Global warming, volcanoes or a fluke?

Popular meteorologist Paul Douglas outlined some disturbing changes in our climate to members of the McLeod County Corn & Soybean Growers Association at their annual meeting Saturday.
We were startled by some of the data he shared: that there have been four 1,000-year — yes, that’s correct 1,000, not 100 — rain events in the past 11 years, that the “corn belt” has moved northward 100 to 150 miles, and that the frequency and volatility of our weather has increased dramatically. We are seeing wider and wider swings in the peaks and valleys of our weather.
Some attribute this to global warming caused by pollutants, others to the impact of volcanic eruptions, and still others ascribe to the theory that this is just a blip in the long-term evolution of our climate.
We suspect that there is a globule of truth in each speculation, but that no one truly holds the big-picture reason as to why our climate is shifting so dramatically.
This is the type of situation that should merit the federal appointment of a blue-ribbon commission to study the issue, but we all know how that goes: by the time politicians get done sparring over who is qualified to sit on the commission, either hell will have frozen over or the polar ice cap will have completely melted and we’ll be adrift upon the oceans.
Douglas seemed to embrace the idea that the greenhouse effect, caused by pollutants, is the cause of the changes in climate.
We’re not sure that we totally agree with him, although pollution may certainly be one of many factors causing the problem.
One thing we do agree on with Douglas is this: that the America that cured polio, put a man on the moon and introduced a shining example of true democracy to the rest of the world, can certainly handle this.
We hope that some foundation or university truly does come up with a commission of scientists, climatologists and meteorologists, locks them in a room, and lets them identify the true contributing factors to our climatic changes and offer ways to fix them.
As Douglas said, “There is no silver bullet right now, but there is plenty of silver buckshot.” Let’s get that buckshot together and find the silver bullet.