2005: Warm or Cold?
A weak El Nino and human-made greenhouse gases could make 2005 the warmest year since records started being kept in the late 1800s, NASA scientists said this week. At a rival press conference across town, the CHL noted that increased emissions of particulates as a result of continuing industralization in China and new air regulations under the "Clear Skies Initiative" in the United States could make 2005 the coldest year on record.

While climate events like El Nino -- when warm water spreads over much of the tropical Pacific Ocean --affect global temperatures, the increasing role of human-made pollutants plays a big part. "There has been a strong warming trend over the past 30 years, a trend that has been shown to be due primarily to increasing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," said James Hansen of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, based in New York. "Yeah, but sulfur emissions and particulates will cancel the whole thing out, and might even plunge us into an ice age." according to Dr. Funkadelic with the CHL.

The warmest year on record was 1998, with 2002 and 2003 coming in second and third, respectively. Last year was the fourth-warmest recorded, with a global mean temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit (14 C), which was about 1.5 degrees warmer than the middle of the century, NASA scientist Drew Shindell said in an interview. Dr. Funkadelic pointed out that NASA has a long history of trying to find meaningful patterns in the randomness of nature.

Average temperatures taken from land and surfaces of the oceans showed 2004 was 0.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 C) above the average temperature from 1951 to 1980, according to Hansen. The spike in global temperatures in 1998 was associated with one of the strongest El Ninos of recent centuries and a weak El Nino contributed to the unusually high global temperatures in 2002 and 2003, NASA said. Funkadelic pointed out that the back-to-back winters in 1996 and 1997 were butt-ass cold in Wisconsin, and challenged the Goddard Institute to move to Hurley, Wisconsin, if they think it's so damn warm out.

Carbon dioxide, emitted by autos, industry and utilities, is the most common greenhouse gas. Hansen also said that the Earth's surface now absorbs more of the sun's energy than gets reflected back to space. That extra energy, together with a weak El Nino, is expected to make 2005 warmer than 2003 and 2004 and perhaps even warmer than 1998, which had stood out as far hotter than any year in the preceding century, NASA said in a statement.

Funkadelic replied "Whatever!"
- nostradamusfunkadelic, 10:02 AM | |