Fun Facts About Global Warming and Climate Change
76- In 1974 Time Magazine published a cover story warning of Global Cooling. Nixon was president and the Oakland A's beat the LA Dodgers in the World Series of American Baseball. The Time article cited extreme dry spells, flooding, mild winters and also very cold winters as evidence of a coming ice age. The article can still be found online.
- Some climate measuring stations are located in urban areas near hi-rise buildings, wide expanses of pavement, and even air conditioning units. Pavement reflects heat and buildings generate heat. There are strict standards for locating and configuring these stations, but the rules are not always followed.
- Water temperature readings are taken from ships. Sometimes the methodology is as simple as throwing an analog thermometer in a bucket or canvas bag overboard, waiting a few minutes, and retrieving it. In some situations the thermometer is dropped into the water close to the exhaust ports of the ship. In other situations the crew performs the operation at night, requiring a light source to read the temperature upon retrieval. Sometime near the beginning of World War II, sailors realized that using the light made them an easier target.
Some methodologies permitted water temperature readings from water that was already on-board the ship, as it entered the systems used to cool the ships' engines.
- Throughout his administration, US president George Herbert Walker Bush was vilified in the press for not ratifying the Kyoto Treaty. In reality, the treaty had already been signed by a representative of the preceding administration and submitted to Congress for ratification by his predecessor, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton. It was voted down, 95-0.
- Ice melting in Greenland has improved the economic circumstances of sheep herders and farmers. The growing season has lengthened, allowing vegetables such as potatoes to be sown there.
- The ice between Canada and western Greenland is the most plentiful it's been in the last 15 years.
In February 2008, the temperature in Embarrass, Minnesota sank to 40 below, only one degree above the all-time record in the state, set in 1888.
- Vice-presidential candidate Sarah palin is credited with the quote "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."
- For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. For the past few years the Pacific Ocean has been losing some of its' warmth and has actually been cooling.
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megs: good points all; thanks for writing. The ozone hole comes and goes all the time. There's no correlation to any human activity whatsoever. Anyway, most people don't understand that correlation does not equal causation, therefore they are too quick to blame.
ice age.....but now hot age....
@cecaniah I think the earth is actually cooling these days.
nicomp um... i don't think its cooling down how about every summer record the hottest temp and see the difference its heating up!
@icey0001 Thanks!
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@ujjj : Thank you, Mr. Gore!
No coorelation whatsoever? Every scientist in the world who has researched the problem can show convincing evidence that man indeed interferes with the climate and his environment. Do the almost daily climate disasters, the smog that burns the eyes, the increasing rates of cancers, plant and animal extinctions, droughts and increasing wildfires, earthquakes, eruptions, floods, and people displacement, along with the final stages of glalcier melting not mean a thing to you? Sure the planet's cooling. But human activity is covering it up through reckless release of millions of tons of gas into the air daily. The oceans are dying and in some areas are dead already. there is no oxygen so animals and plants that can't escape die. Every scientist in the world is now convinced that we are burning ourselves into extinction. Whys the silence from newly developed countries that they didn't do it? They don't have a minute to spare and they know it. they laughed when I predicted cheap oil is almost used up. We used it up. Oil was $28. a barrel then. What is it now? This is the last time I try to educate those who have their heads buried in the sand. There are plenty of article that prove(with evidence) we don't have a whole lot of time left to change or try to reverse the damage. When there is so much eveidence available now since bush spit in the eye of the kiota participants, trying to convince those who refuse to budge from a position that is not only untenable but downright foolish, is just a waste of everyones time.
An opinion not supported by freely available facts in this day and age is laughable.
show me scientists who don't believe it and I'll at least look at the data.
There aren't any. rush limbaugh or the religious right don't count. those are uneducated guesses, not facts. Look around you. No one is forcing all these companies to change to green energy. There haven't even been threats. They are doing it because they have checked out the research and they don't want to leave a wasteland to their grand children, if any of them can survive. No one has anything to gain by cooking up fake reports of climate change. Wait until you see what happens this winter, you may be convinced by the winter alone.
