We're Having a Heat Wave...

Greg · 06-06-2007, 06:11 AM

I thought I'd post this without comment see what happens.

Earth's mean temperature through all the history of higher life forms.
The Holocene marks the advent of the human species. The Triassic and Jurassic were the Age of Dinosaurs.
MYA = "millions of years ago". Chart by me. Data from a paleontologist whose name escapes me at the moment.

Miros1 · 06-06-2007, 08:12 PM

Well, I don't think your horizontal scale is very even. The entire scale from the beginning of the Cambrian to the end of the Tertiary should be about 8 or 9 times the size of the Tertiary...

shorty943 · 06-19-2007, 01:26 PM

Not verticle enough either.
Right now it is below zero C, where I am.
Global warming be shucked, it's freezing here.

Greg · 06-19-2007, 09:47 PM

I think the original had a logarithmic time scale, which reflects the relative accuracy of the data more than anything else. Now that you mention it, though, the logarithmic scale tends to obscure some interesting time-dependent data. The length of time that dinosaurs ruled the planet is much more interesting on a linear scale.

Recorded human history: ...........10,000 years
Dinosaur dominance: .........160,000,000 years

I kind of puts the whole thing into perspective, y'know?

As James P. Hogan said, "Intellect is a relatively recent innovation."

Added: There's an article in the Wikipedia about the timeline of evolution that lays out the development of life forms on a more linear scale. It's still not there, though. The most interesting time, from the Cambrian explosion up to now, is squished into a little patch at the end of the chart.

Greg · 06-19-2007, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shorty943

Not verticle enough either.
Right now it is below zero C, where I am.
Global warming be shucked, it's freezing here.

Take heart, Shorty! Just hold out for another 30,000,000 years and it'll be a lot warmer!

Greg · 06-19-2007, 10:06 PM

There's one item about that temperature chart that mystifies me: I would have expected to see a dramatic temperature change at the K-T boundary between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. (That's when all the dinosaurs suddenly died out.)

I'm guessing that if it happened, the temperature drop didn't last long enough to leave a significant trace in the fossil record.

shorty943 · 06-20-2007, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Take heart, Shorty! Just hold out for another 30,000,000 years and it'll be a lot warmer!

Uhuh, funny man. Oh, isn't that when the sun is supposed to go KABLUEWEE?

Actually, from what the boffins are now saying about the Atlantic Circulatory Current, it looks like it might be a touch warmer. JUST BEFORE THE ONSET OF A NEW ICE AGE.

Oh God, my broken bits are hurting just at the thought of it.

Stay warm friends.

Greg, any more news on the flooding in Northern Texas? I heard it on the late night news, here in Aus.

Greg · 06-20-2007, 08:33 AM

Naw, the sun has another four and a half billion years before the big show starts.

I've seen a few film clips of flooded streets but not much other than that. It doesn't appear to be a widespread disaster; just another good ol' Texas gullywasher. We do tend to have lively weather here!

At the moment I'm more worried about the weather in Florida. They're hoping to land the Space Shuttle tomorrow but the forecast has thunderstorms within 30 miles of the landing strip.

Greg · 06-20-2007, 08:40 AM

Oh... and about the Atlantic Circulatory Current, we're coming up on a solar minimum next March. After than the sun will be building up to its maximum shenanigans so the weather is likely to become even more lively over the next few years.

shorty943 · 06-20-2007, 08:50 AM

Triffic, last week our East Coast lost a few thousand acres to the Pacific in a rage, now the Met boys say, "brace yourself, she's coming around for another temper tantrum".

Not so good in Florida? Hm, what's the East Coast looking like, and do they have enough oomph to go around again? Edwards AFB isn't it?

Those crews, really do hang it out over the edge don't they? My prayers and best of luck to them. They are kind of heroic to me.

Greg · 06-20-2007, 09:18 AM

They can extend the flight for another two days if they have to. The crew really likes it when that happens because they finally get some serious zero g play time!

Yup, being an astronaut seems to be simultaneously the best job and the worst job in existence today. Ernest Shackleton could have written the advertisement: "Long hours. Low wages. Extreme hazards. Small chance of fame in case of success."

What they don't tell you is that the job involves seemingly endless hours spent in review meetings and even more hours invested in training that you hope to God you'll never need. Through it all, they somehow manage to keep a positive mental attitude going almost all the time.

shorty943 · 06-25-2007, 01:31 PM

Good news. The thermometer stayed above freezing last night. 3 degrees C minimum, up here on the hill. Down on the river they got -1.

Shackleton's advert could also fit Navy life, or service life in general. Most Astronauts are servicemen and women any way.
Our Navy advert goes,"You'll be cold, you'll be homesick, you'll be frightened, but, the pride of the fleet, is you".
The attitude goes with the training.
Was it Chuck Yeager said, "I've never been scared in my life, but, that airplane sure impressed the hell out of me". That's, "the right stuff".

