Maybe water demand should have been something the towns looked into before they let builders put houses up on every vacant lot in town.

Bob, I agree. At what point to we have enough residents in each town; enough houses, condos and apartments in each town; enough traffic in each town? I remember stopping at any light on 35 in M-Town and being may 1 of 4 cars. Now, you may very well hit the same light twice!

10 years ago ocean county was supposed to run out of clean drinking water. The aquifer was supposed to become salinated. House building was suspended in some towns until drought ended.
Now they are building for hundreds of thousands of extra people in lakewood and Ocean County. Where are they going to get the water from? Electricity? What happens during the next drought?

Climate Change Skeptics - I respect your willingness to challenge every bit of scientific data to avoid bad policy stemming from prematurely jumping to conclusions.

But when you read about wildfires in Colorado; when you hear about a midwestern drought jeopardizing the corn-crop and, in turn increasing the price of everything from meat to cerial; when you find out that another ice -berg twice the size of Manhattan has broken off; when you have to worry about "being that guy" from the odd-address who got caught watering on an even-day - doncha get a wee bit nervous? Are you finally willing to give respect to the scientific community and concede that there may be something to what they're saying about carbon-foot-prints, green-house gases and climate extremes?

I believe Mother Nature is giving us a wake-up call and we are fast closing in on a tipping point. Hello?

You can stop wildfires? You can end droughts? You can prevent ice bergs from breaking off? How?

I guess these natural occurances ever happened before this year. LOL....LOL...LOL

Run Ckicken Little, run......run......run.....

If we only had a winery ,we could all be like the french and stop drinking water ....Oh wait growing and distilling grapes requires lots of water too ! ..http://www.donelanwines.com/blog/2012/04/big-winery-land-and-tiny-winery-land-new-perspective-and-a-lot-of-water/

Funny, in grammar school we learned about ice ages and thaws over the entire Earth's history. I wonder what the envioronmentalists, bloggers and hippies would have said back then had they been around.

I would like to have on eof these global warmer whack jobs to please present to me there 10,000 year old data base. Until that time PIss off.
This planet has been going through cycles for millions of years and all of a sudden we have to worry about cows farting and people driving too much.But yet when teh Volcano in New Zealand blew its top and put carbon in the air to the amount of 1000 times what we do ,not one hippie hugging wacko said boo. Do me a favor , Tell All Gore to piss off. When its our time its our time.. This planet will get rid of us so fast you might find a piece of Styrofoam ,which is less than our previous ancestors. They at least left pyramids

BERLIN, July 16 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Monday that global warming will accelerate at a dramatic rate unless leaders reach a deal on limiting greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible.
After marathon talks in Durban last December, countries agreed to forge a new deal by 2015 that would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Critics said at the time, however, the plan was too timid to slow global warming.
"Time is of the essence," Merkel told an international conference in Berlin, where delegates from more than 30 countries are preparing for a major UN climate conference at the end of the year in Qatar. " Sure, Angela Merkel is some wild eyed hippie and the overwhelming majority of climate scientists in the world are all lying lefty scum, Check, got it. Just wondering, putting climate change aside, are any of you guys worried at all about pollution or do you believe that pollution is a lie and myth?

There is now broad consensus in the SCIENTIFIC community that climate change and global warming are real. From the experts:

American Meteorological Society: "Indeed, strong observational evidence and results from modeling studies indicate that, at least over the last 50 years, human activities are a major contributor to climate change." (2007)

American Physical Society: "The evidence is incontrovertible: Global warming is occurring. If no mitigating actions are taken, significant disruptions in the Earth’s physical and ecological systems, social systems, security and human health are likely to occur. We must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases beginning now." (2007)

American Association for the Advancement of Science: "The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society." (2006)

American Chemical Society: "There is now general agreement among scientific experts that the recent warming trend is real (and particularly strong within the past 20 years), that most of the observed warming is likely due to increased atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and that climate change could have serious adverse effects by the end of this century." (2004)

U.S. National Academy of Sciences: "The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify taking steps to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere." (2005)

If it's bad now, then it must have been way worse during the industrial revolution, no? Do these scientists believe that if no greenhouse gases existed, that galciers would cease to melt and climate change would be non-existent? I think we are contributing "something" that is having a negative impact, but I'm not sold that we're responsible for some emergency condition. Science be damned, look at the plant's history. Oh wait, science has provided that information as well. Who to believe....

