Earth's oceans set record temperatures

[Rybold]

WASHINGTON – Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean Sunday — in Maine. The water temperature was 72 degrees — more like Ocean City, Md., this time of year. And Ocean City's water temp hit 88 degrees this week, toasty even by Miami Beach standards.
Kramer, 26, who lives in the seaside town of Scarborough, said it was the first time he's ever swam so long in Maine's coastal waters. "Usually, you're in five minutes and you're out," he said.
It's not just the ocean off the Northeast coast that is super-warm this summer.
July was the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping.


In hot water: World sets ocean temperature record - Yahoo! News

[Shawn Clark]

Yep, I posted about this in the "Cool Summer" thread. The correlation with the 1998 el Nino year is interesting, since we are somewhat early in this el Nino. Judging by where we are in comparison (and in a sustained solar minimum) is enough to give a thinking man some concern.

[quillsinister]

[sarcasm]I for one don't believe that this is happening, or that if it is happening, it's caused by sunspots, changes in the Earth's orbit or simply the will of Almighty God. In no way do I accept that human industrial activity combined with an almost seven-fold population increase over a mere two centuries resulting in a scientifically verifiable alteration of the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere has anything whatsoever to do with this observed warming. Did they enjoy their swim? What are they complaining about then? Who wants to swim in cold water anyway?[/sarcasm]

[Rybold]

Originally Posted by Shawn Clark

Yep, I posted about this in the "Cool Summer" thread. The correlation with the 1998 el Nino year is interesting, since we are somewhat early in this el Nino. Judging by where we are in comparison (and in a sustained solar minimum) is enough to give a thinking man some concern.

I'll have to checkout your post with respect to the correlation between El Nino and the oceanic temperatures and this time of the year.
Additonal FYI info: I was watching a show on the History Channel two nights ago that talked about how droughts (from either global warming or El Nino) would affect America. Here's what would happen if the droughts are cumulative: The Great Plains farming region of the United States would NOT have enough water to grow enough crops to feed the American population. We would have to import food (IF the other countries would even part with their own, limited food). Solution: Build desalination plants next to the oceans TODAY so that we have them as a backup if we ever need them. After watching the show, I ended up doing about three hours of research on the computer on this subject. VERY INTERESTING! Go to your local water district's website - where does your water come from?

(The History Channel show also revealed that from the massive 1930s drought, the U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered that the Great Plains farmers get most of their water from a giant water shed underneath the Great Plains. During the 1950s, it was discovered that this water shed was becoming depleted (danger!), so they improved technology to more efficiently water crops. From the 1950s through 2009, the water level in the water shed has remained constant (which is below the level of what it was before the 1930s). If weather patterns remain unchanged, we will be just fine. But if we have a drought, the level of water in the water shed will become lower and lower, and eventually become dangerously low. If it runs out...U.S. farm crop output will be approximately HALVED!
(another reason we need to build desalination plants along the ocean TODAY so that we have them in case we ever need them)

Originally Posted by quillsinister

[sarcasm]I for one don't believe that this is happening, or that if it is happening, it's caused by sunspots, changes in the Earth's orbit or simply the will of Almighty God. In no way do I accept that human industrial activity combined with an almost seven-fold population increase over a mere two centuries resulting in a scientifically verifiable alteration of the chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere has anything whatsoever to do with this observed warming. Did they enjoy their swim? What are they complaining about then? Who wants to swim in cold water anyway?[/sarcasm]

I can't believe there are some people that still don't believe humans are contributing to global warming. It is a fact that we have released billions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere from fossil fuels from the Carboniferous time period in earth's history. It is a fact that laboratory experiments at universities and at NASA have proven that CO2 gas creates a greenhouse effect. It is also a fact that from 1930 until today, more than 50% of the glacier volume at Glacier National Park has melted (it is predicted that by 2030, 100% of Glacier National Park's glaciers will be gone). It is a fact that the geological record reveals that changes in earth's climate, over it's 4.5 billion year history, have taken thousands of years, and NEVER only a few decades!
(If you want to see a window into Earth's past ice ages that have shaped rock formations all around the world, you better make a trip to Glacier National Park while the glaciers still exist).

The best thing that you could EVER do for your education is to buy the History Channel DVD called "How The Earth Was Made." It is INCREDIBLE!!!!!! They have EVIDENCE for everything, and EVIDENCE that the earth is 4.5 Billion years old. It's absolutely fascinating.

[EJFB1029]

Maybe you didn't notice the SARCASM?

[hyo silver]

Yeah, I thought quill was mocking the denialist viewpoint, not reiterating it.

But you're right, it's unfortunate some people don't accept reality.

[quillsinister]

Yes, I was being VERY sarcastic, for the purpose of mocking what is an inherently irrational position. The management apologizes for any resulting confusion.

[PriusSport]

Yeah, the same people who love medicare but hate government run health care programs. LOL.

[icarus]

Psst,

Don't tell Youfourya or he'll stroke out!

[Shawn Clark]

Originally Posted by icarus

Psst,

Don't tell Youfourya or he'll stroke out!

He'll just start spamming the thread with 60% of the total posts, all stuff he read on a conservatard blog somewhere.