Speaking of Global Warming, this is disconcerting
From JunkScience (which quotes a lot of scientific studies) - maybe Global Warming, over the really long haul, isn't quite what we think:
That's interesting... "Facing the prospect of rapid warming" - "DURHAM - Fossil trees in Antarctica show us that climate has changed greatly in the past. Suppose the current warming is just part of a longer trend that we can't do anything about? It is worth looking at what we know about global climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for the past 10,000 years -- the Holocene. That period includes the entire history of organized human society -- culture, trade, language, money, agriculture and cities. If we care about what happens to humans, we should care about changes that are unusual to our history." (William H. Schlesinger, The News & Observer)
... Bill seems rather concerned about atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, mostly as a possible driver of dramatic warming. Of particular note, however, are points of reference.
"Independent studies of tree rings and ice cores show that despite some unusual periods, such as the Little Ice Age, 1550 to 1850 A.D., the Earth's mean temperature does not appear to have been more than about 1 degree Fahrenheit warmer or cooler than its long-term average of about 59 degrees."
About 59 °F... that's 15 °C or 288.15 K. The National Climatic Data Center assesses the Global Mean Surface Temperature Estimate for the Base Period 1880 to 2004 (Combined Mean Surface Temp.) as 57.0 °F, that's ~13.9 °C or 287.05 K (14 °C or 287.15 K seems to be rather more common as the mean from which anomalies are estimated). With estimates of Earth's global mean anomaly for 2005 ranging from +0.4 to +0.8 °C (57.9 - 58.6 °F or 287.55 - 287.95 K) the Earth would appear rather cooler than it's recent long-term average as cited by Schlesinger. If it's still below average, despite measurable increase in carbon dioxide, what's all the excitement about?
If this is right, then what we see is weather changing rapidly but climate changing slowly in trends whose timings and mechanisms we are not entirely clear on. I am fairly convinced that we are in a warming trend. I am NOT convinced that human activities are the only items behind this trend. In fact, I'm not at all convinced that we are the major players at all (and I do not base this just on this factiod).
However, I do believe that for some, environmentalism has become a religion, and like all religious fanatics, will do almost anything to push their agenda (and taken to the extreme, like ELF, are willing to destroy property not their own and harrass / threaten to kill others).
