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Everyone knows that all “world records” are only since record keeping began. The difference is that in the US that means about 200 years while in Japan it means

Everyone knows that all “world records” are only since record keeping began. The difference is that in the US that means about 200 years while in Japan it means more than a thousand.

blondie9x 6y ago
So many world records involving the climate have been broken in recent years. Is there still hope left for our planet? I was in the ocean a few months back and the water was calm, the sound of the waves was peaceful. The beach was beautiful. But there was a problem beneath the surface. Plastic everywhere. Pieces of it broken down throughout the water and when I exited the water it was all throughout the sand as well. I walked up the entire beach and plastic was everywhere. Throughout such refined sand. I hit a low that day. Sometimes I lose hope, I'm just not sure we will be able to right our course towards sustainability and minimalism in time to avert climate disaster and this sixth mass extinction in the anthropocence. I just hope one day when I'm old I will not lose the sakura blossom festivals altogether and that posterity will still be able to enjoy the tranquility of a new spring.
scarmig 6y ago
Not quite. Oftentimes we use proxies for historical data. For instance, you might look at the composition of annually stratified sediments to get a sense of climactic and environmental conditions. This gets us approximate but reasonable estimates of e.g. the temperature, but can't really be said to represent a "record." Even for cherry blossoms, they put off pollen, so you could probably do something similar. It'd be tricky to get a fine enough resolution (I'd be impressed if you could even get estimates as specific as month-level). Though the millenium of data would be awesome for verifying the proxy.
- matkoniecz 6y ago
  Ice cores are pretty amazing. > Cores are drilled with hand augers (for shallow holes) or powered drills; they can reach depths of over 3.2 km, and contain ice up to 800,000 years old. > The physical properties of the ice and of material trapped in it can be used to reconstruct the climate over the age range of the core. The proportions of different oxygen and hydrogen isotopes provide information about ancient temperatures, and the air trapped in tiny bubbles can be analysed to determine the level of atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core (edited for SI units preference)

Everyone knows that all “world records” are only since record keeping began. The difference is that in the US that means about 200 years while in Japan it means more than a thousand.

blondie9x 6y ago

So many world records involving the climate have been broken in recent years. Is there still hope left for our planet? I was in the ocean a few months back and the water was calm, the sound of the waves was peaceful. The beach was beautiful. But there was a problem beneath the surface. Plastic everywhere. Pieces of it broken down throughout the water and when I exited the water it was all throughout the sand as well. I walked up the entire beach and plastic was everywhere. Throughout such refined sand. I hit a low that day. Sometimes I lose hope, I'm just not sure we will be able to right our course towards sustainability and minimalism in time to avert climate disaster and this sixth mass extinction in the anthropocence. I just hope one day when I'm old I will not lose the sakura blossom festivals altogether and that posterity will still be able to enjoy the tranquility of a new spring.

scarmig 6y ago

Not quite. Oftentimes we use proxies for historical data. For instance, you might look at the composition of annually stratified sediments to get a sense of climactic and environmental conditions. This gets us approximate but reasonable estimates of e.g. the temperature, but can't really be said to represent a "record." Even for cherry blossoms, they put off pollen, so you could probably do something similar. It'd be tricky to get a fine enough resolution (I'd be impressed if you could even get estimates as specific as month-level). Though the millenium of data would be awesome for verifying the proxy.

matkoniecz 6y ago
Ice cores are pretty amazing. > Cores are drilled with hand augers (for shallow holes) or powered drills; they can reach depths of over 3.2 km, and contain ice up to 800,000 years old. > The physical properties of the ice and of material trapped in it can be used to reconstruct the climate over the age range of the core. The proportions of different oxygen and hydrogen isotopes provide information about ancient temperatures, and the air trapped in tiny bubbles can be analysed to determine the level of atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_core (edited for SI units preference)