Global Climate Change

[Neely2005]

Has something changed recently to make this a pressing issue? Are Cdns wimpier than we used to be? The Grey Cup has been played in late November (even December at times) for at least 50 years. Climate change data suggests that the weather is warmer now than it used to be, on average. So why the sudden "it's too cold for football" bleating from out west?

Not really:

Global Temperature Update: No global warming for 17 years 11 months… or 19 years, according to a key statistical paper



http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/09/07/global-warming-pause-extends-to-17-years-11-months/

[paulwoods13]

Global Temperature Update: No global warming for 17 years 11 months… or 19 years, according to a key statistical paper



http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/09/07/global-warming-pause-extends-to-17-years-11-months/

For the record, that site is not a scientific journal -- in fact, it's a site created specifically for the purpose of promoting the idea that climate change is a myth. But who cares? Even if the average temperature hasn't budged in 20 years, why is there suddenly a need to stop playing football in cold weather?

[Rich]

Not really:

Global Temperature Update: No global warming for 17 years 11 months… or 19 years, according to a key statistical paper



http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/09/07/global-warming-pause-extends-to-17-years-11-months/


Wow, a climate change denier. Didn't think there were many left. Do you still believe the world is flat, Neely2005?

[Neely2005]

For the record, that site is not a scientific journal -- in fact, it's a site created specifically for the purpose of promoting the idea that climate change is a myth. But who cares? Even if the average temperature hasn't budged in about 20 years, why is there suddenly a need to stop playing football in cold weather?

That doesn't change the fact that the temperatures around the world have Not increased in 20 Years. Contrary to what you had stated.

The reason is because judging by the attendance of late season and playoff games people don't want to sit outside in the cold.


Wow, a climate change denier. Didn't think there were many left. Do you still believe the world is flat, Neely2005?

First it was Global Cooling, then it was Global Warming, now it's Climate Change. All I know is that they were wrong about the first two and there computer models have been proven wrong for the last 20 years or so. Their own data shows no increase in global temperatures for the last 20 years or so and the Arctic Ice Sheets have been increasing for the past few years.

[paulwoods13]

That doesn't change the fact that the temperatures around the world have Not increased in 20 Years. Contrary to what you had stated.



Well, call me crazy or in denial, but I don't accept a "fact" that is based on selective review of data and presented by an organization that obviously has a particular axe to grind. Have temps increased or decreased in the past 20 years? Don't know, don't care, and definitely don't plan to reach an opinion on that based on this particular website.

[Neely2005]

Well, call me crazy or in denial, but I don't accept a "fact" that is based on selective review of data and presented by an organization that obviously has a particular axe to grind. Have temps increased or decreased in the past 20 years? Don't know, don't care, and definitely don't plan to reach an opinion on that based on this particular website.

They've decreased and this website is far from the only source. Even the climate change scientists admit (albeit reluctantly) that temperatures have not increased globally over the past 20 years and their computer models and predictions have been consistently wrong.

[T-Bone]

First it was Global Cooling, then it was Global Warming, now it's Climate Change. All I know is that they were wrong about the first two and there computer models have been proven wrong for the last 20 years or so. Their own data shows no increase in global temperatures for the last 20 years or so and the Arctic Ice Sheets have been increasing for the past few years.

I'm just going to leave this here for you: Global Climate Change (http://climate.nasa.gov/)

And this:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnKxmLQCQAAoCBF.jpg

[Neely2005]

I'm just going to leave this here for you: Global Climate Change (http://climate.nasa.gov/)

And this:



http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/arctic-sea-ice-volume-up-50-1.2465952

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/24/hiding-evidence-of-global-cooling/?feat=article_top10_read

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/27/the-global-cooling-cover-up/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/09/23/antarctic-sea-ice-hit-35-year-record-high-saturday/

http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/02/14/great-lakes-covered-with-ice-for-the-first-time-in-20-years/

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2014/04/20140402-074402.html

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2014/09/20140928-092054.html

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/sciencetech/archives/2014/07/20140711-114209.html

"Back in September, even the UN's official climate change propagandists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) could no longer ignore the fact that global temperatures had not risen for close to two decades. Despite the UN's computer models forecasting temperature gains of nearly half a degree Celsius over that time, the global average temperature had stubbornly refused to budge up or down for 18 years."

[Argocister]

Change in global temperatures over a small time of 20 years does not constitute global climate change ... that timeline is way too small.
Here is a reading list from a well respected magazine, for your perusal. I am not going to debate this type of an issue on a football forum. There are way too many different backgrounds. But it is interesting that the intelligent Argofans are willing to discuss these issues ..... We may not be very loud and stand up for our team but we are smart! .... and probably good looking too ! (I may be biased) :)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/search/?q=climcte+change&x=16&y=9&display=search

[Double Dare]

Vote Harper ... he will help clean up the environment, because he is a true believer in climate change ... NOT

[argonaut11xx]

According to AL GORE , the earth should have been pretty much dead by now.....(just like in the movies).

How could AL GORE be wrong about this, AL GORE invented the internet (according to him).

Climate change is REAL, how else would guys like Gore and Suzuki get rich?

[ArgoZ]

It's impossible to correctly predict the future weather of the planet, because we have only been recording/monitoring it since the 20's I believe. The bible says there will be increased earthquakes in the end days. If your not religious, what science do you go by? Scientific theories always seem to be debunked by new science. The Earth is supposably over 5 billions of years old. We are only a blimp in its existence and do not completely know it's cycles, the way it reacts or heals itself. It's unfortunate, but almost every study or survey is full of propaganda and hidden motives, which is often financial.

In school, I remember we were heading for another ice age. Now, they claim we are going to get torched. One fact I found interesting is that while the North Pole has melted considerably, Antarctica has actually increased! Figure that one out.

Go Argos!

[Argo57]

Anyone with half a brain knows global warming is caused by the Methane gas from cows farting.
Scientific fact!!

[argonaut11xx]

Anyone with half a brain knows global warming is caused by the Methane gas from cows farting.
Scientific fact!!

Correct, as it was dinosaur farts that caused the Ice Age.

Mother Nature is a plucky old broad, she can handle anything

[T-Bone]

Scientific theories always seem to be debunked by new science.
That's because that's how science works. As we learn more, science goes back and corrects its mistakes. Science is a learning process, if new evidence is presented and holds up to testing then it is accepted as fact.


It's unfortunate, but almost every study or survey is full of propaganda and hidden motives, which is often financial.
Scientists present facts based on multipal experiments that show the same results. Propaganda is put out to distort facts. Who do you think has more to lose financially in this global climate change "debate," the scientists or those involved in the fossil fuel industry?


Correct, as it was dinosaur farts that caused the Ice Age.

Mother Nature is a plucky old broad, she can handle anything
I don't think many scientists are claiming that earth won't survive climate change. Like the dinosaurs before us, are we next?

[argonaut11xx]

Climate Change is not a bad thing....it has been happening as long as the earth has been here....

The "Global Warming" lobbyists are a complete other story,

Both sides have "scientists"...its "Green Business vs Big Business"...no difference except the greens PAY the homeless to protest, while the supports of the big business side, are usually at work, and dont have time to protest.

[1argoholic]

Religious types like Harper believe that you can rape the environment and somehow a god will fix it all. Bunk!!! Just tell the folks in the far north that climate change is crap.Pretty sure their way of life is a hell of a lot more affected then ours. I don't need solid pack ice to hunt seals. Everything humans touch turns to shite when it comes to our environment. I'm just glad I'll be dead.

[T-Bone]

Climate Change is not a bad thing....it has been happening as long as the earth has been here....

The "Global Warming" lobbyists are a complete other story,

Both sides have "scientists"...its "Green Business vs Big Business"...no difference except the greens PAY the homeless to protest, while the supports of the big business side, are usually at work, and dont have time to protest.
Are you claiming the fossil fuel industry doesn't lobby (http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/oct/17/fossil-fuel-toxic-triangle-440-million-at-risk)?


Religious types like Harper believe that you can rape the environment and somehow a god will fix it all. Bunk!!! Just tell the folks in the far north that climate change is crap.Pretty sure their way of life is a hell of a lot more affected then ours. I don't need solid pack ice to hunt seals. Everything humans touch turns to shite when it comes to our environment. I'm just glad I'll be dead.

Catholic bishops lobby for end to fossil fuels, UN agrees to climate change negotiations (http://www.christianexaminer.com/article/catholic.bishops.lobby.for.end.to.fossil.fuels.un. agrees.to.climate.change.negotiations/47787.htm).

