Slashdot Mirror


Paris Climate Deal Adopted

jones_supa writes: 195 countries have adopted the first global pact to fight climate change by reducing emissions. Countries will have to publish greenhouse gas reduction targets and revise them upward every 5 years, while striving to drive down their carbon output as soon as possible, under the ambitious climate-change pact announced Saturday morning at UN talks in Paris. The agreement commits countries to keeping global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius and hopes to limit it to 1.5 C, with the goal of a carbon-neutral world sometime after 2050. The 31-page text called the Paris Agreement (PDF) was distributed to countries for them to assess, then agreed to at a plenary session.

190 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Conspicuously missing from TFA... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1, Interesting

    ...a list of the countries that have signed it.

    1. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://www.carbonbrief.org/paris-2015-tracking-country-climate-pledges
      http://www.carbonbrief.org/category/policy/paris-2015

    2. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by Kjella · · Score: 4, Informative

      Conspicuously missing from TFA... a list of the countries that have signed it.

      Oh, it'll probably be most but it is roughly as harmless as signing the UN declaration on human rights. There's no mandatory national goals, no incentives or penalties. It "notes" on point 17 that they're not going to actually reach the global goal of the agreement. It's a pot luck lunch agreement, each country sets their own goals and how they want to reach them and the only harm if they don't set very ambitious goals or fail to reach them is a bit of political egg on their face. The environmentalists of course tout this as a massive victory, but it's really just taking existing national initiatives and calling it a global effort.

      This was not very surprising, after Kyoto I and II it was clear they wouldn't get anything with binding targets from the US, China, India or any of the other big polluting nations - only Europe and Australia have binding goals now. So instead of aiming for an agreement that would fail, create a toothless agreement and call it a victory. It's certainly working in the local press here in Norway, now they're talking like we've committed to saving the world. Truth is, nobody got committed to anything and that's why it's going to pass.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    3. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by Feral+Nerd · · Score: 1

      ...a list of the countries that have signed it.

      ... because their leaders needed some good press. The parliaments of some of these countries will refuse to ratify it once the lobbyists have done their work, the list of such countries being led by the USA. The rest like China and Russia will simply falsify their emission data.

      This is just another worthless piece of paper.

    4. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by WindBourne · · Score: 2

      Also missing is what they will be required to do. America needs to come down, but even more important is China. The numbers that put up are wrong.
      According to OCO2, China accounts for more than 40%, and possibly 50%, of current CO2 emissions.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    5. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by jhol13 · · Score: 1

      Worst, there is no "education for women must be provided".
      Why that? It is the only known (working) way to decrease number of child per female (and decrease human aspect to warming).

      Obviously it might make sense to educate males too. But then, are they capable of learning? Does not seem like. I havn't.

    6. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      If they wanted to actually accomplish something, they could agree to fund fusion research. A practical, safe fusion reactor would make a huge dent in CO2 emissions.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    7. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by XXongo · · Score: 1

      Worst, there is no "education for women must be provided". Why that? It is the only known (working) way to decrease number of child per female (and decrease human aspect to warming).

      Actually, three things are well understood as decreasing the number of children per female:
      (1) Better economy. More wealthy people have fewer children than less-wealthy people.
      (2) access to birth control. Doesn't have to be compulsory-- just has to be available.
      (3) education. Educating women, yes, but, also education in general.

    8. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

      Worst, there is no "education for women must be provided".

      Shhh. That's Agenda 21, don't mention it or you'll wake up the tea party loons.

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    9. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by dywolf · · Score: 1

      practical fusion reactors would be nice, but we dont have to wait for research to begin utilizing one, because we already have one. it shines on us every day. and with it we could end fossil fuel use now. today. with current technology.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    10. Re: Conspicuously missing from TFA... by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      No, china has not spent even close to the amount they claim, let alone what you claim. As it is, their coal as % of electricity continues to climb much faster than all other forms of electricity . back in the 60s, they were at 60% coal. Now, they are over 85%. By 2030, it will be over 90, possibly 95%.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    11. Re:Conspicuously missing from TFA... by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      it shines on us every day. and with it we could end fossil fuel use now. today. with current technology.

      Well that's the problem, it doesn't shine at night. Or in the clouds.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  2. This will work! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I know this will work! Countries will need to publish targets and and submit a plan on how they plan to meet those targets! So they can plan, and publish and plan, and keep regular publishing of updates to how well they are on target for the plan! Governments are really good at publishing and plans, so I guarantee this will keep a taxpayer supported staff of hundreds busy for the foreseeable future. Mission accomplished!

    1. Re:This will work! by MouseTheLuckyDog · · Score: 1

      Look at this way. They are going to sequester lots and lots of carbon in the form of paper thanks to this!

  3. 2 C is a fantasy by anzha · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hate to say it, but we're too late for 2 C. Even if we call a halt to CO2 emissions, the gas already in the atmosphere is likely to carry us up and over. To make matters worse, the carbon capture technologies coal plants were supposed to get don't work as well as advertised. Even if we do hold to 2 C, btw, we are going to have long term sea level rise.

    Global warming at this point is inevitable. Even probably 5 C warming. Some are arguing 8 C by the end of the century. However, its not the end of the world. Just a radically different one.

    (yeah I've been following this very closely for over a decade)

    Amusingly, coccolithophores, the calcium shelled plankton, everyone has been really worried would be seriously impacted by the rise in carbon dioxide causing oceanic acidification actually grow MORE in raised CO2 environments.

    --
    Do you know why the road less traveled by is littered with the bones of the unwary?
    1. Re:2 C is a fantasy by TheReaperD · · Score: 2

      Yea, but every bit they do to try and slow it down will help. Unfortunately, this is a mostly feel-good toothless agreement with no hard number CO2 goals or penalties for failing to meet them. Exxonmobil, Shell, BP and the other companies have sadly ran a very successful disinformation campaign to fuel a bunch of anti-government climate deniers to slow down the process.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
    2. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is how international agreements work - precise numbers from the tops are ineffective central planning because they are too removed from the implementation. Exact goals are set by individual signatory nations at a time they are prepared during each 5 year window. Individual nations are also responsible for mechanisms of how they accomplish the goals - from the outside this is simple enough since energy sectors are heavily dependent on government support and policy changes.

    3. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wrong. Methane and carbon dioxide act to prevent heat escape from the planet as a whole. Industrial production ignored that effect until now despite being demonstrated almost 100 years ago by Svante Arrhenius, nobel prize winner and father of physical chemistry.

    4. Re:2 C is a fantasy by maestroX · · Score: 1

      However, its not the end of the world. Just a radically different one.

      Between the impervious consume-it-alls and frantic your-ecological-footprint-is-too-big-at-every-step I'd like to know what I can do about it besides solarpanels & minimal car use. Because I and surely many people like me want to leave at least something to our children's children but are more or less bound by the wheel

    5. Re:2 C is a fantasy by XXongo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You are seeing the victory of idiocy over common sense. The contribution of CO2, Methane and nitrogen

      Nitrogen? Who the fuck mentioned nitrogen? Nitrogen is not a greenhouse gas, and nobody ever claimed it was a greenhouse gas.

      Basically, I stopped reading here, because this shows that you're one more clueless anonymous coward.

    6. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Dynamical systems like the atmosphere have more than linear and time-lag effects - so try again.

    7. Re:2 C is a fantasy by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      would you care to debate the argument he made??? or simply call him names

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    8. Re:2 C is a fantasy by danbob999 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Even if it's too late for 2 C, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try reducing CO2. 5 C is better than 8 C.

    9. Re:2 C is a fantasy by zippthorne · · Score: 1, Troll

      Based on the signatories' examples, I'd say taking frequent Jet-trips to conferences is definitely well within the allowable activities.

      Seriously.. they couldn't teleconference this one? Are they trying to send the message that it's all bullshit?

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    10. Re:2 C is a fantasy by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      These are accounted for as background sources. You are a fucking moron.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    11. Re: 2 C is a fantasy by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Do you think the procession of the Moon has a significant effect on warming? ARe you a fucking retard as well?

