Warmest summer ever

[Camilo]

Sorry folks, but it's not looking good for our glaciers.

From CNN:

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week.

 

While climate events like El Nino -- when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean --affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part.

 

"There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, based in New York.

 

The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively.

 

Short-term factors like large volcanic eruptions that launched tiny particles of sulfuric acid into the upper atmosphere in 1963, 1982 and 1991 can change climates for periods ranging from months to a few years.

 

Last year was the the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview.

 

Average temperatures taken from land and surfaces of the oceans showed 2004 was 0.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 Celsius) above the average temperature from 1951 to 1980, according to Hansen.

 

The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said.

 

Carbon dioxide, emitted by autos, industry and utilities, is the most common greenhouse gas. Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space.

 

That extra energy, together with a weak El Nino, is expected to make 2005 warmer than 2003 and 2004 and perhaps even warmer than 1998, which had stood out as far hotter than any year in the preceding century, NASA said in a statement.

 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the current weak El Nino will diminish and end during the next three months.

[glacier]

AIEEEE!!! Retreat!!!! Retreat!!!

[AlpineK]

I think everyone who bought a season pass should send their recipt to GW and demand a refund.

[EWolfe]

Alaska: The new Pacific Northwest!

[bunglehead]

But I like the environment the way it is!

 

I'm telling you dudes, it's going down just like in that movie "The Arrival"

The aliens are getting ready to take over!!!!!

[Ricardo_Montalban]

The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively.

wasn't '98 the year of the record breaking snowpack? how does this jive with warm temps and el nino?

 

Last year was the the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview.

this annoys me. a global average temp report does not mean shit to the average joe. "it's 1.5 degrees warmer than 50 years ago??? BFD!" it's the regional climate changes (like pnw is 7 degrees warmer and north plains are 6 degrees colder) that joe is going to appreciate more. if you're going to report stats, do it in a way that people will truly understand.

 

The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said.

didn't el nino used to run on a ~7 year cycle? i remember hearing that somewhere, but i've only been here for 10 years; not long enough to 'feel' the cycle

 

...Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space.

can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth?

 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the current weak El Nino will diminish and end during the next three months.

"weak" el nino???? this is the worst snowpack for the region in over 25 years...how is this weak?

 

sorry for the rant. this article crushed my remaining thread of hope for decent snow.

 

thanks camilo!

[jmace]

can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth?

 

thats awesome, its this sort of thing that people who jump all over global warming forget about instead its always someones SUV blah blah blah, when someones says "I think everyone who bought a season pass should send their recipt to GW and demand a refund. "

 

what you gonna do stop building, its little things like this that add up to make a big problem not just one thing.

 

good points Ricardo

[Jim]

The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively.

wasn't '98 the year of the record breaking snowpack? how does this jive with warm temps and el nino?

 

Last year was the the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 Celsius), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview.

this annoys me. a global average temp report does not mean shit to the average joe. "it's 1.5 degrees warmer than 50 years ago??? BFD!" it's the regional climate changes (like pnw is 7 degrees warmer and north plains are 6 degrees colder) that joe is going to appreciate more. if you're going to report stats, do it in a way that people will truly understand.

 

The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said.

didn't el nino used to run on a ~7 year cycle? i remember hearing that somewhere, but i've only been here for 10 years; not long enough to 'feel' the cycle

 

...Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space.

can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth?

 

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday the current weak El Nino will diminish and end during the next three months.

"weak" el nino???? this is the worst snowpack for the region in over 25 years...how is this weak?

 

It always cracks me up when sophisticated meterological modeling and reviews by groups such as the National Academy of Science gets simplistic critical comments. Hey, what's a degree or two? If it's not on the level of a reality TV show - then forget about it. No wonder the Bushies are able to tout their version of misinformation with such willing swallowers.

[AlpineK]

can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth?

 

thats awesome, its this sort of thing that people who jump all over global warming forget about instead its always someones SUV blah blah blah, when someones says "I think everyone who bought a season pass should send their recipt to GW and demand a refund. "

 

what you gonna do stop building, its little things like this that add up to make a big problem not just one thing.

 

good points Ricardo

 

You must have just fallen off the turnip truck. Note the at the top of my post....hello

 

My serious oppinion is more or less what Jim just said.

[JayB]

"...with such willing swallowers."

 

I think that the Clinton administration actually set the standard for this one.

 

Bdump-chink.

[Alpinfox]

 

"The three warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998; 19 of the warmest 20 since 1980. And Earth has probably never warmed as fast as in the past 30 years."

 

SOURCE

 

 

Other signs of climate change:

Most number of tornadoes/year in North America (most to least): 2004 (1717events), 1998 (1424), 2003 (1368)

Figure 7t-11: Average number of tornadoes and tornado fatalities per year in the United States for the period 1916 to 1996. (Source: Oklahoma Climatological Survey).

