Weather in the Wood

 

Finally, in the wake of ridiculous claims by denialists that recent blizzards disprove anthropogenic global warming, the mainstream media is starting to discuss the difference between weather and climate.   Weather is an event; climate is trends in weather over significant time and regions.  One of the ways we can track past climate is in tree rings.  A climate history is captured in the wood.  As an artist, when I look at wood patterns, I think I see shapes and patterns.  If I see clouds and plateaus, these are not the same patterns that dendrochronologists look for.  My seeing weather in the wood is impressionistic and associative, rather like the claims of global warming deniers.  But then, I offer my observations as art more than argument or challenge to policy.