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The IPCC has a summary of the possible impact of a 1.5C temperature rise: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ It's not a simple matter of the w

The IPCC has a summary of the possible impact of a 1.5C temperature rise: https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ It's not a simple matter of the weather being warmer when you step outside every day. This is a relatively rapid change in global temperature on an archaeological scale, and the downstream consequences could be significant.

soperj 5y ago
I keep hearing about the rapidness being unprecedented, but then also that there are methane seems in the arctic that will be released, which should result in an even more rapid change. If this natural process exists, then really the rapidness of change in global temperatures can't be unprecedented, since any major climate swing would result in methane releases.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  It's absolutely unprecedented for human civilisation. If you want to compare it with catastrophic climate changes in pre-human times, go ahead. But that's far more likely to damage your argument than help it because they were far more catastrophic, up to and including mass extinction events.
- unanswered 5y ago
  "Unprecedented" is a dog whistle which is supported on the basis that technically the rise will have been unprecedented within the anthropocene timeframe, i.e., an ending ice age.
- Brakenshire 5y ago
  The Clathrate Gun idea you’re referring to is not considered mainstream, it’s not endorsed by the IPCC for instance.
  - soperj 5y ago
    That's interesting. Thank you!
- PragmaticPulp 5y ago
  The downstream effects are also accelerated due to the rapid change of the inputs. Normally we study climate change on the scale of 10s to 100s of millions of years. This current change in CO2 concentration is unprecedented because it happened in the span of a century. 5-6 orders of magnitude faster than anything previously. It's so fast, it looks like an impulse on any graph with historical data: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/...

soperj 5y ago

I keep hearing about the rapidness being unprecedented, but then also that there are methane seems in the arctic that will be released, which should result in an even more rapid change. If this natural process exists, then really the rapidness of change in global temperatures can't be unprecedented, since any major climate swing would result in methane releases.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
It's absolutely unprecedented for human civilisation. If you want to compare it with catastrophic climate changes in pre-human times, go ahead. But that's far more likely to damage your argument than help it because they were far more catastrophic, up to and including mass extinction events.
unanswered 5y ago
"Unprecedented" is a dog whistle which is supported on the basis that technically the rise will have been unprecedented within the anthropocene timeframe, i.e., an ending ice age.
Brakenshire 5y ago
The Clathrate Gun idea you’re referring to is not considered mainstream, it’s not endorsed by the IPCC for instance.
- soperj 5y ago
  That's interesting. Thank you!
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
The downstream effects are also accelerated due to the rapid change of the inputs. Normally we study climate change on the scale of 10s to 100s of millions of years. This current change in CO2 concentration is unprecedented because it happened in the span of a century. 5-6 orders of magnitude faster than anything previously. It's so fast, it looks like an impulse on any graph with historical data: https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-atmospheric-carbon-dioxide https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/...