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    12. Re:2 C is a fantasy by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The contribution of CO2, Methane and nitrogen are totally dwarfed by water, water vapor, the heat capacity of the oceans, and non-radiative heat motion in the atmosphere.

      What are you going on about? "non-radiative heat motion"? Are you talking about the lasers moon Nazis are shooting at us?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:2 C is a fantasy by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      would you care to debate the argument he made???

      Which argument? The one about "non-radiative heat motion"?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Doesn't matter. The best thing for humanity is to continue advancing technology rapidly. We can less predict the state of life 100 years from now than 1900 could today.

      I will happily take higher seas and the very occasional extra hurricane and China and India with the economic societies of the West over slowing their growth (and hampering the west) with idiotic command-and-control solutions.

      Year 2100 powered by 6 billion living as the billion in the west do should be pretty amazing.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    15. Re:2 C is a fantasy by BlackPignouf · · Score: 3, Informative
    16. Re:2 C is a fantasy by zAPPzAPP · · Score: 1

      They did not put any sanctions into this deal for breaking the agreed upon rules.
      So what will be the result of it?
      They are currently hyping it as a great breakthrough, but how is it going to enforce its goals?

    17. Re:2 C is a fantasy by khallow · · Score: 1
      Unless, the actual temperature forcing of CO2 is much lower than advertised. Then we might be many decades to a few centuries away from where we think we currently are.

      Global warming at this point is inevitable. Even probably 5 C warming. Some are arguing 8 C by the end of the century. However, its not the end of the world. Just a radically different one.

      How about 1.5-2.5C by 2100 in exchange for giving most of the world a developed world standard of living? Sounds a good trade to me.

    18. Re:2 C is a fantasy by ganjadude · · Score: 2

      i didnt say it was a good argument lol

      calling someone a shill doesnt do anything but make you look like the dumb one IMO. if what he said was SO out of park, it should be easy to show it instead of resorting to ad hom.

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    19. Re:2 C is a fantasy by DarkTempes · · Score: 1

      There are nitrogen oxides that arguably contribute to global warming (and some that arguably have a cooling effect.)

      As a source, I guess the EPA is no one: http://www3.epa.gov/climatecha...

      While total N2O emissions are much lower than CO2 emissions, N2O is approximately 300 times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat in the
      atmosphere (IPCC 2007). Since 1750, the global atmospheric concentration of N2O has risen by approximately 20 percent (IPCC 2007 and NOAA/ESRL 2015).

      http://www3.epa.gov/climatecha...

      Granted, if we want to be pedantic about what "nitrogen" means then that's not nitrogen gas (N2).

    20. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Jeremi · · Score: 1

      Hmm, inventing a machine that removes CO2 from the air and converts it to solid form (for burial, or perhaps use as a building material) would be very helpful... especially if the machine can be powered using renewable energy, of course :)

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    21. Re:2 C is a fantasy by zm · · Score: 1

      Good thing we started emitting all this carbon 20000 years ago, otherwise most of the northern hemisphere would still be covered by a thick sheet of ice... :-P

      --
      Sig ?
    22. Re:2 C is a fantasy by AchilleTalon · · Score: 1

      The truth is the predictions are not reliable and the climatic models are flawn. They are overfitting the data, hence this gives the impression they are actually good while they are not so good. Fitting almost perfectly past data doesn't mean the model is sound and good to predict future behavior. That is the main reason the governments are not that hot to actually take costly actions to reduce drastically the greenhouse gas emissions.

      Being more alarmist and exagerrating consequences without anything to back it will not work neither.

      Things like, "we are heading at a 5C increase, it's too late, Pacific islands will disappear in 10 years from now and so on does nothing to keep the credibility and pick the right actions given the limited resources availables.

      --
      Achille Talon
      Hop!
    23. Re:2 C is a fantasy by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      Even if it's too late for 2 C, it doesn't mean we shouldn't try reducing CO2. 5 C is better than 8 C.

      I agree... I used to be a climate change skeptic, but after review of the information, the risk is just too great that we are moving things along too quickly.

      But the OP is right, 2 C has been lost, they just don't want to say it yet. However, you're right, we should do something, and frankly after looking past the headlines, the Paris deal isn't actually that bad.

    24. Re:2 C is a fantasy by labnet · · Score: 1

      Thanks for proving my point.

      --
      46137
    25. Re:2 C is a fantasy by khallow · · Score: 1

      I think that's more likely to happen than catastrophic AGW by 2100. There is this remarkable inability to show that there's a real problem from climate change despite a vast amount of effort.

    26. Re:2 C is a fantasy by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

      The risk of millions dying because of temperature increase* is so great that you are willing to kill tens of millions through energy poverty in pursuit of a goal that is politically and economically unachievable (global CO2 reduction) and that even if it were achievable, would take 70 years to have any effect on the climate. It can't be achieved in a democracy since when people have suffered enough loss of standard of living, they'll just throw the bums out (Australia) and it can't be achieved in a dictatorship because when the cost of food exceeds the fear of the government, revolution happens (Arab Spring). And this all assuming that the CO2 hypothesis hasn't already been refuted by the two-decade "hiatus", meaning that the developed countries will take on tens of trillions of dollars of debt for nothing and will have even fewer means to address the real causes and real effects. *OTOH, geo-engineering could adjust the global temperature within two years and would cost only 1/1000th as much as CO2 reduction. I think your assessment of relative risks and costs is a little lop-sided.

    27. Re:2 C is a fantasy by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 1

      The risk of millions dying because of temperature increase* is so great that you are willing to kill tens of millions through energy poverty in pursuit of a goal that is politically and economically unachievable

      That is a broad, sweeping statement that ignores all middle ground.

      We already have millions of people dying in poverty, and that will get worse if we do nothing.

      That being said, the changes being asked for by the more extreme environmentalists would indeed be worse than the cure, which is why no one is taking them seriously.

      The real question is, do you want to stop at 3 or 4 C, or go to 7 or 8 C? Can we find a balance where we push towards better environmental options without upsetting the apple cart in the process? I think so, the trick is to be a voice of reason and middle ground and not demand either extreme.

    28. Re:2 C is a fantasy by julianp · · Score: 1

      5 C vs. 8 C is not even a meaningful debate concerning human presence on this planet. Either one spells probable extinction of our species. Long before we hit 5C due to rising CO2 emissions alone, a positive feedback loop in the Earth system will likely be triggered by the melting of the estimated 50 Gigatons of methane frozen at the floor of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf. A methane burp of that magnitude will be the end for us, unfortunately. James Lovelock et al.'s 2007 proposal is still probably the best bet we have for actually doing anything about this. Tens of thousands of 200 meter long open-ended cylinders positioned vertically in the world's oceans to act as up-welling pumps using wave action. They would pump cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface and trigger massive phytoplankton blooms at the surface of the oceans. The phytoplankton would uptake atmospheric carbon, die, and sink to the bottom where it would be sequestered under sediment. This would cause enormous localized extinctions in the oceans due to hypoxia, but there aren't many other good options at this point.

    29. Re:2 C is a fantasy by danbob999 · · Score: 1

      5 C vs. 8 C is not even a meaningful debate concerning human presence on this planet. Either one spells probable extinction of our species.

      The human specie wouldn't disappear. We would adapt. It could be a huge regression in standards of living however. That's the whole point of climate agreements. Not doing anything will end-up being more expensive than reducing CO2.

    30. Re:2 C is a fantasy by dywolf · · Score: 1

      again with the idiotic myth that it somehow requires the slowing of growth and hampering of economies.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    31. Re: 2 C is a fantasy by dywolf · · Score: 1

      its all you deserve

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    32. Re:2 C is a fantasy by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The problem with that is that converting CO2 to C and O2 takes about as much energy as combining C and O2 gives. This means that, if we run such a machine with fossil fuel power, we'll lose, net. It also means that, if we have enough renewable or nuclear energy to run it, we'll reduce CO2 in the atmosphere more by using that energy directly to replace fossil fuels.