I love all these Scientists ,, Blowing all there hot gas. I will ask the question again .
Why was there no squaking when Mount Ruapehu blew its top last year causing every plane in the world to be diverted. It put enough C0'2 in the air for 5 industrial revolutions. I think Al Gore and the rest of these So called Scientists should go charge them and get ther egreen house carbon credits. While they are at it .let them install a fart o meter , They can charge themselves becuase the entire community i sfull of stinky air.

To have to gaul to think you are the center of the universe. These people are pompous ass buckets.
Again this planet is in control of itself. You can give it a cut , even make it bleed ,But stop thinking we are in control of it.. One hiccup from mother nature and you are gone

This is a maketing opportunity. Your business can utilize this situation as a platform to educate homeowners on how to blend environmental / community responsibility while using your services.
Lawns are often overwatered. Most universities with agricultural programs publish scientifically established "best practices" taking into account both the needs of the grass and environmental impact. They provide instructions how to mimic nature efficiently. During times of drought, natural fields of grass will fare better than irrigated lawns. Here is the web address for the free download of Rutgers University publication- http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=fs555.
For instance, Rutgers University produced publication #fs555 "Best Management Practices for Watering Lawns". This publication reccomends grass only be watered when necessary (usually once or twice per week), but watered deeply. Grass responds to this by growing maximally deep roots.
Also, mow grass at the highest acceptable height. The taller blades of grass:
Provide shade to the roots
Help prevent wasteful evaporation- getting more water to the roots
Preventing weeds by denying them the level of light and water they need that shorter grass provides.
Show the community that your products are part of a responsible, robust yard!

I have been following these reccomendations for over 7 years. Including during the recent heatwaves, my lawn has been weed-free and green.

As regards global climate change, Fox News, right wing hate radio and the fossil fuel industry have done a marvelous job of convincing people that climate scientists are stupid people who know nothing. Never fear, the earth is only 6000 years old, evolution is a hoax and humans played with dinosaurs. Happy now? There is no pollution, everyhting's fine. No need to regulate the fossil fuel industry.

How much co2 ha the Colorado wild fires put into the atmosphere? There are wild fires and volcanoes around the world every day of every year. The emissions from man made industry is a mere fraction of the co2 tha occurs naturally in nature.

Chicken Little says run....run.... the sky is falling....Help Obama....Save us....

Joe, you just keep listening to Bill Maher and remember, ignorance is bliss.

I listen to what the climate scientists say. I don't get it. In this country, climate scientists and evolutionary biologists are somehow suspect, not to be trusted and are probably lying. No one seems to question nuclear physicists, astrophysicists, astronomers, mathematicians, chemists, immunologists, neurologists, and botanists, etc. That's because there is huge money behind portraying global warming as a big Al Gore laugh, ha, ha, ha. It's all that damn Al Gore's fault, ha, ha, ha, ha. Cue in the roaring canned laughter tape. Ho, ho, ha, ha, global warming, it's to laugh, the climate scientists lied but the Koch brothers are pure as the driven snow. When did the US become so anti-science?

Joe , GO FOLLOW THE UNIVERSITY MONEY AND THEN YOU WILL SEE WHY IT IS WHAT IT IS ,, AND THEN ASK OBUMER TO GET BACK THE BILLIONS SENT TO CHINA TO BUILD SOLAR PANELS AND PUT OUR PEOPLE TO WORK

Geezus, climate science is peer reviewed science, they don't make stuff up for some ulterior motive. It's a science, you know as in science. So zoologists are a bunch of liars because they have university money behind them? Paleontologists are liars because they have university money behind them? You guys are saying that climatology is a bogus science but geology is valid? Or do you think that geology is bogus, too?

It's awfully naive to think that scientists aren't politically motivated. "Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

How did we go from should I water my lawn to global warming? I think anyone who doesn't think that we contribute to (not cause) global warming it the one who is naive! We may not be the cause, but we certainly aren't helping the situation and more reputable scientists believe this.

In May 2010, the National Academies of Science and Engineering -- which includes only the most prestigious and accomplished scientists and engineers in the country, across a broad spectrum of disciplines in the physical and biological sciences -- issued three new reports through their research council taking a fresh look at all the objective evidence regarding climate change. Among the numerous scientific conclusions supporting the reality of global warming and climate change was the following:

"The compelling case that climate change is occurring and is caused in large part by human activities is based on a strong, credible body of evidence, says Advancing the Science of Climate Change, one of the new reports. While noting that there is always more to learn and that the scientific process is never "closed," the report emphasizes that multiple lines of evidence support scientific understanding of climate change. The core phenomenon, scientific questions, and hypotheses have been examined thoroughly and have stood firm in the face of serious debate and careful evaluation of alternative explanations."

