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July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

ncdc.noaa.gov

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Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#81

Post by cryoshon »

cryptoz wrote: post #36

Climate change is the biggest problem of our time. I wish there were more startups focused on solving it - there are so many opportunities to make money here while improving the world at a global scale. Mitigating the effects of climate change for businesses could easily be worth $1T+. More VCs should pay attention to these opportunities, and more startup founders should enter this space.

Make a startup that cuts human agricultural and industrial production and consumption by 50%, without hurting peoples consumption-insane lifestyle. Alternatively, make a startup that kills a sizeable fraction of people on earth-- which fraction is yours to pick, just make sure there's lower consumption of resources afterward.

Alternatively, make a startup that plans to relocate/revamp agriculture and industrial production into negative emissions processes while being cheaper than any of the current positive emissions processes. This isn't as far fetched as it seems on the longest term, but in the term that we need it, it's going to be tough. We're already living in a climate that is pushed past where it "should" be.

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#82

Post by yongjik »

caseysoftware wrote: post #72
davidw wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be curious to understand why some people seem to be offended by the idea that people cause global warming. I flag all these articles though, because they always end up about politics, given that scientists are mostly in consensus, and very few people here are climate scientists.

Well, if you accept that humans are a major cause of global warming, the equation becomes pretty simple: Limit human behavior or limit the number of humans. Both have scary ramifications.

Humans were a major cause of acid rain and the ozone hole. We more or less solved these problems, by "limiting human behavior", and most people didn't even notice.

I don't see why people should be so scared by more solar (or even nuclear) plants.

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#83

Post by cryptoz »

rnovak wrote: post #79
rdtsc wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So.....saying we can make as accurate of forecasts for 200 years ago...that's not really saying much. It is saying quite a lot actually because the past has already happened. In the first case you are talking about the future, and yes, in some places weather is more unpredictable. You can of course move to the desert and enjoy clockwork predictable weather if it bothers you that much. The OP was talking about "afca…

wait a second. The OP was comparing "aftcasting" TO "forecasting" 2-3 days in advance, and that's what my statement was based on. If your 2-3 day forecasting is off by 5-6 degrees (celcius), why would your "aftcasting" forecast for 200 years ago be any more accurate if it is "just as good" as a 2-3 day forecast? That means I would expect an error of 5-6 degrees, same as a 2-3 day forecast edit: formatting

If everyone is nitpicking that part of my comment, it would be worth noting that I was paraphrasing from the paper I linked.

> For the beginning of the twentieth century, the errors of such upper-air circulation maps over the Northern Hemisphere in winter would be comparable to the 2–3-day errors of modern weather forecasts.

Might be worth reading the abstract / full paper if you're interested in the topic.

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#84

Post by cryoshon »

bnolsen wrote: post #2

sure. more than half the data used in their models is fake made up numbers. Can't trust anything noaa has to say. using non made up temperature data shows we're actually very slightly cooling.

If you don't trust the NOAA, just check the Russian, Chinese, or European climate models and temperature measurements.

I guarantee you they'd be happy to prove America wrong on the world stage, so there's an incentive for them to be accurate.

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#85

Post by marcusgarvey »

For those who believe that climate change is real, and a significant threat to our longevity on this planet, would you please view / read this and share your thoughts?

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=...

I don't believe defeatism is helpful, but I got a very Prince "Party Like It's 1999" feeling after consuming this. What should we do? If we pull all the fossil fuels out of our economy tomorrow, everything will crash. Not to mention that there is zero political will to even contemplate this. So what should we do?

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#86

Post by braythwayt »

zajd wrote: post #44
jedberg wrote: post #37

Has anyone else noticed that the conservative rhetoric has quietly switched from "global warming doesn't exist so we don't have to do anything" to "global warming isn't caused by people so there is nothing we can do"?

I think you'll find (and the comments on this story illustrate the point quite succinctly) that there are still many idiots who are willing to tow the "human driven climate change is a made up thing" Sad but true

I think “toes the line” is an expression literally meaning, “To advance to the start of a race.” From there, we get the idea of participating in something, and from there we get conforming to rules or standards.

As in, “Raganwald has a potty mouth in person, but he toes the line and respects HN’s guidelines for civil discussion."

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#87

Post by sanderjd »

jedberg wrote: post #37

Has anyone else noticed that the conservative rhetoric has quietly switched from "global warming doesn't exist so we don't have to do anything" to "global warming isn't caused by people so there is nothing we can do"?

I've always found it incredibly frustrating that both sides focus so much on "is it caused by people". It makes things personal, it sounds to many people like an accusation – "you're ruining the world just by living your life" – which (understandably!) makes people defensive, and it's completely beside the point. There are only two relevant questions: 1. Is it happening? and 2. What can we do right now to fix it? The answer to (1) seems to be "yes", but while I do hear lots of discussion about different answers to (2), I hear even more about all this stuff that's happened in the past and can't be changed. Don't get me wrong, it is definitely important for scientists to understand how our behavior impacts the climate, in order to make intelligent proposals about how to fix things, but it's purely a distraction in the policy discussion. Even if we determine that humans have had nothing to do with the looming crisis, we still need to figure out how to fix it, if we want to survive. If lived in an era with an impending but completely naturally occurring ice age, we (or, at least, many of us) would still be trying to figure out how to stop it, or survive it.

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#88

Post by [deleted] »

wmeredith wrote: post #58
elektromekatron wrote: post #29

I find it continually amazing how many people find NASA sending rockets into space all the time to be an expected and everyday part of modern life, but then don't trust them with a thermometer.

The American GOP and their fossil fuel powered deep pocket backers have done a wonderful job making this an emotionally, and even religiously charged issue (as all good wedge issues should be). More reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/201...

[deleted]

Re: July 2015 was warmest month ever recorded

#89

Post by [deleted] »

wmeredith wrote: post #58
elektromekatron wrote: post #29

I find it continually amazing how many people find NASA sending rockets into space all the time to be an expected and everyday part of modern life, but then don't trust them with a thermometer.

The American GOP and their fossil fuel powered deep pocket backers have done a wonderful job making this an emotionally, and even religiously charged issue (as all good wedge issues should be). More reading: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/201...

[deleted]
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