As I’ve mentioned before here, here, and here, many indicators point to global average temperatures reaching a plateau and appearing to head towards cooling in the not-to-distant future. I saw this blog entry at DailyTech (hat tip to Drudge) that summarizes not only those ideas but the fact that the official temperature data over the last year has really worked against the theory of anthropogenic warming. Over the past year, the average has cooled somewhere between .65C and .75C. This is a huge amount when you consider that the doomsayers have been whining about a 1.0C increase over the past century. The author has the details to read about, but the key point is this:

Scientists quoted in a past DailyTech article link the cooling to reduced solar activity which they claim is a much larger driver of climate change than man-made greenhouse gases. The dramatic cooling seen in just 12 months time seems to bear that out. While the data doesn’t itself disprove that carbon dioxide is acting to warm the planet, it does demonstrate clearly that more powerful factors are now cooling it.

There is an underlying arrogance in the idea that mankind could affect the environment so dramatically in such a short period of time. The fact is that many of the environmental systems seem to be self-correcting and well out of our control. Our time is better spend developing technology and living standards to adapt to the changes around us rather than futilely trying to stop the change.

Last weekend the Portland Webbs trekked north to visit the Camano Island Webbs. The Ellensburg Webbs (Liz, Britt, and Madison along with Craig) also came west to join us. This gathering was to celebrate Dad’s 60th birthday. Gifts were exchanged. A slideshow was played. And cousins were chased. All in all a great time was had by everyone concerned.

It was also a great opportunity to get the latest three generation photo. More photos are in the gallery here.