Have we officially gone full circle? Back in the 1970's, we were told that the Earth was in a dangerous period of global cooling. Then we went through various dangerous, man-made phenomena from thinning of the ozone due to fluorocarbons in aerosol cans to acid rain from the coal-fired power plants to global warming/greenhouse effect. Now we have climate change as the latest dangerous phenomenon. The environmentalists were getting dizzy going around on the merry-go-round, but now they can go about there business without nausea or discomfort. With climate change being the new environmental buzz word, any change in the weather or deviations from average in either direction are an indication of planetary doom. Unless the temperature is exactly at the average for today, then we are experiencing climate change. If we have too little or too much rain, that is climate change. We never had floods or tornadoes or hurricanes or extreme heat or cold before climate change came along. Yea right.
Don't we have climate change almost every day? We certainly do from month to month. July is usually a lot warmer than January. Some environmental alarmists would say that July is HOT and January is COLD. This year, it's a good thing the catch phrase had been changed from global warming to climate change, because it was a pretty cold winter.
A while ago, in spring of 2008, polar bears were placed on the endangered species list by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. This was done after a couple of years with conditions similar to 2014. Reportedly, there were many thin polar bears those spring seasons, and the numbers counted were down in the area of Alaska's Beaufort Sea. The environmentalists attributed this to the melting summer ice due to global warming. However, now there is evidence that the conclusions were errant. In fact, spring ice that is too thick causes more problems for the polar bears.
In spring, the polar bears are ending hibernation. They haven't eaten in many months, and there are new cubs to feed. A major source of their food supply is seals. The male seals make holes in the ice for breathing, as they set up dens for mating. The seals can successfully make the holes in ice up to 7 feet thick. When the ice gets thicker than this, the seals must move out further to find thinner ice. This year and in 2004 and in 2006 when the environmentalists were lobbying to get the polar bears placed on the endangered species list, the ice was very thick in the spring. This year it has been measured at about 16 feet thick.
Apparently, the polar bears have more sense than the MessAPolitico and their PhD scientists with the pointy heads that are studying them. When the bears couldn't find enough food because the seals weren't there, they didn't call Obama and cry and beg for government assistance. The seals moved out farther so they could still mate. (I guess those natural urges will make a seal do anything to get laid!) Did the bears just lay down and die? No. They moved on over to the place where the seals went.
I sure wish the poor welfare and food stamp and unemployment recipients had as much sense as these dumb animals. Maybe they would if the government didn't feed them, clothe them, and put a roof over their heads. I wonder what would happen to the polar bears over ten or twenty years if the government brought them bags of Purina polar bear chow every day. Would they still be able to adapt and survive on their own? I'll bet they really would be endangered if we helped them out like we do the humans.
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