Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf3d ago
The Central England temperature record represents the longest series of monthly temperature observations in existence.
Recent temperatures there are over 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 average, and over 2 degrees above preindustrial values.
Chart: UK Met Office.
Show threadProf. Stefan Rahmstorf2d ago
Why did I post this unsurprising and hardly new fact? Because the fossil lobby group “CO2 Coalition” is spreading deception on this point. Of course the global data as shown below are far more relevant than a local temperature series.
Source: https://ed-hawkins.github.io/climate-visuals/indicators.html
Show threadCasdeiro2d ago
@rahmstorf Just a small correction: steam engine was invented many centuries earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolipile
Aeolipile - Wikipedia

Show threaddasgrueneblatt2d ago
@casdeiro "Re-invention, adoption and widespread use of steam engine", better? You're totally missing the point here.
@rahmstorf
Show threadCasdeiro1d ago
@dasgrueneblatt @rahmstorf And what about just "Industrial Revolution begins"? I don't miss any point, just correct a historical inaccuracy.
Show threadCrazyDogLadySezPEACE1d ago
@casdeiro @dasgrueneblatt @rahmstorf How very Reply Guy of you. You’re just an at-large editor, trying to be *helpful* by nitpicking other people’s wording instead of engaging in discussion of their point, is that it?
Show threaddasgrueneblatt

@Heartofcoyote @casdeiro
Aw come on, the party insult is hurtful and not necessary.

@casdeiro is right that the label on the diagram could be much better. But adding the fact that people actually had invented steam toys already millennia ago does not improve it at all.

The dotted line and it's label are supposed to answer the question why the lines start to go up at that time. "Industrial revolution" is probably best, but requires a lot of knowledge about what that is.

I guess it should be something like "reckless use of fossil fuels to run lots of steam engines". I don't know what people in antiquity used to boil water to create steam for their toy, probably wood or charcoal or fat or plant oil, but they definitely did not dig up coal and oil and gas in any way close to the frantic pace caused by the industrial revolution.

Oh and that human inventions are credited to "that one guy at that one time" is usually wrong. It might help us all to talk a bit more about that. Get rid of the genius complex and all that. But it does happen that an invention that has been floating around almost forever suddenly has its moment and is finally invented for good.

The thread is about organized disinformation on the rise of global temperatures. Any ideas what we can do about that?


@rahmstorf

Mar 24 at 11:50amWeb
Show threadCrazyDogLadySezPEACE20h ago

@dasgrueneblatt @casdeiro @rahmstorf Insult deleted. Thank you for the thoughtful overview and emphasizing the actual problem.

I agree that “that one guy” and the genius complex are a big part of the problem. As for addressing the problem, I don’t have ideas beyond framing narratives around collective (rather than individual) efforts and consequences as a *set* of impacts projected out for decades, rather than one specific outcome target achieved in a short time.

I fear the only cure for organized misinformation may be a population-level commitment to holding exploitative liars accountable for the damage they’ve done, which is a really hard thing to achieve and itself has a whole set of consequences to be thought through.