      When we've got pretty much all power coming from things other than fossil fuels, it may be worthwhile.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    33. Re:2 C is a fantasy by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      With climate change caused by global warming, there will be some unequivocal effects, such as the loss of Arctic sea ice, which nobody except the polar bears really cares about. Other than that, there will be very little new weather, but a change in how often certain weather happens. The California drought is very likely caused by global warming, but obviously we can't definitely attribute any single event to climate change. In other words, the sand people stick their heads into is still reasonably cool.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    34. Re:2 C is a fantasy by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      If you are indeed a scientist, you might consider a career change.

      Water vapor is indeed a much more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. The kicker is that the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, averaged over several years, is fairly close to a constant. It doesn't cause global warming. If there's a lot of water vapor in the air, it rains. If there's little, ground water evaporates. It's self-regulating. Carbon dioxide, however, has gone from 280ppm to over 400 ppm in less than two centuries, and we put that there (check total CO2 produced by human activity vs. the increase, and note the isotope ratios). It isn't going away. It is significant. The biosphere hasn't regulated it enough to stop something over a 40% increase.

      And, yes, that gravitationally bound fusion reactor out there does have the primary effect on Earth's temperature. However, climate scientists actually look at solar output, on the off-chance that it might have something to do with climate, and the warming is not caused by an increase in solar radiation.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    35. Re:2 C is a fantasy by julianp · · Score: 1

      It's a huge gamble. 70% of all terrestrial vertebrates ad 96% of all marine species went extinct during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum which is postulated by many to have been triggered by sea-floor methane release due to runaway greenhouse warming. Speciation needed 100 million+ years to recover to pre-PETM biodiversity levels so it's not really a gamble we should be considering.

    36. Re:2 C is a fantasy by TheReaperD · · Score: 1

      There's no point to trying to answer someone like this with facts. Why? Because they simply don't care. They have made up their mind and no amount of facts are going to change it. It's the same about people who claim that vaccines cause autism, military training exercises in Texas was an excuse for invasion, the Sandy Hook massacre was a hoax, etc. I could go on forever about conspiracy theories and the people behind them. But, there is simply no point.

      --
      "Be particularly skeptical when presented with evidence confirming what you already believe." -
  4. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by ganjadude · · Score: 3, Insightful

    el nino does that sometimes, I remember the last el nino year we didnt get any snow til late january

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  5. Great the world has carbon under control by ozduo · · Score: 1, Troll

    Now we need conferences to control our planets orbit and another to control the sun.

    --
    I got to the chocolate box before you, that's why the hard ones have teeth marks.
  6. Pillow talk by burtosis · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Until I get the time to painstakingly go over the document and we see some real results across the board I'm just going to assume its all pillow talk. Besides the USA doing their own usual workarounds (changing locations for manufacturing), letting China and India do their own thing wont really pan out for this whole 2C thing. 2C is likely an unachievable fantasy at this point.

    1. Re:Pillow talk by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      Real question is "what's the enforcement mechanism?". Without some means of making sure everyone actually does something other than write reports every five years (a quick read shows that obligations under the agreement are to "make promises" and "write reports on progress of the promises"), it means nothing.

      I also find it interesting that this agreement requires absolutely nothing before 2020. So Obama isn't on the hook to do anything, and his successor probably isn't on the hook to do anything (his successor will already have done his second election before we have to do a bloody thing, even assuming we have to do a bloody thing).

      In other words, a great deal of light and noise, signifying nothing is what it looks like from my easy chair....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  7. Mostly a photo-op by pesho · · Score: 4, Interesting

    James Hansen is highly skeptical that this agreement will lead to anything tangible. Mostly because it consists of promises without any enforceable mechanisms. I am inclined to agree with him. It looks like large dog and pony show mostly aimed at reducing public pressure without committing to anything.

    1. Re:Mostly a photo-op by pesho · · Score: 1

      forgot the link

    2. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When you look at things like this in isolation you might think it does nothing, but this is the long fight. Similar to the anti-smoking movement, it took decades of incremental steps to finally get to a tipping point where not smoking became the default accepted point of view.
      We are still a decade or two away from the desired result, but I believe this is continuing to shift the default position from "Climate Change is BS", to "it exists, but nothing we can do", to " We can solve this". These things can take a generation to infiltrate the public conscious enough that politicians are forced to act, so as long as we're moving in the right direction, we'll get there eventually.

    3. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're implying that there was any other feasible way to get them all in one place.

    4. Re:Mostly a photo-op by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Why should they need to all be in one place?

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    5. Re:Mostly a photo-op by pesho · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When you look at things like this in isolation you might think it does nothing, but this is the long fight. Similar to the anti-smoking movement, it took decades of incremental steps to finally get to a tipping point where not smoking became the default accepted point of view. We are still a decade or two away from the desired result, but I believe this is continuing to shift the default position from "Climate Change is BS", to "it exists, but nothing we can do", to " We can solve this". These things can take a generation to infiltrate the public conscious enough that politicians are forced to act, so as long as we're moving in the right direction, we'll get there eventually.

      You analogy is wrong on so many levels.

      1. Smoking hurts mostly you and to somewhat lesser degree people that live close to you, in contrast global warming impacts everyone who lives on the planed right now as well as several generations down the line.

      2. Stopping smoking has immediate effect. Stopping green house gas emissions even if done completely and abruptly will have delayed impact on global warming as the gases currently in the atmosphere will need time to recede. In addition, the green house effect has a self feeding loop, by increasing water vapor, reducing ice cover, etc. Comparing it to smoking is like comparing hitting the brake on a kids bicycle to hitting the break on a freight train at full speed on a downward slope. (Hint : it will take a lot of time before the train stops).

      Your suggestion that we can stop global warming by waiting for the reality to trickle down through the brains of the population of planet earth and take gradual measures is simply ridiculous. By the time this happens it will be too late. I have given up on any hope that effective measures against global warming will be taken in time to preserve the climate to anything resembling the current climate. What we can hope is to prevent a complete catastrophe and adapt to the new climate. Rich countries in high latitudes will fare better. I would really hate to be living around the tropics, especially in arid places like the middle east.

    6. Re:Mostly a photo-op by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      If they were to make the same sacrifices they expect us to make, they would walk! And they would eat bugs instead of steak. They sit there and blame us for the crap they sell. Totally bogus...

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    7. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When you look at things like this in isolation you might think it does nothing, but this is the long fight. Similar to the anti-smoking movement, it took decades of incremental steps to finally get to a tipping point where not smoking became the default accepted point of view.

      Because you managed to convince the smokers it was in their own interest to quit. And if not themselves then to save their family and friends the effect of second hand smoke. Your 1/7 billionth contribution to AGW? Ten bucks for your kid's college fund is probably going to change their life more. Sure those fractions add up but there's a million things you could do on the individual level that would matter more. And that I think will take priority.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    8. Re:Mostly a photo-op by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You are wrong in two ways.

      The agreement is for governments, not individuals. It only needs governments to act, and many already are. Getting the US and China to at least agree on a reasonable target is a big step forward and at least on the part of China does seem to affect policy.

      Secondly, individuals will clean up if helped to. For example, the EU mandated standard testing for vacuum cleaners. Consumers can now compare vacuum cleaners better than they could before, and sales have trended towards efficient, clean ones instead of the "max stupid" big motor models. They have also forced manufacturers to make better products instead of just better marketing.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Mostly a photo-op by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      It only needs governments to act

      If you think that the governments can in any way stop global warming then you're living in a fairy land. The governments are powerless here because they aren't the big polluters. The big polluters are you and I, sitting here burning 100W posting on Slashdot while at the same time complaining bitterly against rising electricity prices, taxation being spent on green initiatives instead of welfare (by welfare I mean welfare for me, i.e. tax breaks, or maybe the footpath in front of the house being repaired), and ultimately we'll side with whichever government will take less money from our pocket or make it cheaper to live, and that won't be the government pushing a green initiative. It doesn't ring with the voters, if it did the greens would have more power than they do.

      Ok so by you and I, what I meant was our species in general. We're selfish in a very fundamental level and going green won't improve my life right now so fuck it, I'm surely not going to send my car back to VW for a software change that makes it less powerful because of the environment, I'm not going to spend any money on making the environment better, I'm an over-entitled westerner and proud of it.