[Wobbler]

The current round of international negotiations (in Lima) are unlikely to produce a breakthrough (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30467778), but new commitments to CO2/methane emission reduction targets will probably be announced and at least that's something. And... I'd like to believe that even anthropogenic climate change-deniers can get behind the elimination of coal extraction and combustion. That needs to happen ASAP, for a long list of reasons.

[Wobbler]

An imperfect deal (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30468048) has been reached. I hope that this can be built upon.

[Argo57]

The current round of international negotiations (in Lima) are unlikely to produce a breakthrough (http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30467778), but new commitments to CO2/methane emission reduction targets will probably be announced and at least that's something. And... I'd like to believe that even anthropogenic climate change-deniers can get behind the elimination of coal extraction and combustion. That needs to happen ASAP, for a long list of reasons.

Pollution in all forms should be curbed, I am typically not the tree hugging type BUT am convinced that the vast majority of diseases such as Cancer exist today due to the "chemical soup" that exists in our water and the air we breathe.
Common sense should dictate the fact we need to smarten up and quit abusing the planet.

[1argoholic]

Problem is we've made it worse in North America because pretty much all of the manufacturing jobs are now in countries like China and India where regulations are lacking and people will work for peanuts. They make tons of crap while polluting all the way and North Americans gobble up these cheap Walmart type goods. Two years down the road this crap is heading for our landfills. Now we're raping Northern Alberta and sending oil to China to help drive it's booming, polluting economy and culture. Plus since we have to move this oil so let's build a maze of pipelines though beautiful natural areas of our country. Oh I could go on and on as it's one huge trickle down effect.

Speaking of tree hugging. Did you know that the original meaning was for the loggers who climbed trees with a rope hugging around the tree while climbing? Somehow that term now has flipped to it's meaning of today.

[Double Dare]

Problem is we've made it worse in North America because pretty much all of the manufacturing jobs are now in countries like China and India where regulations are lacking and people will work for peanuts. They make tons of crap while polluting all the way and North Americans gobble up these cheap Walmart type goods. Two years down the road this crap is heading for our landfills. Now we're raping Northern Alberta and sending oil to China to help drive it's booming, polluting economy and culture. So true, little or no human rights, little or no pollution laws in China. For the sake of making money, that is why Harper is kissing China's a@@. Believe it or not, China's economy is starting to slide ... maybe it will be a good thing ... less dirty industry there, less crap making it's way here.

[Ron]

There's a big difference between real climate change that has been occurring since the Earth was created and political climate change which is all about power and little else.

[Neely2005]

Change in global temperatures over a small time of 20 years does not constitute global climate change ... that timeline is way too small.
Here is a reading list from a well respected magazine, for your perusal. I am not going to debate this type of an issue on a football forum. There are way too many different backgrounds. But it is interesting that the intelligent Argofans are willing to discuss these issues ..... We may not be very loud and stand up for our team but we are smart! .... and probably good looking too ! (I may be biased) :)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/search/?q=climcte+change&x=16&y=9&display=search

20 years is a long time when records have only been kept for about 100 years.


Religious types like Harper believe that you can rape the environment and somehow a god will fix it all. Bunk!!! Just tell the folks in the far north that climate change is crap.Pretty sure their way of life is a hell of a lot more affected then ours. I don't need solid pack ice to hunt seals. Everything humans touch turns to shite when it comes to our environment. I'm just glad I'll be dead.

http://www.cbc.ca/m/news/technology/arctic-sea-ice-volume-up-50-1.2465952


Pollution in all forms should be curbed, I am typically not the tree hugging type BUT am convinced that the vast majority of diseases such as Cancer exist today due to the "chemical soup" that exists in our water and the air we breathe.
Common sense should dictate the fact we need to smarten up and quit abusing the planet.

The interesting thing is that modern cars pollute very little. A gas leaf blower, gas lawnmower... (2 stroke engine) pollutes a lot more than a modern car does.

[T-Bone]

http://youtu.be/KJhbQIlu4mk

[T-Bone]

http://youtu.be/M3DmJueP2Ac

[jerrym]

HOW MUCH HAS THE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE RISEN IN THE LAST 100 YEARS?




https://www2.ucar.edu/sites/default/files/news/2014/201301-201312.png (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/global-land-ocean-mntp-anom/201301-201312.png)
Global average temperature since 1880. This graph from NOAA shows the annual trend in average global air temperature in degrees Celsius, through December 2013. For each year, the range of uncertainty is indicated by the gray vertical bars. The blue line tracks the changes in the trend over time. Click here (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/global-land-ocean-mntp-anom/201301-201312.png) or on the image to enlarge. (Image courtesy NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-monitoring/).)




Averaged over all land and ocean surfaces, temperatures warmedroughly 1.53°F (0.85ºC) from 1880 to 2012, according to theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (https://www2.ucar.edu/climate/faq/what-intergovernmental-panel-climate-change-ipcc) (see page 3 of the IPCC's Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis,Summary for Policymakers - PDF) (http://www.climatechange2013.org/images/uploads/WGIAR5-SPM_Approved27Sep2013.pdf). Because oceans tend to warm and cool more slowly than land areas, continents have warmed the most. In the Northern Hemisphere, where most of Earth's land mass is located, the three decades from 1983 to 2012 were likely the warmest 30-year period of the last 1400 years, according to the IPCC.











https://www2.ucar.edu/climate/faq/how-much-has-global-temperature-risen-last-100-years

Sorry about this late post, but this is the first time I saw this thread. I realize there is little point in posting this as the deniers will simply ignore the facts but here it is anyway.


It’s official: 2014 has taken the title of hottest year on record (http://www.climatecentral.org/news/2014-on-pace-for-hottest-year-18445). That ranking comes courtesy of data released Monday by the Japan Meteorological Agency (http://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/gwp/temp/ann_wld.html) (JMA), the first of four major global temperature recordkeepers to release their data for last year.
The upward march of the world’s average temperature since 1891 is a trademark of human-influenced global warming (http://www.climatecentral.org/news/heat-is-climate-changes-calling-card-18491) with 2014 being the latest stop on the climb. All 10 of the hottest years (http://www.climatecentral.org/gallery/graphics/10-warmest-years-globally) have come since 1998.

Of course one's perspective can change depending on where you live. The island nations of Kiribati and the Maldive Islands are already negotiating to move their populations as sea levels rise due to climate change because much of the rest of the world doesn't want to hear about this, let alone do anything.


The Maldives (http://www.theguardian.com/world/maldives) will begin to divert a portion of the country's billion-dollar annual tourist revenue into buying a new homeland - as an insurance policy against climate change that threatens to turn the 300,000 islanders into environmental refugees, the country's first democratically elected president has told the Guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/nov/10/maldives-climate-change


In what could be the world's first climate-induced migration of modern times, Anote Tong, the Kiribati president, said he was in talks with Fiji's military government to buy up to 5,000 acres of freehold land on which his countrymen could be housed.



Most of its 113,000 people are crammed on to Tarawa, the administrative centre, a chain of islets which curve in a horseshoe shape around a lagoon.
"This is the last resort, there's no way out of this one," Mr Tong said.
"Our people will have to move as the tides have reached our homes and villages."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/kiribati/9127576/Entire-nation-of-Kiribati-to-be-relocated-over-rising-sea-level-threat.html

Nothing focuses the mind on what is important in life like death.

[Neely2005]

What Global Warming? Record Breaking Cold Frustrates Fear Mongers:

http://youtu.be/f_53pbmiFHQ


Global warming slowdown 'could last another decade:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28870988

"Scientists have struggled to explain the so-called pause that began in 1999, despite ever increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere..."

[argonaut11xx]

What Global Warming? Record Breaking Cold Frustrates Fear Mongers:

http://youtu.be/f_53pbmiFHQ


Global warming slowdown 'could last another decade:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28870988

"Scientists have struggled to explain the so-called pause that began in 1999, despite ever increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere..."

Funny how only the leftist views are considered "correct" in this debate. Also funny how these same lefties have stopped using the term "Global Warming", and now use the VERY VAGUE term "climate change", which means basically nothing as the climate is constantly changing day by day.

Oh, and don't forget according to Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth", the environment should be destroyed by now (2015). Al Gore the man who once claimed he "invented" the internet.

I'd suggest this entire debate is "Green Business" on the left vs "Big Business" on the right, and nothing more.