 

 

Warmest years on record for North America in order warmest to coolest: 2005 (projected), 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004

 

Yesterday while climbing at Lil' Si, I was bitten by a few mosquitos. I don't think they are supposed to be out in February?

 

Western Washington currently has 25% of the normal snowpack for this time of year. It's going to be a bad year for salmon, forest fires, farmers, electicity prices, kayakers, etc.

[bunglehead]

OH MY GOD IT'S REALLY HAPPENING!!!!

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

"...with such willing swallowers."

 

I think that the Clinton administration actually set the standard for this one.

 

Bdump-chink.

 

If she swallowed, we could've save a hell of a lot of time, money and energy! Ditto for doing laundry...

 

[Jim]

can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth?

 

thats awesome, its this sort of thing that people who jump all over global warming forget about instead its always someones SUV blah blah blah, when someones says "I think everyone who bought a season pass should send their recipt to GW and demand a refund. "

 

what you gonna do stop building, its little things like this that add up to make a big problem not just one thing.

 

good points Ricardo

 

You must have just fallen off the turnip truck. Note the at the top of my post....hello

 

My serious oppinion is more or less what Jim just said.

 

It's getting harder to tell the sprayers from the serious post. Someone get this halibut-sized hook outta my mouth.

[AlpineK]

I thought I was making fun of jmace not you. Global warming is quite the spray gadfly around here.

 

It doesn't matter what we say, but it is too bad that the GW crew doesn't take the problem seriously.

[jmace]

Im going home and I hope everyone gets out this weekend to play in the snow, I will

 

Cheers

Edited February 12, 2005 by jmace

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I thought I was making fun of jmace not you. Global warming is quite the spray gadfly around here.

 

It doesn't matter what we say, but it is too bad that the GW crew doesn't take the problem seriously.

 

Was flipping through talk radio stations last night and listened to that idiot O'Reilly for a few minutes. He had (I believe) R. Kennedy Jr. on as a guest. He claimed that the US could eliminate dependence on mideast oil and reduce emissions significantly by raising gas mileage 7 or 8 m.p.g. Seems doable, and a reasonable step in the right direction to me.

Unfortunately, it is being blocked by *both* parties because of special interests.

[bunglehead]

There's so much about this country that blows. This being an example. I think we should fucking nuke DC after we evacuate the residents. Take out all of the Government. That might be a good start.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

There's so much about this country that blows. This being an example. I think we should fucking nuke DC after we evacuate the residents. Take out all of the Government. That might be a good start.

 

I remember hearing reports during the first few days of the movie "Independence Day" that the movie audiences cheered when the aliens blew up the capital building...

 

Samuel Clemens has some classic quotes that come to mind regarding our leaders:

click here

[Skeezix]

Oh God...Does this mean this will be the summer that the Jeff Clark Glacier disappears completely from the south side of Forbidden?!

[AlpineK]

I thought I was making fun of jmace not you. Global warming is quite the spray gadfly around here.

 

It doesn't matter what we say, but it is too bad that the GW crew doesn't take the problem seriously.

 

Was flipping through talk radio stations last night and listened to that idiot O'Reilly for a few minutes. He had (I believe) R. Kennedy Jr. on as a guest. He claimed that the US could eliminate dependence on mideast oil and reduce emissions significantly by raising gas mileage 7 or 8 m.p.g. Seems doable, and a reasonable step in the right direction to me.

Unfortunately, it is being blocked by *both* parties because of special interests.

 

I have to admit I heard a recent story about planned windmills off Cape Cod. It seems that the main opposition to the project came from people like the Kenedys who's basic fear is the plan would wreck property values.

 

I figure that we're human and we're going to fuck something up no matter what we do, but we should try and do something that causes less impact. A lot of liberal groups want to do something about global warming, but they shoot down all the alternatives that are actually practical.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I have to admit I heard a recent story about planned windmills off Cape Cod. It seems that the main opposition to the project came from people like the Kenedys who's basic fear is the plan would wreck property values.

 

He was asked about that. Basically his answer seemed reasonable and had two parts:

 

1) the proposed wind farm would be built in a national park (Nantucket?). This would ruin a pristine environment, and on the east coast, there are fewer national parks than in the West, so this would deprive local residents from a true wilderness experience close to home.

 

2) the wind farm could be built further up the shore. It would be more expensive to build there, but it would be just as effective at producing energy.

[AlpineK]

That does sound reasonable, however the story I heard on the subject said that he was opposed to a wind farm anywhere near Cape Cod.

[Dave_Schuldt]

The forcast for this winter was......wrong. The forcast for the summer.......who knows, we'll just have to wait and see.

Remeber, global warming is caused by cow farts.

[AlpineK]

Actually most forecasters got it right. Only the guys from OR fucked up.