Awareness of Global Warming Is Low

I would guess that Britons are probably typical of other national populations if one takes measurements like those below. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Awareness of Global Warming 'Is Low' By Amanda Brown, Environment Correspondent, PA News.

Public understanding of climate change and the international political agenda to tackle this issue is low, according to a poll out today.

Half of Britons have never heard of the Kyoto Agreement – the deal legally binding countries to reducing greenhouse gases and ratified by Europe, Japan and the developing nations.

The findings by Mori Social Research Institute, come on the eve of the release of the Hollywood blockbuster 'The Day After Tomorrow.'

The report shows the British public may be out of step with Prime Minister Tony Blair's opinion, that climate change is the most important issue facing the world today.

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It's time for that well worn joke, Roger.

Q: Do you know how to tell when a politician is lying?

A: Yes ... his lips are moving.

With what everyone has seen lately out of politicians, ESPECIALLY U.S. politicians, it is probably very ill-advised to use a politician as your climate change poster child.

'...Awareness of Global Warming 'Is Low...'

So is 'Global Warming'!

WDA

end

Your evidence ?

I would have thought it was a pretty straight-forward statement. Nobody is credibly claiming that the current effect is more than around 0.5 c globally. That in itself is not a noticable change - its below normal levels of variability.

Well, I think I notice if I'm half a degree hotter than I like, so in that sense I guess it's noticeable, though perhaps tolerable.

But perhaps the real questions are

'Is the present observable rise 0f 0.5C part of an upward trend ?'

and

'Is this enough to cause significant regional climate change by for example shutting down the gulf stream ?'.

If the answer to either of these is 'yes', responses of the form

>>>So is 'Global Warming'!

Are about as much help as a chocolate teapot in a heat wave.

'Normal' for what ? A Wednesday afternoon or geological time ?

As far as I can see, the historical record indicates that temperature changes of this order may bringing about significant changes in climate, and while part of the global temperature increase may be a natural effect, I don't know that we should be too incautious about adding to it !

Cheers, J/.

Polls of Americans have shown that 70% are seriously concerned over global warming and climate change. As they should be. Obviously *awareness* of the issue is not a problem.

Nope. We cannot be expected to understand your claim unless you explain how you arrived at it.

False. The global rise is 0.6C to 2001 and about 0.75C today. However, that is not distributed evenly, so there are many areas where it is more directly noticeable than others. The absolute change in temperature over time is small but it is the *avereage* over time so it represents 365.25*1 degree F = 365 'degree days'. For 'growing degree days' let us estimate 7 months of the year over 50F so 7/12*365=212 growing degree days.

Now Akron,OH has 2324 GDD and Charleston SC has 2617 for a difference of 293. Now are you sure that farmers would not notice a shift southward in their growing season over two thirds that of Ohio to South Carolina?

However, be not concerned. One of the distortions of the global warming distribution is that the continental U.S. has relatively small warming. I imagine that it is enough to incite comment, but not enough to really give them a change in crops.

Nope. This is a degree of warming that is well above the short range variability of climate. It is highly noticeable in the higher latitudes where change is at least 5C in areas. The necessary warming to be obvious is a lot smaller than day to day weather. The accumulated warming, day after day, can significantly change the timing of seasons, melt permafrost, change precipitation levels, increase significantly the survival rate of insects, etc. There is no questions that innuit *have* noticed a sharp change in the *climate* even if it is not easy to see in the day to day weather.

False.

False again.

I don't disagree - other than that the phrase you are objecting too is in the present tense. At present it is not particularly noticable. Which is of course why its easy enough for people to leave worrying about it for another day, and another, etc.

If they'd said 'global warming is not particularly noticeable to the casual observer' I'd not have bothered, but the dialogue actually went

> >'...Awareness of Global Warming 'Is Low...' > > > >So is 'Global Warming'!

which I don't think invites the same conclusion.

Cheers, J/.

The merger of 'BananaHead' and W(eird) D(emented) A(sshole) is long overdue. Such stupidity is rather incestuous. Perhaps they are related.

<snip of the usual ignorant and unsupported assertions>