General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"Global warming" was dropped in favor of "climate change" because global warming is incorrect
Last edited Mon Jul 23, 2018, 09:23 AM - Edit history (2)
according to scientific studies.
Anyway, if you read something like that (I just did today on Facebook), you have encountered a deplorable (yup, I just did).
I was curious enough to look up why "climate change" is the preferred term supposedly.
Global warming: the increase in Earths average surface temperature due to rising levels of greenhouse gases.
Climate change: a long-term change in the Earths climate, or of a region on Earth.
Within scientific journals, this is still how the two terms are used. Global warming refers to surface temperature increases, while climate change includes global warming and everything else that increasing greenhouse gas amounts will affect.
...
But temperature change itself isn't the most severe effect of changing climate. Changes to precipitation patterns and sea level are likely to have much greater human impact than the higher temperatures alone. For this reason, scientific research on climate change encompasses far more than surface temperature change. So "global climate change" is the more scientifically accurate term. Like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we've chosen to emphasize global climate change on this website, and not global warming.
More: https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_by_any_other_name.html
In other words (for Venn Diagram afficionados), climate change is a superset of global warming.
By the way, if said deplorable starts in on how the temperature measurements are biased because they don't correct for the growing urban heat island affect or that they miscalibrated some satellite readings or some horseshit like that, show it this:
Looking for signs of global warming? It's all around you, AP, 6/19/18
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/06/19/climate-change-signs-all-around
I posted excerpts at: https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10813796
EDIT: Please see number 8 for the moron dialog I was referring to -- see how idiotic the climate change deniers' arguments are, and with the usual gratuitous swipe at Al Gore
Caliman73
(11,694 posts)Perhaps even Trumpers can understand it.
progree
(10,864 posts)The below "transcript" is entirely my work listening to it on mostly a once-through basis. I indicate the APPROXIMATE time of each paragraph in mm:ss.
The informative part starts at 1:00
CO2 in the atmosphere has increased about 40% since 1790.
1:35: Since 1970, when warming increase has been fastest, solar activity has been declining (graph shows solar activity increasing for about 5 years -- 1970-1975 -- and then declining to a little below its 1970 level.
1:45: If the sun was to blame, it would heat the upper and lower atmospheres. Instead we see warming only in the lower layer -- the layer affected by the greenhouse gasses.
2:10: studying trapped gasses in ice cores, CO2 levels are the highest in nearly a million years (the graph has "800,000 years ago on it" and ~190 ppm. It's about 410 ppm now)
2:20: Earth is warming at about 10X the rate as at the end of an ice age.
2:35: How do we know the increased CO2 levels is our fault? Answer: by looking at the isotope composition of CO2 in the atmosphere. Plants prefer aborbing CO2 with carbon 12 in it instead of carbon 13. So when plants are burned (by way of burning fossil fuels), the ratio of carbon 12 CO2 levels to carbon 13 CO2 levels increase -- and that's exactly what we see in the atmosphere.
2:58: and it's not volcanic activity producing the CO2 -- volcanic activity produces only about 0.2 gigatons/year of CO2 -- about 1% of what humans do ( approximately 35 gigatons / year ).
3:10: Other greenhouse gasses are increasing including methane from farm animals and natural gas processing, and nitrous oxide from fertilizer,
Climate models in the absence of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere predict cooling, and that is definitely NOT what's happening.
3:40: Each decade of the last 3 decades has been warmer than any other decade since we started measuring temperatures in the 1850s.
3:42: Since 1900 temperatures have increased almost a full degree (centigrade), and most of that warming has occured since 1970.
3:50 Looking at tree rings and ice cores, the last 3 decades is probably the warmest in 8 centuries.
4:00: Oceans absorb about 90% of the heat added to the planet. Ocean temperatures are rising -- average sea level is rising at about 0.1" per year ... ocean levels on average have risen 8 inches since 1901 (due to water expanding as it warms, plus melting of ice that is on land).
4:30: about CO2 increased concentrations in ocean causing ocean acidification and affecting marine life with shells. We're on course to hit PH 7.8 in the oceans in 100 years -- which could wipe out 1/3 of ocean species.
4:45: Levels of summer sea ice in the Arctic have decreased 40% since 1978 .. they might be at the lowest levels in 1400 years. That white ice surface reflects a lot of sunlight back into space. The dark sea water that is replacing it absorbs much more of the sun's energy (thus adding to global temperature -- a vicious cycle -- heat melts ice causing more dark ocean surface area absorbing more heat which melts more ice ... ).
5:00: With current CO2 increase trends, earth is on course to be 2.6 - 4.8 deg C warmer (4.7 - 8.6 deg F) in 100 years ... and oceans 1 meter higher.
