Here's another news.com story before I go home:
CLIMATE change is confusing. It's either the end of the world and we're all going to die. Or it's an overblown threat involving "warmists" and the "IPCC".
If you feel like you don't fully understand what's going on, you're not alone.
Plenty of people have an opinion on what is happening. But what are the facts and how does it affect you?
1. WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate change is global warming. The two are the same thing. It is the world getting hotter.
No one doubts it is happening. The last decade, 2000 to 2010, was the hottest on record. The big controversy is about what is causing it.
2. RIGHT. BUT DID HUMANS CAUSE IT?
Yes. But it's understandable if you're not convinced. Plenty of people don't believe it. And sceptics have plenty of questions: What if the solar flares make the world hot? Doesn't the climate always change? Isn't it a good thing?
All of these have serious answers from very smart people. You can find these busted myths at the bottom of this piece.
But you do need to know one small statistic: 95 per cent.
That's how certain the United Nations climate science panel is that climate change is manmade.
3. REMIND ME HOW IT WORKS
Science boffins named John Tyndall and Svante Arrhenius figured out how it works in the late 19th century. It's simple. Basically:
Heat + Manmade gases that keep heat = Hot Earth
Global warming is caused by so-called "greenhouse gases". The gases, such as carbon dioxide, absorb heat and keep the planet warm enough for us to live on.
But humans - and yes, cows farting - have added so many tonnes of it into the atmosphere over the past hundred years that it has warmed up the planet.
4. SO IT WILL BE REALLY HOT?
Our summers are already getting longer by a day or two each decade, heatwave expert Sarah Perkins told news.com.au. Heatwaves are becoming increasingly common in the cooler months.
Then there's the kicker. By 2070, Australia is expected to warm between 1.0 to 5 degrees Celsius, according to the CSIRO.
It's the difference between a cool day and a scorcher where you melt into a little puddle.
5. SO HOT IT CAUSES BUSHFIRES?
It's difficult to say. Arsonists cause fires. So do lit cigarettes, dry conditions and the high fuel load of bushland.
But heatwaves and predicted drier conditions in southern Australia can help create the conditions where bushfires are more likely to happen, heatwave expert Sarah Perkins told news.com.au.
6. WHAT ABOUT SEA LEVELS?
On average the nation will experience a 300-fold increase in "flooding events" by the year 2100, according to a report released by Australia's Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre. That means one-in-a-hundred year floods will become considerably more common.
(not a real picture)
7. AT LEAST YOU DON'T LIVE HERE
We are actually lucky compared to the poor folk of the small nation of Tuvalu, found halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
It's easily one of the countries that will suffer the most. Much of the country could be flooded.
"This is a 'life or death' survival issue for Tuvalu," the country's now leader, Enele Sopoaga, pleaded with the world in 2010.
The entire population of the tiny chain of nine Pacific Islands lives under 2m above sea level. As you can see.
The global average sea level could rise by a metre by the end of the century if emissions remain high. If they are lower, levels could rise between 28cm and 60cm.
They have it tough enough already when a cyclone hits. "There are no mountains to climb, no inland to run to. Of course, there are coconut trees," Mr Sopoaga said.
Another low-lying nation, the Maldives, has reportedly weighed up moving its population to Australia.
8. THE GOOD NEWS ... AND THE ACID NEWS
Finally. Some good news from this global warming mess. More time at the beach for you!
You're in luck if you live on the east coast of Australia and find the ocean too cold most of the time. The water's getting warmer much quicker than the rest of the ocean.
Sucks if you live in the ocean though. The warmer currents will disrupt how tropical fish move around, oceanographer Erik Van Sebille from UNSW's Climate Systems Science Centre said.
Meanwhile, the oceans are becoming more acidic as well. The oceans absorb around 30 per cent of the carbon dioxide humans have emitted into the atmosphere.
9. WHERE DOES IT END?
A "tipping point" means we can't go back. The Earth's climate would have changed in a way that's irreversible. At least for thousands of years.
Scientists want to keep the temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius or less, otherwise the IPCC warns we will see "catastrophic" damage.
To prevent that, the international community including the world's biggest polluters, the US and China, needs to sign a deal to slash emissions.
10. CAN I DO SOMETHING?
At the end of the day, you're just a small fish in a big blue pond hurtling through space.