No coorelation whatsoever? Every scientist in the world who has researched the problem can show convincing evidence that man indeed interferes with the climate and his environment. Do the almost daily climate disasters, the smog that burns the eyes, the increasing rates of cancers, plant and animal extinctions, droughts and increasing wildfires, earthquakes, eruptions, floods, and people displacement, along with the final stages of glalcier melting not mean a thing to you? Sure the planet's cooling. But human activity is covering it up through reckless release of millions of tons of gas into the air daily. The oceans are dying and in some areas are dead already. there is no oxygen so animals and plants that can't escape die. Every scientist in the world is now convinced that we are burning ourselves into extinction. Why the silence from newly developed countries that they didn't do it? They don't have a minute to spare and they know it. Many laughed when I predicted cheap oil is almost used up. We used it up in a hundred years. It took millions of years to develop. Oil was $28. a barrel then. Why try to educate those who have their heads buried in the sand? There are plenty of articles that prove(with evidence) we don't have a whole lot of time left to change or try to reverse the damage. When there is so much evidence available now. Since bush spit in the eye of the kiota participants on global warming, trying to convince those who refuse to budge from a position that is not only untenable but downright foolish, is just a waste of everyones time.
An opinion not supported by freely available facts in this day and age is laughable.
show me scientists who don't believe it and I'll at least look at the data.
There aren't any. rush limbaugh or the religious right don't count. Those are uneducated guesses, not facts. Look around you. No one is forcing all these companies to change to green energy. There haven't even been threats. They are doing it because they have checked out the research and they don't want to leave a wasteland to their grand children, if any of them can survive. No one has anything to gain by cooking up fake reports of climate change. Wait until you see what happens this winter, you may be convinced by the winter alone.
Hi solarcaptain
When did you predict that cheap oil is almost used up.
"Many laughed when I predicted cheap oil is almost used up."
Back to global warming: I tend to agree with nicomp about global warming. If global warming is caused by human activities then the obvious thing is to do something about the population. To my knowledge I haven't heard anyone calling for population control to slow down global warming.
China did say something along those lines once or twice. But even there with their one child policy they don't make a point of saying a three person family will emit less CO2 into the atmosphere that a bigger family. China is not worried so why should we be.
@solarcaptain: Thanks for writing! You obviously care deeply about the subject. I plan to dedicate an entire hub to your comments in the near future. Stay tuned.
@plegrove: Cheap oil rocks. We need to use it up, then move on the next cheapest oil. This makes economic sense and keeps us competitive in the world. If free market forces conspire to create a less expensive energy source before the cheap oil is consumed, that's great; I'll put it in my car.
I can't believe your suggesting that ice melting is a good thing cos it helps out a few farmers; it's also leading to sea level rises which are set to submerge entire countries in the next few years, and make the recent devastating annual floods in place like Bangladesh, which have killed thousands, even worse.
@kephrira: Thank you for commenting. I didn't say that 'global warming' is good or bad. I simply pointed out the extended growing season in Greenland. You added the "good thing" part. If you think an extended growing season is a bad thing, you are entitled to your opinion. I didn't give my opinion; I just presented the fun fact.
Bangladesh floods almost every year. The worst flooding in the short recorded history of the country came in 1998, over 10 years ago. The severity of the flooding was attributed to melt water from the Himalaya mountain range and clear cutting of trees for firewood and farming.
Regarding your sea level comment; sea levels are not "set" to do anything in the next few years. No one "sets" the behavior of sea levels, nor can anyone predict the behavior of sea levels in the next few years.
Here's the question I always ask about "global warming"; what's the temperature of the Earth supposed to be?
Nicomp, I agree with you that no one knows what the temp of the earth is supposed to be, and while the ice may melt some in the North Pole, it is continually growing in the South Pole. Global warming is a man made theory, and SolarCaptain, NOT Every scientist, only the ones you read!
@jiberish: Good point about ice melting at one pole and accumulating at the other.
I've always said and will continue to say that science is not performed by consensus. It matters not a whit how many scientists agree or disagree on a subject. It's not a football game; we don't keep score that way.
Anyone who relies on the "almost all scientists say" argument either does not understand science or is unable to support their points.
Does this mean I won't have to worry about my house in Florida becoming an artificial reef? Oh, whew, thank you. On the other hand, it means my house in Alberta will still suffer from frozen septic fields -- darn!
@lmmartin: I don't know what it all means. I simply presented some fun facts. Draw your own conclusions.
@B. Consider me educated! Thanks.
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megs78 says:
6 months ago
thanks for the hub! I personally believe that we don't know enough about our changing earth to make any predictions of global warming...or in my case...here in Canada, the next ice age. I do believe though that we need to take care of our earth and keep it clean. It is our responsibility. However, I don't think that we have any power over what will happen to our earth. Besides keeping it clean, whatever else happens is beyond our control. The ozone layer phenomena should be enough evidence of that. Thanks again for the reading,
megs