FLL brings up a point that is causing many scientists to disagree with the ones who warn of global warming (in case you thought science generally agreed about it... there is division among them.) The ones who doubt global warming cite just what FLL has brought up: Whenever a wooded/grassed area is turned into a developed area, the local temperature rises. Apply this concept to the world's weather stations, most of which are in cities. Their records show a warming trend in the last 100 years. Those same cities also have a lot more brick and concrete in them now than they did 100 years ago. It's making many people ask questions, but those questions are not getting much publicity. One paper I read about glacial melting pointed out that many of the world's melting glaciers are in areas that have seen a great deal of deforestation, paving, and development in the last 100 years. It named several glaciers in the world that are isolated in undeveloped areas and are growing. The conclusion was: Warming is happening in many places, but is it really global, or lots of local?
One might say "but look at the melting ice caps." This, too, has an unanswered question: The Atlantic Ocean, which has the greatest access to the Arctic, is currently in a multi-year warm phase and should flip back into cold phase within a few more years -- what will happen to the ice pack when that happens?
In order to keep this post on track I will offer this conclusion: People are undoubtedly looking at this April warm spell and thinking about global warming. FLL, perhaps unknowingly, has found the territory known as "the other side of the global warming debate."
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