How Hot Can It Be

Some people still deny the idea of global warming. They say that it's nothing more than the normal cyclic rise and fall of historical temperatures. They are correct, but only in part.

The following graph illustrate how globabl temperature, in fact, have been cycling for over 800,000 years.

It can be seen that the CO2 levels and global temperature have mirrored one another for many millenia. The peak CO2 levels have historically been about 280 ppm. But notice that in only the past 50 years, the CO2 levels have nearly double their historical peaks to about 412 ppm today. One could assume that global warming will follow the CO2 levels and dramatically increase very soon. Science predicts, and historical records confirm, that global warming and CO2 levels are closely related.

Over it's lifetime, the Earth has undergone VERY dramatic changes before. In  fact, global warming isn't something new. But that doesn't mean that we should be OK with the changes. In fact, I doubt that anyone would want to live in the environment of any of the past historical changes. Consider the following graphs.

Going back millions of years ago (before the age of dinosaurs), the Earth was VERY very hot. In the Eocene period about 50 million years ago, the avearage global temperature was estimated to be about 112°F which is 55°  higher than the 20th century global average of 57°F. Back then, it took more than 10,000 years to get that hot. But today, if nothing is done to curb CO2 production, the temperature by the end of this century will be at least that high. That's only 80 years away.

So, the answer is "YES". We do need to worry about global warming. And we need to deal with it quickly. Time is running out.