”… then why is it snowing???”
Cidu Bill on Mar 6th 2010
Bunch of people sent me this one, and my explanation was
It’s meant to be a parody of the idiots who say
“It’s snowing now, so global warming must be a lie.” The world looks flat from where those two people are standing, so it must actually be flat.
I am, however, open to opposing viewpoints.
Filed in Bill Bickel, Non Sequitur, Wiley Miller, comic strips, comics, humor | 20 responses so far
Kamino Neko Mar 6th 2010 at 03:05 pm 1
Just throwing my hat in with you - I’m pretty sure that’s the gag.
Kate C Mar 6th 2010 at 03:14 pm 2
I agree–seems in line with Wiley’s politics, too.
Mark in Boston Mar 6th 2010 at 03:16 pm 3
Sharp-eyed sailors noticed that the masts on distant ships tipped backwards and the ships appeared to sink in the distance. The sailors knew the earth was round before the scientists did.
Oddly, when the remains of Magellan’s crew returned from the first round-the-world voyage, nobody could figure out why their calendar was one day off. It was a while before someone took a globe and thought about it and then said, “Well, DUH!”
Mark M Mar 6th 2010 at 04:07 pm 4
Yes, except that the round world theory wasn’t invented by a politician looking to cement his legacy.
The Bad Seed Mar 6th 2010 at 04:44 pm 5
Yeah, it’s not like the weather is doing anything unusual or anything.
Charlene Mar 6th 2010 at 04:49 pm 6
Yeah, it’s not like it’s been twenty degrees above normal in the Arctic all winter long…and for the past few winters.
Marshal Mar 6th 2010 at 04:53 pm 7
Didn’t we do this one already? Or am I having flashbacks to a RACS discussion.
.
Charlene Mar 6th 2010 at 04:55 pm 8
Oh, and I love the people who claim that global warming is the creation of one American politician, because of course America is the only country that exists.
Mark M Mar 6th 2010 at 05:03 pm 9
Charlene and others, so how does “twenty degrees above normal in the Arctic” as proof that global warming is real differ than the many comics that are chastised here for using cold temperatures to mock it?
And Marshal, yes we did this one already, but the global warming alarmists keep bringing it back.
Winter Wallaby Mar 6th 2010 at 06:19 pm 10
I’m not sure it’s possible to say who knew it first. Scientists have known it as far back as we’ve had science. Eratosthenes not only knew the earth was round (as was already common knowledge in his time), but also gave a pretty accurate measurement of its radius, several centuries before Christ.
DavidF Mar 6th 2010 at 08:44 pm 11
Isn’t that supposed to be a giant brick wall they’re seeing ahead of them?
Igelino Mar 6th 2010 at 09:40 pm 12
I think it’s two volcanoes in the distance.
David A. Rooney Mar 6th 2010 at 10:39 pm 13
I knew the minute I saw this in the paper that it would end up here, only my paper had cropped out the volcano on the left, and printed it so small that it looked like they were heading toward a giant’s backside, sans pants. Which seems to be funnier to me than the actual joke this comic was trying to tell.
Dyfsunctional Mar 6th 2010 at 11:34 pm 14
At first I thought the volcanoes were mortar in a giant brick wall. When I realized what they were, my thought was that the two early humans had expected, if the Earth were round, to come across their own tracks once they traveled far enough. Since they hadn’t, the Earth must be flat. I honestly can’t find anything in the cartoon to suggest a global warming connection.
Tullia Mar 7th 2010 at 03:29 am 15
It would make more sense if it was a giant brick wall … and those are some weird-lookin’ volcanoes. On the other hand, they look more like volcanoes than mortar, and surely Wiley can draw a more obvious wall-of-giant-bricks than that, so volcanoes I guess they be.
My first thought was actually that the two people in the cartoon had driven “off set” — into another world/ecosystem/something. I like that theory. Left to my own devices, that’s what I’d assume: not only are they not coming full-circle, they’re just going on and on and on and on into sequential new Earths. Or they’ve wandered out of the known world into the uninhabitable margins.
Igelino Mar 7th 2010 at 05:57 am 16
Silly of me, I recognized the volcanoes, but thought the two guys were on snowmobiles. Doh.
Kathleen Mar 7th 2010 at 01:05 pm 17
Columbus knew the world was round. All the monarchs in Europe knew it, too. However, he thought that it was a great deal smaller than it actually is, whereas they knew (pretty closely, anyway) its true size. They were doubtful about his proposal because they knew that no fifteenth-century ship could possibly sail from western Europe to Asia — it would sink or they would all starve first. And if Columbus hadn’t happened to run into a continent that he didn’t know existed? Well, they would have been right.
John Small Berries Mar 8th 2010 at 09:03 am 18
Because showing that, over time, temperatures have been trending warmer than historical norms is far different from the sheer idiocy of stating that, because it still gets cold in winter, there has been no change in the climate.
The latter is like saying, when informed that during summer there is more daylight than in winter, that the fact that it is dark at midnight proves that there is no seasonal variation in daylight. “Don’t bother me with all them graphs and charts, Mr Smartypants Scientist, the days can’t be getting longer because it STILL GETS DARK AT NIGHT!”
Dyfsunctional Mar 8th 2010 at 11:27 am 19
It’s also been my understanding that the concern expressed by the people who are concerned over this stuff stems from results gleaned from crunching numbers over very long periods of time. It’s not today’s or yesterday’s or last year’s temperatures that are the issue; it’s the change in global averages arrived at mathematically on a long time scale. Temperatures fluctuate over short periods of time; they always have and they always will. As animals that live on Earth we’re used to it. I don’t think any human being will ever feel the effects of global warming simply by sticking their head out of the window. That’s what makes the lame “haw haw, it’s snowing” jokes so much more unfunny.
jayjaybear Mar 8th 2010 at 05:25 pm 20
I’m going with the giant brick wall around the edge of the world theory. Those don’t look like any volcanoes I’ve ever seen and the joke makes no sense with volcanoes, but does with a wall.