Chicago braces for a warm future... (Springfield, Oak Brook: appliances, homes, live)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

The climate is slowly warming, but it's not expected to be some rapid rise.

Well, I hope you're right. I don't want six months of air conditioning bills, termites, killer bees, and the creeping crud of the South.

[Vlajos]

I too hope Chicago60614 is right, I would likely have to move to Canada if Baton Rouge was our new weather.

[oakparkdude]

I moved here to get away from the South. I don't want it coming after me!

[MassVt]

We've heard similar stories here, suggesting that Boston would have the same weather as Richmond, VA at some point in the not-too-distant future; far from a certainty, and it wouldn't happen in my lifetime...

If this did come to pass very quickly, Canada would be inundated with US refugees, but they'd probably have to move well beyond well Toronto/Montreal to feel any real relief....

[nana053]

Originally Posted by nyyfanatic85

Chicago is overreacting on this one. We have had, currently have, and will always have climate change. Earth's temps have been flat for the past 15 years, and I find it funny that had Chicago followed the advice of the world's leading climate scientists in the 70s (when global cooling was the rage), the city would now be inundated with mature Rocky Mountain Jumper trees.

It is true that the warming has plateaued in the past 15 years or so, but...

A Cooler Pacific May Be Behind Recent Pause In Global Warming : NPR

The Earth's average temperature has risen by more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. But the temperature rise has not been moving in lock step with the rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide — mainly from burning fossil fuels — traps heat in the air.

"It's gaining extra heat during the past 15 years, and that heat is being stored" in the deep ocean, he says.

There's no telling how long this cool phase will persist. But the previous Pacific cool phase, which started in the 1940s, lasted about 30 years. It can't last forever; the ocean will eventually return to a warm phase, "and when that happens, we will be seeing unprecedented rates of climate warming," he says.

Link to the actual study: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...ture12534.html

Our results show that the current hiatus is part of natural climate variability, tied specifically to a La-Niña-like decadal cooling. Although similar decadal hiatus events may occur in the future, the multi-decadal warming trend is very likely to continue with greenhouse gas increase.

[marothisu]

lol this does not sound believable

[nana053]

Originally Posted by marothisu

lol this does not sound believable

Read the science behind it rather than just saying that. It is important to be skeptical, but also important to do the research.

http://climate.nasa.gov/news/983

After trying for five years, scientific instruments were finally installed on Pine Island Glacier ice shelf in Dec. 2012. Their first scientific results, determining the rate at which warm sea water is eating away the ice from underneath the floating portion of the glacier, were published today.

[Bluefox]

I don't know about the accuracy of some of the data provided in the article, but it does appear correct in that Chicago did recently move into plant hardiness zone 6 due to warmer temperatures.

Chicagoland enters plant zone 6 - Chicago Ornamental Horticulture | Examiner.com

[Nafster]

The way this article is written is THE reason why there are so many climate change/global warming deniers out there. Saying Chicago's climate will feel like Baton Rouge by the end of the century is a real leap and generalization.

Don't get me wrong--- I am a huge believer in global warming/climate change and am a supporter of all the initiatives, but I am now on the side of the climate change argument that believes fear mongering (coming up with ridiculous, hyped/apocalyptic scenarios) causes more eye rolling than alarm.

The truth is climate change is a very complex process and its real future effects remain quite uncertain. They will be bad, mind you, but they are not so simple as Chicago will feel like Baton Rouge, Alaska will feel like St. Louis, Los Angeles will be uninhabitable, etc.

Rather, climate change will increase the likelihood of extreme heatwaves in the summer causing them to be longer and hotter (things like the Summer of 2012 will likely occur more often and be worse). More natural disasters like flooding and droughts are likely to occur with added intensity.

BUT, there will still be mild summers, there will still be very cold winters, and we will still have some 'normal' seasons (which I don't even think exists that much anymore).

Overall though, the prediction is that these awful events will likely happen more often causing the overall temperature average to go up, so its best we prepare and adapt to these changes and prevent it from hopefully getting much worse because the severe effects of climate change have already started to be felt with the US seeing much more natural disasters lately.

[rubbersoul89]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Got any citations at all for that?

seems you don't understand how citations work.

shocking.