The official statement accompanying the issuance of the new materials by the National Academies also states:

"Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for — and in many cases is already affecting — a broad range of human and natural systems."

But, but, but Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Fox Noise and most of the GOp say that global warming is a hoax or exaggerated. Rush Limbaugh is a noted climatologist or was that proctologist?

Today's New York Times carries an article by an erstwhile global-warming skeptic, who is an award-winning professor of physics at Berkeley and a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship (popularly dubbed the "genius award"). Last year he formed a working group with a dozen other scientists to intensely study all the available data regarding climate change. Like numerous other scientific organizations and specialists -- many of whom I have listed on prior posts here -- they similarly now conclude that global warming is indeed real and is largely caused by human activity. Today's article also addresses those who erroneously point to volcanic eruptions or any supposed lapse in scientific open-mindedness, among other false arguments against the prevailing facts.

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/30/opinion/the-conversion-of-a-climate-change-skeptic.html?_r=1&hp

So everyone According to Steve , we all need to stop breathing,living,eating Farting.
N oburning wood, coal . No cars.
But you can still have your oil to produce to the following

One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make things like:

Solvents .Diesel fuel Motor Oil, Bearing Grease,Ink.Floor Wax,Ballpoint Pens,Football Cleats,Upholstery,Sweaters,Boats
Insecticides,Bicycle Tires,Sports Car Bodies
Nail Polish,Fishing lures,Dresses,Tires,,Golf Bags,Perfumes
Cassettes Dishwasher parts Tool Boxes,Shoe Polish

Motorcycle Helmet

Caulking

Petroleum Jelly

Transparent Tape

CD Player

Faucet Washers

Antiseptics

Clothesline

Curtains

Food Preservatives

http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products%20from%20Petroleum.htm

@Dentss: The change of the seasons is not climate change. Having changing seasons, summer, fall, winter, spring: that's called a temperate climate. The overwhelming majority of climate scientists in the world say that climate change is occurring due to man made CO2. That was not true back in the 70s when maybe a couple of scientists were just theorizing about global cooling. There was no big consensus among scientists about global cooling, not even close.

The foregoing article in today's Times -- "The Conversion of a Climate-Change Skeptic" -- cited and linked in my earlier post, ends with the following paragraph by the Berkeley physicist:

"Science is that narrow realm of knowledge that, in principle, is universally accepted. I embarked on this analysis to answer questions that, to my mind, had not been answered. I hope that the Berkeley Earth analysis will help settle the scientific debate regarding global warming and its human causes. Then comes the difficult part: agreeing across the political and diplomatic spectrum about what can and should be done."

the sad part about those like jarhead , aqualung and joe p who offers his brilliant " i dont get it" is that its the next generation who will pay for their ignorance. ice ages take tens of thousands of years to go thru a cycle not 50 yrs. yes because thousands of scientists across the world are all in this big conspiracy . when they take core samples of ice they can go back hundreds of thousands of yrs to see the changes but when those samples show a drastic change in just 50 yrs. try and understand science aqualung and others its not scary its just science. we have tropical diseases like west nile in bayville, we have the ocean along the northeastern coast rising 3 inches in 3 yrs. 46 mile long hunks of ice that were stable for 100,000 yrs breaking off into the ocean in a matter of weeks. in a perfect world those like joe p, aqualung and the ever clueless jarhead will move to florida or some other area that will be underwater soon. try and get this through your fox news droned heads weather is local . climate is global. its amazing how the same morons get it so wrong every time. last week these 3 were arguing we need more assault rifles with even less regulation last week after 12 innocent people were shot dead. as forest gump's mom said ' you cant fix stupid" . which explains jarhead, aqualung and joe p.

HEy Enough is Enough .
Give us all a G D break.I need to understand MAybe you can explain it.
What was happening in the world when they took these ICE core samples?
Gee I bet you cannot say . Just like teh libtard scientists cannot
And your attitude towards Jarhead shows your libtardness right off the bat.
please go save a f*** ice berg

DJGIGS i have friends who have special need kids . thankfully they know better than to be insulted by a creep like you. "what was happening in this world when they took these ice core samples ?" . what happened in the world when they took the core samples? well we had the ten hottest summers on record the past ten yrs. for other things that happened the past ten years well maybe you should buy a newspaper you tool.