    10. Re:Mostly a photo-op by fatwilbur · · Score: 1

      The big polluters are you and I

      Mod parent up. This has been the most infuriating thing about watching the environmental movement go. Attacking the supply side of consumer demand and energy production, while most of them epitomize the exact kind of extravagant energy-intensive lifestyle that causes the problem in the first place. Jet setting all over the world, owning huge homes, even those fancy coffees from some back swamp in Africa take a lot of gas to get all the way into your plastic cup!

      It's exactly like the war on drugs.. how long have we watched them go after the supply side (dealers, traffickers) with utterly no success whatsoever? As long as the heavy demand is there, someone else will swiftly pop into place. Further, people DO NOT want to and WILL NOT give up their energy demands, they make life too enjoyable. Those energy demands will not be met without fossil fuels, plain and simply.

    11. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      You analogy is wrong on so many levels.

      I think you missed the point of the analogy. All I was demonstrating is that big problems take a long time to fix. So don't expect at any point some hand brake agreement that will happen overnight. Kyoto and Paris and whatever the next one is called will eventually get us where we need to get to, but like a oil tanker, you can't turn around hundreds of years of economic and cultural momentum in a day.
      Smoking took decades and this is bigger than smoking, so expect a longer resolution time. Also, lots of people died while pro-smokers fucked everyone around with delaying tactics, and this will also be no different. The point is we are on that path, you just have to be more patient.

    12. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      It only needs governments to act

      If you think that the governments can in any way stop global warming then you're living in a fairy land. The governments are powerless here because they aren't the big polluters. The big polluters are you and I, s

      Government sets public policy and has the power to enforce it, so yeah I don't know what qualifies as a solution, but they are the only organisation that have adequate influence to effect change.
      You and I do what our governments tell us (or we go to jail), so if you want to change Joe average, government is the mechanism that you use to do it.

    13. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      while most of them epitomize the exact kind of extravagant energy-intensive lifestyle that causes the problem in the first place. Jet setting all over the world, owning huge homes,

      You must know different hippies from me. The ones I know live in tents and smell because they don't shower. I'll bet my meagre home that they use less energy than you.

    14. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Solve it just like humans solve every problem, by dealing with it in some way that gets us by.
      How did the Netherlands deal with an encroaching ocean? How did the Inuit deal with snow and ice? Or the Kalahari bushman with drought? Sure the future might not look like 18th century Europe, but then when did it ever (other than the 18th century)?
      I have a less prophet of doom outlook, and believe the change will bring about opportunity. Just like the Plague or world wars, the emerging disaster will simply spark the next generation of technological innovation to deal with it. So yeah, it'll get solved eventually.

    15. Re:Mostly a photo-op by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You and I do what our governments tell us (or we go to jail), so if you want to change Joe average, government is the mechanism that you use to do it.

      Like the Australian government who implemented an emissions trading policy which panned them so incredibly hard in the polls that they lost the following election almost on the single idiotic promise that everything in life will be cheaper once it's abolished?

      You and I do what POPULAR governments tell us to do. If the government is not popular an opposing force comes in to try and win votes, and that is universal across the world except for a situation of power. No government gives up power and those that say they will, don't and then get slammed for failed promises.

    16. Re:Mostly a photo-op by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      I know ones who spend their lives travelling from protest to protest clocking up more km on their cars than I do with my daily commute. Their car also belches black smog because they can't afford a better one, but hey they are above us all because they have an LED bulb on the front of their house and they pay $15 / month extra on their electricity bill to support "green" initiatives.

    17. Re:Mostly a photo-op by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Sure, governments can do something about this. Impose a carbon tax. Offset it with cuts in other taxes to be revenue-neutral. People tend to drive less and buy more economical cars when gas is expensive.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    18. Re:Mostly a photo-op by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      When Carter reduced the energy consumption of the White House, I didn't notice any real effect.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    19. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Depends what you mean by popular. Thatcher wasn't very popular but she got her policies across the line. Bush Jnr was the most unpopular leader of the modern era yet managed to coax everyone along into one of the biggest strategic fuckups in history.

    20. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      If they are carbon offsetting their lifestyle choices, then it how is that a problem?

    21. Re:Mostly a photo-op by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      And were either of them in power after? Although Bush was an oddity. The point was not who gets their policies across the line, it's who's policies stick.

      Many governments around the world are in an almighty stalemate where successive governments will simply spend a lot of time undoing the laws of the last government.

      Tell me in all seriousness that you don't believe that if Obama passed some incredibly tough gun ownership legislation right now that the law in question won't be instantly overturned in the first few weeks of the following government, or at least that the opposition won't run on the promise of revising said laws if they get into power.

    22. Re:Mostly a photo-op by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Many governments around the world are in an almighty stalemate where successive governments will simply spend a lot of time undoing the laws of the last government.

      I disagree with this. While it does happen from time to time, it is the exception rather than the rule.

      Tell me in all seriousness that you don't believe that if Obama passed some incredibly tough gun ownership legislation right now that the law in question won't be instantly overturned in the first few weeks of the following government

      Passed bills number in the dozens for any term of government, repealed laws can be counted in ones and twos. The Republicans gained control of congress earlier this year yet didn't repeal Obama-care. So your statement isn't based on any real world observation.

  8. more Conspicuously missing from TFA... by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    more conspicuously is how it will be enforced.

    --
    Just another second banana
    1. Re: more Conspicuously missing from TFA... by rail2rail · · Score: 1

      Perhaps they'll finally waterboard Sean Hannity as promised. We can only hope.

  9. psst by thewolfkin · · Score: 1

    didn't read so i'm just guessing.

    --
    Just another second banana
  10. so what? by kenh · · Score: 1

    There's no consequence for not complying with the pact, what's the point of a toothless pact?

    --
    Ken
    1. Re:so what? by burtosis · · Score: 1

      Yep and according to article 21 it wont even go into force until 30 days after at least 55 parties accounting for at least 55 percent of emissions sign. The only teeth are for the tiny developing nations that would receive financial support, so the United States, China, and India, among others, will see no real complications from just signing and doing whatever they want.

  11. Re:Morons by mfearby · · Score: 1

    That's the way any sensible false prophet works: predict things so far into the future that you won't be around if they turn out to be false. Global warming is a non-problem, but this so-called "deal" to respond to it is laughable. I guess they get to have their fig leaves and the world can hopefully move on from this silliness and start worrying about real issues, like addressing poverty, education, Islamism, free trade, etc.

  12. Re:Morons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It worked with the ozone layer.

  13. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by Kjella · · Score: 2

    Gernany is roughly 15 degrees centigrate warmer than it used to be 35 years ago. However that period around 1974 was extraordinary cold, in comparrison to that time it is now nearly 45 degrees warmer .... so I really wonder where this "2 degrees average increase" is aiming for

    Bahahahahahaha, 45C warmer.... On an extremely warm summer day in the south maaaaaaybe you can reach 40C, you're saying in the 70s it was -5C and below all year long? And they still easily have freezing temps, so where it's -5C today they had -50C? You don't even pass the giggle test.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  14. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by XXongo · · Score: 1
    I'm sorry, but no. Germany is not, on the average, 15C warmer than it was 35 years ago (that would be 60 Fahrenheit degrees!). Did you mean 1.5 C? that's about right.

    Data here:
    Berlin temperature record: http://climatereason.com/Littl...
    Hohenpeissenberg temperature record: http://climatereason.com/Littl...

  15. Re:In Before by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes, well, I will hijack this post to say that this is a political/ceremonial agreement, not a scientific one. The good news is that oil is loosing its sheen, down below $40 a barrel. Yes, we have past peak oil, in a much better fashion than anticipated.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  16. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    with all your citations it is clear that you are correct... oh wait

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  17. Good luck Chuck by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    Agreement criticized for imposing no sanctions on countries that fail to reduce emissions

  18. I'm so happy by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Finally the war on terror is one step closer to being over.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  19. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

    Oh fucking jesus. If we move to alternatives and create more carbon sinks, we'll largely stop CO2 emissions. Quit trying to shove your personal obsession into the mix.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  20. OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like this by kheldan · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Know what? All sides of any thread on the subject of the Earth's climate and what may or may not be happening to it, and who/what may or may not be responsible for it? And I mean all sides of it, is full of utter stupidity masquerading as 'opinion' and 'fact'.

