Is the start of spring now to be mid January?

Out in front of my house, in southwest Missouri, this forsythia is starting to bloom. The problem is, it’s only mid January! So, I am asking myself…it this evidence of Global Warming? And, most importantly…will I be able to plant palm trees soon? (I sent an email to the White House posing this question to them. It’s been some time now and still no response. Go figure).

So, I’ll just forge ahead and speak for them in this post. Yes, not only is global warming happening but its happening way faster than previously thought! Contrary to what the government would have you believe, scientific studies now coming out of England have shown that major glaciers are encountering warm waters which are melting them form the bottom up. This is in addition to the melting going on from warmer than normal surface temperatures. A dual process that is vastly accelerating the rate at which fresh water is being dumped into the oceans of the world. What was once thought to take centuries to accomplish is now occurring in less than a decade! Some experts feel that is possible the thermohaline circulation of the northern seas could be slowed to the point where they stop! Here’s a quote: “Scientists call this density-driven component of the meridional overturning circulation the thermohaline circulation; thermo meaning heat and saline meaning salt. Without this density-driven process, deepwater currents would no longer be created. The global conveyor belt would grind to a halt.”

They then went on to say that “there is strong evidence that such a shutdown has happened in the past, drastically altering the world’s climate in just a matter of years. Eleven thousand years ago, ice age glaciers were retreating. In central Canada, an immense glacial lake called Lake Agassiz occupied an area larger than all the Great Lakes. Suddenly the dams holding Lake Agassiz collapsed. The contents of the entire lake rushed into the North Atlantic by way of the St. Lawrence River. This massive infusion of fresh water diluted the polar seas to the point where the water was no longer dense enough to sink. The meridional overturning circulation likely ground to a stop. Called the Younger Dryas, this one thousand year period saw the temporary return of the ice age. (Source: NASA article ‘Ocean Conveyor Belt Impact by Edwin Schiele).

So there you have it. Perhaps all this heat will translate into a whole lot of cold in the not too distant future. What am I going to do about all this? Think I’ll go out and watch for an early spring.