Because the "Green's" have Hollywood on their side, they do make better movies, and documentaries on the subject, (even though most should be labelled FICTION.)

[Neely2005]

When you Google 'coldest February ever' it brings up article after article about city after city setting a new record for coldest February ever. Global warming, definitely global warming.

http://www.640toronto.com/2015/02/28/february-the-coldest-on-record-in-toronto/

[T-Bone]

Global warming slowdown 'could last another decade:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28870988

"Scientists have struggled to explain the so-called pause that began in 1999, despite ever increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere..."
Did you read anything after the first sentence of the article which you quoted above?

[jerrym]

It would help if you based your opinion on evidence rather than hearsay. Only 24 of 13,950 peer-reviewed articles on climate change argue that climate change is not happening.


Polls show that many members of the public believe that scientists substantially disagree about human-caused global warming. The gold standard of science is the peer-reviewed literature. If there is disagreement among scientists, based not on opinion but on hard evidence, it will be found in the peer-reviewed literature.I searched the Web of Science for peer-reviewed scientific articles published between 1 January 1991 and 9 November 2012 that have the keyword phrases “global warming” or “global climate change.” The search produced 13,950 articles. See methodology (http://www.jamespowell.org/methodology/method.html).


http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/Powell-Science-Pie-Chart.png



http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/11/15/why-climate-deniers-have-no-credibility-science-one-pie-chart

[T-Bone]

It would help if you based your opinion on evidence rather than hearsay. Only 24 of 13,950 peer-reviewed articles on climate change argue that climate change is not happening (http://www.desmogblog.com/2012/11/15/why-climate-deniers-have-no-credibility-science-one-pie-chart).
Are you saying you didn't find the "evidence" presented by Ezra Levant in that video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_53pbmiFHQ&feature=youtu.be) convincing? Paraphrasing, "It is called global warming but it is cold outside. Cold is the opposite of warm, therefore global warming does not exist."
http://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/canada/2015/02/15/politics-behind-total-eclipse-of-the-sun-tim-harper/sun-news.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg

[argonaut11xx]

T-Bone...the only "sources" you ever quote as fact are "far left", and then you go on to hammer anyone who is "right of center"

I say again...Climate Change is a VAGUE statement, and means NOTHING, as climate is always changing.

Your obviously on the side of "GREEN BUSINESS", and thats ok....both sides have so called scientists, who can MAKE any conclusions they want.

The Suzuki's of the world are part of the "1%'ers", that you(greenies) are suppose to be fighting against (Al Gore??..hahaha..watch his fictional movie today..wow)

[T-Bone]

T-Bone...the only "sources" you ever quote as fact are "far left", and then you go on to hammer anyone who is "right of center"
NASA and Neil deGrasse Tyson are "far left?"


I say again...Climate Change is a VAGUE statement, and means NOTHING, as climate is always changing.
Let me clarify what is being discussed here then. The existence of the rise of global temperature as a result of humans.


Your obviously on the side of "GREEN BUSINESS", and thats ok....both sides have so called scientists, who can MAKE any conclusions they want.
Nothing annoys me more than when someone tries to tell me what I'm for or what I believe, please speak for yourself. In this case I'm arguing for scientific truth. The scientific community is at a consensus that the global temperature is rising and that we are effecting it. This shouldn't be a political "debate" as some politicians have turned it into. Scientists that make up any conclusion they want are not scientists, their propagandists.

[jerrym]

Not only was 2014 the warmest year on record

The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for 2014 was the highest among all years since record keeping began in 1880. The December combined global land and ocean average surface temperature was also the highest on record.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/2014/12


January picked up right where 2014 left off: with unusually warm temperatures recorded around the world.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2015/02/19/january-climate-report/23684037/

and February 2015 was well above the monthly global average, although slightly cooler than January, as you can see from the chart below.

http://www.reportingclimatescience.com/uploads/pics/UAH_LT_1979_thru_February_2015_v5.png (http://www.reportingclimatescience.com/index.php?eID=tx_cms_showpic&file=uploads%2Fpics%2FUAH_LT_1979_thru_February_20 15_v5.png&md5=534db82f9d79040cc6ce83504293d0033a0cda06&parameters[0]=YTo0OntzOjU6IndpZHRoIjtzOjQ6IjgwMG0iO3M6NjoiaGVpZ 2h0IjtzOjM6IjYw&parameters[1]=MCI7czo3OiJib2R5VGFnIjtzOjQyOiI8Ym9keSBiZ0NvbG9yP SIjZmZmZmZmIiBz&parameters[2]=dHlsZT0ibWFyZ2luOjA7Ij4iO3M6NDoid3JhcCI7czozNzoiP GEgaHJlZj0iamF2&parameters[3]=YXNjcmlwdDpjbG9zZSgpOyI%2BIHwgPC9hPiI7fQ%3D%3D)
http://www.reportingclimatescience.com/news-stories/article/uah-reports-february-global-average-temperaure-anomaly.html

The following article from the Economist (which is a RIGHT-wing magazine but does examine evidence) explains how you can have cold winters in some regions as the world continues to warm.

Much of the United States has experienced four unusually freezing winters in succession. Surely that contradicts the notion that the Earth’s climate is warming up?Not necessarily, for two reasons. First, the climate and the weather are not the same: they are related, but weather patterns develop and change over hours, days and weeks; the climate changes over years and decades. And second, the American landmass is just one small part of the surface of the globe. While temperatures have been well below average across much of the United States, other parts of the world have been abnormally warm. And indeed, there may be a connection between climate change and colder winters in parts of the northern hemisphere. The link is the Arctic region. Because the poles are colder than the equator, air streams north and south in order to equalise temperatures. In the northern hemisphere, this flow is called the jet stream. Because of the rotation of the Earth, the stream turns right as the planet spins, and flows in a wavy line around the pole, like a badly cut monk's tonsure. In the northern hemisphere the jet stream brings up warmer air from the south, producing more temperate weather in the northern regions over which it flows.
But the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the Earth. Since the mid-1990s, temperatures at the northern pole have risen almost three times as much as they have at temperate latitudes. So the difference between the poles and the equator is narrowing. This seems to be affecting the jet stream, and could change its moderating effect on northern weather. According to Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University, in the northern hemisphere westerly wind speeds seem to have weakened since the mid-1990s. As the flow has faltered, the undulations of the jet stream have become more marked, with gentle waves turning into bigger loops. Inside the loops, low-pressure areas of cold air build up, producing “polar vortices” and other freezing weather patterns in America and (especially) northern Siberia—even while the Arctic warms.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2015/03/economist-explains-2

Believe it or not, scientists are inherently conservative, both in the predictions that they make in that they only talk about the trends they see in the data, and in their desire to conserve life on this planet (currently species are disappearing at 1,000 times the rate in the fossil record - in part due to climate change, as well as loss of habitat, overfishing, etc.).

The global loss of species is even worse than previously thought, the London Zoological Society (ZSL) says in its new Living Planet Index (http://www.zsl.org/livingplanetindex).The report suggests populations have halved in 40 years, as new methodology gives more alarming results than in a report two years ago.
The report says populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by an average of 52%.
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29418983

[Wobbler]

...both sides have so called scientists, who can MAKE any conclusions they want.
If you truly think that experts are all lying in order to make money, I feel sorry for you. It can't be pleasant to be that cynical.

In the scientific community, valid data and correct interpretations are actually pretty important. It's true that we occasionally fall in love with our own hypotheses and try to pick data that support them, but that's just not sustainable once other people get involved. The consensus opinion is pretty reliable.

[Double Dare]

It's true that we occasionally fall in love with our own hypotheses and try to pick data that support them, ... or just ignore reality and stick your head in the sand (not directed towards you Wobbler).

[argonaut11xx]

It's true that we occasionally fall in love with our own hypotheses and try to pick data that support them,

This sum up the debate completely.

[jerrym]

This sum up the debate completely.

You must be looking at yourself in the mirror when you side with the 24 climate change denier research papers rather than the 13,926 peer-reviewed articles with evidence supporting the hypotheses they were testing. As is so typical of climate change deniers, you present no evidence, just denial. This is similar to the cigarette industry's denials of smoking's connection to cancer because the climate change deniers have copied the cigarette industry's approach to evidence against their interests.

In fact, the number 1 climate change denier, Willie Wei-hock Soon, has just been discredited on February 24th, 2015 (see below).


