Dan Gillmor

“It’s not like we’re breaking records by a little bit now and then,” Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, said. “It’s like the whole climate just fast-forwarded by fifty or a hundred years. That’s how strange this looks.”

"strange" in this context means "terrifying" --

https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/why-is-the-sea-so-hot

Why Is the Sea So Hot?

Elizabeth Kolbert on a record-breaking rise in global sea-surface temperatures, which suggests that scientists may not understand how fast the climate is changing.

The New Yorker
Mar 18, 2024 at 6:07amWeb
Show threadjsjMar 18, 2024

@dangillmor I recall a quote from Warren about people not understanding the power of compound interest. We’ve been going into debt with greenhouse gases and the interest is catching up.

Or perhaps a better analogy might be a margin call.

Show threadjocusMar 18, 2024
@dangillmor
You could be cynical about it: Look at the universe as a whole. Planet earth is playing only a teeny tiny little role in it, if at all. Earth will disappear like so many other planets before and after - in a big ball of fire. Its lifespan is limited in one way or another. And before the background of universe time, our existence is less than a blink of an eye. Our future is doomed anyway even if we had paradise on earth.
Show threadThunderheadMar 18, 2024
@jocus @dangillmor doesn't mean we shouldn't dedicate ourselves to thriving as best we can, and the alarmist approach isn't doing anything good
Show threadErik WesseliusMar 18, 2024
@dangillmor A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change https://mastodon.social/@tillku@mastodon.sdf.org/112090518041473609
Show threadRhinos Worry Me has movedMar 18, 2024

@dangillmor

And their follow-up article "Should we maybe try not setting everything on fire or is that just woke nonsense?"

Show threadInc Hulk 🧪Mar 18, 2024
@dangillmor Not really surprising. The prediction models were very strongly criticized by skeptic-sponsored (= bribed) politicians for the last 15 years, so models were all skewed to the lower end of the potential adverse effects. Hence it was always going to be an underestimate of reality.
Show threadGraydonMar 18, 2024

@dangillmor The sensitivity number is not less than five.

The Arctic Amplification Hypothesis is at least not falsified yet. It says the Arctic tipped around 2000 and we're into the first decade of the amplification.

We need to just plain stop extracting fossil carbon. Entirely. Everywhere.

And to stop using diesel engines and pneumatic tyres.

Show threadPeter ButlerMar 18, 2024

@dangillmor 90% of our excess heat energy goes into the oceans 😬

archived link:
http://archive.today/omdcQ