Global Warming
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- version30
What happened to global warming?
This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998.
But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures.
And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise.
- lowimpakt0
also, the "it's all about tax" argument is baseless.Tax is not the best policy instrument to use but when there is market failure (look that up) it is often a position of last resort.
The very idea of taxing carbon is to create a behaviour/market shift away from carbon intensive processes. i.e. If you don't pollute you don't pay the tax. The people least happy about it are the incumbents and old regime businesses e.g. oil companies.
These oil companies spent plenty of their money on lies and BS and these lies get spread by mostly harmless but massively naive and un-scientific suckers via blogs and tabloids.
- qoob0
New emails leaked by climate change opponents
- lowimpakt0
yea raf - tough luck with that - i know you don't like the idea that the state may have to protect the environment and people's health and you'll go to any lengths to compare any state intervention to the nazis or the communists but the fact is that markets change and the state has a role in that.
the fact you don't pay attention to the vast range of products that get phased out of the market and get fixated on lightbulbs is pretty strange to me.
when we have some evidence that these bulbs are worse for human health or the environment we can discuss it further.
- BusterBoy0
There are cynics on both sides of the argument that will totally screw up an otherwise important debate.
Myself...I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to climate change. For every person who says there is less polar ice now than in previous years, I'll show you someone who states there maybe less older ice, but much more new ice than for a long time.
Whether climate change exists or not, there's a good argument for cleaning up our act. Surely mankind is "smart" enough to develop energy producing technologies that don't pollute. Even if it just means breating cleaner air, I'm all for that.
But, on the other side, this needs to be done rationally otherwise it's going to lead to far more problems than we think.
- lowimpakt0
ukit - you're point above about organisational leaverage is interesting.
I just checked something.
The UN has about 83,185 staff working across lots of different organisations such as UNICEF, UN Environment Programme, World Food Programme. Their remit is to resolve many of the worlds socio-political and environmental problems.
Mc Donald's has about 1.5 million staff and their role is to make people fat.
- ukit0
The basic science behind global warming is pretty indisputable. It's on a level with "the Earth is round," rotates around the Sun etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gre…
The amount of carbon, methane and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere determines the temperature of the planet. You can look at other planets that have less greenhouse gases and are not hospitable to life. There were also periods in the past where there was a much higher amount in the atmosphere and the Earth was warmer - ie, dinosaur era.
The only question is whether humans are able to influence that at all by polluting. I would love it if it turned out not to be true, but right now if you listen to what mainstream scientists are saying, they think it is. But ultimately, I don't see why ending use of oil wouldn't be a good thing, there are so many political and economic benefits that could be gained from that.
- panacea-1
Forget global warming - it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/scien…The supposed ‘consensus’ on man-made global warming is facing an inconvenient challenge after the release of new temperature data showing the planet has not warmed for the past 15 years.
The figures suggest that we could even be heading for a mini ice age to rival the 70-year temperature drop that saw frost fairs held on the Thames in the 17th Century.
Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.
‘The ten-year projection remains groundbreaking science. The period for the original projection is not over yet,’ he said.
Dr Nicola Scafetta, of Duke University in North Carolina, is the author of several papers that argue the Met Office climate models show there should have been ‘steady warming from 2000 until now’.
‘If temperatures continue to stay flat or start to cool again, the divergence between the models and recorded data will eventually become so great that the whole scientific community will question the current theories,’ he said.
- set0
I sed to make a perfect poached egg in exactly 5 minutes. A few months ago they started becoming hard after 5 mins. It now takes me exactly 4 minutes to make the perfect poached egg...
The only possible explanation is globalw warming.
- lowimpakt0
buy a bigger egg
- utopian0
Massive iceberg pivots, breaks near south Atlantic penguin colony island.
- teh0
Best part of the movie 2012.
- deldelesc0
I sure hope organizations like the United Nations start pushing their member nations to spray reactive chemicals into the upper atmospheres, in order to help halt climate change; without question or a comprehensive discussion from the entirety of the scientific community!
- sherman0
fucking sad and depressing.
- nb0
"We are as gods, and have to get good at it."
- lowimpakt0
no raf - you presented a conspiracy theory - i questioned the logic behind it so now it is up to you to defend and prove it.