Major newspapers boasted front page headlines shaking up the climate change denial (http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/prominent-climate-change-skeptic-says-hes-now-believer.html)community yesterday after Greenpeace released documents linking corporate funding to Willie Wei-hock Soon, a major source of science supporting the viewpoints of people who question whether mankind is causing global warming. The papers, acquired by Greenpeace via a freedom of information act request, demonstrate that the scientific publications resulting from this funding do not comply with ethical practices for disclosing conflicts of interest.The Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/02/23/the-favorite-scientist-of-climate-change-deniers-is-under-fire-for-taking-oil-money/) calls Willie Wei-hock Soon the "high priest" of climate change denialists. The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/us/ties-to-corporate-cash-for-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html) compares the denialists to Big Tobacco, using money to generate the appearance of scientific doubt.
A look at the papers uncovered by Greenpeace indicates that these statements are not hyperbole. Of course, finding funding can be hard work, and a lot of what Willie Wei-hock Soon writes in his proposals could be mistaken as efforts to get money for serious science. We also want to emphasize that good science requires some people to investigate hypotheses that run counter to the accepted wisdom. But when corporate funding steps in, science goes terribly off track on a couple of key points.
One could perhaps overlook the fact that calling research papers 'deliverables' makes it sound like a consulting effort rather than a scientific pursuit. Including power-point presentations for lobbying in the expected outcomes of the research rather puts the objectivity of the project in question.

http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/documents-released-greenpeace-discredit-one-climate-change-deniers-favorite-scientists.html

[argonaut11xx]

This is similar to the cigarette industry's denials of smoking's connection to cancer because the climate change deniers have copied the cigarette industry's approach to evidence against their interests.

I agree that there is "climate change", however global warming is another story. Funny you bring up the cigarette company's. I find the "Pot-Head" lobbiest in a very similar boat. Smoking of ANY kind is dumb, especially the turbo-charged DOPE thats around these days. If people want it for medical reasons, take it in PILL form.

Im not against being kind to old mother nature, i just find it very OBVIOUS, that its a battle of INDUSTRIES, (Green Business vs Big Business).

[Wobbler]

I find the "Pot-Head" lobbiest in a very similar boat. Smoking of ANY kind is dumb...
It's a shame that you don't trust science, because this has been studied. Cannabis tar does indeed contain some of the same carcinogens as tobacco tar (e.g. ref (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16128224)), and certainly isn't "safe". Exposure rates are much lower, though; there's no equivalent of a "pack-a-day" cannabis smoker.

Back to climate change: Willie Soon may be a mediocre researcher, but I'm impressed by the way other scientists have rallied to support him against governmental interference (http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/03/climate-contrarians-fossil-fuel-funding-ignites-disclosure-debate/). The problem isn't that scientists are doing a bad job of getting answers - it is that some politicians are choosing to believe fringe scientists instead of trusting the overwhelming majority.

[Double Dare]

- it is that some politicians are choosing to believe fringe scientists instead of trusting the overwhelming majority. ... because of the pressures of big businesses and the money to be made. Harper was crying when gas prices fell ... not only was he losing money for his coffers (budget, with an upcoming election), but "The Patch" (his money-making machine, and an environmental disaster area) was also crying the blues.

[1argoholic]

Hey argonaut11xx, it's great to be back in an area where I don't have to pass,honk at or give the middle finger to stoned drivers daily. I don't have to smell pot everywhere I go like I did in BC for 11 years. I'm not against pot and have dabbled here or there over the years but BC takes it to an over the top level. The butter, cookies, brownies and that's just for breakfast. haha.

Whenever big business and money is the issue people turn a blind eye. Or in the case of Harper who belongs to an over the top church in Cowtown it's money and the fact that he thinks God will fix the world one day. Fort Mac is a train wreck of an environmental mess that is screwed for good. Now we have trains hauling crude and running off the tracks and blowing up like what happened in Gogama Ontario on Sat.
Climate change is the real deal. Just ask people in the very far reaches of Canada who it effects now. Not to mention nature which Harper gives a rats arse about as well.

[jerrym]

The evidence keeps piling up about global warming.


This winter may have brought a deep freeze to much of the northeastern United States — including record-breaking snowfall in Boston — but it was the planet's warmest winter on record, climate scientists announced yesterday (March 18).The average global temperature from December to February was 1.42 degrees Fahrenheit (0.79 degrees Celsius) higher than the 20th-century average of 53.8 degrees F (12.1 degrees C), according to a newly released report (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2015/2) from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climatic

Data Centerhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png (http://www.livescience.com/50189-warmest-winter-2015.html#).

http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/074/708/iFF/winter-2015-land-temperatures.jpg?1426777719



http://www.livescience.com/50189-warmest-winter-2015.html

More evidence has also come from the increased hurricane (which are called cyclones in the Pacific) frequency, length of the hurricane season and hurricane intensity. Last week, the island nation of Vanuatu was devastated by Cyclone Pam with winds that hit over 200 mph, one of the highest wind speeds in history. Last year, Cyclone Haiyan brought extensive death and destruction to the Philippines with the highest hurricane/cyclone speeds in history. This kinds of storms are exactly what was predicted by climatologists and their supercomputer models, as rising temperatures provide the heat energy to fuel these superstorms.


Late last week, one of the strongest tropical cyclones on record in the South Pacific made a direct hit on the island nation of Vanuatu, leaving more than 20 people dead and massive destruction in its wake.
Tropical Cyclone Pam’s sustained winds of 165 mph and gusts nearing 200 ripped trees from the ground and flattened homes. In the course of a day, Tropical Cyclone Pam intensified from the equivalent of a category 2 hurricane to a category 4, before going on to become just the second category 5 on record to directly hit an island in the South Pacific. At the time, Pam was the strongest of four concurrent cyclones in the western Pacific and Indian oceans. ...
In a post on the climate science blog RealClimate (http://www.realclimate.org/), MIT meteorologist Kerry Emanuel dissects the science (http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2015/03/severe-tropical-cyclone-pam-and-climate-change/) embodied in the question, coming to the conclusion that “while Pam and Haiyan, as well as other recent tropical cyclone disasters, cannot be uniquely pinned on global warming, they have no doubt been influenced by natural and anthropogenic climate change and they do remind us of our continuing vulnerability to such storms.”
Ocean surface temperature is often the first connection that comes to mind when considering how global warming could impact tropical cyclones. But more important to how strong a tropical cyclone’s winds could become — its potential intensity — is the difference between ocean temperature and the surrounding, high-level air temperature, and global warming impacts both.
[Wind analysis sheds light on Vanuatu's destruction (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/16/wind-analysis-photos-chronicle-monster-cyclone-pams-devastation-in-vanuatu/)]
Emanuel dug into past ocean and atmospheric temperature and found that potential intensity has been increasing in the region where Tropical Cyclone Pam formed. He found about a 5.5-mile-per-hour increase in potential intensity per decade in the region — meaning that with every passing decade, the upper limit on how intense tropical cyclones can become has increased by over 5 mph. Emanuel’s results were similar (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~kossin/articles/Kossin_et_al_2013_JClim.pdf) to other studies, as well.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/18/top-hurricane-expert-climate-change-influenced-tropical-cyclone-pam/

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2015/03/18/top-hurricane-expert-climate-change-influenced-tropical-cyclone-pam/)All global warming have is denials, but not one iota of evidence to support their view.

[1argoholic]

I believe climate change is indeed happening except in Jan and Feb 2015 in The Kawarthas. haha. Not one day above zero or close to zero in 50 to 60 straight days.

[Double Dare]

I believe climate change is indeed happening except in Jan and Feb 2015 in The Kawarthas. haha. Not one day above zero or close to zero in 50 to 60 straight days. Another thing that doesn't happen in the Kawartha is underwear change.

[1argoholic]

Go shovel some snow you lazy SOB!

[jerrym]

Even Stephen Harper now admits the indisputable - climate change is happening and we need to do something about it. The only problem is he dragged his feet at the G7 meeting last week until the others agreed to decarbonize our industries by 2100 instead of 2050 as most of the other leaders of the most of the world's largest economies wanted. The question is does Harper, whose government plans to triple tar sands production by 2030, intend to actually do anything about it or repeat the same approach of the Liberals who signed the 1997 Kyoto Accord but allowed carbon dioxide emissions climb dramatically until they lost power in the 2005 election.



Canada’s energy sector will have to transform itself to lower greenhouse gas emissions in the long term, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday.

