NASA's Analysis of 2012 Global Temperature. - General

[video=youtube;NnjTnUm9t-0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnjTnUm9t-0[/video] NASA's analysis of Earth's surface temperature found that 2012 ranked as the ninth warmest year since 1880. NASA scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) compare the average global temperature each year to the average from 1951 to 1980. This 30-year period provides a baseline from which to measure the warming Earth has experienced due to increasing atmospheric levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. While 2012 was the ninth warmest year on record, all 10 of the warmest years in the GISS analysis have occurred since 1998, continuing a trend of temperatures well above the mid-20th century average. The record dates back to 1880 because that is when there were enough meteorological stations around the world to provide global temperature data.

JESUS. All the years since 1998... Imagine the world in 2100 if this continues.

Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?

[QUOTE=The1Flame;39235891]Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?[/QUOTE] Isn't that just made up by human climate change deniers?

It's getting toasty in here. Time to open a few windows. Let's burn a giant hole in the ozone so all the heat can escape and we can get a nice space-breeze!

[QUOTE=Foogooman;39236241]Isn't that just made up by human climate change deniers?[/QUOTE] There is a cycle of warming and cooling of the Earth.

It's a cycle. [editline]15th January 2013[/editline] Although there is still reason to be concerned.

[QUOTE=The1Flame;39235891]Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?[/QUOTE] There's no evidence to suggest that the warming observed today is part of any natural cycle we know of. What's undeniable is that we've been pumping billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere, which almost certainly has adverse effects on the climate.

Guys, I don't think ice caps are supposed to disappear in in 3 decades... I mean, there is a cycle of warming and cooling, I'm not denying that. But the massive spike seen here in just a century of time, and even more in the last few decades, isn't that incredibly fast on this scale? But either way, time will tell. Different sources of energy and a environmentalist movement is still beneficial either way IMO, just to prevent things like Beijing level of smog, and inevitable resource lack if it ever runs out.

[QUOTE=Bean Shoot;39237842]There's no evidence to suggest that the warming observed today is part of any natural cycle we know of. What's undeniable is that we've been pumping billions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere, which almost certainly has adverse effects on the climate.[/QUOTE] And how much greenhouse gases is already in the atmosphere? If I piss into a stream, technically I've contributed to it's height but if it was to flood I wouldn't be held responsible.

[QUOTE=OvB;39236271]It's getting toasty in here. Time to open a few windows. Let's burn a giant hole in the ozone so all the heat can escape and we can get a nice space-breeze![/QUOTE] then the hard part comes with re - sealing it

[QUOTE=The1Flame;39235891]Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?[/QUOTE] Weren't we actually long overdue for a new ice age? [editline]16th January 2013[/editline] Although I can't actually find any official sources for that. Seems science still has trouble understanding ice ages.

[QUOTE=The1Flame;39235891]Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?[/QUOTE] It doesn't happen this fast. Compared to the normal cycle of temperatures in Earth it takes thousands of years to change that much that fast. Unless something interferes with the normal cycle like asteroids, volcanoes or methane eruptions. But since we are chancing the normal cycle on our own there might be problems coming along we don't even have nightmares about. Like tons of methane erupts into air from tundra where it has been locked inside frost for millions of years, thanks to our warming. Then our greenhouse gases would look like farts compared to that heating effect.

If this turns out to be a normal cycle for earth, then we have a lot to worry about since we can't do jack shit captain. It can't be very normal for everything that lives in this climate.

[QUOTE=Silly Sil;39238803]And how much greenhouse gases is already in the atmosphere? If I piss into a stream, technically I've contributed to it's height but if it was to flood I wouldn't be held responsible.[/QUOTE] There's a lot, but keep in mind that there's a delicate balance between how much greenhouse gas is emitted and absorbed by the earth through natural processes. It doesn't take a whole lot comparatively to upset that balance, and drastic climate change can happen with a few degrees C change in mean global temperature.

The way I see it, is the normal ice age cycle, but in overdrive influenced by Humanity.

[QUOTE=The1Flame;39235891]Aren't we just reaching the warmest part of the normal ice age cycle?[/QUOTE] Well, as far as I don't see scientific proof of that I won't believe it.

[QUOTE=lifehole;39238708]Guys, I don't think ice caps are supposed to disappear in in 3 decades... I mean, there is a cycle of warming and cooling, I'm not denying that. But the massive spike seen here in just a century of time, and even more in the last few decades, isn't that incredibly fast on this scale? But either way, time will tell. Different sources of energy and a environmentalist movement is still beneficial either way IMO, just to prevent things like Beijing level of smog, and inevitable resource lack if it ever runs out.[/QUOTE] Yeah but implying that there is a cycle, doesn't that mean that since it gets hotter now and the ice caps melt, that when it becomes colder the ice caps will freeze again?