The latest thinking from even the most alarmist scientists is that the Earth will warm a few degrees by the end of the next century. From AccuWeather.com:
A new study recently published in the journal Nature has reduced the range of possible end-of-century global temperature rise outcomes by more than half.
The report, which was led by professor Peter Cox from the University of Exeter (UK), states that the worst case warming scenario set by the United Nations IPCC (4-5 degrees Celsius warming by the year 2100) is not credible.
“Our study all but rules out very low and very high climate sensitivities,” said Cox.
For the last 25 years, the IPCC has put the potential range of warming by the end of this century in the 1.5 to 4.5 degrees Celsius range.
IPPC emission scenarios and their projected potential warming by the end of the century. This latest study says that this range should be much narrower.
And Bernie Sanders thinks this is the same as an asteroid hitting the Earth. Tell us more, Sen. Party of Science:
Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA, thinks that climate change could potentially be good for humans. Does he also think an asteroid hitting the Earth would be good for humans? pic.twitter.com/xaV8mM1kCk
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) February 9, 2018
So, a few degrees of warming equals an extinction level event?
By the time you get up to a mile-wide asteroid, you are working in the 1 million megaton range. This asteroid has the energy that’s 10 million times greater than the bomb that fell on Hiroshima. It’s able to flatten everything for 100 to 200 miles out from ground zero. In other words, if a mile-wide asteroid were to directly hit New York City, the force of the impact probably would completely flatten every single thing from Washington D.C. to Boston, and would cause extensive damage perhaps 1,000 miles out — that’s as far away as Chicago. The amount of dust and debris thrown up into the atmosphere would block out the sun and cause most living things on the planet to perish. If an asteroid that big were to land in the ocean, it would cause massive tidal waves hundreds of feet high that would completely scrub the coastlines in the vicinity.
Recommended
Try again, Bernie.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member