2010; tied for warmest and sets record for Wettest year

just in from ABC News; 2010 tied record for warmest year on record and is wettest in recorded history and is attributable to GCC.

the weather is going to continue to escalate as Global Warming increases.

is this an over-reaction to a bad weather year or not? extreme weather is affecting a half dozen areas all over the world. if 2010 was the wettest, looks like 2011 might challenge that as well

DaveinOlyWA said:

just in from ABC News; 2010 tied record for warmest year on record and is wettest in recorded history and is attributable to GCC.

the weather is going to continue to escalate as Global Warming increases.

is this an over-reaction to a bad weather year or not? extreme weather is affecting a half dozen areas all over the world. if 2010 was the wettest, looks like 2011 might challenge that as well

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If they had originally used the phrase "Global Climate Change", I think more people would believe it. "Global Warming" doesn't equate to most people when they see record cold, rain, and snow, etc. But I think even Hellen Keller would admit the weather is getting strange world-wide.

The big question is are we too late to do anything about it?

We will adapt easier than actually change the natuaral forces of nature. JMO.

smkettner said:

We will adapt easier than actually change the natuaral forces of nature. JMO.

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If the record rain in Australia becomes more common-place - we have a lot of adapting to do.

Way to early to attribute any single weather event to global warming at this point... Of course by the time we're able to do so, things will be much more different than what we're used to.

smkettner said:

We will adapt easier than actually change the natuaral forces of nature. JMO.

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Considering all the deniers - I guess we won't have much choice but to adapt. I hope all the citizens of countries / cities that will go under water will soon grow gills.

ps : Yes, in all the past climate changes animals & planets adopted to rapid changes by migrating. But at those times there weren't 6 billion people with rigid national boundaries. People will die not because it is too hot, but because of wars & famines. For eg. 1/3rd of humanity depends on waters from Himalayas. You take away monsoons & himalayan glaciers, the population will go down in a hurry.

For all of history many have died from war and famine. These will not stop no matter the climate.
Why does a warming planet cause destructive disasterous weather and same result with global cooling?
Better to accept and adapt because the future will be filled with disaster.

smkettner said:

Why does a warming planet cause destructive disasterous weather and same result with global cooling?

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Because the weather patterns change enough to make deserts out of fertile plains in some places (I'm looking at you California) among other things. I suggest you read the book Six Degrees.

I was like - how does it matter if the oceans go up a few inches when the waves are so much higher - untill I read a few dozen books and understood the full implications. Same with Peak Oil.

Ofcourse a lot of places are running out of water - even without AGW. So, AGW would just make it worse and hasten the downfall.

evnow said:

Considering all the deniers - I guess we won't have much choice but to adapt. I hope all the citizens of countries / cities that will go under water will soon grow gills.

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The 'funny' thing is, the deniers are or affiliated with folks that are pro-business - and the insurance industry stands to have significant problems as the environment gets more erratic...until they stop insuring, that is...

AndyH said:

The 'funny' thing is, the deniers are or affiliated with folks that are pro-business - and the insurance industry stands to have significant problems as the environment gets more erratic...until they stop insuring, that is...

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Sometimes I think pro-business just means pro coal/oil. Afterall a large number of companies, including most tech companies, resigned from the Chamber of Commerce for their opposition to climate legislation.

drees said:

If the record rain in Australia becomes more common-place - we have a lot of adapting to do.

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You haven't heard the latest? 15 day deluge (been raining non-stop since Dec. 26) in Sri Lanka...over 1 million people isolated...goes back 100 years since it rained for that long.

LEAFfan said:

You haven't heard the latest? 15 day deluge (been raining non-stop since Dec. 26) in Sri Lanka...over 1 million people isolated...goes back 100 years since it rained for that long.

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So it is reasonably normal and not caused by the warming?

Its not too late to adapt as the World is ever changing but not all will survive and those who don't make it wont be exclusive to poor or third world countries only.

Overpopulation has caused people e erywhere to invade jungles that clean our air and wetlands that filter the water we drink and have slowly destroyed them. That causes world wide consequences.

The loss of the rain forest in South America will greatly affect the worlds climate and weather patterns. The system was essntially an air conditioner for the western hemisphere. Without it we will be hotter and wetterin some areas much drier in other areas. While half the world dries up and blows away the other half will drown

smkettner said:

Better to accept and adapt because the future will be filled with disaster.

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Yeah, right. We can adapt and keep on adapting, more and more. Yes, we will have to do a lot of adapting; it's already too late to avoid that. But adapting may eventually mean living in air-conditioned tunnels underground, using ever-increasing amounts of energy to keep out the world we have poisoned, pouring ever-increasing amounts of carbon into the atmosphere to produce that energy. At the end of that progression lies a planet like Venus.

Is that the world you want to pass on to your great-grandchildren?

Ya it sucks but the damage we have done is not reversible. Most scientists seem to think that if we let the World alone it will eventually return to its natural state. Now that is not viable but we can reduce our a use a bit and that would help

DaveinOlyWA said:

Ya it sucks but the damage we have done is not reversible. Most scientists seem to think that if we let the World alone it will eventually return to its natural state. Now that is not viable but we can reduce our a use a bit and that would help

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Why do you think it's not reversible?

Sure - it would take about 100 years to get close to restoring all the rain forest we've clear cut, and it would take a lot of energy and work to start pulling greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, etc. But I'm not sure right now that we can't, but I would agree that it doesn't look we will.

AndyH said:

Why do you think it's not reversible?

Sure - it would take about 100 years to get close to restoring all the rain forest we've clear cut, and it would take a lot of energy and work to start pulling greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, etc. But I'm not sure right now that we can't, but I would agree that it doesn't look we will.

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We don't know what the exact tipping points are. If we cross some of them (say causing both greenland and antartica to melt) - then it will be millions of years before we come back to this kind of climate again.

We are definitely heading towards something not seen since the dawn of civilization some 10K years ago. In worst case we would be heading back to the dynosaur age.

Allowing nature to take its course swill take a while but not in all cases. Carbon sequestration for example nature can turn around very fast...ever try to slow weed growth? If u have then u know what I mean.

But we need to allow that to happen and there are basic changes that we can do to greatly hello that process but u r correct....it does not look like we will stop looking at our own reflections long enough to realize the ramifications our actions has done to our surroundings