1. Timely warnings about climate change
Russell Grenning
When such prestigious news magazines such as Newsweek and Time publish
almost matching stories quoting eminent scientists about a looming ecological
disaster because of climate change, even the doubters and deniers haveto sit
up and take notice.
The experts quoted by both predicted utter disaster for human civilisation with
the onsetof droughts, floods and other freak weather events which would
devastate huge areas of agriculturalland leading to mass starvation on a global
scale.
Time, for example, pointed out that, “In England, farmershave seen their
growing season decline by abouttwo weekssince 1950, with a resultantoverall
loss in grain production estimated atup to 100,000tonsannually” alldue to
the alarming fact that, according to Newsweek, “Rainy Britain...hassuffered
from uncharacteristic dry spells the past few springs.”
In their assessments of why this is happening, the two magazines had slightly
different explanations: Newsweek attributed this coming Armageddon to
“large numbersof pressure centresin the upper atmosphere” which were
breaking up air flows and creating stagnant air thus producing “extremes of
local weather such as droughts, floods, extended dry spells, long freezes,
delayed monsoonsand even local temperature increases.”
Time believed on the best available scientific evidence that the “expansion of
the greatbelt of dry, high-altitude polar winds –the so-called circumpolar
vortex” was blocking moisture-bearing winds thus causing droughts in the
subtropicalbelt and tornadoes in the Midwest of the USA.
This is truly scary stuff and I can distantly remember shuddering in fear when I
read these authoritative treatises. Yes, the very bestclimate scientists believed
completely and sincerely that the earth was undergoing an irreversibleglobal
cooling.

2. For these dire predictions to have had any effect on you at the time of
publication, you would haveto havebeen born somewherein the mid 1950s –
the Newsweek article was published in April, 1975 and the Time piece
appeared in June, 1974. Both caused me to banish any thoughts of dancing the
night away to the sounds of Abba and to reflect on what sortof a world I had
inherited.
Both insightful articles came to the same conclusion – a new ice way was on its
way.
Newsweek, in its lead article entitled, The Cooling World on 28 April, 1975,
summed up the consensus view of the world’s bestscientists, “The centralfact
is that after three quartersof a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the
Earth’sclimate seems to be cooling down. Meteorologistsdisagree aboutthe
cause and extent of the cooling trend, as well as over its specific impact on local
weather conditions. Butthey are almost unanimousin the view that the trend
will reduce agriculturalproductivity for the rest of the century.”
Newsweek explained at the time, “...whatcausesthe onsetof major and minor
ice ages remainsa mystery” and gravely warned, “... the scientists see few
signs that governmentleadersanywhere are even prepared to take the simple
measuresof stockpiling food or of introducing the variablesof climatic
uncertainty into economic future food supplies”.
Warming to its subject – and no pun intended – Newsweek warned that“... the
resulting famines could be catastrophic” and there would be “droughtand
desolation” not to mention “the most devastating outbreak of tornadoesever
recorded” and that it would be “impossible for starving people to migrate” and,
ominously, “... the presentdecline has taken the planet abouta sixth of the
way towardsthe Ice Age.”
These articles were not scare-mongering.

3. The US National Science Board in 1972 and 1974 issued reports confirming
global cooling. Its 1974 reportstated, “During the last 20 – 30 years, world
temperature hasfallen, irregularly atfirstbut more sharply over the next
decade.”
In 1975, theUS NationalAcademy of Science issued a similar warning.
Itwarned, “The average surface air temperature in the northern hemisphere
increased from the 1880suntil about1940 and hasbeen decreasing hereafter”
and this prompted their call for, “... the creation of a new National Climate
Research Program” because“ ... the time hascome to initiate a broad and co-
ordinated attack on the problem of climate and climatic change.”
Now, doesn’tthat sound eerily familiar?
On 23 October 2006, Newsweek issued a “correction” of its 1975 articlesaying
that it had been “spectacularly wrong aboutthe near-term future” although, to
be fair and honest, their 1975 journalists had simply been reporting the
overwhelming views of the then acknowledged experts.
Now, of course, weare expected to believe that there is global warming
although there has been a subtle shift from that assertion as the evidence piles
up that it is simply not happening that it is “climate change”.
But could the “globalcooling” theory be staging a comeback?
In April last year, Professor Cliff Ollier of the University of Western Australia’s
Schoolof Earth and EnvironmentStudies presented a paper in which he wrote
that the sun was the major factor controlling climate but not through
greenhousegases.
He wrote, “There is a very good correlation of sunspotsand climate. Solar
cycles provide the basis for prediction. Solar Cycle 24 hasstarted and we can
expect seriouscooling. Many think that the political decisions aboutclimate are
based on scientific predictionsbutwhatpoliticians get are projectionsbased on
computer models. The UN’s main adviser, the IPCC, uses adjusted data for the
input, their models and codesremain secret, and they do not accept
responsibility for their projections.”

4. Perhaps I was rightin the mid-1970s when I rushed outand bought a stylish
range of outfits for the then anticipated new ice age. It’s a shameI can’t fit into
them now – I believe that climate changehas caused them to shrink. There
couldn’t be any other reason, could there?