Can perhaps we persuade many college football fans that global warming exists after this weekend?

[cascadiance]

Look at how the following games were rain delayed or ended prematurely for the only time in their schools' history...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/michigan-stadium-evacuated-during-2nd-weather-delay-against-western-michigan/2011/09/03/gIQAODxxzJ_story.html

Notre Dame (delayed and stadium evacuated only time in history)
Michigan (game was ended due to rain delay and subsequent evacutation in third quarter for first time in history)
Iowa (game was delayed for first time in history)

Are we seeing more and more symptoms of climate change today?

[Angry Dragon]

1. I do not really think it matters if man is responsible for climate

change or not. Climate will change over time on its own.

The question or questions should be whether we want to pollute our water, air and soil.
A rational person would say no to pollution. And then if man is partly responsible for climate change
a reduction in pollution would help and if not then we would still end up with clean air, water , and soil........

The pollution will kill us one way or the other

[Duppers]

2. Think they'll make the connection?

There are hundreds of other things that should have already given them clues.

Funny, you assume they don't yet get it; but with the majority, I'd say your assumption is correct. ;)

[a la izquierda]

4. Yep, all of us college educated folks..

we're such morons. DU is so funny sometimes.


You know, if one likes sport, it does NOT make them a knuckle-dragging imbecile.

[Duppers]

7. Hey, I'm not assuming ALL. I did say "...with the majority..."

I like college football and watched Oregon & LSU play last night.

However, given that most Americans do not accept GCC, it's safe to say neither do most ball fans, especially in SE Conference. And before you hop my case about that last part, please know that I am a southerner. I know too many of them who don't accept global climate change, especially human-created climate change.


And, btw, why are you not taking on the OP?? He/she was assuming too!

[cascadiance]

9. Heck, I'm one of those college football fans who is an Iowa grad...

Certainly not my intent to indict all college football fans as I identify with them myself and in this case one of the schools that had an hour plus delay in playing its game that kept me waiting to watch the end of it yesterday. I just know there's a significant number that just live for following sports and don't care about the effects of climate change as well. Hoping that those that at least follow college sports might have more of a brain to ask themselves this question than those that are more just in to pro sports.

I know there are some that say this event yesterday isn't conclusive and that these sorts of weather events happen "for the first time" in many situations. But it seems like we've had an excessive amount of those this year, and this being another in the long list of them.

Just hoping that we can turn some people more directly affected, sports fans, in to seeing this anomaly more in context with the other anomalies, that they might have been less affected by or paying attention to.

[JackDragna]

5. Here's one college-educated football fan..

..saying it's entirely possible the games getting rained out is a coincidence. That doesn't mean global warming isn't happening, but odd weather events happened before CO2 levels increased due to man-made sources. So, on behalf of the DU members who watch college football AND think we need to do something about climate change, kiss my butt. :) :) :) :) :)

[Duppers]

8. bend over. ;)

Seriously, read my post above and think about the MAJORITY of viewers, please.



:P :P

[cascadiance]

11. There was a lot of excessive heat in addition to rain storms...

... even in the same areas.

Note from the following articles from yesterday:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-09-03/sports/ct-spt-0904-col-foot-weather--20110904_1_weather-delay-stormy-weather-denard-robinson

Chicago Tribune:

Stormy weather: Irish wait out pair of stoppages

...

Threatening skies delayed the start of the Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field for about 15 minutes. Stadium officials asked fans to take cover inside the concourse, but a heavy storm never materialized. Northern Illinois and Army started their game in DeKalb after a 12-minute delay.

At Illinois, the problem was heat. The school said 45 fans were treated at Memorial Stadium for heat-related issues, with eight taken to the hospital. The school had cooling buses outside the stadium for fans who needed relief.

...

At Penn State...

http://www.centredaily.com/2011/09/04/2901284/penn-state-vs-indiana-state-a.html

Centre Daily Times:

Penn State vs. Indiana State: A Lukewarm Opener on a Hot Hot Day

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Whew. Glad that one is over! Beaver Stadium was steaming hot, about 90 degrees. It was 100.2 in the sun according to Darryl, the National Guardsman who sits in front of us who has a thermometer on his watch. Watch thermometers were useful, Darryl said, for measuring the temperature during Operation Iraqi Freedom when it could get as high as 128 in the shade.