Great I love talking to liberal 's like yourself. You cannot answer the question's that is great ./ just like these So called Scientist cannot either. Bottom line its like Medicine. These guys are given a degree and they get PERMISSION to PRACTICE until they get it right .. In other words they do not know either.. I am glad you have friends taht have special needs kids "the new POC" As far as POC is concerned BLOW IT OUT your rear . Peopel liek you are runining thias country . I cal it as I see fit .. Does it change teh way anyone is ? NO .. If it walks like aduck quacks like a Duck its a Duck .. Or wait a Feather'd flying Animal " Is that PC enough for you LIB -----------------------------------tard

I think that denying that the average temperature on the earth's surface is increasing is just ducking the responsibility that mankind's burning of fossil fuel is the cause. Big businesses, like Exxon and Mobil, create propoganda and people who can't think for themselves gobble it up. Why can't we just stand up and admit we're the cause and try to come up with ways to slow down the rate at which these temperatures are increasing? It's just denial, like a little kid crying and pouting, saying he didn't break the vase when the evidence is lying on the floor, at his feet. Many irresponsible grownups are no better.

@DJGigs--no amount of name calling and acting like an 8 year old is going to make argument any stronger. In fact it weakens it. If you want to get your point across I suggest using valid arguments instead of being aggressive with your words. I suppose you also think that pursuing alternate forms of energy like solar and windmills is a ridiculous waste of time too even though it would cause so much less harm to the environment? Have you ever been to a city that has smog? I have. It burns your eyes. It affects your breathing. Maybe you don't believe in global warming but can you deny pollution and what it does to our health? Go visit a city like Los Angeles on a smoggy day and then go the Blue Ridge or Catskill Mountains and tell me you can't tell the difference? We need to take better care of our planet. Period!

SOLAR WIND , BLAH BLAH BLAH ... Hey Terri please show al of us how New York city or New jersey can run off of SOLAR < WIND .. ? As it is it is wholy subsidised by US the Tax payers .. Please go do some more studying.. And whiel you are at it drink some more Spring water out of your PLASTIC bottle. and look under your rearend and teh plastic made from oil holding your arse up ..

From NASA, which just brought us the flawless landing of the Mars Science Laboratory ("MSL"), comes this statement on their Web site:

"Scientists note that there are two new and different twists to today's changing climate: (1) The globe is warming at a faster rate than it ever has before; and (2) Humans are the main reason Earth is warming. Since the industrial revolution, which began in the mid-1800s, humans have attained the magnitude of a geological force in terms of our ability to change Earth's environment and impact its climate system."

The official NASA Web page containing the statement is here: http://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/big-questions/is-the-global-earth-system-changing-and-what-are-the-consequences/

And on the same day NASA accomplished its incredible feat of science and engineering -- having no room for error to safely land the MSL on Mars, many millions of miles from earth -- the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University, and several of his colleagues, published a peer-reviewed paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences further reinforcing NASA's conclusion, as well as that of the overwhelming majority of the world's scientists: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/05/us/climate-change/index.html

Some people watch Faux News all day, except when they're typing cranky comments on Patch and listening to Rush bloviate about global cooling.

Yea and some actually work for a very large computer company and see real statistics al day long and laugh when Liberal Scientists push there POLITICALLY motivated and PAID Point of view. Soem of us actually work on systems that monitor these changing events on a day to day basis .. Some of us get paid to tyell you what the weather is going to be like on a day to day basis . But we get that wrong too . Wouldnt you love to have one of THESE JObs that SOME OF US do and not get fired for being wrong ? I tell you thank god we have these peopel to take care of our Planet , I am so glad , It might not have gotten through the first part of its milluion years of existence ..

OHH Sorry Excuse the typos. No backspace in a standard -non browser tty Vi session

The worst part about the scam is that the "cure is worse than the disease".

In tomorrow's Sunday New York Times, the three authors of a new study appearing in the journal Nature-Geoscience report on their findings in an article titled, "Hundred-Year Forecast: Drought." There they write in the opening paragraphs:

"By many measurements, this summer’s drought is one for the record books. But so was last year’s drought in the South Central states. And it has been only a decade since an extreme five-year drought hit the American West. Widespread annual droughts, once a rare calamity, have become more frequent and are set to become the 'new normal.'"

