“It Will Fluctuate”

“Winter Storm Threatens East Coast”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8fPtyqFJdI

Yes, we know that weather is not the same as climate. Yes, it is true that a few cold days cannot disprove that the climate is warming. But every year, more people die of cold than of heat. And we are talking about Americans, not Siberians.

When I was a kid in North Dakota, in winter farmers would freeze to death in a blizzard, going from the house to the barn to check on their livestock. People would die of monoxide trying to keep warm in their stuck cars.

Did I grow up believing in global cooling? No. But I did grow up with a healthy respect for cold and its dangers.

I did grow up with a reluctance to believe that a few degrees of warming would be catastrophic. It might even be beneficial.

I did grow up being taught in junior high science class that we are at the end of an ice age, and the climate is getting slightly warmer.

I did grow up without being terribly frightened that the Earth would become too hot to sustain life, unless we empowered the government to control every aspect of our lives.

I did grow up able to look at media headlines without being overcome by cognitive dissonance.

I did grow up to predict the climate the way J.P. Morgan predicted the stock market: “It will fluctuate.”

But I did not grow up with the hubris to imagine that a I could control the fluctuations.