Earth's Temperature at Highest Levels in 400 Years

thatguywhoiam writes "Congress asked, and the scientists have answered: 'The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the 'recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.'"

temperature

[mytrip]

dont blame me. i use amd.

Queue up the proof by anecdote posts

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll start: It was unusually warm at my locale this winter. That's proves global warming.

P.S.

[deesine]

Can I have a pink Pony.

Re:Queue up the proof by anecdote posts

[TrancePhreak]

It was unusually cold last summer here. Now it's average! Global warming must be true!

South Park, anyone?

[Digital Vomit]

We-- we didn't listen!

Re:To: Mr. George W. Bush

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuckwit:

It was this hot 400 years ago.

Signed,

- W

Must be...

[Anonymous Coward]

all those exploding Dell laptop batteries.

Editors, please post flamebait stories in the AM

[spun]

Thanks. What's the point of posting a story like this now, when everyone who reads slashdot has left work already? Nothing relieves the boredom of work like a good flamefest. Now I have to wait until tomorrow. (read from home? and waste MY precious time?)

I love the smell of burning karma in the morning... It smells like slashdot!

Re:P.S.

[mattsucks]

Can I have a pink Pony.

OMG!

Global Warming?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Earth is now cooler than it was 4 billion years ago.

Re:So...

[MrSquirrel]

It is proof of global warming. Scientists from the future (where it's REALLY hot) created a time machine that they threw all the hot air into -- then they sent it back to the late 1500's because they were like "Fuck, no one cares about the 1500's". It's true, I saw it on the internet.

Perhaps they should have asked....A NINJA.

[Anonymous Coward]

ENOUGH! For years I have remained hidden -- For years, my love of the sword, and my love of the pancake have remained silent, brooding, simmering quietly on the griddle of my soul. But now, the edges have become bubbly, the rim, golden brown. The day of reckoning is upon us.

Yesterday, the calls two summer sparrows after my morning tea and pancake, I had discussed this very issue with my wife. "Wife!" I exclaimed, pancake in mouth, "I am tired of this 'global warming' nonsense! Do they not see it? Do they not SEE how improperly cooked pancakes are to blame? ENOUGH! ENOUGH with this asshattery and douchebaggery!"

She said nothing.

Her face, motionless, the color of faint rouge applied to alabaster skin.... her eyes, gently weeping...knowing that I, the Pancake Ninja, must once again resume my quest. The quest...for the perfect pancake.

Leaping from my chair, and shoving the table away from me, I stormed out of my dojo, sword in hand.

Today, my friends, is the day of reckoning. Soon the world will know that the rise of global temperature can be directly correlated with the expansion of IHOP restaraunts.

Shall I prepare a graph? Shall I put my quill to ink, and expose this unspeakable, unscientific douchebaggery for what it is? Will it bring me closer to karaguchi ah-nowakadesu....the perfect pancake?

I do not know when I will again see my wife, and see the cherry blossoms fall to the steps of my dojo. My sword is my guide.

Re:This just in . . .

[Dzimas]

"Millions of years ago, the Earth was a great, molten mass, called Pangaea."

Errm... there wasn't anyone around to name the Earth anything a few hundred million years ago, unless you count the Vogons and the mice.

OMG WTF!

[elgee]

How am I going to keep my beer cold? I refuse to do like the Europeans do and drink WARM beer.

But...

[Anonymous Coward]

What the hell, the dinosaurs died because they didn't understand science either.

We don't know that.

Re:temperature

[Tumbleweed]

So are you going to upgrade to an Intel Core 2 Duo processor to get even lower power consumption than AMD? :)

If you believe...

[linvir]

Everyone, the earth is dying because not enough people believe in global warming! Perhaps if we all clapped real hard to show it we believe, it might survive!
Quick! If you believe in global warming, clap your hands!

[monty python foot icon]

Re:To: Mr. George W. Bush

[bunions]

Do we want to turn the thermostat up, or down, or try to keep global temperatures about the same?

Top Ten Good Things About Global Warming (from memory, plz excuse any fuckups)

• "stuck in road tar" an acceptable excuse for missing work
• can boil lobster simply by lowering it into toilet
• ... uh, some other stuff ...
• And the number one Good Thing About Global Warming: hot babes, less clothes, 'nuff said.

To All Naysayers

[monoqlith]