He was commenting at the end of the G7 leaders’ summit, which called on its members to put their energy sectors on a low-carbon footing by 2050, a move with serious implications for Canada’s greenhouse-gas-emitting oilsands.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel fell short of her goal of pushing her fellow leaders to a broad, iron-clad commitment to a low-carbon economy by 2050. Instead, the G7 agreed to a full-blown no-carbon economy, but not until 2100. ...

Asked what this means for Canada’s energy sector, Harper said:

Nobody’s going to start to shut down their industries or turn off the lights. We simply got to find a way to create lower-carbon emitting sources of energy.”

Harper took part the G7 leaders’ shortened talks on climate change as the summit entered its second and final day.

“All leaders understand that to achieve these kinds of milestones over the decades to come will require serious technological transformation,” Harper said.

The Canadian Press has been told by sources who saw the working draft of the G7’s climate-change communique that Canada and Japan worked behind the scenes to water down the statement.

Merkel placed the fight against climate change at the heart of her sweeping agenda. ...

Merkel had been pushing the G7 to endorse a pledge to reach zero carbon emissions, but Canada and Japan were holdouts.

“Canada and Japan are the most concerned about this one,” said one source who was privy to discussions but would only speak on the condition of anonymity.

“The two of those countries have been the most difficult on every issue on climate. They don’t want any types of targets in there, so I think they are trying to make it as vague as possible at this point.”


http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/08/canada-japan-said-blocking-g7-push-on-climate-change.html

[jerrym]

Even the Pope is speaking out about the need to deal with climate change because of the overwhelming evidence of the damage it is and will cause.



The climate is messed up and people have to fix it.
The climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all. At the global level, it is a complex system linked to many of the essential conditions for human life. A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system. In recent decades this warming has been accompanied by a constant rise in the sea level and, it would appear, by an increase of extreme weather events, even if a scientifically determinable cause cannot be assigned to each particular phenomenon. Humanity is called to recognize the need for changes of lifestyle, production and consumption, in order to combat this warming or at least the human causes which produce or aggravate it.


http://www.wired.com/2015/06/popes-memo-climate-change-mind-blower/

[Ballstothewall]

Argonaut11xx we can agree on the love of our team and CFL but I'm a total environmentalist. I care more about nature and the David Suzuki's of the World rather then DICKS like PM Harper who loves nothing more then to trash our planet. He has the total BS beliefs that his god or jesus will be back to heal all the damage that he's done.
Oh and a big F to the Fort Macs of the world.
I'd feel worse if one of my Red and Grey Squirrels or Chipmunks was hit in front our house rather than a person. People that feel they're rulers of this planet are misguided. Basically people piss me off.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/09/24/climate-campaigner-david-suzuki-doesnt-know-what-the-climate-temperature-data-sets-are/
Suzuki loves his money and young ladies to escort him around college campuses. Let's keep it to football. I have banned myself for 1 day for posting this

[1argoholic]

Whatupwiththat is right. Literally at site dedicated to Global Warming skeptics. I couldn't even follow what that discombobulated mess meant. No wonder why Suzuki may have been confused or perhaps high. He's a brilliant man and not the only scientist who believes in the worlds environmental ills. Sorry that this post has been turned into an environmental debate but I'm just posting to respond.
Everyone has their own beliefs but I'm always going to side with studies and science as I'm not a religious based guy as everyone knows. Religion is all to far fetched to me. The bible to me is a story book. Perhaps one day people will believe that Batman was a god.
Now do I have to ban myself. haha.

[Gill The Thrill]

Yeah, it's beyond me how Mike Harris kept his job as long as he did.

Seriously, keep political opinions the F out of the double blue room.

Political opinions are fun and real interesting, keep posting. There's only so much BS we could spin about coaches, players, football and BMO field.

Tropical winter for 2016 eh, I guess that means the words, "Global Warming" may become fashionable again. Just as we were getting used to hearing about "climate change" because our winters have gotten colder in the last decade with the Great Lakes freezing over last year for the 1st time in years. Time to bring out the hockey stick graphs and computer animation of drowning polar bears who can't find ice. ...just to bowtie this whole post in relation to football, this means we may have another mud bowl in one of the upcoming Grey Cups...BMO will have grass in between the endzones which would make for an interesting muddy field. Mud everywhere save for the endzones, interesting.:)

[1argoholic]

I love to drop a few political comments whenever I get the urge. Like STOP HARPER as the stop sign says on our front door. Let's face it everyone votes for their own agenda. I'm not religious, especially a roller like Harper and I care about the environment. I'm not a member of the wealthy club. I'm not a union dude or socialist so the NDP is out. Green would be tossing my vote away so to me Justin is ready. Politics is messed up at the best of times so you just have to get out and VOTE!! No vote, No bitch and complain!!!!

[R.J]

Political opinions are fun and real interesting, keep posting. There's only so much BS we could spin about coaches, players, football and BMO field.

Tropical winter for 2016 eh, I guess that means the words, "Global Warming" may become fashionable again. Just as we were getting used to hearing about "climate change" because our winters have gotten colder in the last decade with the Great Lakes freezing over last year for the 1st time in years. Time to bring out the hockey stick graphs and computer animation of drowning polar bears who can't find ice. ...just to bowtie this whole post in relation to football, this means we may have another mud bowl in one of the upcoming Grey Cups...BMO will have grass in between the endzones which would make for an interesting muddy field. Mud everywhere save for the endzones, interesting.:)
I really wish the words "climate change" would just be abolished, every time I hear people say it I just shake my head.

[Double Dare]

I really wish the words "climate change" would just be abolished, every time I hear people say it I just shake my head. After shaking it, stick it back in the sand. Climate change is REAL.

[R.J]

After shaking it, stick it back in the sand. Climate change is REAL.
Not what I meant, but thanks for coming out.
Global Warming is the proper term IMO. Climate change only came around because people didn't understand that Global Warming means the entire world is getting warmer each year and due to the Planet trying to regulate itself, some areas will see colder winters (which seemed to confuse people). The point still remains each year the Planet Earth's temperature is rising, the ice caps and shelves are melting at alarming rates. The amount of pollution (radioactive waste among other things) that's being dumped each year in the Pacific Ocean by China and Japan is absolutely sickening. Oceans can actually clean around 3-4 gigatons of CO2 each year, we're emitting and dumping almost 4 times that amount.

[jerrym]

For those who keep denying that climate change is real, the evidence keeps getting in your way that it is not only real, but is already happening.



The hottest year (http://www.nbcnews.com/news/weather/2015-will-be-warmest-year-records-were-first-kept-135-n487356) in recorded history is coming to a close with a wave of extreme weather (http://ecowatch.com/?s=extreme+weather) and ecosystem shifts, from unprecedented flooding (http://commondreams.org/news/uk/politics/uk-flooding-economic-cost-of-storms-could-hit-6bn-industry-experts-warn-a6788316.html) in the UK to dangerous deluges (http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/27/americas/south-america-flooding/) in South America.
Looking back at 2015, it is clear that such extremes are not the exception, but have been the rule for the past 365 days and beyond (http://commondreams.org/news/2015/11/05/droughts-snowstorms-heatwaves-noaa-ties-much-extreme-weather-2014-climate-change). Such weather is linked to this year’s exceptionally strong (https://www.wmo.int/media/content/el-niño-expected-strengthen-further-high-impacts-unprecedented-preparation)El Niño (http://ecowatch.com/?s=el+nino), which is tied to human-made global warming. ...