    You want 'facts'? You want 'informed opinions'? You're not going to find it here. Why? Because nobody here is a scientist specializing in climatology, and while it's possible, I find it highly unlikely that anyone who posts here, myself included, is academically qualified enough to interpret what climate data has been collected, if you could even find such analysis to be scientifically valid in any significant way. All I see in any discussion thread like this one? Beliefs, plain and simple; you're expressing your belief in this-or-that theory (which you have neither the credentials nor the background to explore and prove/disprove yourself using the scientific method), or belief in one scientist or the other (which is about as useless as the above mentioned belief-in-a-theory), or (my 'personal favorite', said with sarcastic overtones) belief in the words some non-scientific pundit or other's 'belief' one way or the other. All the above may as well be someone saying 'God says it's one-way-or-the-other', or just roll a six-sided die, 1-2-3 means 'no global warming', 4-5-6 means 'there is global warming'.

    Face the truth: Nobody is deciding anything about Earth's climate, one way or the other here. All everyone is doing is venting a bunch of hot air, using it as an excuse to fling around personal insults against anyone who doesn't agree with your 'opinion' on the subject, and generally wasting theirs and everyone else's time accomplishing absolutely nothing.

    You want to actually do something of real substance with regards to investigating possible long-term changes in the Earth's climate, and what may or may not be affecting it? Go get a real education in the sciences, with a focus on climatology (and whatever other subjects are useful in this case) whether you get degree(s) in them or not, go collect your own data (or at least investigate, in a scientific manner, the validity of the data collected thusfar) do your own experiments, and come to real science-based conclusions, publish your findings, and face the judgement of the world scientific community, just like with any other scientific research. Otherwise you're just 'armchair quarterbacking' to no effect.

    **********

    Don't like what I had to say here? Tough for you. Deal with it.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  21. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by MightyMartian · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    No the data does not show that. This is nothing more than a lie by evil men and adopted by simpering retards like you. The data shows the exact opposite, and the fact that the only cites you can produce are immoral and evil denier sites and that champion of Christopher Booker's vile pseudoscience shows you to either be a waste of oxygen and pathetic halfwit, or a monster .

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  22. this will be a joke by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Unless China stops building out their new coal plants right now, there is no way to stop this.

    In fact, all nations really need to stop building new coal plants. These are the bane of the emissions.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re: this will be a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/World-Statistics/Nuclear-Units-Under-Construction-Worldwide

    2. Re: this will be a joke by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      That's cute. So when China is finished their 24 new plants nuclear capacity will be less than 1/10th of their CURRENT coal capacity. That's not taking into account the 155 coal power plants currently in various stages of planning / construction.

    3. Re:this will be a joke by BlackPignouf · · Score: 1

      You know why China has to build about 1 coal power plant a week?
      That's because the US and Europe moved all their manufacturing industry there.
      You want to help China stop building new coal power plants? Buy less stuff from there.
      That sucks, because I love tech gadgets but I do buy much fewer gadgets since I realized the hidden environmental impact they have.

    4. Re:this will be a joke by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      They will stop when we stop paying them to produce concrete and steel. Those things (and the things made from them) are power-intensive. And industry is the user of power in China, and that's been sent to China from the US by US companies. We still mine materials in the US, to ship to China for processing, for return to the US for sale. It was a way of exporting pollution when Nixon started the EPA. That's when exporting pollution started. Though, as it takes a while for industries to turn, it took a few years for the change to happen. The cost of drinking water and rivers/lakes that didn't catch fire was moving some of the most dirty industries off shore (then, apparently blaming them for not being as "clean" as us).

      If the US stopped buying products that require pollution to make, China would stop polluting. Yes, it is that simple.

    5. Re: this will be a joke by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Not even close. They will not be closing any of these new coal plants for another 30-60 years, unless they are forced to.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    6. Re: this will be a joke by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      The reason why manufacturing moved there is because china fixes their money; subsidized various industries there; dumps on foreign markets; has max wages; and built up cheap coal plants. IOW, those plants are not built after the fact, but before the fact.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  23. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    The AC's citations were just as valid as the GP. As in, not at all. "realclimatescience dot com", an op-ed in the Telegraph, and some blog? Please. Those aren't citations, those are jacking off into a sock.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  24. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

    Germany is not, on the average, 15C warmer than it was 35 years ago (that would be 60 Fahrenheit degrees!)

    No, 15C is NOT 60F. More like 27F.

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  25. Re:Alarmist nutcases and their fictions. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    that's not what half-life means...

    Don't stop him. He's on a roll.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  26. Re:In Before by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 2

    No, we passed Peak Oil because it was a warmed over retread of 1970s shortage scares, where physical scientists stick their noses in economics and make literally ignorant predictions about economics.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  27. I'll believe it's a crisis.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ..when the people who tell me it's a crisis start acting like it's a crisis.

    How much CO2 was expelled into the atmosphere by all these assholes flying to Paris to do something that could have been done over the internet? Do empty gestures have to be done in person?

    Meanwhile, Al Gore's not selling that waterfront property that he claims will be inundated if I don't buy a fucking prius.

  28. Well now that that problem is solved what next? by trout007 · · Score: 1

    I'm glad we won't have to hear about Climate change anymore and work on things like stopping bombing people.

    --
    I love Jesus, except for his foreign policy.
  29. Re:In Before by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    By "peak oil" I mean peak price, unless production suddenly stopped. And yes, physical scientists should stay away from the voodoo of economics.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  30. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by gaiageek · · Score: 3, Informative

    Germany is not, on the average, 15C warmer than it was 35 years ago (that would be 60 Fahrenheit degrees!)

    No, 15C is NOT 60F. More like 27F.

    It seems you're both pretty terrible at communicating this clearly.

    15C is 59F.
    0C is 32F.
    A change (+/-) of 15C equates to a change (+/-) of 27F.

  31. Re:In Before by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    FWIW the GS economists (who have a decent record predicting such things) expect it to stabilize around $45 a barrel......but because of surplus production, it could drop down to $25 a barrel by spring.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  32. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Oh fucking jesus. If we move to alternatives

    No one wants nuclear.

    create more carbon sinks

    How many of those do we have to create?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  33. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    This is an interesting article that discusses the history behind the two degree increase.

    From what I can see, it's just a convenient way for politicians to talk about it, because let's be honest, 99% of politicians don't really understand radiative forcing anyway. link to get around paywall.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  34. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 3, Informative

    Since the last big El Nino (1997) RSS shows a slight decline in temperature. So maybe not forever - but definitely for the last 18 years. And curiously enough, if you look at the RSS data prior to that big El Nino you see basically a flat line, too. We don't have the "continual rise" in temperature so often modeled and predicted as we have, it appears, flat (or actual declining) temperatures with occasional big events that cause a shift in the baseline. Something none of the current models used for the COP21 talks even considers.

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  35. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    What does the RSS record show since, say, 1997 - the last big El Nino?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  36. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Because nobody here is a scientist specializing in climatology ..and we know from the climategate emails that even if they were, most of them aren't trustworthy.

  37. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by ganjadude · · Score: 1

    some citations are better than none, and if thats true, debate the info, not the source. calling someone a liar, without any context whatsoever is utterly useless

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  38. Re:Alarmist nutcases and their fictions. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's a hell of a lot of wrong packed into a very short message.

    (400/285 - 1) *100 = 40%. Not 0.03%.

    Organically cycled CO2 has a half life in the organic sequester lasts of the order of decades, but increases don't disappear from the atmosphere until weathering has removed it, and that has a half life of thousands of years. The reason why the organic cycle doesn't remove it is because organisms die and decay and release that Carbon they soaked up. Rocks can be subducted, taking it away for a million years.

