east coast cities was full of soot. That was because they heated with coal. By 1970, after switching to heating oil, they had clean air.

[DavemeisterP]

I have stated this a few times in the past, and will choose to take the opportunity once again to say - We need to shift into an ice age soon. Either that needs to happen or everyone under 300 ft above CURRENT sea level needs to get the hell out of Dodge before you're land is worthless.

How are your kids going to use the house/land investment that you pass on to them if they have to scuba dive to enjoy it?

Wanna set them up with a lasting inheritance? Figure out the EXACT future Beach front level, buy land up(miles inland and cheap) in Belize or some other similar location, and wait for the ice shelves to melt. Hey, YOU might not get to see it happen, but it'll eventually be worth millions more than that timeshare in Key West, right? AND, your descendants get first dibs on land that won't be covered in a mile thick ice cube, in case the opposite happens to the world's climate and the populace of the Northern Hemisphere both go south.

Hey, WIN-WIN, right?

Remind me again why we're rebuilding ANY PART of New Orleans? Shouldn't we start the large scale relocation of all important cities and buildings on the coastline of the entire world now? I'm kinda thinking it may actually take a little while, but what do I know? Are we going to have to sit by and act like we're all idiots again?

I mean, lets think about this - We're rebuilding a sinking city, AND the ocean level is rising. Wow. Every time I think about that one it boggles my mind. What a tribute to the intelligence of man we are.

I moved 1400 miles to prepare for my descendants future, shouldn't all of you be in the process of doing the same? Or, are you going to act like the idiots in New Orleans and actually try to blame the government and everyone else for your own shortsighted, egocentrical existence? How long do you think the insurance companies and your government can afford to support the groves of stupid people?

If you read this and choose to not move on it, then you have chosen procrastination and will become nothing more than a statistic over time.

It makes me sad to see people warp an intellectual conversation into a barrage of blond jokes and other slow-man's humor, and I'm glad that most of the people on GGG are above the brick-headed mentality of the masses.