As the media focus continued attention on supposedly receding glaciers in Greenland, they conveniently ignore those right here in America that are actually expanding.
Adding insult to injury, as prominent California congresswomen House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California) travel abroad to laughingly see evidence of global warming, they could drive north of their residences in the San Francisco Bay Area - with an entourage of gushing media sycophants of course - to see evidence that goes counter to their alarmist theories.
In fact, as reported by Sacramento's CBS affiliate Sunday, glaciers on California's Mount Shasta have grown by 30 percent in the past 50 years (video available here):
JOHN IANDER, CBS 13 REPORTER: Big mountains often create their own weather patterns, and this giant, Mount Shasta, at 14,162 feet seems to have a mind of its own these days. Shasta has seven glaciers. The biggest is this one on the middle, Whitney Glacier. What has surprised scientists about the glacier is that if the theories about global warming are true, it ought to be shrinking, but it's not.
And this one sort of defying conventional wisdom huh?
ERIK WHITE, SCIENTIST: It is. Unlike most areas around the world, these glaciers are advancing, they are growing. Thirty percent in the last fifty years.
IANDER: Forest Service scientist Erik White and veteran climbing guide Chris Carr are Shasta experts.CHRIS CARR: I've been climbing on Shasta for about fifteen years.
IANDER: Have you noticed a difference in snowfall?CARR: Oh, certainly. Every year it's a little bit different. But the glacier changes dramatically, year to year.
IANDER: So why are these glaciers the only ice rivers in the world larger today than they were a century or more ago?
WHITE: Mount Shasta is right at the very northern end of areas affected by El Nino and we're at the southern end of areas affected by La Nina. So between the two we get to see the benefits of that which means more snow and rain in this area.
What White said is key, because many skeptical scientists believe shifts between el Ninos and la Ninas are significantly more responsible for the planet's warming and cooling cycles than carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's recent announcement concerning 2006's temperatures intentionally tried to deflect responsibility for that year's warmth from the el Nino present at the time. But I digress:
IANDER: Snow scientists have been tracking the glaciers' size by comparing these photos from a century ago to those taken decades later, and then using satellite data and computer programs to determine the rate of growth.
Those models predict Shasta will continue to receive more than normal snowfall, but if the temperature continues to rise, the glaciers will begin to recede. For now, the growing glaciers are good news to the town of Mount Shasta which hosts the thousands of tourists who come to here to experience the thrill of ice climbing.
Sadly, this report didn't address what carbon dioxide is doing in the region. However, as California's population has exploded in the past 50 years, along with the number of cars and greenhouse gas emitting companies, it seems quite safe to assume that CO2 in this region is much higher.
Yet, the glaciers are expanding.
Isn't this newsworthy, or verboten because it just doesn't fit the media's agenda?