  39. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by Bender0x7D1 · · Score: 1

    You want 'facts'? You want 'informed opinions'? You're not going to find it here. Why? Because nobody here is a scientist specializing in climatology, and while it's possible, I find it highly unlikely that anyone who posts here, myself included, is academically qualified enough to interpret what climate data has been collected, if you could even find such analysis to be scientifically valid in any significant way.

    You are begging the question. If you assume that there are no ways to conduct analyses that are scientifically valid, then of course you won't find someone who can do that on Slashdot. However, your premise is false; there are piles of publications with valid mathematics and statistics that have been published in this area. Just go to Google Scholar and start investigating; you'll find lots of values for glacier loss, global mean temperature changes, changes in ocean temperature and acidity, etc.

    Now, are people who have already done the research going to post on Slashdot? Maybe not - like you said, threads seem to devolve quickly, and you can never win an argument with someone on the Internet, so they might just stay away.

    My advice: Ignore the media when they talk about climate change. Have you ever cringed when you saw a story about your field, and how horribly wrong they got it? That's what they do with climate change as well - you just don't know it. So, my advice is: Go to Google Scholar and dig up the original publications, or check out some of the information the NOAA or NASA releases. Then, after you look at the raw data, draw your own conclusions.

    --
    Reading code is like reading the dictionary - you have to read half of it before you can go back and understand it.
  40. satellite-based measuement [Re:Conspicuously ...] by XXongo · · Score: 1

    the list of such countries being led by the USA. The rest like China and Russia will simply falsify their emission data.

    With satellite-based carbon dioxide measurement, this is going to be more difficult than it used to be.
    http://oco.jpl.nasa.gov/

  41. What is nitrogen, anyway? [Re:2 C is a fantasy] by XXongo · · Score: 1

    Granted, if we want to be pedantic about what "nitrogen" means then that's not nitrogen gas (N2).

    Correct. Hydrogen is not the same as water, and nitrous oxide is not the same as nitrogen.

  42. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

    some citations are better than none

    Absolutely not. If your citations are carefully chosen to misrepresent, then none would be better.

    And none are better than using three opinion pieces to represent anything like a scientific argument, unless your science is the study of propaganda.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  43. Re:In Before by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Of course globalization strip mined the wealth out of those places and "redistributed" it in the first place. And the US had nothing to do with how those tin pot dictators got into power either right?

  44. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by ganjadude · · Score: 2

    if they are that bad, they should be easy to tear down. not as easy as calling out a strawman or an ad hom, but easy none the less

    --
    have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
  45. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by kheldan · · Score: 1

    I'm not saying it's not possible to do a scientifically valid analysis, I'm saying nobody here is qualified to do so, or if they are there's no way for them to prove they are, unless they want to go public with who they are, show their bona-fides, and present their work. You notice how much of that is happening here (zero). Furthermore, the types that infest places like Slashdot are also going to scoff wildly at any actual research that's already been done, and scoff even more at the people who did the research, citing ulterior motives and conspiracy theories, much in the way that Ted Cruz, noted nutbag, says that 'climate change' is all just a liberal conspiracy to grab power and money.

    The really sad thing is, by the time the Earth itself makes it obvious whether there is such a thing as 'global warming' or not, it'll be way too late to do anything about it. What little comfort I can take on the subject, is that I'll be long since dead before that day comes, so I won't have to suffer through it.

    --
    Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
  46. Re:In Before by unixisc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ..the old libertarian geezers of Slashdot who whine about conspiracy theories on every climate-related post here.

    Whatever happened to global warming?

  47. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Calm down cuz. Some of us here are qualified to understand climate data. The way you're talking you make it sound like there's a high church of Climatology and we have no choice but to believe what the high priests say.

    That's not necessary. If Feynman could explain QED well enough that a layman could understand it, then laymen/women can also understand climate science, it's much simpler than QED. The difficult part IMNSHO is actually statistics: figuring out how to accurately average out all the temperature readings collected across the planet, etc.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  48. Re:In Before by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    FWIW the GS economists (who have a decent record predicting such things) expect it to stabilize around $45 a barrel

    OPEC no longer has any control over oil prices. The world's swing producers are now American frackers. The cost per barrel of fracking has gone way down and is continuing to fall. It may temporarily plateau at $45, but then it should continue to creep downward as new innovations are implemented.

  49. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by Tokolosh · · Score: 1

    I'd just like to see the science and economics that tells us that reducing carbon emissions is the optimal strategy. The lack of thought into this astounds me, that nobody is even considering other ideas, never mind conducting research.

    --
    Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
  50. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    No one wants nuclear.

    The Chinese do, and so do that Indians. They matter far more than America and Europe.

    How many [carbon sinks] do we have to create?

    One big one would be enough: Just sprinkle some iron sulfate on the surface of the ocean. The plankton bloom would not only suck up all the excess CO2, but would also cause a surge in fish stocks that could meet the world's need for protein.

  51. Re:In Before by sycodon · · Score: 2

    Obama will never submit it to the Senate. It doesn't have the force of law behind it.

    LOL! Obama punked the Environmentalists and the World. They think they have an agreement but all they have is Obama's worthless promises.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  52. Re:In Before by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    It may temporarily plateau at $45, but then it should continue to creep downward as new innovations are implemented.

    That's true, the reason it's plateaued at $45 is because that is the cost of production.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  53. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    You want to hold yourself out as a qualified expert on climatology?

    I don't even want you to believe me.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  54. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by KGIII · · Score: 1

    One big one would be enough: Just sprinkle some iron sulfate on the surface of the ocean. The plankton bloom would not only suck up all the excess CO2, but would also cause a surge in fish stocks that could meet the world's need for protein.

    Any idea where I can find more information about this? Perhaps a paper that's publicly available?

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  55. Re: TFA... by ultranova · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They are trying to legitimize a form of global fascism with another sky fairy tale.

    Communism. Fascism is inherently a national movement, communism - or socialism in general - international. Furthermore, there's no clear charismatic leader but faceless bureaucracy associated with this deal, although I suppose that's also compatible with the Illuminati. Then there's the religious possibilities to consider - which you should had considered beyond a vague reference to "sky fairy" - perhaps the Vatican is trying to cause hardship in hopes people will seek salvation? Or you could simply blame this on lizard men from Regulus trying to de-industrialize the world in preparation for their occupation.

    Seriously, put some effort into your conspiracy theories. Don't just post the first buzzword that comes to your mind. That's neither a good smokescreen nor entertaining.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  56. The level of stupidity by vikingpower · · Score: 1

    in slashdot comment threads on climate-related posts seems to be inversely proportional to the square of the post's age, and exponential in the number of USA citizens participating in the thread. One also notes such phenomena as the denial or neglect of simple laws of nature, the denial of the 119-year old findings of a well-respected scientist, ignorance of the basic tenets of technical, even polite discussion, and a statistically not insignificant tendency to adhere to conspiration theories. Slashdot discussion threads on climate, climate change and climate policy are, to an engineer, to a scientist or even to a concerned citizen, some of the most disheartening places on the internet.

    --
    Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
  57. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    One big one would be enough: Just sprinkle some iron sulfate on the surface of the ocean. The plankton bloom would not only suck up all the excess CO2, but would also cause a surge in fish stocks that could meet the world's need for protein.

    Any idea where I can find more information about this? Perhaps a paper that's publicly available?

    You can look to the large dust storms in Australia that blow iron dust out to sea as a starting point. Iremember that being talked about mainly because the ocean is iron poor and that oceanic metabolisms still use iron for living things to move oxtgen around. Sorry I don't have any more detail than that.

    --
    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  58. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by KGIII · · Score: 1

    Thanks. I'll take a gander and see what I come up with.

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  59. Re:We still need a low carbon society by ThosLives · · Score: 2

    The US still needs to figure out how to burn 1/2 as much petroleum. Lets say a desirable change time frame is 1 year. So I challenge Slashdotters: how would we do that? The technical side of such a drastic change is clear: Drive a lot lot less. Fly a whole lot less. Maintaining our society and every person's life style and economic condition are the social problems that must be solved.