Here are 10 freakish weather extremes in 2015 that in 2016 and beyond—and underscore the urgency of strong and effective adaptation, mitigation, and emissions reductions policies.
1. An Arctic heat wave (http://ecowatch.com/2015/06/05/heat-wave-alaska/) at the end of December caused temperatures in the North Pole to spike (http://www.france24.com/en/20151231-freak-weather-hikes-north-pole-temperatures) 60 degrees Fahrenheit above the norm for the season, soaring past the freezing point and making the region hotter than cities across the U.S. and Europe.
2. This winter’s El Niño event touched off severe floods (https://ecowatch.com/2015/12/28/south-america-floods/) in late December across South America, including in Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina, displacing more than 150,000 people (http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/27/americas/south-america-flooding/).
3. Heavy rains last week caused the Mississippi River and its tributaries to overflow, touching off historic flooding (http://commondreams.org/news/2015/12/30/incredible-winter-flooding-along-mississippi-river-could-be-historic) in the U.S. Midwest. Climate scientists say that one of the most remarkable things about the deluge is the timing. “Never before has water this high been observed in winter along the levee system of the river,” meteorologist Jeff Masters explained (http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3214#commenttop).
4. South Africa faces its worst drought in a generation (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/world/africa/drought-deepens-south-africas-malaise.html?action=click&contentCollection=Science&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article), amid soaring temperatures and paltry rainfalls believed to be worsened by El Niño. While the long-term impacts are not immediately known, at least 29 million people in southern African nations face food insecurity, according to UN estimates.
5. Due to a prolonged and ongoing drought in Ethiopia, more than 10 million people are in need (http://www.newsweek.com/ethiopia-drought-overshadow-progress-409556) of emergency food aid.
6. In November, more then 1.1 million people were impacted—and 40,000 displaced—after a powerful and rare cyclone dumped (http://commondreams.org/news/2015/11/04/war-torn-yemen-devastated-cyclone-flooding-displaces-tens-thousands) a year’s worth of rain on Yemen. Humanitarian groups warned that the impact on residents was worsened by Saudi Arabia’s seven-month bombing campaign that continued through the storm.
7. More than 1.2 million people in the Philippines were impacted—and dozens killed (http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/asia/typhoon-koppu-lando-philippines/)—by a mega-typhoon, known as Lando, which hit in October. “Our survival is non-negotiable,” 20,000 people declared at a mass march in Tacloban in November, calling attention to the ongoing harm from the separate Super Typhoon Yolanda (also known as Haiyan), which hit the Philippines in 2013.
8. A dramatic heat wave across the Middle East this summer caused temperatures in Iran to soar so high it felt like (http://www.weather.com/news/news/iraq-iran-heat-middle-east-125-degrees) 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Even accounting for regional standards, temperatures spiked, from Egypt to Syria. Thousands took to the streets (http://commondreams.org/news/2015/08/01/heat-wave-sweeps-iraq-thousands-demand-water-electricity-sustenance) across Iraq protesting dangerous power cuts, clean water shortages, and poor living conditions that were worsening the effects.
9. Pakistan this summer suffered its deadliest heat wave ever recorded, with at least 2,000 (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-24/heat-wave-death-toll-rises-to-2-000-in-pakistan-s-financial-hub) lives lost. And in neighboring India, a heat wave this summer killed at least 2,500 people. “Let us not fool ourselves that there is no connection between the unusual number of deaths from the ongoing heat wave and the certainty of another failed monsoon,” India’s earth sciences minister Harsh Vardhan said (http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-india-climate-change-idUKKBN0OI1EI20150602)in June. “It’s not just an unusually hot summer, it is climate change,” he said.
10. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded (http://commondreams.org/news/2015/12/15/climate-change-driving-profound-shift-arctic-ecosystem) earlier this month that climate change is already driving profound shifts in the Arctic ecosystem. For example, loss of sea ice, and climbing temperatures in the Barents Sea, off the coast of Norway and Russia, are causing “a poleward shift in fish communities,” according to the agency. These changes are impacting wildlife, as well as Indigenous communities that rely on them for their survival.


https://ecowatch.com/2016/01/02/extreme-weather-climate-chaos/

[1argoholic]

God will come back and heal the world just ask Harper. hahahaha.

[ArgoZ]

God will come back and heal the world just ask Harper. hahahaha.

We can't rule out the possibility. The dinosaurs were wiped out, who's to say we are not next? I previously commented how our species are only a blip on the Earth's 4.5 billion year history. For all we know the earth's climate, could have changed thousands of times in each direction.

[jerrym]

We can't rule out the possibility. The dinosaurs were wiped out, who's to say we are not next? I previously commented how our species are only a blip on the Earth's 4.5 billion year history. For all we know the earth's climate, could have changed thousands of times in each direction.



It's impossible to correctly predict the future weather of the planet, because we have only been recording/monitoring it since the 20's I believe. The bible says there will be increased earthquakes in the end days. If your not religious, what science do you go by? Scientific theories always seem to be debunked by new science. The Earth is supposably over 5 billions of years old. We are only a blimp in its existence and do not completely know it's cycles, the way it reacts or heals itself. It's unfortunate, but almost every study or survey is full of propaganda and hidden motives, which is often financial.

In school, I remember we were heading for another ice age. Now, they claim we are going to get torched. One fact I found interesting is that while the North Pole has melted considerably, Antarctica has actually increased! Figure that one out.


There have been six major extinctions in the last half billion years. We are in the Sixth Extinction. What makes this one different is that the extinction rate is now 1,000 times that of the fossil record.



University of Georgia ecologists John Gittleman and Patrick Stephens are contributors to a major new study that finds that species are going extinct today 1,000 times faster than during pre-human times—a rate an order of magnitude higher than the previous estimate. The study, which was led by Jurriaan M. de Vos of Brown University, appears in the journal Conservation Biology.
The researchers were able to establish the faster current extinction rate by pinning down a more accurate pre-human, or background, rate, explaining that estimating recent rates is straightforward, but establishing a background rate for comparison is not.
They found that the background rate of extinction was slower before humans existed by comparing the number of species that died out with the number of new species that emerged. The researchers calculated that the background rate of extinction was 0.1 extinctions per million species years-meaning that one out of every 10 million species on Earth became extinct each year during that time.

http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/species-extinct-1000-times-faster-than-pre-human-times-0914/

Paul Crutzen, the Nobel Prize winner who discovering the harmful effects of chemicals such as refrigerants that were destroying the ozone layer that protects life from too much otherwise deadly UV sunrays, calls the Sixth Extinction the Anthropocene Period , which indicates that humankind is extinction's principal driving force behind it because
- human activity has transformed up to one half of the natural habitats of the land on Earth
- most of the Earth's rivers have been dammed or diverted
- fisheries have removed more than a third of biomass from the ocean
- humans use more than one half of the Earth's freshwater
- and most importantly, humans have greatly altered the composition of the atmosphere through fossil fuel combustion and deforestation




Our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals — the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years. We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at 1,000 to 10,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day [1 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century [2 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)].

Unlike past mass extinctions, caused by events like asteroid strikes, volcanic eruptions, and natural climate shifts, the current crisis is almost entirely caused by us — humans. In fact, 99 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those driving habitat loss, introduction of exotic species, and global warming (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/global_warming_and_life_on_earth/index.html) [3 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. Because the rate of change in our biosphere is increasing, and because every species’ extinction potentially leads to the extinction of others bound to that species in a complex ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to snowball in the coming decades as ecosystems unravel. ...

AMPHIBIANS
(http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/amphibians/index.html)No group of animals has a higher rate of endangerment than amphibians. Scientists estimate that a third or more of all the roughly 6,300 known species of amphibians are at risk of extinction [6 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. The current amphibian extinction rate may range from 25,039 to 45,474 times the background extinction rate [7 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. ...

BIRDS (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/index.html) ...
A 2009 report on the state of birds in the United States found that 251 (31 percent) of the 800 species in the country are of conservation concern [8 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. Globally, BirdLife International estimates that 12 percent of known 9,865 bird species are now considered threatened, with 192 species, or 2 percent, facing an “extremely high risk” of extinction in the wild — two more species than in 2008. Habitat loss and degradation have caused most of the bird declines, but the impacts of invasive species and capture by collectors play a big role, too.

FISH (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/fish/index.html)
Increasing demand for water, the damming of rivers (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/rivers/index.html) throughout the world, the dumping and accumulation of various pollutants, and invasive species make aquatic ecosystems some of the most threatened on the planet; thus, it’s not surprising that there are many fish species that are endangered in both freshwater and marine habitats.
The American Fisheries Society identified 700 species of freshwater or anadromous fish in North America as being imperiled, amounting to 39 percent of all such fish on the continent [9 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. In North American marine waters. ...

INVERTEBRATES (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/invertebrates/index.html)
Invertebrates, from butterflies to mollusks to earthworms to corals, are vastly diverse — and though no one knows just how many invertebrate species exist, they’re estimated to account for about 97 percent of the total species of animals on Earth [10 (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/references.html)]. Of the 1.3 million known invertebrate species, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has evaluated about 9,526 species, with about 30 percent of the species evaluated at risk of extinction. ...

MAMMALS (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/index.html) ...
almost 50 percent of the world’s primate species are at risk of extinction. Overall, the IUCN estimates that half the globe’s 5,491 known mammals are declining in population and a fifth are clearly at risk of disappearing forever ...

PLANTS (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/plants/index.html) ...
Of the more than 300,000 known species of plants, the IUCN has evaluated only 12,914 species, finding that about 68 percent of evaluated plant species are threatened with extinction.

