Climate change and the human perspective

[Bernard_Fokke]

Climate change - evidence from the geological record (Good read btw)
Climate change is a defining issue for our time. The geological record contains abundant evidence of the ways in which Earth’s climate has changed in the past. That evidence is highly relevant to understanding how it may change in the future. The Council of the Society is issuing this statement as part of the Society’s work “to promote all forms of education, awareness and understanding of the Earth and their practical applications for the benefit of the public globally”. The statement is intended for non-specialists and Fellows of the Society. It is based on analysis of geological evidence, and not on analysis of recent temperature or satellite data, or climate model projections. It contains references to support key statements, indicated by superscript numbers, and a reading list for those who wish to explore the subject further.

http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/climatechange

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2013 is seventh hottest year, rising seas worsen typhoon (Scream the headlines!)
WARSAW (Reuters) - This year is the seventh warmest since records began in 1850(163 years) and rising sea levels caused by climate change are aggravating the impact of storms such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.

** Question being for a rational contemplation of climate change...Does one panic over a statement of impending doom based on a profile derived from a 163 year base or or statistics derived from a data base of fifty million years?



http://news.yahoo.com/2013-far-seventh-hottest-more-warming-seen-wmo-093146654.html

 

[as seen on tv]

in other news - UN scientists were forced to admit that 2013 is "average or below" for typhoon and hurricane activity.

and how can "superstorm sandy" be the storm of the century if it was only a category 3 - and 2012 was yet ANOTHER year of below normal storm activity?

the reason for mass death and destruction are every growing masses of people crammed into coastal areas, and municipal governments spending on crony jobs and benefits rather than securing basic services (modernizing water and sewer systems; electrical grid improvements; etc. most cities - including new york and the affected cities in the Phillipines, don't even have reliable trash collection on an average day.

 

[fairsheet]

I think that perhaps THE biggest misperception of climate change goes to the concept of incremental vs. precipitous. It's fun to cuss the discuss the actual science around global warming. Did the globe warm a degree over the last decade?....did it warm a tenth of a degree?....or maybe, did it not warm at all?

Whatever...it's all to easy for us to think in terms of, "a little bit warmer here and a little bit warmer there". We at least somewhat confident that we can adapt to "a little bit warmer". But....most don't seem to be acknowledging that any particular instance of "a little bit warmer" may actually have a profound and virtually irreversible effect on the world's climate.

The people of 2113 WILL live in a different world and climate from the one we live in. They may choose to blame we 2013 people. But if their climate's only manifestation is an incremental increase in warmth, it wouldn't be reasonalbe for them to expect that we could've taken the necessary steps to forestall all of that warming.

But....what if say....a 4 degree rise over a century represented incremental warming, but a 5 degree rise caused a profound change in the world's climate? Wouldn't the people of 2113 be just a little righteous in blaming us for not taking the steps to've slowed that warming to 4 degrees?