the sheltering sky

March 16, 2007 9:27 AM

Winter has been world's warmest on record.
☀Temperature for December-February highest since 1880
☂The 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1995
posted by four panels (60 comments total)

"on record". Too bad we don't have data for the previous five billion years. I'm willing to bet that there were a few warmer ones in there somewhere.
posted by tadellin at 9:31 AM on March 16, 2007

OTOH, "The December 2006-February 2007 U.S. winter season had an overall temperature that was near average."
posted by smackfu at 9:33 AM on March 16, 2007

You haven't gotten the memo, apparently. "Global Warming" is purely a political construct.
posted by Slothrup at 9:36 AM on March 16, 2007

CO2 is in its last throes, we'll be greeted as environmentalists, etc and so forth.
posted by DU at 9:40 AM on March 16, 2007 [3 favorites]

"on record". Too bad we don't have data for the previous five billion years. I'm willing to bet that there were a few warmer ones in there somewhere.

Probably. There was also a time when the oceans actually were 20 feet higher.
posted by delmoi at 9:44 AM on March 16, 2007

I don't think the idea that the world is warming up is in dispute, thus I'm not really sure why this was posted.

The big controversy is over what's causing it and how much of a role the pink skins have in it.
posted by ruthsarian at 9:48 AM on March 16, 2007

Did you know, at one time, much of the earth was covered in glaciers?? Yes, it's true!

I think I'm much more disturbed by reports that we are increasingly under siege by jellyfish thanks to the warming oceans. More jellyfish, fire ants, and malaria; yep, we sure got a lot to look forward to.
posted by emjaybee at 9:49 AM on March 16, 2007

Metafilter: ☂
posted by champthom at 9:50 AM on March 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

Looking at this graph I sometimes wonder if part of the reason for the increased temperatures is that weather stations are being "swallowed up' by subdivisions and urban development, bringing the microclimates of the city out to the weather stations. I can't think of any way that such problems can be filtered out of the data. I realize there are other indications of global warming like glacial melt, but still it makes me wonder.
posted by calhound at 9:50 AM on March 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

how much of a role the pink skins have in it.

It ain't just crackers causing this problem, yo.
posted by breezeway at 9:52 AM on March 16, 2007

In five billion years, when the sun goes red giant, there will definitely be global warming as Earth is engulfed in flame. I vote that we consume all the natural resources we have and use the proceeds to build an interstellar escape ship.
posted by Area Control at 9:58 AM on March 16, 2007

*looks out window at accumulating snow*

of course, day before yesterday it was in the 70's here. This is what you call 'mixed signals.'
posted by jonmc at 10:01 AM on March 16, 2007

See, we actually DO have records that go back that far. But the damn republicans have made them inaccessible!
posted by ORthey at 10:07 AM on March 16, 2007

Maybe we are getting closer to the sun and the sun is expanding.

Either that is the cause, or the disastrous environmental effects of Patchouli stench.
posted by dios at 10:09 AM on March 16, 2007

I vote that...

This is not a democracy, but if Mathowie decides to do this I'm right behind him.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:09 AM on March 16, 2007

First of all, it's not getting warmer. Second of all, if it is getting warmer, it's all Al Gore's fault for jetting around the country delivering his stupid powerpoint of lies. Third, it's totally a good thing anyway because now we can look for oil at the North Pole!
posted by redhanrahan at 10:12 AM on March 16, 2007

This has been the second-snowiest on record here in Boulder, right after that 1982-3 mess.

Of course, that seems like a dramatic anomaly to me. It's been increasing dry throughout the west and southwest. My father, who happens to be a (somewhat conservative) ecologist, tells me that I'll see all of the major ski areas in Colorado go under within my lifetime. I believe him.
posted by koeselitz at 10:15 AM on March 16, 2007

Well they should turn on the AC. That'll cool it down.
posted by DenOfSizer at 10:15 AM on March 16, 2007

So are they saying winter's over?

*TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE ENTIRE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY... AND THE NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST SECTIONS OF VERMONT WILL BE IN THE 12 TO 20 INCH RANGE. *
posted by MtDewd at 10:16 AM on March 16, 2007

I really wish all these Global Warming bukkake FPPs would just stop. Things are getting better, we are making progress. Stop all this defeatist whining.
posted by gsb at 10:18 AM on March 16, 2007

There is no progress. Things are not getting better, they're not getting worse either. Twas ever thus. the world has always been on the brink of some disaster or another. You can try but the world dosen't really want to be saved. Start the defeatist drinking.
posted by jonmc at 10:21 AM on March 16, 2007

Et tu, Metafiltre?
posted by stirfry at 10:27 AM on March 16, 2007

Start the defeatist drinking.

