"Global warming", I wish!

[Tom S. Fox]

It just hailed here.
Yes, that's right, it hailed.
In July.
Boy, I'm looking forward to global warming!

[Erenan]

Maybe a plane carrying ice dropped its cargo by mistake?

[Akatosh]

You know, according to the Green Party (and other hippies) global warming caused all that hailing. Somehow.

[Tom S. Fox]

You know, according to the Green Party (and other hippies) global warming caused all that hailing. Somehow.

Well, that's just false advertising!

[Fuzzpilz]

I really hate being the one to shove this thread into giant argument land, but... cripes on toast, you'd think that with damn near every real scientist in every relevant field agreeing on the major points (there are of course not 100% Lysenkoanly unified views on the exact numbers and so forth as far as projection into the future is concerned), most people wouldn't still a) be so confused about what global warming means and b) assume it's just some baloney the hippies came up with to frighten people.

You know who the only major scientific association to officially reject anthropogenic warming is? It's our friends of the American Association of, hello hello, Petroleum Geologists. (Of course, I'm sure that's all just because everywhere else the filthy hippies are in control, as can be seen by e.g. the many Green-dominated governments all over the industrial world.)

[R4L]

We got hail too. It covered our huge driveway, and pretty much everything else, and then it was gone in less than 5 minutes.

[big brother]

No-good dirty God-damned hippies!!!

[Tom S. Fox]

I'm sorry, R4L, but this article says the exact opposite.
And I'm sorry, but how can you claim that global warming exists, while it hails during summertime?

[Sam.]

It's a good job people here have a thorough understanding of something before they complain about it.

Global warming wont make everywhere instantly hotter, currently, it is melting the polar caps, which are filling the sea which means more precipitation which means more, yes, hail.

It could also explain why we are getting so much rain in june.

[Tom S. Fox]

It's a good job people here have a thorough understanding of something before they complain about it.

How true!

Global warming wont make everywhere instantly hotter, currently, it is melting the polar caps, which are filling the sea which means more precipitation which means more, yes, hail.

It could also explain why we are getting so much rain in june.

I'm sorry, but this doesn't make any sense!
You can't call something "global warming" if it's actually getting cooler!
And the polar caps are of course melting!
If the ice didn't melt, ice age woudln't have ended.
Plus, I would like you to explain, how molten ice is supposed to cause hail.

[radiowaves]

Rain and hail is also mainly because of global dimming, which co-exists with global warming, as a part of it. Waste clouds affect the path of rain clouds, therefore warm air currents etc are affected.

[Becky]

Yes, I love it when people reject well establish scientific evidence!  It makes my toes tingle!

Also note that global warming is also called climate change.

[LimpingFish]

I think we could benefit from some Global Cooling.

It never did the Fonz any harm. Eyyyyyyyyyyyy!

[Fuzzpilz]

The term "global warming" refers to the global average temperature rising, which does not imply that the local temperature everywhere has to rise. The increase over the past century or so is somewhere around 0.7 °C - barely noticable, you'd think if you hadn't bothered to read anything about the subject, but the higher (again, on average across the globe and the year) temperatures have complex effects on the complex system that is our planet's climate and weather (for example, I believe it's not quite as simple as Zooty suggested; although sea levels have been rising (slowly but detectably) and glaciers disappearing (alarmingly quickly in many cases), we're not in NO MORE ICE CAPS IN TEN YEARS mode quite yet and very likely won't be in our lifetimes, but very heavy rainfalls and the like have been getting more frequent and this fits with the predictions of the models). I think you really should bother to actually read about what The Hippies in their scientist disguises are deceitfully claiming is going on instead of just arguing based on what you think the term "global warming" should mean.

