CLIMATE CHANGE: NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN?

Many agonize that the Earth today is experiencing climate change which will have adverse impacts. These believers may wish to refresh their understanding of observations made by a wise man named Solomon:

"Generations come and generations go,
but the earth remains forever.
The sun rises and the sun sets,
and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south
and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course.
All streams flow into the sea,
and yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
there they return again.
All things are wearisome,
more than one can say.
the eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing.
What has been will be again;
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there any thing of which one can say,
'Look! This is something new?'
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them."*

It is undeniable that the Earth has experienced countless climate changes since its creation. Climate change is in its DNA. A simple example is evidenced in a recent article which discusses a project to inspect annual growth rings of oaks, pines and junipers across the northern Great Plains. Growth rings were measured by extracting cores with incremental borers. The article states that tree rings reflect patterns of temperature and rainfall, providing a centuries long record of climate changes in the area. The rings indicate that the Dust Bowl, 1933-1942, was dwarfed by droughts in prior periods since 1600: 1710-1725, 1780-1791, and 1859-1873. Based on a limited sample, the project also suggested that the longest droughts occurred 1325-1344 and 1531-1551.**

So, it would appear the climate change is nothing new under the sum. Climate on the Earth does not stand still, is not cast in stone. As Solomon suggests, "what has been will be again." One may assume that, if climate change is taking place, something more than computer simulations is needed to establish that this is nothing more than what has occured repeatedly though out history. Ended, one can note that current weather forecasts appear to be based primarily on disparate computer "models" resulting in apparent inaccuracies at times.

Speaking of wisdom, who is wiser--a climate change soothsayer or Solomon? We remember Solomon after thousands of years. Who will remember today's soothsayer tomorrow?


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*Ecclesiastes 1 (NIV), v. 4-11)

**Purintun,"The Oldest Trees In South Dakota",
South Dakota Conservation Digest,
Summer 2018, p. 31


© Daniel J. Kucera 2018