Daily Bell
Anthony Wile
Here we go again. Global warming is suddenly back in the news and I think I know why. But before I discuss that, let's take a look at the latest grim findings.
Once more we're reading about the terrible toll that global warming can take. In this case, we're being led to understand that it may have resulted in the demise of a great, ancient civilization and also the reduction in size of various noble mammals.
Civilization first. According to hundreds of articles now clogging the Internet, scientists in Britain believe that a lack of rainfall may have doomed the great Mayan civilization.
This "speculation" is based on the idea that rainfall in areas of Mayan habitat declined for as long as a decade at a time. The scientists published their findings in the Feb. 24 issue of the journal Science.
FoxNews/LiveScience quotes the lead researcher himself. "'Our results show rather modest rainfall reductions between times when the Classic Maya civilization flourished and its collapse between 800 to 950,' said Eelco Rohling, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Southampton in England.
"These reductions amount to only 25 to 40 percent in annual rainfall, but they were large enough for evaporation to become dominant over rainfall, and open water availability was rapidly reduced. The data suggest that the main cause was a decrease in summer storm activity."
According to Rholing, even modest reductions in rainfall may have toppled the Mayans if the rainfall occurred in the summer when the Mayans planted and harvested.
What does the article conclude? "The collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization may have been linked to relatively modest dry spells, researchers now say."
According to the story, "Scientists have long drawn connections between the slow decline of the ancient Maya, which took about two centuries, 'to climate change, and especially to drought,' said researcher MartÃn Medina-Elizalde at the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico."
OK, so climate change (global warming) caused the end of a wonderful civilization. But worse is to come. Climate change apparently shrinks mammals, including humans.
According to another spate of articles hitting the Internet, humans may miniaturize as a result of global warming.
Here's something from the Christian Science Monitor on the syndrome: "It's been long known that the Earth's rising surface temperatures portend mass extinction, prolonged droughts, extreme weather, and rising seas. Now we can add a new worry: Humanity could be transformed into a race of hobbits."
Anthony Wile
Once more we're reading about the terrible toll that global warming can take. In this case, we're being led to understand that it may have resulted in the demise of a great, ancient civilization and also the reduction in size of various noble mammals.
Civilization first. According to hundreds of articles now clogging the Internet, scientists in Britain believe that a lack of rainfall may have doomed the great Mayan civilization.
This "speculation" is based on the idea that rainfall in areas of Mayan habitat declined for as long as a decade at a time. The scientists published their findings in the Feb. 24 issue of the journal Science.
FoxNews/LiveScience quotes the lead researcher himself. "'Our results show rather modest rainfall reductions between times when the Classic Maya civilization flourished and its collapse between 800 to 950,' said Eelco Rohling, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Southampton in England.
"These reductions amount to only 25 to 40 percent in annual rainfall, but they were large enough for evaporation to become dominant over rainfall, and open water availability was rapidly reduced. The data suggest that the main cause was a decrease in summer storm activity."
According to Rholing, even modest reductions in rainfall may have toppled the Mayans if the rainfall occurred in the summer when the Mayans planted and harvested.
What does the article conclude? "The collapse of the ancient Mayan civilization may have been linked to relatively modest dry spells, researchers now say."
According to the story, "Scientists have long drawn connections between the slow decline of the ancient Maya, which took about two centuries, 'to climate change, and especially to drought,' said researcher MartÃn Medina-Elizalde at the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico."
OK, so climate change (global warming) caused the end of a wonderful civilization. But worse is to come. Climate change apparently shrinks mammals, including humans.
According to another spate of articles hitting the Internet, humans may miniaturize as a result of global warming.
Here's something from the Christian Science Monitor on the syndrome: "It's been long known that the Earth's rising surface temperatures portend mass extinction, prolonged droughts, extreme weather, and rising seas. Now we can add a new worry: Humanity could be transformed into a race of hobbits."
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