Darryl knows. He has been in Afghanistan and Iraq at least twice in the last few years defending our freedom. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I see him in his seat for the first time each fall.

We had the sun behind us, but still it was muggy and down right uncomfortable. During the game, I drank 40 ounces of water just to stay hydrated, and did not hit the ladies' room until the end. My neighbors were pouring water over their bodies to try to stay cool.

My husband Terry and I were not expecting sun. In fact, all week and as late as Saturday morning the Weather Channel was announcing that Happy Valley would be subject to isolated or scattered thunderstorms (I am not quite sure what the difference is).
...

And another game where people got treated for heat issues...

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/sep/04/storms-hamper-games-in-midwest/

The Commercial Appeal:

Storms hamper football games in Midwest

...

In nearby Ypsilanti, Eastern Michigan postponed its game from Saturday night to today at 11 a.m. CDT.

Where it wasn't raining in the Midwest, it was hot.

Eight fans in the stands for the Arkansas State-Illinois football game had to be taken to hospitals for treatment of heat-related problems and a number of others were treated at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

University of Illinois spokesman Kent Brown said that a total of 45 people were treated for heat issues. Temperatures most of the afternoon were near 100 degrees at the game.

And Ohio State had its share of excessive heat as well too, this time not from the NCAA...

http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sports/south-130781-capsules-top.html

The Brownsville Herald:

College Football Capsules - Other Top 25: South Florida upset No. 16 ND

...

The nearby Ohio State Medical Center reported around 20 people were treated for heat-related illnesses.

Almost half the crowd was gone by halftime as the temperature soared to the high 90s with high humidity. A referee had to leave the game due to dehydration. One Red Cross volunteer said his station had run out of baggies to put ice in and that all of the medical personnel were "swamped."

"It was smoking," said Akron quarterback Clayton Moore, who completed just 6 of 16 passes for 54 yards with the one interception. "I went in at halftime and I couldn't feel my legs. They were just dead."

..

[SwampG8r]

3. hey....shhhhhh....save that for

january ok?
gators are playin

[Motown_Johnny]

6. With all the evidence that already exists I don't see this being conclusive

I believe it can be proven not only that climate change is real and man made but that it is physically impossible for anything else to be true.


That one front which had some very warm air and some very cold air bumping into each other and kicking up some rather nasty thunder storms is far less conclusive (IMO) than what we already know.

The sad truth is that there was a time when they would make the kids play no matter what the weather was like. Yes these were the first delays and/or cancellations in the school's history but that does not equate directly to it being the worst weather.

[cascadiance]

10. Yes, I'm not sure if they're also including snowy weather in these "first time" stats...

... where certainly in the past many teams have had to play through snowy weather, and in earlier times, they perhaps didn't have the rules they have today of doing delays when lighting strikes, etc. happen.

But it does seem interesting that these are firsts for all of these well known schools with long football histories on the same day. And the timing of this to happen on the first day of the college football season, when normally you would expect sunny and drier weather this time of year seems interesting.

Global warming has as one of its "features" that there is more moisture in the clouds in the atmosphere now, with more of it melted from glaciers, etc., which triggers the newer and more "odd" weather patterns all over the world. Living in Portland, from the beginning of the year we've also been getting higher than average rainfall (and we usually get a lot anyway), largely due to the larger number of rain cloud and storm systems overhead due to this. Well, coincidentally, the last week or so, we've been having a lot drier weather and have had nice and sunny weather in the 80's and 90's this weekend, when other parts of the country got these "storm fronts"... Hmm....

And I recall seeing that even down in San Diego this last week where I moved from almost three years ago, they had warnings for heavy thunderstorms and flooding going on at about the same time...

And even in Iowa City yesterday, before they had those storms, they were saying they had temperatures of around 80 degrees plus too.

[bullwinkle428]

13. Iowa City had temperatures approaching 100°F on Thursday and Friday

prior to the rain storms on Saturday.

[cascadiance]

12. West Virginia just had another evacuation today... Fan struck by lightning?

I heard someplace that it was just reported that a drunk fan didn't pay attention to the evacuation orders at West Virginia's game today, and was struck by lightning, but I haven't been able to substantiate that anywhere and my network connection seems to be a victim of domestic spying now and hanging constantly when trying to use any search engine.

Here's a story on the evacuations they had today.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/05/us-weather-football-idUSTRE78403720110905