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Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

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Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always heard it was the rectal temperature of a cow, but that's not what wikipedia tells me, so someone probably made that up. One advantage of the Fahrenheit scale is that the range from 0 to 100 roughly corresponds to temperatures people normally deal with.

After moving to Europe I am completely on board with the simplicity of the metric system, however I do prefer the Fahrenheit scale for exactly the reason you described above. A human will face winter weather conditions from 0-32F which converts to negative values on the Celsius scale (not practical). On the other end of the spectrum for summer time conditions, there is a wider range of values to ascribe to changes in…

Why is it not practical? We're taught in schools that water freezes below 0C and boils above 100C thus more than 0 = hotter, less than 0 = colder, more than 100 = you're melting. If you wake up and see less than 0 on thermometer you know it's freezing time.

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a gigantic mountain of evidence in favor of climate change, and you're listening to industry propaganda produced by the very people who have a clear monetary interest in doing nothing! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling#/media/File:Pee... https://www.skepticalscience.com/ice-age-predictions-in-1970...

"Oceanic thermocline" never fails to trigger people. As soon as they actually do in fact research it, they realize that: a) we don't have the data b) we don't have an accurate/sane mathematical model for it. We can't use satellites to measure anything other than surface temperature of the ocean; it would require an actual, physically located sensor network spread throughout the oceans of the world to get this informa…

http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/FAQ.html

We have a whole fleet of submersible thermometers that dive down to 2000 meters. And it's not that hard to tie a thermometer to a lead sinker and take a deep ocean temperature.

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always heard it was the rectal temperature of a cow, but that's not what wikipedia tells me, so someone probably made that up. One advantage of the Fahrenheit scale is that the range from 0 to 100 roughly corresponds to temperatures people normally deal with.

After moving to Europe I am completely on board with the simplicity of the metric system, however I do prefer the Fahrenheit scale for exactly the reason you described above. A human will face winter weather conditions from 0-32F which converts to negative values on the Celsius scale (not practical). On the other end of the spectrum for summer time conditions, there is a wider range of values to ascribe to changes in…

> there is a wider range of values to ascribe to changes in temperature from 60F-100F or approx 16-38C

And why is that important? Are our bodies so finely tuned that it's important to know the difference between 104 and 105 F?

Even in the less granular celsius, unless it's just about bragging rights everything is about brackets anyway.

30+: wear shorts and hydrate

20-30: comfortable in short sleeves

10-20: bring a light jacket

0-10: wear a sweater

n10-0: wear a winter coat

n20-n10: wear gloves and a hat

n40-n20: no exposed skin

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#94
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You as a concerned citizen can do plenty on your own. Most people could cut down their emissions and other environmental impacts by 50% easily if they really cared. The problem is that most people don't really care that much when push comes to shove, and in aggregate this is the reason for why we're moving so slowly on climate change.

As positive as we should paint this, when somebody does this, it doesn't at all solve the problem. Corporations and Governments need to be kept at a level that stops climate change, to make a difference. Citizens need a reeducation regarding meat, regarding travel, regarding transportation of goods and what the globalization does to the environment. The biggest change can only be triggered by either overthrowing the…

We need artificial meat. Research and production should be funded by meat taxation.

We need environmentally friendly travel. Research and manufacturing should be funded by fossil fuel taxation.

These tasks should be implemented using the boiling frog principle. Increase taxes and funding by ~1.5% per year until we have met a goal of 50/50% meat/artificial meat consumption and 50/50% fossil fuel/renewable fuel. At which point the taxes and funding could be freezed until a 90/10 ratio is reached and then phased out by 1.5% each year.

It wouldn't shock anyone. You'd be "boiled" into a functioning world.

This should be sanctioned by UN.

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely not true. People don't know that. Ask 2000 people on the street in a southern red state what their contribution to climate change is. I bet you get 0s back. "Taht fake thing isn't real" - "My car doesn't pollute you schmuck" - "the Earth is here for us to pollute it, that's what god said", etc. People do not know that their largest personal impact is cars and meat. They just don't know that at all…

Go to a highly educated Silicon Valley tech company. Survey around. How many of these people eat beef? How many take frequent vacations via plane? Per capita, especially due to the plane travel, their emissions are probably as high as someone in a southern red state. Personal convenience beats doing the right ting.

Personal convenience beats doing the right ting.

Yes, I am moving more and more towards that camp too. I don't own a car, never fly, eat mainly chicken instead of beef, and consistently vote green. But I refuse to take more responsibility when the rest of the world is so obviously not picking up its share.

Like another parent said, this is a coordination problem. The collective action that people have been clamouring for for decades hasn't happened, and my personal contribution is small enough to not make a hint of a dent. Frankly, I have resigned myself to the reality that peak civilization is behind us.

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#96
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might help: https://xkcd.com/1732/

Interesting. So there was a +4C change in average temperature even before the industrial age began? Didn't know that.

Over the span of 15000 to 20000 years.

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#97
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Education would be a good start. Guess who can decide about what we are taught? Governments.

People know their personal largest impact is cars and meat. But personal convenience has always beaten doing the right thing.

(Where) do smartphones fit in the impact spectrum?

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't 100 Fahrenheit the temperature of a chicken on tuesday in the sunshine? Can't quite remember how that scale was created.

I always heard it was the rectal temperature of a cow, but that's not what wikipedia tells me, so someone probably made that up. One advantage of the Fahrenheit scale is that the range from 0 to 100 roughly corresponds to temperatures people normally deal with.

[deleted]

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Oceanic thermocline" never fails to trigger people. As soon as they actually do in fact research it, they realize that: a) we don't have the data b) we don't have an accurate/sane mathematical model for it. We can't use satellites to measure anything other than surface temperature of the ocean; it would require an actual, physically located sensor network spread throughout the oceans of the world to get this informa…

http://www.argo.ucsd.edu/FAQ.html We have a whole fleet of submersible thermometers that dive down to 2000 meters. And it's not that hard to tie a thermometer to a lead sinker and take a deep ocean temperature.

We don't even have 20 years' worth of data. As far as historical data, nothing at all.

"In 1999, to combat this lack of data, an innovative step was taken by scientists to greatly improve the collection of observations inside the ocean through increased sampling of old and new quantities and increased coverage in terms of time and area.

That step was Argo. "

Re: Earth at risk of becoming 'hothouse' if tipping point reached, report warns

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't 100 Fahrenheit the temperature of a chicken on tuesday in the sunshine? Can't quite remember how that scale was created.

I always heard it was the rectal temperature of a cow, but that's not what wikipedia tells me, so someone probably made that up. One advantage of the Fahrenheit scale is that the range from 0 to 100 roughly corresponds to temperatures people normally deal with.

I'm also willing to admit that this is probably a case in which whatever system you grew up with, that's what you will prefer and no argument will sway your opinion in the other direction. (Although the metric system does have clear advantages)
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