{"id":18955,"date":"2016-03-17T11:07:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T16:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=18955"},"modified":"2016-03-17T11:11:23","modified_gmt":"2016-03-17T16:11:23","slug":"meltdown-earth-the-shocking-reality-of-climate-change-kicks-in-but-who-is-listening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=18955","title":{"rendered":"Meltdown Earth: the shocking reality of climate change kicks in \u2013 but who is listening?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"content-header grid-sixteen\">\n<header class=\"grid-twelve large-grid-eleven\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"content-header-block\">\n<h3 class=\"entry-title instapaper_title\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/meltdown-earth-the-shocking-reality-of-climate-change-kicks-in-but-who-is-listening-56255\" target=\"_blank\">Meltdown Earth: the shocking reality of climate change kicks in \u2013 but who is\u00a0listening?<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"grid-twelve large-grid-eleven\">\n<figure class=\"content-lead-image grid-twelve large-grid-eleven\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/files\/115014\/width926\/image-20160314-11267-w4g81t.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"115014\" \/><figcaption>Parts of the Arctic were 16\u2103 warmer than normal in February.\u00a0<span class=\"attribution\">Bernhard Staehli \/ shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"grid-ten large-grid-nine grid-last content-body content entry-content instapaper_body\">\n<p>And another one bites the dust. The year 2014 was the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/el-nino-could-mean-2015-is-even-hotter-than-last-years-scorcher-35837\">warmest ever<\/a>recorded by humans. Then 2015 was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/we-have-12-months-until-the-next-hottest-year-memo-will-we-be-ready-53460\">warmer still<\/a>. January 2016\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.climatecentral.org\/news\/january-global-temperature-record-20035\">broke the record<\/a>\u00a0for the largest monthly temperature anomaly. Then came last month.<\/p>\n<p>February didn\u2019t break climate change records \u2013 it\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/blogs\/future_tense\/2016\/03\/01\/february_2016_s_shocking_global_warming_temperature_record.html\">obliterated them<\/a>. Regions of the Arctic were were more than 16\u2103 warmer than normal \u2013 whatever constitutes normal now. But what is really making people stand up and notice is that the surface of the Earth north of the equator was 2\u2103 warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. This was meant to be a line that must not be crossed.<\/p>\n<p>Two degrees was\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/unfccc.int\/resource\/docs\/2010\/cop16\/eng\/07a01.pdf#page=2\">broadly interpreted<\/a>\u00a0as the temperature that could produce further, potentially runaway warming. You can think of it as a speed limit on our climate impact. But it\u2019s not a target speed. If you are driving a car carrying a heavy load down a steep hill you\u2019re often advised to change down from top gear and keep your speed low, as if you go too fast your brakes will fail and you will be unable to stop. Less braking means more speed which means less braking \u2013 a dangerous runaway feedback loop. Hopefully the hill flattens out and you have enough straight road ahead to recover. If you don\u2019t then you will be stopping much more abruptly.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<article class=\"MediaCard MediaCard--mediaForward customisable-border\" dir=\"ltr\" data-scribe=\"component:card\">\n<div class=\"MediaCard-media\">\n<p><a class=\"MediaCard-borderOverlay\" tabindex=\"-1\" title=\"View image on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\/status\/709148100800094208\/photo\/1\"><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">View image on Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"MediaCard-widthConstraint js-cspForcedStyle\" data-style=\"max-width: 600px\">\n<div class=\"MediaCard-mediaContainer js-cspForcedStyle\" data-style=\"padding-bottom: 62.0000%\"><a class=\"MediaCard-mediaAsset NaturalImage \" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\/status\/709148100800094208\/photo\/1\" data-scribe=\"element:photo\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"NaturalImage-image\" title=\"View image on Twitter\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/media\/CddmcIKVIAA0APE.jpg\" alt=\"View image on Twitter\" width=\"600\" height=\"372\" data-srcset=\"https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCddmcIKVIAA0APE.jpg%3Alarge 800w,https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCddmcIKVIAA0APE.jpg 600w,https%3A%2F%2Fpbs.twimg.com%2Fmedia%2FCddmcIKVIAA0APE.jpg%3Asmall 340w\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"EmbeddedTweet-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"Tweet h-entry js-tweetIdInfo subject expanded is-deciderHtmlWhitespace\" cite=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\/status\/709148100800094208\" data-tweet-id=\"709148100800094208\" data-scribe=\"section:subject\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-header u-cf\">\n<div class=\"Tweet-brand u-floatRight\"><span class=\"u-hiddenInNarrowEnv\"><a class=\"FollowButton follow-button profile\" title=\"Follow Stefan Rahmstorf on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\" data-scribe=\"component:followbutton\">\u00a0Follow<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"TweetAuthor\" data-scribe=\"component:author\"><a class=\"TweetAuthor-link Identity u-linkBlend\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\" data-scribe=\"element:user_link\"><span class=\"TweetAuthor-avatar Identity-avatar\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/1248007544\/copenhagen3_normal.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-scribe=\"element:avatar\" data-src-2x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/1248007544\/copenhagen3_bigger.jpg\" data-src-1x=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/1248007544\/copenhagen3_normal.jpg\" \/><\/span><span class=\"TweetAuthor-name Identity-name customisable-highlight\" title=\"Stefan Rahmstorf\" data-scribe=\"element:name\">Stefan Rahmstorf<\/span>\u00a0<span class=\"TweetAuthor-screenName Identity-screenName\" title=\"\u200e@rahmstorf\" data-scribe=\"element:screen_name\">\u200e@rahmstorf<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Tweet-body e-entry-content\" data-scribe=\"component:tweet\">\n<p class=\"Tweet-text e-entry-title\" dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">February\u00a0Smashes Earth&#8217;s All-Time Global Heat Record by a Jaw-Dropping Margin\u00a0<a class=\"link customisable\" dir=\"ltr\" title=\"http:\/\/po.st\/XeYGLf\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6B937T0Uk9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-expanded-url=\"http:\/\/po.st\/XeYGLf\" data-scribe=\"element:url\"><span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">http:\/\/<\/span>po.st\/XeYGLf<span class=\"u-hiddenVisually\">\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"Tweet-metadata dateline\"><a class=\"u-linkBlend u-url customisable-highlight long-permalink\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rahmstorf\/status\/709148100800094208\" data-datetime=\"2016-03-13T22:44:17+0000\" data-scribe=\"element:full_timestamp\">6:44 PM &#8211; 13 Mar 2016<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"Tweet-metadata dateline\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>We are currently swamping the Earth\u2019s ability to absorb greenhouse gases. 2015 saw the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.noaa.gov\/record-annual-increase-carbon-dioxide-observed-mauna-loa-2015\">largest annual increase<\/a>\u00a0in carbon dioxide since records began \u2013 far higher than the Earth has experienced for hundreds of thousands of years.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;click on the above link to read the rest of the article&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meltdown Earth: the shocking reality of climate change kicks in \u2013 but who is\u00a0listening? Parts of the Arctic were 16\u2103 warmer than normal in February.\u00a0Bernhard Staehli \/ shutterstock And another one bites the dust. The year 2014 was the\u00a0warmest everrecorded by humans. Then 2015 was\u00a0warmer still. January 2016\u00a0broke the record\u00a0for the largest monthly temperature anomaly. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[141,12994,369,386,12993,8487],"class_list":["post-18955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-global-heat","tag-global-warming","tag-greenhouse-gases","tag-james-dyke","tag-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18955"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18957,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18955\/revisions\/18957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}