"Until recently, many scientists spoke of climate change mainly as a 'threat,' sometime in the future. But it is increasingly clear that we already live in the era of human-induced climate change, with a growing frequency of weather and climate extremes like heat waves, droughts, floods and fires."

The article by the three scientists concludes thusly:

"There is still time to prevent the worst; the risk of a multidecade megadrought in the American West can be reduced if we reduce fossil-fuel emissions. But there can be little doubt that what was once thought to be a future threat is suddenly, catastrophically upon us."

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/opinion/sunday/extreme-weather-and-drought-are-here-to-stay.html?hp

Today's New York Times carries yet another news account of what appears to be the inexorable march of climate change and global warming, this one corroborated by a leading climate scientist at Rutgers, our own state university. Nevertheless, neither political party dares address these existential issues, instead focusing on such things as tax returns and birth certificates. This from today's news reporting on the accelerating melt of the Arctic ice:

“It’s hard even for people like me to believe, to see that climate change is actually doing what our worst fears dictated,” said Jennifer A. Francis, a Rutgers University scientist who studies the effect of sea ice on weather patterns. “It’s starting to give me chills, to tell you the truth.”

"Scientific forecasts based on computer modeling have long suggested that a time will come when the Arctic will be completely free of ice in the summer, perhaps by the middle of the century. This year’s prodigious melting is lending credibility to more pessimistic analyses that it may come much sooner, perhaps by the end of the decade."

“It’s an example of how uncertainty is not our friend when it comes to climate-change risk,” said Michael E. Mann, a climate scientist at Pennsylvania State University. “In this case, the models were almost certainly too conservative in the changes they were projecting, probably because of important missing physics.”

Thanks for the citation, paraphrased as it is. Isn't it true that science cannot prove anything with absolute certainty, but can only offer more or less strong hypotheses? And one counterexample is all that's required to disprove the absoluteness of a theory. If the authority I quoted is dubious for you, then you will just have to accept that your quoted authorities are dubious for me and others. Please stop with the meteorological pontificating. It offends reason.

Offends reason? Paraphrasing? It's up above in black and white. You write well, but putting asterisks around scientific data as if to call it into question and quoting wikipedia on how statistics are used to defend a weak argument is really quite enlightening and silly. No reply to Steve debunking your "breaking news" on Giaever and the real reason for his resignation. Half the story is what offends reason.

You can't fight stupid with scientific fact. It just doesn't work. History has shown us that many times over.

All this talk is great But here is teh big question .
Do we stop using OIL JUST LIKE THAT ? Do we stop farting .Do we stop Living ?
All these Scientists put out there opinion (not fact) but not one comes up with any power source that will take gas/oil place. So until that time comes it wil always be a political chip to play . The day a real replacememt is found is teh day the politicians will fight it tooth and nail . They are all making big bucks off of it.

DJGigs,
You are correct. We just have to follow the money (and Gore got very wealthy). The earth is billions years old, and we have for the past 200 yrs. of industry have ruined it? I do not think so. Christine Whitman signed up New Jersey in year 2000, to Sustainable NJ (AGENDA 21) with choking rules by the EPA and unelected people making rules and regulations for the rest of us, and there land grabs of Open Spaces.
http://www.sustainablejersey.com/about.php
EPA.. http://www.state.nj.us/dep/opsc/

Antarctic Sea Ice Sets Another Record

Antarctic sea ice set another record this past week, with the most amount of ice ever recorded on day 256 of the calendar year (September 12 of this leap year).

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2012/09/19/antarctic-sea-ice-sets-another-record/

The problem with what people think, is, "That they have a perception or mindset that the world/life as they view it has only existed in their lifetime, thus fogging out the pre-existence of everything that has occurred in the passed". Like The Late George Carlin stated in his unique comedic delivery, "This earth is gonna shake us off like a dog with a bad case of fleas"!

Volcanic eruptions, underwater magma/lava flows, sunspots, solar flares, surface reflectivity, temperatures in the higher levels of our atmosphere, and radiational cooling all are some major factors in how this earth reacts which cause varying weather cycles. We as humans can not be shackled due to a theory that is driven and perpetuated by people elected into government along with alarmists that freak out and scare people who are ignorant ( not their fault ) to egg head science speak.