|
|
|
Professor mccarver's 'baseball bat' theory of climate change. by efwegbe erergeer
|
|
|
Professor mccarver's 'baseball bat' theory of climate change. |
|
|
|
Business,Business News,Business Opportunities
|
|
A blogger for DeadSpin called McCarver's remark "one of the stupidest thingsever spoken on a television broadcast today." Predictably, climatedeniers' sites like Watts Up With That? lit up with comments. A search of dozens of web items found littlesupport for McCarver, and Major League Baseball, which owns thebroadcasts, appears to have quickly invoked its copyrightprivileges, yanking the video clip from numerous websites. But could warmer temperatures and thinner air actually make morehomers? Or is an old announcer pulling facts out of thin air? One extra foot Robert Adair, a retired physics professor from Yale University,gained notoriety a few years back when his book, The Physics of Baseball , gave scholarly explanations for why a curveball curves and aknuckleball wobbles. He calculated that a two-degree temperaturerise will add one foot to a 400-foot home run ball, increasing homerun odds by about 1.75 percent.
With that rise, Roger Maris's epic61 home-run season might have been 62. And wispy Braves shortstopRafael Belliard, who hit two home runs in a 17-year career, stillwould have hit two. The National Academy of Sciences estimates that global temperatureshave climbed about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the past century, withabout two thirds of that increase coming since George Brett hit.390 for a season (that was 1980 for the general public). Another scientist, Simon Donner of the University of BritishColumbia, noticed a dramatic rise in home run production during theparticularly hot summer of 1998. But as it turns out thediscernible human influence on sluggers like Mark McGwire, BarryBonds, and Sammy Sosa is widely believed to have come from steroidsand other performance-enhancing drugs, not the weather.
The hockey stick This is nothing new to Penn State climatologist Michael Mann,author of The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars . He has lived through a combination of personal attack andscientific vindication for his climate work, which also invokessports: Mann compares the recent sharp, upward turn of globaltemperature charts to a hockey stick . As someone who has drawn fire for associating climate change with alarge wooden sports implement, Mann said via email that he "didfind this latest baseball/world climate change dust-up somewhatamusing." Mann also threw a high, hard one at McCarver's theory, saying thatthe carbon emissions behind climate change may even lower homeruns. "If anything, anthropogenic carbon emissions and globalwarming should make the atmosphere slightly heavier, because we're taking carbon that was trapped in the solidearth and releasing to the atmosphere (in the form of CO2), and awarmer atmosphere will hold more water vapor. Both CO2 and watervapor contribute (slightly) to the mass of the atmosphere." Enough variables A changing atmosphere may be a bit player in the myriad thingsaffecting home run hitters.
Several baseball bean-counters have crunched the height and weightlistings between now and a century ago. In 1910, the average majorleague hitter was 5 feet, 9 inches and 170 pounds, according to theroster listings of the day. In 2010, those numbers grew to 6 feet,1 inch and 205 pounds. Ballplayers have grown steadily bigger andstronger. Diet, training and playing conditions have improved, batsand balls are precision-manufactured, the pitcher's mound has beenraised and lowered, the strike zone shrunk and widened.
Before weeven get to the steroids, there are enough variables to manufacturelegitimate doubt about climate change and home runs. The science is overwhelming that we're experiencing the firstimpacts of what could be catastrophic climate change. It's doubtfulthat shaky evidence from an ex-catcher helps makes the case evenif McCarver may turn out to be the second-ever Fox personality toacknowledge climate change (Homer Simpson was the first). There's areason that sportswriters call catchers' equipment the "Tools ofIgnorance." Photo of slugger Matt Kemp courtesy Major League Baseball . Photo of Tim McCarver courtesy Fox News, via Baseball Hall of Fame.
Photo of closer John Axford courtesy Milwaukee Brewers/MLB . Peter Dykstra is publisher of DailyClimate.org, and a big fan of 29of the 30 major league teams, especially the one in Boston.DailyClimate.org is a nonprofit news service that covers climatechange. I am an expert from Agriculture Projects, usually analyzes all kind of industries situation, such as window cling decals , electricians tool kit.
Related Articles -
window cling decals, electricians tool kit,
|
Rate This Article |
|
|
|
Do you Agree or Disagree? Have a Comment? POST IT!
Reader Opinions |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Author Login |
|
|
Advertiser Login
ADVERTISE HERE NOW!
Limited Time $60 Offer!
90 Days-1.5 Million Views
|
|
TIM FAY
After 60-plus years of living, I am just trying to pass down some of the information that I have lea...more
|
|
|
|
|
GENE MYERS
Author of four books and two screenplays; frequent magazine contributor. I have four other books "in...more
|
|
|
|
|
LAURA JEEVES
At LeadGenerators, we specialise in content-led Online Marketing Strategies for our clients in the t...more
|
|
|
|
|
ALEX BELSEY
I am the editor of QUAY Magazine, a B2B publication based in the South West of the UK. I am also the...more
|
|
|
|
|
SUSAN FRIESEN
Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, ...more
|
|
|
|
|
STEPHEN BYE
Steve Bye is currently a fiction writer, who published his first novel, ‘Looking Forward Through the...more
|
|
|
|
|
SHALINI MITTAL
A postgraduate in Fashion Technology. Shalini is a writer at heart! Writing for her is an expression...more
|
|
|
|
|
ADRIAN JOELE
I have been involved in nutrition and weight management for over 12 years and I like to share my kn...more
|
|
|
|
|
JAMES KENNY
James is a Research Enthusiast that focuses on the understanding of how things work and can be impro...more
|
|
|
|