Readers respond to last week’s Feedback Friday topic, which was:
Hurricanes, Wildfires, Drought…
Tropical Depression Ida (nee Hurricane) just passed through Maryland; a hurricane system that wreaked havoc from New Orleans upward through the Mid-Atlantic, and one of many that have already developed in this year’s young and very active hurricane season. Meanwhile, California, Nevada, and other western states are enduring unprecedented wildfires. Oh, and the Colorado River is apparently drying up.
Our questions to you were:
Is this climate change in action? Can we mitigate these changes?
Are the avocado and citrus growers in California sucking up all the water?
What the heck is going on?
Here’s what you said:
Weather patterns are unpredictable and constantly changing. Looks like we are in a wetter than normal pattern and out west is in a dryer than normal pattern. We cannot control how the earth wobbles on its axis as it goes around the sun and how its orbit has small imperfections and how the sun changes in intensity. Those factors are the biggest influence on our weather. The 'climate experts' failed to prove global warming so now they claim climate change. Trying to control how the climate changes is ridiculous. Our planet has gone through numerous ice ages and warm periods over very long periods of time and long before humans existed. I do think we should do all we can for clean air and water, but we pay the cost for that when China and Russia do not care about those issues. Pressure on other countries to clean up their act is where our focus should be if we really want to do something good for our environment.
Julia Jones, Edgewater
The almond growers in CA use all the water!
Nancy Bromberg, Annapolis
It’s hard to say, since back in the ’60s we had snow in feet, we had storms where my street flooded all the time, even into the ’70s. In 72 we had Agnes that flooded the Baltimore area. So it seems that they come and go. Yes we have had some damaging storms, but climate does change over years, and I believe rotates around every 40–50 yrs. Just like the sun has its changes every 11 yrs.
Edward Stratton, Severn