Greg · 06-25-2007, 06:16 PM

It could have even been used to advertize for aerospace engineers!

I've never heard the origin of the phrase "the right stuff." I figured that Clancy must have had some source for it but didn't know what it was. I tried searching the web for it; no luck

Greg · 06-26-2007, 06:25 AM

I'm wondering if somehow the movement of Earth's contentinental plates is related to the climate cycles.

This image shows how the continents have been moving around since the days of the dinosaurs.

The Earth just won't hold still.
Image pilfered from the Wikipedia.
Where the heck was Australia while all this was going on?

All this land movement would obviously have a profound effect on the local weather (most notably in Antarctica) but since ocean currents are a strong driver of global temperatures, it might also have a big effect on the whole planet.

Tonight on David Letterman, Bruce Willis said he's more worried about global humidity. That was just before he jumped off a seven-story building and hit the sidewalk. These facts are of no significance whatsoever.

Miros1 · 06-26-2007, 01:51 PM

I think the poles wander around too. I remember being very impressed as a kid that they'd found evidence of glaciation in the middle of the Sahara and evidence that the magnetic pole had been in the vicinity at about the same time. I've since given away that encyclopedia, so I can't check the facts.

If you look at the image carefully, Australia was snuggled up against Madigascar, then wanders off across the proto-Indian Ocean.

Greg · 06-26-2007, 05:07 PM

I see India and Antarctica snuggled up against Madagascar, but not Australia.

Miros1 · 06-26-2007, 06:55 PM

Hum, that was India... will have to research this...

Greg · 06-27-2007, 04:31 AM

Yeah. We seem to have misplaced Australia; but I know we left it around here somewhere!

shorty943 · 06-27-2007, 07:11 AM

Google:- Gondwanaland. We're over here see? Yoohoo, yes, over here.

We split off at the same time as India, it's just that the graphic artist forgot to include earth rotation. The boffins think we were all part of Antactica or something. Not sure. But, we are still moving north.

As for Polar relocation, that has happened many times over earth's history.

A French theory has the sun as a giant AC\DC thing that changes polarity every few thousand or hundred thousand years.
It has something to do with the ancient Mayan Calender, that just stops dead in about 20 years, and then only turns back. And the fact that they think the sun changes polarity from positive to negative and back again. That would set up some mighty gravitational upheavals, throughout the entire solar system and beyond.
If the theory is sound, that explains the polar relocations.
Spooky huh?

Greg · 06-27-2007, 11:37 AM

Oh, there you are! You were just hiding around the edge of the globe.

The map in the picture seems to be centered on the Prime Meridian. I had to stare at it for a while to figure that out, but it makes sense to have some reference point while everything is moving around, and the Prime Meridian makes as much sense as anything.

06-06-2007, 06:11 AM	#1
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	We're Having a Heat Wave... I thought I'd post this without comment see what happens. Earth's mean temperature through all the history of higher life forms. The Holocene marks the advent of the human species. The Triassic and Jurassic were the Age of Dinosaurs. MYA = "millions of years ago". Chart by me. Data from a paleontologist whose name escapes me at the moment.

06-19-2007, 09:47 PM	#4
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I think the original had a logarithmic time scale, which reflects the relative accuracy of the data more than anything else. Now that you mention it, though, the logarithmic scale tends to obscure some interesting time-dependent data. The length of time that dinosaurs ruled the planet is much more interesting on a linear scale. Recorded human history: ...........10,000 years Dinosaur dominance: .........160,000,000 years I kind of puts the whole thing into perspective, y'know? As James P. Hogan said, "Intellect is a relatively recent innovation." Added: There's an article in the Wikipedia about the timeline of evolution that lays out the development of life forms on a more linear scale. It's still not there, though. The most interesting time, from the Cambrian explosion up to now, is squished into a little patch at the end of the chart. Last edited by Greg : 06-19-2007 at 10:09 PM.

06-25-2007, 06:16 PM	#13
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	It could have even been used to advertize for aerospace engineers! I've never heard the origin of the phrase "the right stuff." I figured that Clancy must have had some source for it but didn't know what it was. I tried searching the web for it; no luck __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

06-26-2007, 06:25 AM	#14
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I'm wondering if somehow the movement of Earth's contentinental plates is related to the climate cycles. This image shows how the continents have been moving around since the days of the dinosaurs. The Earth just won't hold still. Image pilfered from the Wikipedia. Where the heck was Australia while all this was going on? All this land movement would obviously have a profound effect on the local weather (most notably in Antarctica) but since ocean currents are a strong driver of global temperatures, it might also have a big effect on the whole planet. Tonight on David Letterman, Bruce Willis said he's more worried about global humidity. That was just before he jumped off a seven-story building and hit the sidewalk. These facts are of no significance whatsoever. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

06-26-2007, 05:07 PM	#16
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I see India and Antarctica snuggled up against Madagascar, but not Australia. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

06-06-2007, 08:12 PM	#2
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Well, I don't think your horizontal scale is very even. The entire scale from the beginning of the Cambrian to the end of the Tertiary should be about 8 or 9 times the size of the Tertiary...

