The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies • Hacker News Board

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#51

Post by mdp2021 » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 8:09 AM UTC

hellbannedguy wrote: post #38

ceejayoz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change? The worldwide average doesn't really tell the full story, because there can be significant local extremes that are far greater. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton,_British_Columbia , a town that broke the all-time tem…

1.1 C = around 39 F The world temp has gone up 39 degrees? That is much higher than I thought. That couldn't be right? I'm tired today.

You have read the scale¹ instead of interpreting the value as a delta, a step, a degree. ¹(1.1°C above freezing reread in °F - 39°F - which means "the difference between a temperature almost never reached in Denmark and freezing water, plus 1.1°C".)

The Celsius scale uses 0 for "freezing water" and 100 for "boiling water".

Fahrenheit uses 32 for "freezing water" and 100 for "body temperature". (The "32" comes from interpolating Rømer's scale, and 0 is somehow "the minimum temperature ever one expected in Denmark".)

The single degree (step) is halfish/doublish that of the other scale: C = (5/9)F (from freeze to body temperature it's ~37 steps in °C and ~68 in °F). And there is an offset of 32.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#52

Post by yosito » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 10:18 AM UTC

ceejayoz wrote: post #14

yosito wrote: post #3

Animals bodies evolve to adapt to changes in the environment. This is nothing new. It's literally the process that has driven life forward since life first appeared. And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change?

> And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change? The worldwide average doesn't really tell the full story, because there can be significant local extremes that are far greater. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton,_British_Columbia , a town that broke the all-time tem…

> there can be significant local extremes that are far greater

You're moving goal posts. Either we're talking about global climate change, or we're talking about local changes. Local changes have always happened, and animals either adapt or die when they do. There is no argument that the global average change is any more than 1.1c in the last century.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#53

Post by ceejayoz » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 1:42 PM UTC

yosito wrote: post #52

ceejayoz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And given that the planet has so far only warmed an average of 1.1 degrees celcius due to climate change, isn't it a bit overzealous to blame animals' adaptation on climate change? The worldwide average doesn't really tell the full story, because there can be significant local extremes that are far greater. See, for example, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton,_British_Columbia , a town that broke the all-time tem…

> there can be significant local extremes that are far greater You're moving goal posts. Either we're talking about global climate change, or we're talking about local changes. Local changes have always happened, and animals either adapt or die when they do. There is no argument that the global average change is any more than 1.1c in the last century.

Both are important. People who go "a couple degrees average isn't that big of a deal" are missing a big part of the dangers of global climate change.

Humans can't survive more than a few hours at a wet bulb temperature (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_temperature) of 35°C, even if they have shade, drinking water, and fans available. If air conditioning fails, you're dead.

As the global average creeps up, some of these local variations in hot, humid places without sufficient power infrastructure to reliably run A/C for everyone like Bangladesh have the potential to kill millions.

Re: The effects of a warmer world are visible in animals’ bodies

#54

Post by kortilla » Thu, Sep 16, 2021, 11:34 AM UTC

throwaheyy wrote: post #33

kortilla wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It burned to the ground due to a wildfire caused by sparks from a train, not from the heat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lytton_wildfire Wildfires don’t spread much better in 90F vs 121F. The big thing that causes uncontrollable spreads is lots of fast wind.

Yes they do, when higher temps have dried out the vegetation.

Lack of humidity dries out vegetation more than heat.