Study: Earth hottest in 400 years

Panel says humans responsible for much of the warming

Thursday, June 22, 2006; Posted: 12:45 p.m. EDT (16:45 GMT)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer.

The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.

The Bush administration also has maintained that the threat is not severe enough to warrant new pollution controls that the White House says would have cost 5 million Americans their jobs.

Climate scientists Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley and Malcolm Hughes had concluded the Northern Hemisphere was the warmest it has been in 2,000 years. Their research was known as the "hockey-stick" graphic because it compared the sharp curve of the hockey blade to the recent uptick in temperatures and the stick's long shaft to centuries of previous climate stability.

The National Academy scientists concluded that the Mann-Bradley-Hughes research from the late 1990s was "likely" to be true, said John "Mike" Wallace, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Washington and a panel member. The conclusions from the '90s research "are very close to being right" and are supported by even more recent data, Wallace said.

Overall, the panel agreed that the warming in the last few decades of the 20th century was unprecedented over the last 1,000 years, though relatively warm conditions persisted around the year 1000, followed by a "Little Ice Age" from about 1500 to 1850.

The scientists said they had less confidence in the evidence of temperatures before 1600. But they considered it reliable enough to conclude there were sharp spikes in carbon dioxide and methane, the two major "greenhouse" gases blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere, beginning in the 20th century, after remaining fairly level for 12,000 years.

Between 1 A.D. and 1850, volcanic eruptions and solar fluctuations were the main causes of changes in greenhouse gas levels. But those temperature changes "were much less pronounced than the warming due to greenhouse gas" levels by pollution since the mid-19th century, it said. - CNN
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I said before, I'm going to miss polar bears. (They're the only North American mammal that actively hunts humans for food.)

Thank you for the food I eat.
Thank you for this source of meat.
Once I taste that in my mouth,
I may have to move down south.

quote:

I said before, I'm going to miss polar bears. (They're the only North American mammal that actively hunts humans for food.)

That may be true DG but remember that the grizzly bear is the only North American mammal (asides from mankind) that kills for “fun” . They have been known to kill a man and other animals just for the thrill of the chase.

Hybrid Bear...for better killing? Grizzly bear/polar bear hybrid that was DNA confirmed in May. Perhaps Steven Colbert is on to something keeping bears on the "Threat Down".

DG- That polar bear can pray all he wants but the FACT is God hates polar bears so the earth must warm up to get rid of this menace. So don't go all "greenhouse gases" and sciency on us.