REPTILES (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/reptiles/index.html)
Globally, 21 percent of the total evaluated reptiles in the world are deemed endangered or vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN ...

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/elements_of_biodiversity/extinction_crisis/

In the words of Pogo "We have seen the enemy, and it us." We need to change and change now.

[1argoholic]

I won't go on about my views on religion. Let me just say that don't hold your breath if you believe that some god will fix earth.

[ArgoZ]

I won't go on about my views on religion. Let me just say that don't hold your breath if you believe that some god will fix earth.

No need to discuss religious views, but we can't deny the possibility of an extinction level event like JerryM mentioned. Whether it is caused by a supreme deity or otherwise, it's not something I would look forward to. Although, it seems that would fix the planet though wouldn't it? 😳

[jerrym]

Last month, 196 countries signed an agreement to attempt to keep temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees Celsius and to stop it from rising by 2 degrees. There was a lot of celebration that unlike Kyoto, nearly all countries have agreed to this. However major problems remain.



<header class="entry-header" style="border: 0px solid yellow; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">COP 21 Paris Climate Summit Danger

</header>A Weak Agreement Could Delay Strong Action Until It’s Too Late


(Disclosure: the author and colleagues (http://carbon-price.com/) support strong action to stop climate change.)


The Paris Agreement

All 196 countries signed — even OPEC and Russia.
It contains NO mechanism to make it binding.
Figueres has declared that all pledges are just self-interest.
And she says emphatically, they are “not to save the planet.”

(code words for, “do not take the climate into account”)

The 2°C goal is disconnected from any proposed mechanism.
Any one of these points is enough to make it clear that almost nothing was achieved. Nevertheless the agreement has some good points:

It isolates US Republicans and makes them slightly less powerful.
It got the US and China talking about climate.
It got people’s hopes us with talk of 2°C, so when these hopes are dashed, people will get upset and perhaps will do something.
It got countries to think about climate change for a while.
But the enormous over-statement of its achievement will continue to undermine (obliterate?) any sense of urgency for years to come. Also the “rule” that countries must increase ambition every five years will cause countries to backpedal and water-down their next pledge as much as possible to leave room for future improvement. ...

Has COP21 found the magic bullet? So they are saying, but consider this:
Current pledges leave us much worse off in 2030.
China only pledged what it was going to do anyway.
UN climate chief says pledges are just “economic self-interest” (greed), and they are not about saving the planet (the climate).
Something’s a bit off, so we’ll take this step by step.Step 1. If pledges work perfectly, they make all 2°C scenarios impossible.


http://climateparis.org/wp-content/uploads/COP-21-Paris-Climate-Conference-Summit.png (http://climateparis.org/COP21)
More about this graph based on UN data (http://climateparis.org/COP21#2C).

What’s going on? The black line shows global CO2 emissions, including China’s CO2burst from 2002 until about 2011. The green line shows the UN’s most optimistic prediction for the Paris pledges. This is less steep mainly because China is ending its CO2burst to avoid killer smog in its cities. But CO2 emissions continue to increase through the end of the pledges in 2030. The red line shows what’s required to stay under 2°C, given the situation in 2030.
Climate science estimates that to have a 66% chance of warming less than 2°C, we must emit less than 1000 more gigatons of CO2 after 2011. By their end in 2030, the UN says the pledges would use up at least 723 Gt of that and would increase emissions to 40 Gt per year. At that rate, the rest of the CO2 budget would be gone in seven years. MIT estimates that pledges won’t be perfect, and so five years is more likely.
Impossible. The graph shows us reducing the rate of emissions before we run out, so then we would have 14 years before the world had to completely stop CO2 emissions. This would be impossible now, and after 15 more years of building new coal plants in China and India and more cars everywhere, it will be beyond impossible.


http://climateparis.org

[Double Dare]

No need to discuss religious views, but we can't deny the possibility of an extinction level event like JerryM mentioned. Whether it is caused by a supreme deity or otherwise, it's not something I would look forward to. Don't worry, it will be such a "slow burn", we will all be dust well before it hits the end of it's cycle. Not that I want it to happen, I consider myself an environmentalist.

[1argoholic]

We have climate change here daily. Today it's F ing cold. Tomorrow it will be a wee bit less F ing cold.
I don't believe in any GODs. Too way out there and far fetched for me. I got my arse dragged to an anglican church as a kid and it was the worst times in my life. Who came up with this babbling bunch of BS.

I could write some crap, bury it to be found in 100 years and people would believe that I was some sort of prophet.

[AngeloV]

I got my arse dragged to an anglican church as a kid and it was the worst times in my life.

Just be glad it wasn't a Greek Orthadox church. Longest most boring service ever.

[gilthethrill]

Just be glad it wasn't a Greek Orthadox church. Longest most boring service ever.

Was that the same religion that George Costanza converted to because he liked a woman?

[R.J]

Just be glad it wasn't a Greek Orthadox church. Longest most boring service ever.
Looked pretty entertaining in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

[Will]

Was that the same religion that George Costanza converted to because he liked a woman?

That was Latvian Orthodox


<tbody>
Priest:
Why do you want to accept the Latvian Orthodox faith?


George:
Ahem... In this age of uncertainty and confusion, a man begins to ask himself certain questions. How can one even begin to put into words something so um… (trying to think of a word)


Priest:
Enigmatic?


George:
No.


Priest:
Vast? (he pronounces it as "vahst")


George:
No not vast (he imitates and pronounces it as "vahst")


Priest:
Well whatever it is, basically you like the religion.


George:
Yes.


Priest 2:
Is there one aspect of the faith that you find particularly attractive?


George:
(pauses) I think the hats. The hat convey that solemn religious look you want in a faith. Very pious.


Priest:
Are you familiar with Orthodox theology?


George:
Well perhaps, not to the extent that you are. But I know the basic plot. Yeah.


Priest:
Plot?


George:
Yeah, yeah. You know the uh flood, and the uh lepers, and the commandments and all that.


Priest 2:
Well it’s obvious that you are sincere in your desire.


George:
Oh yes I am Father. Incredibly sincere. So, uh, pffft, am I in?


Priest:
The first step would be to familiarize yourself with these texts (brings out a pile of books).


George:
Ah hah. You see Father, I’m I’m incredibly anxious to become a member. Um, don’t you offer any kind of an express conversion? A quick change?

</tbody>

[jerrym]

Today it was announced that 2015 was the warmest year on record globally, breaking the record set by 2014 with the largest increase ever. Fifteen of the sixteen years since 2000 are the warmest years globally ever. Is there a message in this data?
No doubt the deniers will continue with their usual parade of excuses.


Blistering heat blanketed the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change.
Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report.
"This was the highest among all years in the 1880-2015 record," it added.
"This is also the largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken."




http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/scientists-say-2015-was-by-far-the-hottest-year-on-record/ar-BBotP1U

[1argoholic]

Run that by the religious right and see what they think. Glad I'm old enough and not a kid.

[AngeloV]

Looked pretty entertaining in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".

Totally different. Just brings back painful memories to my childhood thinking about it.

So boring....and my parents went to an old style church, which meant all the men on one side and the women on the other. They only had a few pews on the side for older people to sit on, and everyone else stands for the entire service. Ugh!!

[gilthethrill]

Totally different. Just brings back painful memories to my childhood thinking about it.

So boring....and my parents went to an old style church, which meant all the men on one side and the women on the other. They only had a few pews on the side for older people to sit on, and everyone else stands for the entire service. Ugh!!

I grew up Catholic....not a lot of fun at Mass there either!

[Will]

I grew up Catholic....not a lot of fun at Mass there either!

Try synagogue for three hours--mind you I wasn't dragged there every Saturday (only High Holidays), but the service goes on for days in a language you can't understand. Then there are people like my grandfather who are able to stomach it every Saturday.

[gilthethrill]

Try synagogue for three hours--mind you I wasn't dragged there every Saturday (only High Holidays), but the service goes on for days in a language you can't understand. Then there are people like my grandfather who are able to stomach it every Saturday.


LOL!! Your grandfather is a tough man!

[1argoholic]

Only line I remember Reverend Candy going on about every week was The Father, The Son and the Holy Ghost. I thought that was a 70's sitcom.
Now the only Rev I listen to is The Reverend Horton Heat, killer Rockabilly.