There are little things you can do, especially recycling and switching off that power-guzzling air conditioner. Ultimately, the most powerful tool you have is your right to vote.
Click Here To Read Entire Article
Gotta go back later
@spotweldersfriend wrote:
Still waiting for a graph for the last 60 years.
Why? Why not post one yourself?......
Your posts are very peculiar SWF....are you afraid to post a graph?
Poor Alarmists... 
@baybizz wrote:
1975: We all going to freeze... "The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth's climate seems to be COOLING down....
http://www.denisdutton.com/newsweek_coolingworld.pdf
Oh no, sorry, we got it wrong. We are now all going to fry...
The Great Global Warming Swindle... (Channel 4 TV):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Mx0_8YEtg
>> 100 reasons why climate change is natural...
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/146138/100-reasons-why-climate-change-is-natural
>> Energy bills would be slashed within weeks if green levies were scrapped... they blamed the subsidies for pushing up prices... Representatives of the Big Six energy firms told the Energy and Climate Change Committee that rising wholesale costs and environmental โstealth taxesโ were behind the average 9.1 per cent price increase announced by some of the companies. The chief executive officer of E. On described the green levies as a โpoll taxโ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10413396/Scrap-green-tax-and-energy-bills-wil...
>> Where's the global warming? Ice caps grew...
http://community.ebay.com/t5/The-eBay-Town-Square/Where-s-the-global-warming-ice-caps-grew/m-p/17342...
etc. etc..
1975: We all going to freeze... "The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth's climate seems to be COOLING down....
Alarmists just like to be hysterical....... cold or hot.......
SWF you will have a long wait for anything scientific from SRBA, especially as he now is relying on that nut Monkton for material.
I have tried in the past to explain to SRBA apropos the scientific method, but like P7 and his harping and "chemtrails" there is no acceptance of datasets/science.
SRBA I repeat yet again the magic word TREND, and suitable time-base/average/mean. Here is a record/graph from 1890 using 5 reliable datasets, your attempt to decry global warming is based upon the carefully selected last 15 years or so, which yes has a minor fluctuation from the obvious TREND, and 1998 also appears to have been chosen as the start, because it was a very warm El Niรฑo event that year.
Here is something home grown from our own BOM, the grey areas are 10 year mean:
Finally I can not resist a past utterance of yours SRBA:
"So...... how come the temperature has dropped.......giggle........"
"We still haven't matched the temperatures of 1998..."
NASA
1998 annual mean was warm (spike) due to a El Niรฑo event, but in annual mean it was exceeded in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2010. However, if one takes the more meaningful 5 year_Mean, every year after 1998 has a greater (+) temperature anomaly from the 1998 and the 1951-1980 base.
nษฅยบษพ
@spotweldersfriend wrote:
...still waiting for that graph siggie.
I have posted two already.....if you don't like mine...show us yours......or even try using words to try to make your point...lol.
Do tell...why the dislike of my graphs, why are you uncomfortable with them?
Are you too shy to expressing your thoughts aswell SWF, or just in capable?
.......poor Alarmists....
@monman12 wrote:SWF you will have a long wait for anything scientific from SRBA, especially as he now is relying on that nut Monkton for material.
I have tried in the past to explain to SRBA apropos the scientific method, but like P7 and his harping and "chemtrails" there is no acceptance of datasets/science.
SRBA I repeat yet again the magic word TREND, and suitable time-base/average/mean. Here is a record/graph from 1890 using 5 reliable datasets, your attempt to decry global warming is based upon the carefully selected last 15 years or so, which yes has a minor fluctuation from the obvious TREND, and 1998 also appears to have been chosen as the start, because it was a very warm El Niรฑo event that year.
Here is something home grown from our own BOM, the grey areas are 10 year mean:
Finally I can not resist a past utterance of yours SRBA:
"So...... how come the temperature has dropped.......giggle........"
"We still haven't matched the temperatures of 1998..."
NASA1998 annual mean was warm (spike) due to a El Niรฑo event, but in annual mean it was exceeded in 2002, 2005, 2007, and 2010. However, if one takes the more meaningful 5 year_Mean, every year after 1998 has a greater (+) temperature anomaly from the 1998 and the 1951-1980 base.
nษฅยบษพ
What is your point Mm?........don't become hysterical, but temperature does change.
Although, not so much for the last 17 years.........