Start? Does continuing count as well? I mean, it's been pass noon here for a several drinks. Also, if we are drinking for other reason, can we concurrently drink for defeatists reasons?
posted by dios at 10:27 AM on March 16, 2007

koeselitz, There was a guy from NOAH in Boulder on NPR awhile ago talking about some of the global warming thing and the contribution of different oceans to our climate. One of his points was that yeah, it was snowier in Boulder, but just because it's warmer doesn't mean it's drier. His point was that warmer air will carry more moisture overcoming the "too cold to snow" thing that happens here.
posted by Eekacat at 10:29 AM on March 16, 2007

so ... hot enough for ya?
posted by pyramid termite at 10:33 AM on March 16, 2007

global climate =/ local weather.
And it can be snowy as hell and still be a warm winter.
posted by edgeways at 10:34 AM on March 16, 2007

Where's my best use of unicode ever flag?
posted by heresiarch at 10:35 AM on March 16, 2007

carbemissiokakke
posted by prostyle at 10:36 AM on March 16, 2007

global climate =/ local weather.
And it can be snowy as hell and still be a warm winter.

Ok, then. Everybody panic.
posted by jonmc at 10:37 AM on March 16, 2007

It's late summer/early fall in Australia and much of the Southern Hemisphere. Anyone bothered looking at the temperature records over the past 6 months for those folks? Any Aussie's (or Kiwi's) want to pipe up saying how warm it was this year? Or is everyone at the beach getting a nice late season tan?
posted by daq at 10:48 AM on March 16, 2007

Ok, then. Everybody panic.

I saw them in concert yesterday. Great show. They were opening for Apathy.
posted by srboisvert at 11:10 AM on March 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

Followed by Despair, then Nihilism, and Cocktails.
posted by jonmc at 11:18 AM on March 16, 2007 [1 favorite]

There was a guy from NOAH

I think you mean NOAA, but your typo is hilariously fitting.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 11:19 AM on March 16, 2007

Eekacat: "koeselitz, There was a guy from NOAH in Boulder on NPR awhile ago talking about some of the global warming thing and the contribution of different oceans to our climate. One of his points was that yeah, it was snowier in Boulder, but just because it's warmer doesn't mean it's drier. His point was that warmer air will carry more moisture overcoming the "too cold to snow" thing that happens here."

Well, maybe here in Colorado. Kind of. But I don't know how much I believe that there will be more moisture. I have a feeling that there might seem to be more right now, just because of the rising temperatures. But my dad tells me that the rainy season is on track to move back two whole months in the next ten or fifteen years. If this is true, then there will be very real dry seasons in Colorado in the near future.

Maybe having lived in Santa Fe has made me a bit more pessimistic about water, but even in the seven years I was there, it got consistently drier and drier. I have a hard time believing water won't be a problem in the near future.
posted by koeselitz at 11:25 AM on March 16, 2007

I saw them in concert yesterday. Great show. They were opening for Apathy.

Followed by Despair, then Nihilism, and Cocktails.

Nash and Young.
posted by Bearman at 11:30 AM on March 16, 2007 [2 favorites]

all this global warming stuff is nonsense, of course.

why just the other day I read something on drudge about how Squiddler's Patch, NH was getting a shitload of snow this winter.

'sides, global warming is good for us anyway. More farmland in alaska and all that.
posted by Avenger at 11:31 AM on March 16, 2007

Plus reduced use of Fossil Fuels to heat our homes and swimming pools. Win Win if you ask me.
posted by Gungho at 11:38 AM on March 16, 2007

I love the 'new farmlands in Alaska/Siberia' thing that some commentators keep making these days. It's like they don't realize the different amounts of sunlight in far north areas will prevent them from becoming our future breadbaskets.

I realize Avenger is being sarcastic, it's just I hear such comments being made in all seriousness.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:00 PM on March 16, 2007

The "Breadbasket" makes such good farmland because it's either been lake bottom or forest floor for most of living organic history and has thick rich soil as a result - if the northern extremes thaw what's left behind won't be suitable farmland for a long, long time.
posted by CynicalKnight at 12:22 PM on March 16, 2007

Yes, but there ARE things you can grow in warmer, low-light regions.

Hey, the Yukon Fungus Growers Coop may be our new ticket outta the food shortage!

Requires a lot of BS, though.
posted by darkstar at 12:24 PM on March 16, 2007

Yessir, there's nothing like global warming to draw out the right-wing crazies who are in utter denial of reality. Conservative nutbats are so cute and cuddly when they get all flustered. Attenborough should make a nature documentary about them: "The Great Snorting Wildebeasts of Johnbirchestonia."
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:34 PM on March 16, 2007

*head asplodes from the sarcasm overload*
posted by Dantien at 12:34 PM on March 16, 2007

Is it hot in here or is it just me?