My grandfather used to take transit from Mississauga to some Russian Orthodox church in Toronto every Sunday. The best thing about that was he used to bring me these great Russian Buns called Pirozhki.Filled with ground beef, salt, pepper and dill in a yeast raised killer bun. I hadn't had them since I was about 14 and I looked up recipes on line about six years ago and talked my wife into attempting them. I danced around the kitchen like a tool when the first one hit the oil. I knew she nailed them. She makes them once a year now.

[jerrym]

I also grew up Catholic. All I remember of the priest's sermons, is his weekly long list of demands for money for church needs. He often compared the per capita church donations to the average amount of money Canadians spent on alcohol (alcohol won by some incredible amount). I wonder if these long sermons drove some parishioners to drink.
To be fair, the Catholic Church, unlike some others, actually bothers to look at the evidence of global warming and the Pope has released an encyclical stating this is the world's number one problem.




The Pope has warned (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/live/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-live-reaction-analysis#block-55829d67e4b06ca1215f29a6) of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems” and “serious consequences for all of us” if humanity fails to act on climate change, in his encyclical on the environment, published by the Vatican on Thursday.
Senior Catholic figures in the US and UK have said (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/live/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-live-reaction-analysis#block-5582c4ebe4b073d6e6cb9cac) the Pope’s central message is: what sort of world do we want to leave for future generations?
The UN secretary general, the World Bank president, plus the heads of the UN climate talks and the UN environment programme have all welcomed the encyclical, along with scores of charities and faith groups.
The Pope has warned (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/live/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-live-reaction-analysis#block-55829d67e4b06ca1215f29a6) of an “unprecedented destruction of ecosystems” and “serious consequences for all of us” if humanity fails to act on climate change, in his encyclical on the environment, published by the Vatican on Thursday.
Senior Catholic figures in the US and UK have said (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/live/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-live-reaction-analysis#block-5582c4ebe4b073d6e6cb9cac) the Pope’s central message is: what sort of world do we want to leave for future generations?
The UN secretary general, the World Bank president, plus the heads of the UN climate talks and the UN environment programme have all welcomed the encyclical, along with scores of charities and faith groups.


http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/live/2015/jun/18/pope-encyclical-climate-change-live-reaction-analysis

[jerrym]

The Zika virus is spreading rapidly, already having reached 23 countries in the Americas. While Canada is currently not considered viable for the host mosquito for the Zika virus, it is already spreading with global warming. The gravity of the situation with regard to this virus is reflected in the fact that four countries have already recommended that women not become pregnant from anywhere from six months to two years, depending on the country.
As the climate warms more tropical diseases are likely to start appearing even in Canada.
As it spreads north in the Americas, there is also the risk of it cross-breeding with a species that is better able to survive in the Canadian climate.


Authorities in Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador and Jamaica have all advised women to delay pregnancies until scientists can learn more about a possible link between the Zika virus and a rare condition known as microcephaly, which causes newborns to be born with shrunken skulls and underdeveloped brains.
After an outbreak in Brazil, Zika has swept across Latin America and the Caribbean. Brazilian authorities say more than 1 million cases have been confirmed, with some 4,000 cases of microcephaly that may be tied to Zika. ...
Last week, officials in Colombia, which shares a border with Brazil, reported more than 13,000 cases of Zika and warned women to avoid getting pregnant for the next 6 months. ...
Health officials in El Salvador are calling for even more serious precautions. Deputy Health Minister Eduardo Espinoza urged women to refrain from getting pregnant until 2018.



http://fusion.net/story/259016/women-in-latin-american-countries-warned-to-avoid-getting-pregnant-as-concerns-over-zika-virus-mount/


The Zika virus (http://www.theguardian.com/world/zika-virus) outbreak in Latin America could be a bigger threat to global health than the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 11,000 people in Africa.That is the stark claim of several senior health experts ahead of an emergency meeting of the World Health Organisation (http://www.theguardian.com/world/world-health-organisation) on Monday which will decide whether the Zika threat – which is linked to an alarming rise in cases of foetal deformation called microcephaly – should be rated a global health crisis.
“In many ways the Zika outbreak is worse than the Ebola epidemic of 2014-15,” said Jeremy Farrar, head of the Wellcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/). “Most virus carriers are symptomless. It is a silent infection in a group of highly vulnerable individuals – pregnant women – that is associated with a horrible outcome for their babies.”
There is no prospect of a vaccine for Zika at present, in contrast to Ebola, for which several are now under trial. “The real problem is that trying to develop a vaccine that would have to be tested on pregnant women is a practical and ethical nightmare,” added Mike Turner, head of infection and immuno-biology at the Wellcome Trust. ...

With at least 80% of those infected showing no symptoms, tracking the disease is extremely difficult. The mosquito species that spreads Zika, Aedes aegypti, has been expanding its range over the past few decades. “It loves urban life and has spread across the entire tropical belt of the planet, and of course that belt is expanding as global warming takes effect,” added Farrar.
Only extreme measures are likely to contain the Zika threat, said Turner. These could include the use of DDT to eradicate Aedes aegypti as quickly as possible. “We have to balance the risk posed to the environment by DDT with the terrible impact this virus is having on the unborn.”



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/30/zika-virus-health-fears

[jerrym]

The (American) National Centre for Environmental Information is now reporting that for the tenth month in a row a new global temperature record has been set. No doubt the global warming deniers will see the facts as another conspiracy by scientists.


The February average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 2.18°F (1.21°C) above the 20th century average. This was not only the highest for February in the 1880–2016 record (surpassing the previous record set in 2015 by 0.59°F / 0.33°C), but it surpassed the all-time monthly record set just two months ago in December 2015 by 0.16°F (0.09°C). February 2016 also marks the 10th consecutive month a monthly global temperature record has been broken.


https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

[jerrym]

The following website shows some of the major impacts global warming already had on Earth in just one month, February 2016. If you click on the picture at the website the picture will expand to fill the screen.

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/extremes/201513-t.gif
2015 Global Significant Weather and Climate Even (https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/service/global/extremes/201513.gif)

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

[jerrym]

While Canada continues to pursue fossil fuel pipelines and LNG dreams, the rest of the world is moving towards renewables.



According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s latest energy investment report (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-09/clean-energy-investment-jumps-16-on-china-s-support-for-solar.html), China led as the world’s largest investor in renewables, with the U.S. coming in second place.
Worldwide, around 100 gigawatts (GW) of solar and wind power capacity were built in 2014—up from 74 GW in 2013—and nearly during every month the headlines were filled with record generation in cities and countries across the world.
As we kick off 2015—with hopes for an even bigger year for renewable energy—here’s five records that were broken in 2014.
1. Denmark sets world record for wind
Denmark set a new world recor (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/07/3608898/denmark-sets-world-record-for-wind-power/)d for wind production in 2014, getting 39.1 percent of its overall electricity from the clean energy source. The latest figures put the country well on track to meet its 2020 goal of getting 50 percent of its power from renewables. ...
Last year, onshore wind was also declared the cheapest form of energy in the country.
2. UK wind power smashes annual records
In the UK, wind power also smashed records in 2014 (http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/05/uk-wind-power-scotland-fossil-free/), as generation rose 15 percent from 24.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) hours to 28.1 TWh. ...
3. Renewables provide biggest contribution to Germany’s electricity
Renewable energy was the biggest contributor to Germany’s electricity supply in 2014, with nearly 26 percent of the country’s power generation coming from clean sources. Electricity output from renewables has grown eightfold in Germany (http://ecowatch.com/2014/09/18/germany-renewable-energy-transformation/) since 1990, and the latest data further highlights the dramatic shift towards clean energy taking place in Europe’s largest economy.
4. Scotland sees “massive year” for renewables
The latest figures further highlight the record year seen for renewables in Scotland, with wind turbines providing an average 746, 510 MWh each month—enough to supply 98 percent of Scottish households electricity needs. ...
With figures like these it is no wonder new research out this week said the country’s power grid could be 100 percent renewable (http://tcktcktck.org/2015/01/uk-wind-power-smashes-records-scotland-eyes-fossil-free-future/65819) by 2030.
5. Ireland hits new record for wind energy
Windy conditions in Ireland meant the country saw not one but two wind energy records set already this year. According to figures record by EirGrid on Wednesday (Jan. 7), wind energy had created 1,942 MW of energy, enough to power more than 1.26 million homes.


http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/09/countries-leading-way-renewable-energy/ (http://ecowatch.com/2015/01/09/countries-leading-way-renewable-energy/)

[Wobbler]

I don't disagree with you, Jerry, but you posted the last five messages in this thread. I think it's done.