Did anyone notice that it's HOT OUTSIDE!?

[zozoalzuzu]

There are a few things that just generally don't seem characteristic of a mid michigan October and they are as follows: sunscreen, bathing suits, multiple applications of antipersperant, struggling carburators, eyebrow sweat, mirages, and dying marathon runners. But today all bets are off. Because on this day, October 8th, 2007, the temperature

Comments

[stardust3515]

I love how you write.... i think you should send this to the pleiad. or something. you rock.

[slaunchaman]

I wouldn’t get too alarmist just yet. We tend to notice fluctuations in the weather a lot more than we notice 20- or 30-year trends, and an unseasonably warm October, though hot as hell, can’t actually be linked to global warming. Don’t get me wrong, you’re right about much of this, but changing our lifestyle now can’t really do a lot as far as carbon emissions go. Since the atmosphere is so saturated with CO2, the damage has already been done. For the next 100 years or so, the damage will continue until the environment levels off, having ‘adjusted’ to the new levels. We’re at the point now where adding more carbon to the atmosphere isn’t really doing a whole lot because there’s already so much.

So what to do? If you ask me, we should start spending money on researching ways to remove what CO2 there is in the atmosphere and storing it safely.

As far as oil goes, invading Iraq or Iran or Kuwait or wherever we go to find oil can’t be the answer because, as you said, that tends to piss people off. But if we could get a car that runs

[arctichart]

Well, one of the big problems is understanding how the environment will react to such high fluxes of atmospheric CO2. While yes, the earth is set up to regulate natural fluxes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the natural carbon sinks are not significant enough to deal with the anthropogenic input we see today, and the more CO2 we put into the atmosphere, the harder it is going to be for us and for the earth to deal with that, and the harder it will be to slow down some of the more dangerous positive feedbacks, such as the melting of the glaciers, which could very well lead to abrupt changes in climate. While sure, the earth will be able to deal with the increase in CO2 in time, will it still be in a manner where human civilization can thrive

[belle42266]

You should write all the time. I love reading what you write. You can take a topic I care nothing about (not in this case, but it's happened in the past) and make it something I can't stop reading about.

But I see your point... I also noticed these things - just not in as much intense detail as yourself.