Attention world leaders! You do not have to spend Millions of Dollars creating armies and war machines. Your Industrial polluters are the most dangerous people on Earth and global warming has arrived sooner than you thought, assuming of course most of you can think. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) ( http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=80167&eocn=te&eoci=index) say 2012 was the ninth warmest year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. The ten warmest years in the 132-year record have all occurred since 1998. The last year that was cooler than average was 1976.
The map (on their web site and) at the top depicts temperature anomalies, or changes, by region in 2012; it does not show absolute temperature. Reds and blues show how much warmer or cooler each area was in 2012 compared to an averaged base period from 1951–1980. For more explanation of how the analysis works, read World of Change: Global Temperatures.
The average temperature in 2012 was about 14.6 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees Fahrenheit), which is 0.55°C (1.0°F) warmer than the mid-20th century base period. The average global temperature has increased 0.8°C (1.4°F) since 1880, and most of that change has occurred in the past four decades.
The line plot above shows yearly temperature anomalies from 1880 to 2011 as recorded by NASA GISS, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Climatic Data Center, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom. All four institutions tally temperature data from stations around the world and make independent judgments about whether the year was warm or cool compared to other years. Though there are minor variations from year to year, all four records show peaks and valleys in sync with each other. All show rapid warming in the past few decades, and all show the last decade as the warmest.
Scientists emphasize that weather patterns cause fluctuations in average temperatures from year to year, but the continued increase in greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere assures that there will be a long-term rise in global temperatures. Each individual year will not necessarily be warmer than the previous year, but scientists expect each decade to be warmer than the previous decade.
“One more year of numbers isn’t in itself significant,” GISS climatologist Gavin Schmidt said. “What matters is this decade is warmer than the last decade, and that decade was warmer than the decade before. The planet is warming. The reason it’s warming is because we are pumping increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”
Carbon dioxide traps heat and largely controls Earth’s climate. It occurs naturally but is also released by the burning of fossil fuels for energy. The level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has been rising consistently for decades, largely driven by increasing man-made emissions. The carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere was about 285 parts per million in 1880, the first year of the GISS temperature record. By 1960, the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration, measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Observatory, was about 315 parts per million. Today, that measurement exceeds 390 parts per million.
The continental U.S. endured its warmest year on record by far, according to NOAA, the official keeper of U.S. weather records. NOAA also announced that global temperatures were 10th warmeston record by their analysis methods.
“The U.S. temperatures in the summer of 2012 are an example of a new trend of outlying seasonal extremes that are warmer than the hottest seasonal temperatures of the mid-20th century,” NASA GISS director James E. Hansen said. “The climate dice are now loaded. Some seasons still will be cooler than the long-term average, but the perceptive person should notice that the frequency of unusually warm extremes is increasing. It is the extremes that have the most impact on people and other life on the planet.”References
- NASA (2013, January 15) NASA Finds 2012 Sustained Long-Term Climate Warming Trend. Accessed January 15, 2013.
- NASA Earth Observatory (n.d.) World of Change: Global Temperatures. Accessed January 15, 2013.
- NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (n.d.) GISS Surface Temperature Analysis. Accessed January 15, 2013.
- NOAA National Climatic Data Center (2013, January 15) State of the Climate: 2012. Accessed January 15, 2013.
NASA images by Robert Simmon, based on data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NOAANational Climatic Data Center, Met Office Hadley Centre/Climatic Research Unit, and the Japanese Meteorological Agency. Caption by Patrick Lynch and Mike Carlowicz.
- Instrument:
- In situ Measurement
Did you know that a few years ago: Al Gore and John Kerry and Ted Kennedy and Michael Moore all contacted me? I am a nobody from Canada but I had something they needed...a powerful computer and a few million readers.They wanted me to write for their new young presidential candidate, a U.S. Senator by the name of Barack Obama.
Millions of computer writers joined together to bring about an agenda of change and that change must continue today if we are going to survive global warming.
Don't give up trying to find the facts because we have introduced informative and educational content well worth reading...especially the articles created by NASA and the information they distribute utilizing their spectacular satellites circling the Earth. Instruments so well calibrated they can measure you inch by inch. Just joking folks but I do strongly suggest you pass on any article based on facts that helps to protect the environment. Greenpeace continues to be a great source of honest facts and the United Nations is excellent for understanding our human rights. Always try to discover what is educational and important and you do not have to be in school to learn new things!
I am one of the many writers who today continue to use computers for social change and surprisingly, it is working! The new Electric Cars on the market would not have entered the market or even exist if we had not pushed hard for change. In order to create social changes within the United States and Canada and the World we must continue the struggle against selfish greed and industrial pollution. What makes me slightly different is the fact that I am willing to share my Blog space with other writers. I give them full credit for their work. Visit my human4us2blogspot...I use the space for publishing articles geared towards the world humanitarian peace and ecology movement. As a World Humanitarian I often link to: the United Nations, Green-Peace, the Sierra Club, the W.W.F, Amnesty International, the Campus Progress Report, and many many more including the office of the President of Russia, Senator Barbara Boxer, the Barack Obama campaign, the office of the Prime minister of Canada and I could go on for a while because I've been on the internet from the beginning. I also remember helping TIG or the "Taking it Global" kids with some surreptitious suggestions a few years ago and then I backed off and watched their progress. This brings me to an important point.
If you want to change the world, don't ask for money and don't expect to be acknowledged or rewarded for your efforts. In fact expect the opposite because our specie: Homo Sapien, is an Omnivorous and territorial and often selfish creature and attempting to change our human nature using culture is a difficult task. You don't have to be any of the following: Buddha, Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Solomon, Ghandi or the Dalai Lama; just do the work needed for change and stay as positive and happy as possible. Being a Vegetarian helps! Don't forget to plant hundreds if not thousands of Trees everywhere. Trees are desperately needed to slow global warming. After planting Trees, make more than one food growing garden where it is needed most. I suggest in your own back yard but there is always a need in the middle of poor city areas. Roof tops are great places for gardens if they are strong enough to hold the soil. I suggest gardens are necessary anywhere the poor and desperate congregate on this small Blue Planet we call Earth.
Always use the following Ethics in whatever you do. They include: Freedom with Honesty and Justice, Courage with Compassion and Dignity, Tolerance with Sharing and Caring and Humor, Kindness with Peace in Love and in Harmony with all living things. I challenge you to find as many more positive concepts as possible and include them in the list.
P.S. For you tough kids out there, don't forget to protest injustice at every possibility even if it means going to jail. Simply don't forget to do it the way Ghandi did, with non violent protest. ;-)
Have a great day and a wonderful life!
Signed: Joseph Raglione