[peeker01]

If you are even the least bit skeptical about AGW, take a quick look at this site. Our current
hurricane and drought issues pale in comparison to past weather events.

Now, for those of you who want to discredit the credentials of this website, I'll save you
the trouble. Not much hard data prior to 1800, so the author relies on the casual printed
word from non-scientific sources. However, when someone says the Thames was frozen solid for 8 weeks in 1602, you have to give it some thought. Same goes for drought and famine. No
shortage of either.

So when someone wants to tell you that a one year drought in Texas is an indicator of end-times,
tell him about this website.

http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/clima ... climat.htm

[Umber]

If you are even the least bit skeptical about AGW, take a quick look at this site. Our current
hurricane and drought issues pale in comparison to past weather events.

Now, for those of you who want to discredit the credentials of this website, I'll save you
the trouble. Not much hard data prior to 1800, so the author relies on the casual printed
word from non-scientific sources. However, when someone says the Thames was frozen solid for 8 weeks in 1602, you have to give it some thought. Same goes for drought and famine. No
shortage of either.

So when someone wants to tell you that a one year drought in Texas is an indicator of end-times,
tell him about this website.

http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/clima ... climat.htm

Interesting site, Peeker. Thanks for posting.

[peeker01]

You're welcome. I've just been reading it again, line by line. It's fun to imagine living in ancient
times with no computer or heating, just animal skins and a fire for warmth. Better than a
novel.

[nobodypanic]

and when was the last time the thames was frozen for 8 weeks? or just frozen period?

[peeker01]

Maybe next year, if that website is at all accurate. That's what is so compelling about this
historical record. 5 years of drought, followed by 2 of floods, then 7 years later, 5 feet of snow
and unspeakable cold. All before the discovery of hydrocarbons.

[PrestonSturges]

Britain is an island, so its weather is greatly influenced by wind and ocean current. UK weather is probably not a real good indicator of global temperatures.

[peeker01]

With France and the rest of Europe just a short distance away, I'm sure much of the data
can be extrapolated for interpretation. Even though Irene made landfall on Long Island,
it's pressure patterns, wind and rainfall had influence all the way into Canada and beyond.

[KingM]

Fascinating stuff, thanks for sharing. I'm a global warming agnostic, but stuff like this doesn't exactly make feel more confident. In a JIT world, a ten year period of cold, rainy summers and bitter winters in the northern latitudes could kill a billion people around the world.

[peeker01]

We are up against a cruel "mother nature". With proper assessment and preparation we will
persevere.

[PrestonSturges]

With France and the rest of Europe just a short distance away, I'm sure much of the data
can be extrapolated for interpretation. Even though Irene made landfall on Long Island,
it's pressure patterns, wind and rainfall had influence all the way into Canada and beyond.

When the wind blow in England it gets warm air off the Gulf Stream. When the wind blows in Europe it could be cold air out of Scandanavia or the mountains.

[peeker01]

Hey Preston, if you don't appreciate the information, ignore it.

[PrestonSturges]

Hey Preston, if you don't appreciate the information, ignore it.

Information is not knowledge.

[dolanbaker]

It puts the "runaway global warming" and "mini ice age" threads into perspective, extreme weather events have and will always happen regardless of whether you believe in global warming or climate change or even if you believe we're aproaching an ice age.

[dolanbaker]

Britain is an island, so its weather is greatly influenced by wind and ocean current. UK weather is probably not a real good indicator of global temperatures.

No one place on the planet could ever be an indicator of global temperatures.

[PrestonSturges]

Britain is an island, so its weather is greatly influenced by wind and ocean current. UK weather is probably not a real good indicator of global temperatures.

No one place on the planet could ever be an indicator of global temperatures.

Its climate depends entirely on wind and ocean currents.

London at 51 degrees north latitude is as far north as Hudson Bay Canada, it's farther north than Calgary. It get gets cold there sometimes? Who knew?

I'm not going to waste time coming up with an analogy for what a bad idea it would be to use English weather as an indicator of global temps, so I'll just say it would be silly.

[peeker01]

If you will look to the top of this thread, you will see it is predicated on drought and storms, not
temperature. The British Isles suffered an amazing number of droughts and famines, in spite
of it's high latitude. Do you remember the Irish potato famine?

[dolanbaker]

If you will look to the top of this thread, you will see it is predicated on drought and storms, not
temperature. The British Isles suffered an amazing number of droughts and famines, in spite
of it's high latitude. Do you remember the Irish potato famine?

The potato famine was primariliry caused by blight a desease that rots potatoes and a government that didn't care.

[peeker01]

True, but it occurred during the Little Iceage.

[PrestonSturges]

If you will look to the top of this thread, you will see it is predicated on drought and storms, not
temperature. The British Isles suffered an amazing number of droughts and famines, in spite
of it's high latitude. Do you remember the Irish potato famine?

The famine was a bacterial infection of spuds caused by a wet year, and English politics factored in.

I'm sorry if I'm shortchanging the study. It will of course be latched onto by deniers claiming it "proves" something about AGW being a hoax, because everything including whether the AFC or NFC wins supposedly disproves AGW. And a lot of that will be coming out of England no doubt. I think I already made my point.

We hear a lot of climate bunk from the UK. Like how it gets cold there and the wind turbines don't turn when it's cold, which makes sense on an island surrounded by warm water. But in the US the fossil fuel shills say that the UK example is why wind is a hoax, although when it's cold in the US it's often because the wind is blowing like an SOB from Canada. Again, UK weather is not comparable to the US, but we hear people making those dishonest comparisons on behalf of the fossil fuel industry all the time.

[dolanbaker]

True, but it occurred during the Little Iceage.

Not quite, the little ice age was caused by the Maunder minimum in the 17th century, this was during the Dalton minimum and was just after the "year without a summer" caused by a major volcanic eruption.

The jury's still out as to whether we're entering a Dalton or Maunder type event.