Happy Monday to you and the beginning of a new work week. I hope this day finds you well and refreshed from your weekend.

We just got back in town from visiting my 90-year old parents in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was a good visit and I was able read “Mary and the Red Shoes: A Haunted Closet Story” to my mom. It was a special time.

Flying back this morning, the pilot noted that the temperature will be cooler today in Dallas than in Minneapolis, which is surprising. Minneapolis was going to 102 F (39 C), while the predicted Dallas high today is 93 F (34 C). Quite a change from when I grew up in Iowa. We would travel to Minnesota to cool down.

What is climate change?

A simple definition may be that climate change is the making and melting of ice.

Although ice, frozen water, takes up more volume than liquid water (ice expands when it freezes) much of the ice on our planet is above the surface of the water or on the land and in the mountains. When this elevated ice melts and enters the oceans, sea levels along the coasts rise. When sea water evaporates and freezes on the mountains, sea levels fall. Rising and falling sea levels are indicators of climate change. When ice melts anywhere on the planet, at the poles or in the mountains, surrounding temperatures go up. When water freezes at those locations, temperatures fall. Rising and falling temperatures are also indicators of climate change.

These cycles of frozen and liquid water suggest that climate change is ice related. As such, the current climate change discussion might be characterized as a debate on what it takes to make or melt global ice.

To resolve this discussion, perhaps the debaters could gather at a local convenience store, say a corner 7-11. Each participant would purchase a cup, add ice and soda, take a sip, hold the filled cup in their warm hands, watch the ice melt and the soda warm, and then take another sip. Adding the ice to the soda is global cooling – when hot, add ice. Holding the soda cup in your hands is global warming – when cold, add heat. Depending on the direction you favor, the solution is to add more ice or hold the cup longer. The soda doesn’t mind. It’s comfortable either way. It’s the transformation of the ice that matters. Control the change in the ice and you control the change in the climate.

Enjoy that cold drink, don’t hold it too long and have a pleasant day.

Grandpa Jim