Saying there is a debate over whether global warming is real like saying there is a debate over whether the earth is not the center of the universe. What we really have is a debate between the interests of the special interest establishment and the interests of the environmentalists. This debate has been going on in various modes for many many hundreds of years - but science hasn't lost yet. You can't argue down evolution, and you can't argue down global warming - to scientists, these are "theories" because they pass the test for "theory" - which for them is the same test we use to determine *Facts*. IN all meaningful ways, the debate is moot - it's not about facts, it's about obsolete beliefs being replaced in the popular consciousness by newer, accurate beliefs. This needs to happen quickly because we have to start mobilizing our government to action. Data obtained by examining the layers(ice sheets and glaciers form like trees, they have lines indicating how old they are because there is a warming and cooling season *once a year*) of ice sheets which contain bubbles of air(from which we can derive the temperature they were frozen at) trapped from freezing cycles as early as 650,000 years ago reveal a very, very regular periodic cooling and warming cycle. However, it also shows what concentration of CO2 existed in the atmosphere during those cycles, and this graph is almost identical to the temperature graph during the same intervals. The correlation is so strong between CO2 in the atmosphere and temperature that it becomes very, very clear that atmospheric CO2 reflects radiation back into our atmosphere, causing global temperature to rise. . Now, it happens that the concentrations of CO2 are rising at a higher rate than they have ever been measured to rise according to the data obtained from the ice sheets. THey are also at a higher level than has ever been measured according to the ice sheets. This indicates that the global temperature is continuing to increase at a much higher rate than has ever been seen before. This trend started around the time that humans began pouring tons and tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, during the industrial revolution, and is getting worse every year. There is thus a very strong correlation between the trend of human industry and the trend of rapid global warming. Now, you might think - humans can't possibly be contributing that much gas into the atmosphere, the atmosphere is huge! That's crap. 6 billion humans contribute to our pollution, and pour gasses into the atmosphere 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and have been doing so for over a century. Moreover, the atmosphere is not very thick - it represents a sliver of earth's total diameter, equivalent to a *much* smaller volume of gasses than we intuit from looking at the sky. It's very easy to see that humans are very capable of influencing the composition of the atmosphere. The only reason there's a "Debate" over the human cause of global warming is because hack scientists(a minority of scientists) funded by energy lobbies continue to be enlisted(and paid) for their testimonies in front of Congress, which itself is heavily bankrolled by energy companies, who have a very loud voice when it comes to their own interests, and often share the interests of the very wealthy politicans whose campaigns they pay for. The vast majority of scientists believe that global warming has a significant human contribution. There is no meaningful debate over the scientific fact that humans cause global warming, just like there is no good argument against evolution. Even if there was, we should err on the side of caution and as a country(and world) change our attitudes, because this not only relates to global climate, but also the *air* we are breathing. Combustion engines and power plants emit a lot of pollutants, not just CO2. These pollutants cause health problems. BUt casting doubt over global warming undermines *all* environmental endeavors by wrongly discrediting the credible people who want to help protect our health and the earth. There are a lo

Re:To: Mr. George W. Bush

[Wonko the Sane]

Your post is nothing but bullshit you read on some web site and are now parroting to Slashdot.

Fuck you and your progeny, retard.

Assuming your first statement is true, and given what we know about evolution, isn't it better for everyone if no one ever carries out your second statement?

ice age

[Gogo0]

It's certainly a lot warmer than the ice age that ended due to the industrial revolution 10,000 years ago.

Re:Some additional info

[rrohbeck]

I don't believe you. Bah. Nonsense. Damn scientists. Liberals, all of them! George W is right. It's just those damn terrorists that cause all of our problems.

Sing with me: I want my, I want my, I want my SUV...

Re:temperature

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahh, I see that you must have stumbled into a temporal wormhole sometime around 1998. Let me be the first to say: Welcome to the 21st century. You'll probably find that most things should still seem pretty familiar to you.

Re:Queue up the proof by anecdote posts

[Orangejesus]

so uh let me get this straight, the earth is as hot it is was 400 years ago, before the whole industrial revolution, back before we knew how to screw stuff up, the earth was naturally as hot as it is now without us humans doing anything at all? QUICK EVERYONE PANIC!

Re:You want Flamebait? I got your flamebait.

[whoop]

I've been running 18 window air conditioner units nonstop for the last 399 years when I saw this comming, and it's done nothing! What more can one do??

Re:temperature

[Doc Ruby]

If you don't stop fooling with all that electricity, Zeus will blast your arrogant ass to hades. He's already pissed about your ignoring him - can't you tell from all the bad weather?

Re:To: Mr. George W. Bush

[Curunir_wolf]

Preventing climate change isn't a long-term option.

Sure it is. But we don't have to do it all with trying to pump (or stop pumping) into the atmosphere. The sun IS getting hotter (and bigger). When life first started (a couple of billion years ago), Earth was at the outside edge of the "temperate zone" in its orbit around the sun. That is, it's warm enough so plenty of water is liquid, but cool enough that not all the water is in thick water vapor blanket around the planet. The warmer Earth gets, the more water hangs out in the atmosphere, and the hotter the Earth gets.

Anyway, we are now at the *inside* edge of the temperate zone, and the sun is still growing. The long-term climate control plan is to attach some rockets to a big comet or asteroid, and get it sweeping close to Earth's orbit so it pulls it further out from the sun, by just a little bit. This could be a permanent option - set it up to tug Earth every few years ot so just enough to compensate for the growth of the sun, plus any extra radiative forcing effect of the greenhouse gasses going into the atmosphere.

Not only do we get a stable climate, the CO2 levels can be allowed to increase enough to provide a boost for our plants and crops, so we can use renewable sources of energy as the fossil fuels run out. With 1800-2000 ppm of CO2, switchgrass and corn will grow like crazy, so we would have plenty of arable land for both food and biofuels.

It's practically a free lunch.

... as long as all the computer models are right.

Re:Granted

[jc42]

In any case, the argument will be decided in the next 10-50 years by nature: either conditions will continue to deteriorate, and you will be forced to agree that there is a problem, or they won't, and you can crow about how you were right all along.

Heh. You have more faith in human reason than I do. It's more likely that, long after the issue is settled, we'll still have an ongoing political debate, and we won't be doing much about whatever the problem has escalated into.

This is why there's a growing number of people saying that we shouldn't waste time trying to fight global warming. No matter what the evidence, our political and economic systems are going to keep barging ahead with their current behavior. So the question "How can we prevent or reverse it?" may be irrelevant; a more practical question is "How can we prepare for the changes that are ahead?"

The first step, of course, is getting good scientific information on what's happening, and we're doing a lot of that (with only occasional obstruction from politicians and businessmen). The information, including what predictions are possible, should be made available to those who want to know, and we're doing that, too (with a lot of obfuscation by the deniers and the simply illogical).

But there's really no way that humans can be "forced to agree" on anything. That's not what we're like. Even when Mother Nature hits us over the head, as She has done innumerable times in the past, we usually attribute a disaster to an angry god, and carefully ignore the evidence around us as to what actually happened.