06-19-2007, 01:26 PM	#3
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Not verticle enough either. Right now it is below zero C, where I am. Global warming be shucked, it's freezing here.

06-19-2007, 10:06 PM	#6
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	There's one item about that temperature chart that mystifies me: I would have expected to see a dramatic temperature change at the K-T boundary between the Cretaceous and the Tertiary. (That's when all the dinosaurs suddenly died out.) I'm guessing that if it happened, the temperature drop didn't last long enough to leave a significant trace in the fossil record.

06-20-2007, 08:33 AM	#8
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Naw, the sun has another four and a half billion years before the big show starts. I've seen a few film clips of flooded streets but not much other than that. It doesn't appear to be a widespread disaster; just another good ol' Texas gullywasher. We do tend to have lively weather here! At the moment I'm more worried about the weather in Florida. They're hoping to land the Space Shuttle tomorrow but the forecast has thunderstorms within 30 miles of the landing strip.

06-20-2007, 08:40 AM	#9
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Oh... and about the Atlantic Circulatory Current, we're coming up on a solar minimum next March. After than the sun will be building up to its maximum shenanigans so the weather is likely to become even more lively over the next few years.

06-20-2007, 08:50 AM	#10
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Triffic, last week our East Coast lost a few thousand acres to the Pacific in a rage, now the Met boys say, "brace yourself, she's coming around for another temper tantrum". Not so good in Florida? Hm, what's the East Coast looking like, and do they have enough oomph to go around again? Edwards AFB isn't it? Those crews, really do hang it out over the edge don't they? My prayers and best of luck to them. They are kind of heroic to me.

06-20-2007, 09:18 AM	#11
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	They can extend the flight for another two days if they have to. The crew really likes it when that happens because they finally get some serious zero g play time! Yup, being an astronaut seems to be simultaneously the best job and the worst job in existence today. Ernest Shackleton could have written the advertisement: "Long hours. Low wages. Extreme hazards. Small chance of fame in case of success." What they don't tell you is that the job involves seemingly endless hours spent in review meetings and even more hours invested in training that you hope to God you'll never need. Through it all, they somehow manage to keep a positive mental attitude going almost all the time.

06-25-2007, 01:31 PM	#12
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Good news. The thermometer stayed above freezing last night. 3 degrees C minimum, up here on the hill. Down on the river they got -1. Shackleton's advert could also fit Navy life, or service life in general. Most Astronauts are servicemen and women any way. Our Navy advert goes,"You'll be cold, you'll be homesick, you'll be frightened, but, the pride of the fleet, is you". The attitude goes with the training. Was it Chuck Yeager said, "I've never been scared in my life, but, that airplane sure impressed the hell out of me". That's, "the right stuff".

06-26-2007, 01:51 PM	#15
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	I think the poles wander around too. I remember being very impressed as a kid that they'd found evidence of glaciation in the middle of the Sahara and evidence that the magnetic pole had been in the vicinity at about the same time. I've since given away that encyclopedia, so I can't check the facts. If you look at the image carefully, Australia was snuggled up against Madigascar, then wanders off across the proto-Indian Ocean.

06-26-2007, 06:55 PM	#17
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Hum, that was India... will have to research this...

06-27-2007, 04:31 AM	#18
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah. We seem to have misplaced Australia; but I know we left it around here somewhere! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

06-27-2007, 07:11 AM	#19
shorty943 Banned Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 805	Google:- Gondwanaland. We're over here see? Yoohoo, yes, over here. We split off at the same time as India, it's just that the graphic artist forgot to include earth rotation. The boffins think we were all part of Antactica or something. Not sure. But, we are still moving north. As for Polar relocation, that has happened many times over earth's history. A French theory has the sun as a giant AC\DC thing that changes polarity every few thousand or hundred thousand years. It has something to do with the ancient Mayan Calender, that just stops dead in about 20 years, and then only turns back. And the fact that they think the sun changes polarity from positive to negative and back again. That would set up some mighty gravitational upheavals, throughout the entire solar system and beyond. If the theory is sound, that explains the polar relocations. Spooky huh?

06-27-2007, 11:37 AM	#20
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Oh, there you are! You were just hiding around the edge of the globe. The map in the picture seems to be centered on the Prime Meridian. I had to stare at it for a while to figure that out, but it makes sense to have some reference point while everything is moving around, and the Prime Meridian makes as much sense as anything. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?