    All we get are these suggestions like "you'd better stop doing what you're doing now and enjoying an easy life. We'll tax you for it otherwise!"

    If governments were really serious about controlling emissions, they would be willing to directly pay for carbon sequestration - that is, forget carbon credits and all that, simply establish companies that would use solar/wind to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere, and pay them per ton removed. After all, this would be a good investment, right? Spend $10 now to prevent $100 damage due to war/famine/whatever in 100 years is a very good deal for society (well, relatively, that's about 2.3% compounded return). If the future is so "catastrophic" this is what the government should be doing.

    But we don't see plans like that, which would cause change "overnight" as people would be falling over themselves to start building atmospheric condensers. Instead we get suggestions do "live with less". It's no wonder there is so much push back - most of it is on the policy, not the science (I think people push back on the science because it is used to justify onerous policy.)

    --
    "There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
  60. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by Chas · · Score: 1

    They tried that.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    Killing an entire deep-sea ecology?

    Probably not a Good Idea.

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  61. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by stevelinton · · Score: 1

    We don't have the "continual rise" in temperature so often modeled and predicted as we have, it appears, flat (or actual declining) temperatures with occasional big events that cause a shift in the baseline. .

    That's what you get if you superimpose a cycle on top a continuous rise

  62. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    How long has the rise gone on - and what's the cycle? A single big stairstep in the satellite record is all we have. Before that - flat. After that - flat. Are we going to spend trillions of dollars to have a potential 0.15 deg C reduction in temperatures in 85 years, based upon a single observed step?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  63. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

    Actually, ocean temps have been steadily rising this entire time.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  64. Nitrogen as a greenhouse gas by CmdrTamale · · Score: 1

    Nitrogen helps keep us all cool.

    Without it, we would have a 98% oxygen atmosphere, briefly,

    before everything caught fire.
    --
    I exhaustively researched this topic until I found a blog post supporting my beliefs.

  65. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Reziac · · Score: 1

    And declining temps are, historically, a bad thing. You can pretty much map periods of peace and prosperity to warmer temps, and periods of war and mass migration to cooler temps. Most crops like it warmer and wetter rather than cooler and drier. Cooler temps equate to famine, with its predictable results.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  66. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by tbannist · · Score: 1

    It's been done thousands of times just here on Slashdot, yet you (among others) still pretend ignorance. So why bother? You're either not going to read it, not going to understand, or not going to acknowledge it.

    Why should we waste our time explaining yet again why his sources are either deliberately deceptive or shockingly incompetent. Why bother when the people, like you, who lap it up seem incapable of understanding plain english, mathematics or science?

    But because I'm an optimist, I'll throw in one reason why all three of those links are absolutely wrong. If you start a trend with an outlier, your trend will be wrong. Period. End of story. 1997-1998 was the strongest El Nino on record, anyone who starts a temperature-based trend line starting in those years is either indescribably incompetent or a manipulative asshole who's trying to trick you.

    --
    Fanatically anti-fanatical
  67. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by tbannist · · Score: 1

    It show that you know how to cherry-pick facts to deceive people.

    1997 and 1998 were unusually warm starting a trend in those years produces deceptive results. Confirmation bias incompetence or malicious intent?

    --
    Fanatically anti-fanatical
  68. Re:We still need a low carbon society by ThosLives · · Score: 1

    Hadn't quite finished the coffee - I should have added, the above (directly fund carbon sequestration) should be part of the solution, not the only piece. I'd also have policies to reduce the production of new "polluting" activities, but I wouldn't directly tax/ban existing things; they would wear out on their own. That is, I'd use sequestration to mitigate the existing install base and only allow "clean" stuff going forward.

    This should be way more politically palatable, when you aren't asking people to give up something they already have.

    PS: Zoning laws might also need to be revised. Lots of farmland / forest being turned into retail space doesn't help the climate much (at least to first-order effects).

    --
    "There are a dozen opinions on a matter until you know the truth. Then there is only one." - CS Lewis (paraprhase)
  69. Re:We still need a low carbon society by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    Drive a lot lot less. Fly a whole lot less.

    If we stopped flying tomorrow, completely 100% no more flying it'd not make much difference. 9% of oil use in the US is flying. The answer is really simple, just unpalatable. Raise the tax on fuel to $5 per gallon ($0.50 per year for 10 years, indexed on inflation after that). You don't need complex rules against cars and such. Just make the cost direct. You want to use less fuel? Tax it heavily. People will stop driving when they don't need to.

    The indirect nudges to people don't work. Make fuel expensive, and the only people driving F150s will be people who absolutely need them. People will drift to more efficient vehicles, and drive them less. Use the taxes collected to fund high-speed trains for commuting and travel. It should be faster to train between Dallas and Houston, or Boston and DC than to fly. When you have that down, flight will fall without having to over-regulate anything.

  70. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

    Killing an entire deep-sea ecology?

    That is conjecture. Many scientists that have studied the issue believe that the deep ocean oxygen depletion will be minor (and your source actually says that). It will probably be better than more oceanic CO2. Iron fertilization of the oceans is something that has enormous potential, and should be researched much more aggressively.

  71. Re: In Before by jfengel · · Score: 1

    Climate believes in Americans less strongly than in other countries, I suspect. It's the really poor countries whose margin of error is thin, and who get wiped out entirely. The US suffers losses that aren't clearly distinguishable from ordinary disasters, except perhaps for a slight increase in frequency, and we have the money to cover it. We'll survive, literally. Other places literally won't.

  72. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Yep! But we need to spend $13.5 TRILLION over the next 15 years so we can cut the predicted temperatures by 0.05 deg C - an unmeasurable amount. So spend trillions, wait 85 years, get nothing. That sounds like a great plan - if you want to force massive wealth redistribution....

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  73. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Reziac · · Score: 1

    Redistribution being the keyword there... except if these anti-carbon trolls have their way, it'll be the poor and developing nations that suffer most. Energy is wealth. China understands that; it's why they're building coal-fired plants right and left.

    --
    ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
  74. Re:In Before by quantaman · · Score: 2

    ..the old libertarian geezers of Slashdot who whine about conspiracy theories on every climate-related post here.

    Whatever happened to global warming?

    It got re-branded in response to the nit-picking skeptics who claimed it was falsified every time there was a cold spell.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  75. Re:In Before by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2

    Whatever happened to global warming?

    It started testing poorly in focus groups when the globe stopped warming 18.8 years ago.

  76. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

    If you look back, you'll find that all the temperature increases over the pas 100 years have come from El Nino bumps. I wonder what's actually happening. It's certainly not the slow, even heat of CO2.

  77. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    BINGO. It's not CO2 - it's some sort of natural phenomenon. Given that, is it even possible to fight it?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  78. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by KenHansen · · Score: 1

    No one wants nuclear.

    Based on recent headlines in the news, Iran *really* wants nuclear energy...

  79. Irrational exuberance by NewYork · · Score: 1

    It's irrational exuberance without https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... role

  80. Fossil fuel, not Coal is the culprit by NewYork · · Score: 1

    Fossil fuel, not Coal is the culprit;
    http://qz.com/568450/fossil-fu...

  81. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 1

    Yes, with geo-engineering. We can alter the temperature within two years for about 1/1000th the cost of CO2 reduction. But, the religious folks don't consider that to be proper repentance for their notional sins committed against Mother Gaia for enjoying a high standard of living. So, we're scheduled to squander tens of trillions of dollars of borrowed money on a plan that not only won't work, but that we won't actually go through with it in any serious way.

  82. Re:In Before by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    18.8 years?

    What a bizarrely specific period. Do I smell cherries?

    Anyway, the trend since 1997 is (HadCRUT4) 0.093 +/-0.099 C/decade (2sigma), so it is just possible that there has been no warming over this ridiculously short period.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  83. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    Oh fucking jesus. If we move to alternatives

    No one wants nuclear.

    Speak for yourself.

    Oh, and by the way, Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  84. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    The RSS satellite temperature record shows no warming since January 1997.

    There is no RSS satellite temperature record.

