The Climythology of America

An essay written by David M. Ludlum (1910-1997)

My first impression of this essay was very interesting. The title says it all too. The word climythology is in the title.  I find that amusing. How do we define climythology?  A quick search on the internet for anything to tell me what it means comes up futile.  So, I can say what it means to me.

Does climythology mean a fake, or mythical, research of climates?  Does it mean anything about climates?  Or could it mean something about religious beliefs of ancient gods?  I will try to discern what it means to me.

The author, Ludlum, was characteristically described in Wikipedia as a meteorologist, entrepreneur, historian and author.  His Alma mater was Princeton University.  So as someone who graduated with a doctorate, why would he phrase a title with an unknown word?  I sit and ponder that as it causes me much consternation.  I am attempting to throw my thinking into this without castigating Mr. Ludlum post-mortem.  I say he was a very honorable man and contributed a lot to professional societies. What troubles me is why environmental societies take his work as the direction that the world is rapidly “going to hell in a hand basket” as a grandmother would say to a wayward child.  His essays entail much about past American winters and other weather related stories.  What can we render as truth to snapshots of American history?  We can gather a lot of data points, but that still leaves me wondering why the climate is changing. 

So, the definition of climythology to me might mean some environmentalists are engaged in promoting mythical facts about the changing weather or climate.  Or, is our climate really changing due to “Americans” reign of industrialization of the planet.  Have our superior talents, such as Mr. Ludlum demonstrated, made us the culprit to climate change and higher CO₂ in the atmosphere.  Americans share this planet with everyone else and everyone else wants to take on the consumerism of our society.

I was in Germany in 1978 as a 9 year old lad, and I personally observed an automobile driver take her “car phone” and dial a telephone number and talk to her son at their house.  To me that was the most amazing thing to witness even way back then.  That was in Europe with a civilian person, while here in America, only military or government officials were allowed to use “car phones”.  Now in this day (2012) everyone across the globe uses a mobile phone.  Are mobile phones contributing to GHG? I venture to say that they particularly are.  This is because they are electronic devices and must be energized with electricity. From the battery being recharged to all computer and other electronic devices that transmit radio signals to and from cell towers, all this “stuff” uses electrical energy which must come from some other energy source. Now, you tell me who is going to be the first to eliminate mobile phone devices from consumers.  Oh there has to be a starting point somewhere.

This is why environmentalism can be a radical approach to changing our planet.  I say we need a “balanced” approach in that everyone learns to respect Mother Nature with all her ways of “feeding” humans and giving us a more comfortable living space.  Will it be Americans who bring an end to the world as the last and bitter enemy to be destroyed?  I vouch NO, by no means are we the only culprits to destruction.  Everyone person alive contributes to GHG; therefore, everyone should take a part in first learning to respect mother earth, with all the natural forces she has to play with.

So, Climythology, is defined by me to mean, as in the days of ancient Greeks and Romans, who worshipped false gods of the universe, that our climate is destined to change just because of growing population and the ever present “large” toll on resources for our needs.  Those ancient gods eventually disappeared from people’s lives, and so, we all have to be careful to know who the true God is.  He supremely controls all things, including Mother Earth; and at His appointed time, He will make a day of reckoning for all peoples, not just Americans.