[m0ds]

Hahaa!! Happy days Especially when it's nice & sunny! The severeness of whether in this country is definitely peaking, and heat & precipetation levels per month all seem to be "the most" since records began. As long as there are more tornados forming in the UK I am happy. Cos then it means I dont have to pay $600 to see one sometime

I also made a crap documentary about this kind of thing for college but unfortunately all my great plans fizzled out into a video which doesn't even have true information. But that's okay because it's more preachy than it is explorey a subjecty. & I still passed :p http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3Y8IVvCMiU

Can we stop it? Maybe, but we've definitely done too much polluting already to not see some adverse effects in the short-term. Short-term being a few hundreds years or so :p

[cobra79]

You can't call something "global warming" if it's actually getting cooler!

It is called "global warming" because it's effects are global and we are talking about global average temperatures, not the temperatures in London, NY or Anytownyoucanthinkof.
Interestingly enough the most likely result of global warming in Europe is an Ice Age, due to the fresh water of the polar caps disrupting the Gulf Stream. And for those who say what does it all matter, 5°C increase in average temperatures in the next 50 years does not sound too bad...Keep in mind that the Permian-Triassic extinction event which killed more than 90% of marine species and 70% of land species was about a likely increase in global temperatures of 10°C in a MUCH longer period of time

[Snarky]

I'm sorry, R4L, but this article says the exact opposite.
And I'm sorry, but how can you claim that global warming exists, while it hails during summertime?

That article comes from a conservative think tank, which essentially means that it's a right-wing propaganda outlet. Most of it may not be outright lies, but it's certainly misleading. For instance, if you can't get a scientist to unequivocally state that global warming exists, that's only because you can't get careful scientists to say anything unequivocally. Just like with evolution, anti-scientific forces are doing a great job creating a public perception of controversy when there is in fact scientific consensus.

As people have pointed out, global warming is an average trend. In general, what we're seeing is climate change, which means that many unusual and extreme weather conditions (like hail in the summer) will become more common.

[i k a r i]

Maybe it has nothing to do with global warming, but this is the first time it snows in Argentina - Buenos Aires (where I live) after 90 years, and it snowed much more than then.







EDIT: Isn't there a Pen & Teller chapter about global warming? Im gonna watch it on YouTube.

[big brother]

So it might actually be a cooling trend after all (global warming might just be a name)?
That may explain events like this:
http://www.eubusiness.com/news_live/1178625614.03
(Losses of over 80% of production)
and
http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/06/07/news/top_story/doc4668725066912744978453.txt
I also read that the US is had a record cold winter. Nationwide, the month of April was the coldest in 113 years, with temperatures an average of 20 degrees Fahrenheit lower than usual.

In the 1970's, there was a global cooling scare. Scientists were trying to figure out ways to artificially generate large quantities of C02 to slow the impending ice age.

It seems like a bit of a conflict of interest, when a group supports a theory directly related to their funding. Under GWB, the funding for climate research has increased by billions of dollars. Because of this, your average scientist is more likely to get a grant and a green light if she can link her research to global warming.

There seem to be a lot of unanswered questions...
Historically, haven't volcanic eruptions changed global climate more than anything man-made (Krakatoa, 1883)? Also, doesn't man-made C02 emissions make up a very small percentage of greenhouse gasses (which are mostly water vapor)? During the "Industrial Revolution" years (advent of the factory system, no pollution caps, etc.), why was the weather significantly colder than in previous years? Why is the average temperature increasing on Mars, a planet without human life? How will using only two pieces of toilet paper per day help cool the planet?

Several years ago, I took an environmental engineering class (our professor has a PhD in fuel science, M. Tech and B. Tech in chemical engineering). He talked about a cyclical weather structure (apparently there are remnants of ancient vineyards in Great Britain). 

[cobra79]

Yes the "it is all natural"-argument always follows.

Here:

0°C is now, -8°C at 10.000BC was the last Ice Age. Do you see how the red follows the blue (not perfectly but in general). I don't need a degree in meteorology to think we are heading into trouble.

Edit: Oh and as to why it was colder during the Industrial Revolution. Simple answer, the smut/grime (don't know the word) particles reflected sunlight, while the CO2 concentration was only starting to build up.