    Satellite data is the most accurate/unbiased vs. land measurements which are corrupted by urban heat islands, scattered measuring locations, inconsistent equipment+calibrations.

    Unfortunately satellites don't measure temperature.

    They measure microwaves. From these microwave measurements two teams attempt to work out what the temperature might be at different levels in the atmosphere, notably the lower and mid troposphere. Both of them have frequently "adjusted" their results.

    UAH is based on a huge, often modified, piece of spaghetti Fortran. (The code for the current version is still not published).

    RSS is "validated" against the output of a climate model! Yes folks the gold standard denier dataset is partly based on a model!

    Neither dataset matches the radiosonde data taken from actual thermometers at the altitudes the satellites are supposed to be "measuring".

    Thanks, but when I want to know the temperature I'll stick to a thermometer.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  85. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    Wait, wait.

    A few posts ago you said the temperature was not increasing. Now you say it is increasing, but not from CO2?

    What?

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  86. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    If you look back, you'll find that all the temperature increases over the pas 100 years have come from El Nino bumps. I wonder what's actually happening. It's certainly not the slow, even heat of CO2.

    Try plotting a graph of the addition of a straight line increase and, for example, a sine wave. (Yes, I know El Nino/La Nina/ENSO is not a sine wave, this is just for example).

    What you see is the line goes through flattish bits (where the sine wave is going down, countering the trend), mixed with rapid jumps where the sine wave is going up, adding to the trend.

    Or to look at it in a more physical way -- El Nino can't be the cause of the warming -- it just moves heat from place to place, it doesn't make more heat.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  87. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Eh, I'm no-one.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  88. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by Eunuchswear · · Score: 1

    This Monty Python thing was a hint -- I'm in France. "No one wants nuclear" looks pretty silly when you read it in France.

    --
    Watch this Heartland Institute video
  89. Re: Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    That's a really obscure hint lol. Yeah, France does a lot better with nuclear than Germany, for sure.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  90. Re:In Before by dywolf · · Score: 1

    why waste time with idiots who would self asphyxiate if he said oxygen was good?

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  91. Re:In Before by dywolf · · Score: 1

    right on cue

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  92. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by dywolf · · Score: 1

    who keeps modding this idiot and his bs up?

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  93. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by dywolf · · Score: 1

    He can't decide which line of ignorance to stick to.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  94. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by dywolf · · Score: 1

    there are not enough facepalms in the universe to adequately respond to your ignorance.

    --
    The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
  95. Re:In Before by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    We have global warming. It is causing climate change. More specifically, it's causing climate to change at a very fast rate, removing much of the ability of plants, animals, and third-world nations to adapt to it.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  96. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    The claim that we can alter the temperature seems way optimistic. We've looked at ways of lowering the temperature, and found problems with them. One or more of the schemes might well work, without causing worse effects, but I'm not confident about it.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  97. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    It is possible to explain global warming simply. It isn't rigorous, but QED (the book) wasn't either. Lots of people, including me, have explained it in simple terms. You know what? It doesn't seem to do any good.

    Also, QED (the field) is much simpler than climate science. Never underestimate the complexity of a large chaotic system.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  98. Re:We still need a low carbon society by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Much more efficient to use solar/wind to reduce our fossil fuel consumption. Pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere will take a lot of energy, and it's hard to sequester a gas. Changing it to C and O2 will take considerably more power than we got doing the reverse, because of inefficiencies.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  99. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    You know what? It doesn't seem to do any good.

    What would you consider to be "good?" Maybe your understanding of the topic is lacking, and that's why you have trouble explaining it?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  100. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    No, a few posts ago I said it was flat after the singular El Nino event. And in fact flat before the El Nino event. If you actually read what I wrote - and not what your knee-jerk expectation wants to see - you'd understand my two posts are completely in line with each other. But strawmen are so much more fun to attack, are they not?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  101. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Please correct me, then. I've linked directly to the RSS record. What is wrong? Where is the error? Is your "correction" more accurate than my summation of the RSS record?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  102. Re:Meanwhile, still no global warming in last 19yr by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

    Those who look at your empty huffing posts and say "huh?" What is your response other than attacking with slurs?

    --
    Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
  103. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    No, I've explained it simply on Slashdot a few times, and nobody seems to pay attention. My understanding is not deep, but it's sufficient to show that we are warming things up.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  104. THIS IS HILLARIOUS! by DrPeper · · Score: 1

    My mind will never grasp the absolute power of stupidity. And stupidity in numbers is even more funny!

  105. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    None of those reasons. I rely on what's known about carbon dioxide, its increase, our part in its increase (including the change in isotope ratio as evidence, but I can leave that out). I don't have to refer to computer models, I don't say what we should do, and I don't think or claim that scientists are always right (although I don't have any instance where that many scientists were that wrong about something they were measuring). I'd be happy if people would generally agree we've got a problem and then try to work out what to do about it.

    Really, carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, and we've known that for more than a century, and can verify it simply. We know the atmospheric concentration has gone from about 280ppm to 400ppm. I can easily show that burning fossil fuel is a sufficient explanation for the increase. We're changing the atmosphere in a way that should warm things up, and things are warming up. At that point, people should agree that AGW is going on, and might be a problem. If we can get to that point, we'd be a lot further along than we are now.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  106. Re:OMFG, the level of stupidity in threads like th by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    I'd be happy if people would generally agree we've got a problem and then try to work out what to do about it.

    Well maybe there's your issue. It's not clear, after all, that we even have a problem. I've had no problem convincing people when I say, "We know that adding CO2 to the atmosphere will generally increase the temperature. We don't know by how much, or if it will be a problem."

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  107. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    I was more wondering how the average is calculated, as in my country the average has raised most certainly far above +2 degrees.

    I mean as a layman I would say:
    o one measurement every 24h, divide by 24 yields average at that spot, for this day
    o having a grid covering a country, you can average over the whole country
    o do that 365 days a year and divide by 365, you have the average of the temp of the year in that country
    o scale that to the globe

    Obviously it is done either in a complete different way or the ocean has an absurd high effect in masquerading the change of the "global average".

    Gut feeling for german: the average temperature increased in average by something like 10 - 15 degrees centigrade (versus something like 35 years ago).

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  108. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    I was more wondering how the average is calculated

    Oh, sorry, I misunderstood you.
    I downloaded the datasets once and started looking at them, and figuring out an "average" is tough. Here's one map from NASA that gives some idea of Germany but I'm sure there are others.
    There are so many complications. Some averages are only for land, others try to take into consideration land and oceans. Of course, ocean temperature records don't go back as far, and in some cases involved a ship dropping a bucket into the ocean and sticking a thermometer in the bucket.
    Then of course there are thermometers that disappear over time, and urban heat islands, and heat islands from improved irrigation.

    I pretty much gave up trying to understand how to average out the temperature record, and now I just look at the satellite record and consider it more accurate (of course, that only goes back to the 70s, but you can't have everything).

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  109. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Hm, two things immediately jump into my mind:

    1) the pacific west of south america, that looks like a typical El Nina phenomenon, not like something anomal
    2) the subtitle of the headline is: "with respect to a 1971 - 2010 base period"

    So, they use the "average of 1071 - 2010" as "base" ... not really easy to grasp. If that is the case the red +4 and +5 degree spots are "fake" and should be significantly higher.

    Interesting is also, that over Arctica, we seem to have not much data (of that time period).

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  110. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    Yeah. I was trying to find a graph of temperatures in Germany, but that was the best I could find before I got bored lol, sorry

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  111. Re:Global Warming is Awesome! by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    No lroblem, lol.
    It is quite difficult to google in our times. For some reason the machine is misinterpreting search terms, ignoring quotes and thinks stuff shown/clicked-on often is more important.
    Guess I should again apply for a job at dmi.dk ... they do amazing stuff and the basic courses about climat are quite informative (not that you would need them if you work there as a mere software developper)

    E.g. the europeans have a few dozen special 'space probes' orbiting relatively low. The use them to target GPS satellites and measure the refraction of the signals going through the upper atmosphere. That makes it possible to make conclusions about composition _and_ temperature in the higher atmosphere. Pretty amazing.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.