Frozen Gore Ice Sculpture Pokes Fun At Global Warming
Filed under: art — Michael d'Estries @ 12:01 pm
January 21st 2009
With Alaska in the grip of record cold, one “moderate global warming” skeptic decided to poke a bit of fun at Al Gore with a massive 8 1/2 foot-tall ice sculpture of the former Vice-President. Local businessman Craig Compeau says that he created the statue to help lure Gore to Fairbanks and have an open discussion on climate change. From the article,
“Compeau said he hatched the idea for the carving when talking to another businessman two weeks ago, when much of Alaska was suffering from one of the coldest snaps in recent memory. By the time Dean was done with the carving, however, the temperature had warmed to record-breaking highs in the upper 40s. Thermometers had settled in-between by Monday morning, reading around 20 degrees.”
According to climate change scientists, Alaska’s average temperature has risen three degrees in the last 50 years. No word yet from the Gore camp on if he’ll decide to accept the invitation.
via newsminer | image via frozengore
Wonder if the folks who did the ice scupture read that 2008 tied with 2001 as the eighth warmest year on record for the Earth, based on the combined average of worldwide land and ocean surface temperatures through December, according to a preliminary analysis by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. For December alone, the month also ranked as the eighth warmest globally, for the combined land and ocean surface temperature. The assessment is based on records dating back to 1880.
George — probably not!
That is an interesting statistic, but given the fact that the earth has been around for an estimated 4.6 billion years, and that humans have inhabited this planet for 160,000 years. The mere 128 years used for this assessment, is little less than a hiccup in the grand scheme. To clarify, I do believe in the greenhouse effect and it’s implications for global warming in the next century, but I do not think that the recorded heat of this year and 2001 are accurate representations of that trend.
Given the fact that this sculpture’s purpose is to promote open scientific discussion of this issue, I think it’s a good thing.