Global meltdown

[Marco]

Links and search from Earth Observatory website from NASA

Earth Observatory Reference: Global Warming

EO Newsroom: New Images - The Keeling Curve

Earth Observatory Search: global warming

[Tindomul]

Great links Marco! Thanks for contibuting them!

[weng]

Magnus,

Thank you for your thoughts. I have looked at the link, but cannot find any reference to global temperatures over millions of years.

I fully accept what your point about Wikipedia, but from memory, all other long term global temperature graphs I have found appear much the same - i.e. that the earth is cooling.

It isn't that I think global warming is not fact - I am not in any position to take a stance. However, when riding on a sine wave, one is always either going up or down, and predictions of a crash based on short term indicators can be totally misleading.

Weng

[Tindomul]

Originally Posted by weng

Global Warming ?

I 'm no scientist, but being an accountant, I understand data. Have a look at the earth's temperature graph for the last 65 million years
Image:65 Myr Climate Change.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is this graph upsidedown or just plain wrong ?

With all the hoo-ha, wouldn't you expect record temperatures to be recorded in this century? Have a look at the data
Hottest Temperature on Earth

Are these facts totally out of date or what ?

Weng

Magnus, thanks for the important link. I hate that US news companies are not covering this important event in world history. Scientists from around the world have been meeting along with politicians to figure out what our next step is! Yet not a word from the US news. Hmm, yet the French radio station I listen talks about it.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

Weng, here are some charts for us to ponder upon.
http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/...arge/02.01.jpg
http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/...arge/05.16.jpg
http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/...arge/05.18.jpg
http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/...arge/04.17.jpg
this one shows we really messed up the earth
http://www.ipcc.ch/present/graphics/...arge/01.17.jpg

[Tindomul]

PRESS RELEASE

[weng]

Hi Tindo,

Thank you for the links. I agree that the charts look bad, but these are incredibly short term charts when viewed against the life of the planet

Remember... we are predicting the 'death' of the planet. As we know that the earth's temperature is vaguely cyclical, should we not even refer to where we are in the cycle before we get too excited?

Weng

[shakkai]

I don't think that the prediction is the 'death of the planet' - I think the planet will survive with or without us. The point is that we will most certainly not be able to continue living the lifestyles we currently 'enjoy' - if we survive at all.

From the link that you posted, I followed the link to this graph:
Image:Ice Age Temperature.png - Wikimedia Commons

This, to me, clearly shows where we are on the cycle. And I think you are right, this is a cycle that occurs independent of anything that we (humans) do. However, I do think that our industrialisation and over-use of fossil fuels combined with increased deforestation has unbalanced the natural systems that regulate this cycle.

[Tindomul]

The thing to realize is that its not about whether or not the earth has been warm before and therefore its normal. Its about under what conditions can today's flora and fauna can survive with. If global temperatures rise too quickly because we are throwing out greenhouse gases like no tomorrow, then the animals and plants really don't get much of a chance to adapt. Regardless of who is responsible, whether its normal cycles of the earth or humans throwing fossil fuels into the air, 1 thing is certain. Change is coming, and change generally means very bad things for human society. Civilization is not well equipped to survive change. Sea levels will still rise. Coastal cities (the most populous and important cities in the world are located on the sea shore) will flood. Life will change. And I say, hey, if we can do anything to slow down the pace of change, then lets do it! If by cutting down on our emissions we can slow down the progress of global warming to a manageable pace, then why not try? When faced with the choice of seeing Florida or New York City flooded within the next 50 years as opposed to them being flooded slowly over a period of a thousand years. What would you choose?

[weng]

We are all heading towards the end of life as we know it - of that, I have no doubt. Sadly, the root cause is one of over-population. We can all duck the issue and blame fossil fuels, etc. But our wildlife & forests continue to disappear because of deforestation & over-harvesting.

So, even if we turn carbon neutral, our increasing population will still fish out the sea, flatten all remaining jungle, and pollute the Earth

Perhaps we can all do our bit by not supporting charities that promote/prolong human life. Particularly in cases where the starving population has already outgrown & destroyed its habitat.

Weng

[Tindomul]

BBC NEWS
IPCC to warn of 'abrupt' warming
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Valencia

Climate change may bring "abrupt and irreversible" impacts, the UN's climate advisory panel is set to announce.

Delegates to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agreed a summary of its landmark report during overnight negotiations here.

Discussions were said to have been robust, with the US and other delegations keen to moderate language.

The summary will be officially launched by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Saturday.

It brings together elements of the three reports that the Nobel Prize-winning IPCC has already released this year, on the science of climate change, impacts and adaptation, and options for mitigating the problem.

Among its top-line conclusions are that climate change is "unequivocal", that humankind's emissions of greenhouse gases are more than 90% likely to be the main cause, and that impacts can be reduced at reasonable cost.


IPCC PROJECTIONS
Probable temperature rise between 1.8C and 4C
Possible temperature rise between 1.1C and 6.4C
Sea level most likely to rise by 28-43cm
Arctic summer sea ice disappears in second half of century
Increase in heatwaves very likely
Increase in tropical storm intensity likely
The synthesis summary being discussed here in Valencia strengthens the language of those earlier reports with a warning that climate change may bring "abrupt and irreversible" impacts.

Such impacts could include the fast melting of glaciers and species extinctions.

"Climate change is here, it's impacting our lives and our economies, and we need to do something about it," commented Hans Verolme, director of the climate change programme with the environmental group WWF.

"After this report, there are no politicians left who can argue they don't know what climate change is or they don't know what to do about it."

Local witnesses

At a news conference, WWF presented testimonies from "climate change witnesses" in various parts of the world.

Speaking by video link, Australian scientists and fishermen spoke of the changes they were seeing on the Great Barrier Reef. And Olav Mathis Eira, a Sami reindeer herder from Norway, said that his communities are seeing weather patterns unprecedented in their oral history.

"Winter is one and a half months later than it used to be," he said. "We observed birds and insects that do not have a name in Sami."

The 20-page IPCC synthesis summary is due to be accompanied by a longer, more detailed document, and discussions on that are continuing here.

The findings will feed into the next round of negotiations on the UN climate convention and Kyoto Protocol, which open in Bali on 3 December.
Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | IPCC to warn of 'abrupt' warming

Published: 2007/11/16 17:15:54 GMT

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