5:20: The last time earth was only a few degrees colder, most of North America was covered in an ice sheet. So what will happen when temperatures are a few degrees warmer? We're going to have a bad time.
Doodley
(8,976 posts)democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Global warming is shifting into high gear regardless of what our fake so-called president says. The rest of the world knows it regardless of what this idiot and his administration believes.
greyl
(22,990 posts)progree
(10,864 posts)Banning single-use plastic bags and straws is not going to be enough to keep the overall plastic pollution problem from growing.
progree
(10,864 posts)Depressingly, at the top of the page linked to by the OP, namely
Whats in a Name? Global Warming vs. Climate Change, NASA
https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_by_any_other_name.html
is this:
As we all know, a number of government websites have been scrubbed of climate change / global warming information.
As for "Visit NASA.gov for current information", the link is https://www.nasa.gov , and I don't see anything on the page about climate science of any kind. My first thought was, "isn't this contradictory?", after all the https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/climate_by_any_other_name.html is at nasa.gov, but I wonder if it's an orphaned page or part of a orphaned cluster of pages.
On Edit: I clicked "More" at the bottom center of the nasa.gov page and found this paper
A Scientist's Final Paper Looks Toward Earth's Future Climate
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/a-scientists-final-paper-looks-toward-earths-future-climate
which looks like a regular unadulterated paper on climate change. So maybe the NASA.gov site is not (yet) as "scrubbed" as I feared.
scarletlib
(3,400 posts)"Global Climate Change" Probably the most accurate description and the one that I use.
progree
(10,864 posts)(Context: a discussion of a planned light rail in Minneapolis to some western suburbs on a Facebook page dominated by righties)
All underlining below is added by me
CAT> We are going to be inundated with climate refugees from our own country. We have a fairly stable environment, a huge number of Fortune 500 companies, and a high standard of living. I am not a fan of this solution, but we do need to start making plans for more and more people move here. We need more low income housing, more realistic transportation options (self driving electric cars for one) and more flexibility of how people can work at home.
14 Replies
Jason> Lol. "Climate Refugees"??
Dan> Lol
CAT> Yes, climate refugees. Where do you think the people of the gulf coast states will head when their land is under water? Florida? East Coast? West Coast? The Dust bowl and tornado alley? Wildfire country? They'll be looking to go somewhere stable. So laugh all you want, we're going to be seeing more and more people coming from areas that can no longer support them.
Donna> 🙄. Cat, about 10,000 years ago, the earth experienced an ice-age. There was frozen water and glaciers throughout the world. When the ice melted, (remember there were no cars and factories emitting carbon dioxide gas into the atmosphere back then to be blamed for the melting ice), there was no flooding or catastrophic event. In fact, life flourished after the ice age. Please, as an expert on climate change, enlighten the readers here how you explain this?
CAT> I am not claiming to be an expert on anything except observation. If you don't see that extreme weather is causing more and more problems along the coasts, then you're just not paying attention. My point is we are going to be getting more and more people to our area. End of discussion on my part.
Donna> Extreme weather always was and always will be. It's called "nature". It has nothing to do with man-made anything. Climate change, which used to be called "global warming" until science proved this title was incorrect, is nothing more than a scare tactic to make shysters like Al Gore very wealthy. I welcome you to do your research Cat. That's the end of discussion on my part.
Jason> Donna, we should be more worried about the Tax Refugees heading to SD..
Richard> Cat, Easy way to prove melting glaciers won't flood the world..... fill a glass with ice cubes and water.... will the glass overflow when the ice melts?
John> Richard, The glaciers and ice they are worried about melting are the ones on land -- Greenland and Antarctica primarily. Their melting is already raising sea levels, along with warmer temperatures which causes water to expand.
John> Donna, 16 of the last 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001. Atmospheric CO2 levels are nearly 50% higher than 150 years ago (CO2 is a greenhouse gas).
John> Donna, "Climate change, which used to be called "global warming" until science proved this title was incorrect,"
Both terms are used. "Climate change" is the more general term because more than just warming is happening, e.g. more frequent severe storms, ocean acidification (due to higher CO2 levels, some of which is absorbed by the ocean), and coral bleaching. And no, "science" didn't prove that "global warming" is incorrect. Only a flat-earther type denies that significant warming is occurring. What is arguable is how much is due to human activity, although there is an overwhelming consensus about that by climate scientists. An ideolog yammering away on talk radio is not a scientist. Nor is a biostitute.
John> If you don't believe the temperature measurements, there are plenty of other indicators that warming is occuring --
Looking for signs of global warming? It's all around you , AP, 6/19/18
https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/06/19/climate-change-signs-all-around
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I have to laugh at this in particular -- what an idiot. Doesn't watch Nova I guess where ice dams holding back massive lakes of ice melt water broke, submerging whole regions in a few hours.