In several articles I have compiled here and commented on this month it appears that we can expect more weather anomalies "unexpected events" at any time anywhere on earth and that this is something that people will just have to get used to worldwide. The other long term effects of this increasing worldwide average temperature as it ever so slowly rises will likely be that over the next few thousand years it will tend to make humans shorter. Even now, the tallest of humans got that way from drinking milk from cattle and goats over hundreds of years. So, often the heart of a very tall man or woman is the same size as a much smaller man or woman and this tends to mean that the tallest humans might not live as long as shorter ones barring illness or accidents. So, as the temperature increases likely it will be harder on taller and larger people and so they might died earlier and survival conditions will change for mankind and so the average height for humans will thereby decrease slowly over thousands of years.
In regard to weather though Snowstorms in very low temperatures and floods or tornadoes or hurricanes might seem on the surface to be the worst thing that one can endure, it turns out that that is only in the short run. It turns out that the very worst thing in the long run is a drought and droughts are one of the main reasons many past civilizations are no more. Because when a drought is too severe or lasts too long, food cannot be grown and water to drink cannot be found so people tend to fight over morsels of food and water and civilizations in the past ended over things like this.
However, as long as we have oil and gasoline and diesel emergency food and water can be shipped anywhere on earth to help out when things get bad. But oil and gas and diesel likely will be mostly gone from earth within 25 years or less at present rates of consumption which are sure increase because of the large numbers of middle class people worldwide who are expected to join the World Work Force between now and 2050. So, converting to other fuel sources in a somewhat orderly way will be necessary to avoid very serious food and water wars worldwide between now and 2050.
The Following is the kind of thing that can happen when completely unexpected weather events occur:
I have told this story before that happened between 1980 and 1983 in Mt. Shasta. Since it will be 30 years next year since 1983 it is getting harder to pinpoint when things happened when they are that far back sometimes. Anyway, my youngest son was about 5 or 6 so this would make it 1980 or 1981. We had ridden up to about 9,000 feet on dirt roads on the McCloud side of the Mt. Shasta by heading out Hiway 89 and then up Pilgrim Creek Rd. and then up Widow Springs Rd. on up passed Widow Springs and up to around 10,000 feet. I don't think the roads are open much above 8000 feet or 9000 feet any time of year now as likely the U.S. Forest Service has closed them up to Clear Creek Canyon and upwards up to Clear Creek. At that altitude on that year there still was blue ice underneath 10 foot or more of Snow turned to ice that Clear Creek was running out of. So, we walked up in the melted area where Clear Creek had melted out an ice cave to better see the blue ice. After that we walked back outside and since it was about 80 degrees that day and about 75 at altitude we hadn't brought any jackets or warm clothes with us from the 4 wheel drive truck that we all rode in to get up that high on the mountain on dirt roads. But we noticed off in the distance Lightning coming out of dark clouds. But this was a summer day wasn't it? We thought the most that could happen is that the lightning could strike and then we might get a little bath in the rain. So, the 3 children, my wife and I and a friend who owned the 4 wheel drive truck were very happy enjoying the beautiful view of around 40 to 50 or more miles from an altitude of 10,000 feet in several directions as we walked up higher on the mountain a few miles to around 10,500 feet. Meanwhile the lightning a few miles away from us was getting louder and we could see it hitting the mountain. And then it started to hail but we were all in shorts and short sleeve shirts and T-shirts and mountain boots for walking over rocks without turning your ankles on them. So, when it started to hail we all went under the largest tree we could find to shelter us from the hail in case it got big and injured us or the kids. As the lightning struck around us and the hail fell to the ground it never got bigger than about about 3/4 an inch across. So hail wasn't the problem. The problem was what came next was wind and heavy snow which we really couldn't believe was actually happening. If it had only been adults we could have run the mile or two back to the 4wheel drive truck and all our warmer clothes for emergencies. But we had children with us ages 5 and 7 and 9 years old approximately and we began to get scared because though we might piggy back the 5 and 7 year old down more quickly, the 9 year old was going to have to fend for himself because he was too big for any of us to carry on slippery rocks in the heavy snow that was falling now. The real problem was that the 9 year old lost hope and started to get hypothermic and hallucinate from the cold as he was thin and scared and delusional. So, we sort of had to be like Marine Sargeants and command him to walk down even though he was cold and having hypothermia if he wanted to live. So one of us held his hand so he didn't fall and slip as the rocks and now soon 5 to 10 inches of snow was getting sort of treacherous for all of us. Remember this was summer time so this was very surrealistic for us because at 3500 feet it was at least 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. But up here the wind was blowing 20 to 30 miles per hour and a blizzard with 5 to 10 inches of snow on slippery rocks. So, surrealistic would be the right word. But dangerous in the extreme for the kids. Finally, we made it back to the truck and put it into 4 wheel drive and slipped and slided down the road and out of the snow. What did we learn from this? IF YOU ARE IN THE MOUNTAINS ALWAYS HAVE WARM CLOTHES BECAUSE MOUNTAINS CAN MAKE THEIR OWN WEATHER ANY TIME OF YEAR!
So, this is a good lesson in regard to being in remote places. If you are too warm you can always take clothes off to cool down. But if it gets below freezing and snows on you if you don't have warm clothes you and your kids might die! As weather goes through fits around the world because of Global Climate Change more and more of us who survive the next 20 to 50 years will always be prepared wherever we are on earth any time of year!
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