Comments on: First of the Season

By: Ted in Fort Lauderdale

Ted in Fort Lauderdale — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:27:09 +0000

The other issue is that the comic assumes that everyone lives where it should be cold now. Some of us live where it is (and usually still would be) shorts and t shirt weather, where the leaves don’t fall off the trees (well, I have a gumbo limbo that’s shedding leaves pretty badly into the pool right now, but they grow back as fast as they drop), and where we _do_ water all year (in fact, more during “winter”, since that is our dry season). So initially I didn’t get anything from this at all, until I mentally reset to make the assumption from their phrasing that all that they were saying was not as it was supposed to be. It wasn’t really amusing anyway, but that didn’t help…

(OK, I understand that _most_ of the country is normally starting to get cooler (chilly?) by now and that for most people, white Christmas doesn’t usually involve going to the beach - it does give us around here some disconnect from the rest of you…)

By: furrykef

furrykef — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:57:05 +0000

By the way — it’s taken me a couple of views to pay enough attention to notice — what’s with the second panel? I understand that it’s supposed to be a cross section of the fence, but it looks like what they’re actually doing is holding up a single plank of wood.

By: furrykef

furrykef — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:51:10 +0000

I’m amazed at all you liberals getting ticked about this strip. These are conservatives who cannot be convinced of the veracity of global warming, even when the trees are still green in November and giraffes have moved into the neighborhood.

I know you’re not necessarily stating otherwise, but I thought I’d point out that being a liberal or a conservative doesn’t change what the facts are. Science is science; it has no political agenda.

The reason I personally reject global warming is because they now call it climate change, which is too general to be anything but meaningless.

So a rose by any other name doesn’t smell as sweet?

By: Rammy M

Rammy M — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:46:07 +0000

I don’t think this is a case of “the Cartoonist doesn’t get it”.
The comic show that there are (in this cartoon world) real effects from “global warming”: it’s November, but it’s so unusually warm that “their neighborhood is reverting to savanna” and they need to water the lawn, but Despite that, the guy is not willing to accept that the climate has indeed changed.

There are many prominent people that are “blind” like that.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:11:34 +0000

The funny thing was that it was almost 70 in upstate New York yesterday .. and it will be again today.

Todd … the reason they relabeled global warming is because of all the pundits and cartoonist dismissing global warming simply because they had a lot of snow or a particularly cold week in winter. See .. global warming CAN’T be true … it’s January and 20 degrees out. Because the effect of global warming is far more subtle than just warming, and trying to convey that subtlety in a sound bite that most people get their information from is impossible, relabeling global warming to climate change made sense.

One other point … the basic cure for climate change is to reduce pollution. So lets say that climate change is an epic fail. We have still reduced pollution … that in and of itself is a fine goal

By: mkilby

mkilby — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:05:26 +0000

“A rose by any other name is still a rose.” It doesn’t matter what you call it, the increase in CO2 content is an objective fact, with measurable consequences. As for this comic, well, it’s just a comic. No real reason to get worked up about it one way or the other.

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:13:32 +0000

As I understand global warming, the pollutants in the air are trapping the heat in earth’s atmosphere, and eroding holes in the ozone layer, allowing more heat to come in. Hotter summers, warmer winters.

The additional heat is causing evaporation of the ocean, causing more moisture to be in the air. The additional heat and moisture mix to cause more hurricanes and whatnot.

The reason I personally reject global warming is because they now call it climate change, which is too general to be anything but meaningless.

By: Fett101

Fett101 — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:46:33 +0000

“Besides, I heard the entire universe is cooling so enjoy global “warming” while ya can!”

10 to the power of 100 years? I might find the time to watch ‘Lost’ by then.

By: Dave in Boston

Dave in Boston — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:40:52 +0000

Rebecca: yeah they can. Suppose we have a simple-minded place where the temperature is 10C at night (12 hours) and 30C during the day (also 12 hours). The average temperature is 20C. Then someone waves the climate-change wand and it’s 5C at night and 40C during the day; the average temperature has risen to 22.5C.

The real world’s not so tidy but you can easily have the same effect.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:39:35 +0000

Dave Van Domelen: Actually, for the average temperature to increase, the colds can’t get colder, mathematically speaking.

Climate change might mean that weather patterns become more unpredictable and extreme but things are in fact getting warmer, not colder.