We've had some pretty cold years lately as well.
posted by inconsequentialist at 12:36 PM on March 16, 2007

Look, as a dad I am the unquestioned master of the thermostat. And I don’t like anyone else touching it. If I wanted the Earth warmer, I would have set the temperature higher. This thing isn’t a toy you kids.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:38 PM on March 16, 2007

Smedleyman, as a dad, I find the conversation you are having with minors squickish.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:49 PM on March 16, 2007

calhound: I sometimes wonder if part of the reason for the increased temperatures is that weather stations are being "swallowed up' by subdivisions and urban development, bringing the microclimates of the city out to the weather stations.

It's called the urban heat island effect. It doesn't appear to be very large, since the temperature records taken at sea show the same temperature trend as the land-based records. Ditto for rural temperature records vs. all land-based records.
posted by russilwvong at 12:53 PM on March 16, 2007

Also, that Danish mathematician and Michael Crichton (whom I understand is a doctor) also think global warming is silly.

I rest my case.


....sarcasm level: CRITICAL
posted by Avenger at 12:59 PM on March 16, 2007

...can we concurrently drink for defeatists reasons?

I drink for no other. Cheers?!
posted by cog_nate at 1:02 PM on March 16, 2007

I don't think the idea that the world is warming up is in dispute, thus I'm not really sure why this was posted.

Actually, there's plenty of ostriches out there who still dispute even this.

The big controversy is over what's causing it and how much of a role the pink skins have in it.

Once again, you're confused. A certain type of person would like to claim there's controversy about whether pink-skins are causing it; but among the people who actually study these things, (as opposed to those who simply have opinions on it), there's no real controversy.

Too bad we don't have data for the previous five billion years. I'm willing to bet that there were a few warmer ones in there somewhere.

Well, we've got data for the last 400,000 odd years and it looks quite interesting. Note the vertical spike of CO2 at the very end, beyond where it's ever been any time in that period. That's us.

Looking at this graph I sometimes wonder if part of the reason for the increased temperatures is that weather stations are being "swallowed up' by subdivisions and urban development, bringing the microclimates of the city out to the weather stations. I can't think of any way that such problems can be filtered out of the data.

That's an interesting idea, actually. However, filtering this out of the data is not impossible, because "urban areas" aren't the only places we're recording temperature. There are many, many weather stations around the world in rural areas, that have been in rural areas for a hundred or more years. We also record temperature in the atmosphere, as well as at ground level. We record the temperature of the earth from space, even. And, as you say, we have some great integrators like glaciers.

Any Aussie's (or Kiwi's) want to pipe up saying how warm it was this year? Or is everyone at the beach getting a nice late season tan?

Well we've been coming out of an El Nino, and are still in a pretty severe drought, so we might be a bit of an outlier. However, I understand Western Australia has beaten a lot of temperature records in the last few months.

Carnarvon experienced its hottest day on record yesterday at 47.8 degrees, which also equalled the Australian record for the hottest day in March.

Geraldton broke its record for the hottest March day yesterday with 45.2 degrees and Perth equalled its second hottest March day with 42 degrees.

posted by Jimbob at 1:12 PM on March 16, 2007

Yeah, what russilwvong said.
posted by Jimbob at 1:13 PM on March 16, 2007

"Global Warming" is a tool of Satan!
posted by homunculus at 2:13 PM on March 16, 2007

Bukkake, Iraqi, we all wear khakis for global warming bukkake.
posted by ORthey at 2:31 PM on March 16, 2007

Tokyo apparently had its first winter without snow in 131 years.
posted by dbarefoot at 3:02 PM on March 16, 2007

"Smedleyman, as a dad, I find the conversation you are having with minors squickish."

Oh yeah? Well your...pants are...fucking....short.

squickish?

Uh...thanks?
posted by Smedleyman at 11:50 PM on March 16, 2007

here in Brisbane, Australia we have had a relatively cool summer.
posted by drscroogemcduck at 2:16 AM on March 17, 2007

I miss global cooling.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 6:59 AM on March 17, 2007

You can try but the world dosen't really want to be saved.

The world will be fine. The people on it? Maybe not so much.

*takes another defeatist sip*
posted by Cyrano at 12:57 PM on March 17, 2007

"The oxygen is released into the atmosphere"

OK ... how long before this becomes the next big problem!
posted by JKevinKing at 5:34 PM on March 17, 2007

.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:29 PM on March 17, 2007

I really want to find another one of the tee-shirt I bought on Bleeker in 1989, with a big smiley whale on it and the words "The environment? It's fucked."

...and next time you're buying a house, pay attention to its height above sea-level. That's all I'm saying.
posted by Hogshead at 7:11 AM on March 19, 2007