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2016 is the Hottest Year on Record

posted by on Saturday January 21 2017, @05:52AM   
from the frying-an-egg-on-the-sidewalk dept.

DeathMonkey writes:

2016 was the warmest year since humans began keeping records, by a wide margin. Global average temperatures were extremely hot in the first few months of the year, pushed up by a large El Niño event. Global surface temperatures dropped in the second half of 2016, yet still show a continuation of global warming.

This is the third record-breaking year in a row.

butthurt adds:

Berkeley Earth's work has been published in Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601207) (DX)

Also at NASA (Javascript required) and the Washington Post.

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• Re:New year, same lie Re:New year, same lie (Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday January 21 2017, @02:07PM

  by khallow (3766) on Saturday January 21 2017, @02:07PM (#456971) Journal

  I say we build a new energy infrastructure that doesn't involve importing oil from our enemies and/or require huge military expenditure to secure.

  Both are already true. The US doesn't buy oil from its enemies. And its huge military expenditures have nothing to do with securing oil resources.

  I'd rather be building something new with that money

  Like fifty year old wind turbine and solar cell technology? Or hundred year old electric car technology? We ignore here that we already have a vast fossil fuel-based energy delivery infrastructure. We also ignore that before subsidies, fossil fuels still have an advantage, particularly, petroleum which still remains the least costly means for transportation.

  Parent

• Re:New year, same lie (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @03:02PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 21 2017, @03:02PM (#456983)

  > Like fifty year old wind turbine and solar cell technology? Or hundred year old electric car technology?

  Huh? If you think modern controlled-pitch, composite blade wind turbines are 50 year old tech, you need to get out more. And while there were some short range pioneer electric cars, lithium batteries that make for a somewhat acceptable range were still lab research projects in the 1970s, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery#Before_commercial_introduction [wikipedia.org]

  Sheesh, talk about living in your own echo chamber...

  Parent

• Re:New year, same lie Re:New year, same lie (Score: 3, Insightful) by deimtee on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:07PM

  by deimtee (3272) on Saturday January 21 2017, @11:07PM (#457134) Journal

  The US doesn't buy oil from its enemies.

  While this is true, oil is pretty much a fungible commodity. It doesn't matter who you buy it from, using it drives up the global price and funds oil producing states.

  --
  If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.

  Parent

  • Re:New year, same lie (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:27AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:27AM (#457176)

    True, and while the US enjoys friendly relations with Russia, Iran, Canada and Saudi Arabia, those petrostates wreck havoc elsewhere with their petrodollars. Look at what they've done in the Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, and on and on.

    Parent

  • Re:New year, same lie (Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:32AM

    by khallow (3766) on Sunday January 22 2017, @12:32AM (#457181) Journal

    So in other words, I am right. The US doesn't buy it from its enemies. And oil is not that fungible. There is still the matter of where the oil is and who is willing to buy it. Eliminate the biggest purchasers and you'll have to sell your oil at a discount, even if someone just covertly rebrands it and sells to the US or an ally.
    
    Second, who again is actually an enemy of the US? And why does harming them matter more than helping the US from the point of view of the US?

    Parent