Report Says Climate Change Already Evident, Emissions Gap Growing 623
Dupple writes "Following on from a world bank report of 4 degree C warmer world comes this story from the BBC. 'The effects of climate change are already evident in Europe and the situation is set to get worse, the European Environment Agency has warned. "Every indicator we have in terms of giving us an early warning of climate change and increasing vulnerability is giving us a very strong signal," observed EEA executive director Jacqueline McGlade.'"
Here's the report in question. There also comes news we've hit record levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Re:Is there enough data (Score:4, Interesting)
Decide for yourself: http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/contents.html [www.ipcc.ch]
Re:Is there enough data (Score:2, Interesting)
What I don't get is why we can't see this shit coming. We make all these predictions about what's going to happen, and then one day, BAM! "Oh shit! While we weren't looking, the earth got hotter, like our models said!" It's not ever a gradual report. There's like, "The earth is getting warmer" "The average temperature is increasing" "Global average temperature is in an up-trend" "TODAY, studies found that the earth is TWO DEGREES HOTTER!" "Earth still getting hotter" "Earth hotter still" "Global warming" "Manbearpig" "STUDY SHOWS EARTH 4 DEGREES HOTTER WOW!!!"
There's no "wow" here. The earth should only be marginally hotter today than it was yesterday; you shouldn't wake up and be like, "WHOA! I didn't know the earth was that hot!" You're a scientist, you've been tracking how hot the earth is for the past 30 years, how did it get several degrees hotter than you thought it was while you weren't looking?
If you’re 27 or younger, you’ve never. (Score:5, Interesting)
.
Nowhere on the surface of the planet have we seen any record cold temperatures over the course of the year so far. Every land surface in the world saw warmer-than-average temperatures except Alaska and the eastern tip of Russia. The continental United States has been blanketed with record warmth — and the seas just off the East Coast have been much warmer than average, for which Sandy sends her thanks.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration summarizes October 2012:
The average temperature across land and ocean surfaces during October was 14.63C (58.23F). This is 0.63C (1.13F) above the 20th century average and ties with 2008 as the fifth warmest October on record. The record warmest October occurred in 2003 and the record coldest October occurred in 1912. This is the 332nd consecutive month with an above-average temperature.
Emphasis added. If you were born in or after April 1985, if you are right now 27 years old or younger, you have never lived through a month that was colder than average. That’s beyond astonishing....
Maps and the full article are here [grist.org].
Re:Global warming -- so what? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Cap and Trade solves everything! (Score:4, Interesting)
Lots of work to be done. International ship exhaust is unbelievably, even insanely high and totally unregulated. We have lots of "clean coal" to replace, along with the jobs that'll be lost. One mountain at a time....
Re:Cap and Trade solves everything! (Score:5, Interesting)
You weasel my words.
I'm the future generation. I have a grandson due in March. It's not an abstract idea. There will be no zombie apocalypse. There will be children.
Maybe we're the generation that realized through scientific discovery, that there are limitations to resources. Maybe we took responsibility for our actions, rather than blithely ignoring the warning signs.
Wealth creation is a long tried and true, but ultimately vacuous destination. Maybe we sacrifice a little as a world community and benefit greatly from having done so, rather than hedonistically building wads of cash and grandiose castles.
War is not inevitable. Those that believe this often use it as an excuse to behave badly and cowardly rather than face up to the fact that we all live on this planet together. Degrading the economy will be laughable in the face of not being able to breathe, with shorelines starting in the Rockies and Appalachia.
Re:If you’re 27 or younger, you’ve nev (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, my sweet summer child! What do you know about fear? Fear is for the winter, when the snows fall a hundred feet deep; fear is for the Long Night, when the sun hides for years and children are born and live and die all in darkness...
Winter is coming.
Re:Not only in Europe (Score:3, Interesting)
there was a big hurricane in 1938, 1815, 1893, 1860's. all Cat 3 hurricanes in NYC occurring before global warming. there are records of regular hurricanes going back to the 1600's as well. again, much more powerful storms than Sandy
the 1815 storm was so bad that it cut an island into two. the southern barrier island where Robert Moses State Park is used to be one island. THe Gale of 1815 destroyed part of it and its now two separate islands. it destroyed a few other smaller islands in the area as well.
Re:Let's step back for a moment.... (Score:4, Interesting)
Your argument seems to be:
1) Believing in Climate Change must be like a religion.
2) No Climate Change believers have resorted to illegal acts to stop pollution.
Therefore: Even Climate Change Believers don't believe in their "religion" enough so why should everyone else?
I'd argue that 1 is wrong because most folks who "believe" (using that word loosely) in climate change do so because they've seen the evidence. As for 2, you can believe in a religion and not commit illegal acts to further your religion. I'm Jewish and keep kosher. I don't go around bombing pork processing centers. Does this mean that I'm not a "true believer"? If a religious belief I held was opposed by a societal law (e.g. If a public school was requiring students to recite Christian prayers), I'd work within the system to change this law (e.g. talk to the school board, local/state officials, etc). I wouldn't immediately resort to violence. (Going back to my example, bombing the school might stop the forced prayers in the short term, but would only hurt my cause long term.) So even if #1 and #2 were true, your conclusion is false.