... and based on that chart are now hotter than any time in the last 100k years, heading into the last few million. A few 10s (of million) years at +25c are going to be the "new normal"? I'm trying to understand the point. The rate of change is quite dramatic, and the last time (Eemian) there was anything like this there were "rapid" 12c oscillations.
Humans didn't exist. I suspect most current plant/animal species are "devolved" by such swings.
>and based on that chart are now hotter than any time in the last 100k years, heading into the last few million. A few 10s (of million) years at +25c are going to be the "new normal"?
No, the chart does not say that. The 2050 and 2100 dots are projections from the IPOC RCP8.5 “high emissions” scenario. Also, absolutely nothing on that says we’re going to +25c. That part of the chart (that goes to 25) is in F, and it still doesn’t say we’re going to 25f either.
Lots of people wonder why we have so many climate deniers. A lot of the reason is because of guys like this ^ on the opposite end of the spectrum, spewing their fears into a hyperbolic, warped reality. What we need more of is a balanced, realistic, objective view. That will allow us to get to work on a solution.
> Humans didn't exist. I suspect most current plant/animal species are "devolved" by such swings.
The first apes evolved about 20 million years ago, when the world was much hotter. I suspect we can survive those conditions again.
And regardless of climate change, most current plant/animal species will go extinct (or already have) due to habitat destruction and mass exploitation. As a cause of mass extinction, that's a much bigger problem than climate change.
Don't know about op's point, but seeing those kinds of graphs makes you really think twice about the hypothesis that stopping any kind of human activity will have any effect on a phenomenon that's been naturally occuring for hundreds of millions of years, on one order of magnitude greater than what we're observing (talking about degrees variation, not taking speed into account).
> talking about degrees variation, not taking speed into account
If you discount this of course we aren't effecting anything unprecedented. We were once a ball of magma. But, as has been pointed out here, rate and cause of change is incredibly important. A swing set and an explosion will both launch you into the air.
Humans didn't exist. I suspect most current plant/animal species are "devolved" by such swings.