Robert B. writes via email with a question that we’ve just never asked readers to weigh in on here before in post, though has been bandied about in comments. I figure it is about time to put it to rest by asking up front.
He asks:
What is the perfect temperature of Earth? I’m assuming that climate change-related taxes will be used to bring our planet back to the perfect temperature, and I need to know when that has been reached.
I need to know: Who is Robert B? He asks an important question. Certainly important enough to be asked in his own real name.
Is the “sweet spot” for Global temperature the point where excess death due to cold conditions equals the excess death toll due to warm conditions? And if we could adjust global temperature to that, how do we keep it there for the 100,000 years (+ or -) for the climate change cycle indicated by the Antarctic ice cores to reach the next minimum?
According to the IPCC the perfect temperature for the earth is the current temperature, and 2C higher will be catastrophic.
This however does not explain the phrase “tropical paradise”. Why do we never hear of the “temperate paradise” or the “arctic paradise”?
Quite a bit of the earth needs much more than 2C to become a “tropical paradise”.
I’m guesstimating very roughly 3C to 5C higher than currently — on a global-average scale.
To put the question another way; Is locking a whole continent up under a whole pile of ice really a practical use of valuable real estate? When I look at those emperor penguins huddling together through the winter – I don’t think they look very happy with the temperature as it is.
But to answer the question though, I think we should remember that we are a planet with a bioshpere that relies on photosynthesis for the survival of all. My recomendation is to not ask the parasitic oxygen breathers what they would like – but to ask the photosynthesisers what they would like.
Thats who we should optimise the planet for – and the rest of us will get on just fine.
It’s not the heat it’s the humidity…
Colorado Wellington says:
March 8, 2014 at 9:13 am
“Well, thank you belatedly, although I’m not sure if you’ve just fixed my informal language or if you reject my boldness and ambition to also demand the proper administration of solar activity and Earth orbit.”
No I got your sarcasm, I just think that administrating solar activity and Earth orbit is a little outta reach. 🙂
Good luck with that lol
What some scientists don’t want to admit, that the Neaderthals were adapted to extreme cold, and our present group, most probably came over from Africa where there was less in fact they never needed to adapt to the cold other than clothes, as they had superior weapons. And we Europeans and Asians would have dark skinned ancestors, who got paler over 40,000 years. Ha Ha, I do think a film with Gerard Dupardeu and Singoray Weaver, (excuse the spelling of their names) made a French film that translated ‘One man and two women’ it was hilarious when a paleoanthropological find Gerard made in France, (not Africa) was presented to an a science institute audience and when he revealed she was black, the audience erupted in dismay and ridicule (the white persons) and smiles from the Arabs and black scientists. Worth a look.
zonga100 says:
March 8, 2014 at 4:59 pm
It’s not the heat it’s the humidity…
___________________
And you get a Thread Gold Star next to your name.
This has been a lot of fun – thanks Anthony and thanks Robert B. But something puzzles me. I checked “Notify me of follow-up comments via email” and now I want to stop receiving the notifications. I found a place where I could “unsubscribe” and did so but the notifications keep coming. The only thing that seems to have happened is that the place to alter my settings has disappeared. What have I done wrong and how do I fix it?
Absolutely, under no circumstances should the average temperature of the planet be allowed to exceed 86° F. (30° C). I do not want my Ghirardelli Chocolates to melt.
Tommy for heavens sake put you chocs in the fridge! LOL or get expensive air conditioning.
Already there, perfect temp for 17 years and 6 months so far and still ongoing, see that money did make a difference after all 😉
“bushbunny says:
March 8, 2014 at 6:12 pm”
Our mDNA has been traced back to people in what is now East Africa, specifically Ethiopia and Afar depression. The entire global population and it’s racial diversity can be repopulated with DNA from people in East Africa. Well, that is what geneticists/theorists are suggesting anyway.
Theories suggest that climate/temperatures did change causing trees to be superceded by grasses forcing “Lucy” to walk upright and on land. This was about 4mya. If this is true, we’ve come a long way in such a short time, geologically speaking.
Please dial it in at:
24 to 32 Summer, with rain on Mondays only.
16 to 24 in Winter. No rain.
Thanks.
Robert B: I’m not sure your question has a meaningful or useful answer. Temperature is an intensive quantity, so in theory can’t be summed or a mean calculated. It’s unknowable. I suppose one could calculate a median value by dividing the earth’s surface into a large number of equal area boxes (or its atmosphere into a large number of equal volume or equal mass boxes) and using the temperature of the box in the middle of the range. The first might be somewhere between 10C and 20C at the moment, and likely has been both higher and lower in the past. As I understand it, climatologists tend to use temperature anomalies rather than absolute temperatures. This has the advantage that you don’t have to know what the average temperature is.
Depends where you measure it from
But here’s a straight average from the same 2438 NOAA weather stations updated hourly since the start of 2011
http://www.theglobalthermometer.com
Let’s just say at the moment it’s not getting warmer (averaged over one complete orbit of our local, currently less active, star)
Comparing apples with apples and no wild extrapolation, guaranteed.
(I already have over 70,000,000 raw temperature recordings in a lovely database I don’t intend to lose c.f. the dog ate my homework/ I deleted the raw data after performing the “adjustments”)
Dave
Patrick says:
March 8, 2014 at 8:03 pm
“Theories suggest that climate/temperatures did change causing trees to be superceded by grasses forcing “Lucy” to walk upright and on land. This was about 4mya. If this is true, we’ve come a long way in such a short time, geologically speaking.”
Today, Lucy doesn’t count as an anchestor of humanity anymore. They never found a hand or foot bone of Lucy and only assumed it was a hominid. No proof it walked upright or had opposing thumbs or anything. Just some old monkey bones. Great hype for the time. Great success.
bushbunny says:
March 8, 2014 at 6:12 pm
“What some scientists don’t want to admit, that the Neaderthals were adapted to extreme cold, and our present group, most probably came over from Africa where there was less in fact they never needed to adapt to the cold other than clothes, as they had superior weapons. And we Europeans and Asians would have dark skinned ancestors, who got paler over 40,000 years.”
Kaukasians are mixtures of Neanderthals and Homo erectus as gene analysis shows.
Patrick says:
March 8, 2014 at 8:03 pm
“The entire global population and it’s racial diversity can be repopulated with DNA from people in East Africa.”
Well, given that you find all races on Sansibar – due to millenia of seafaring trade – that’s kind of trivial. You could do it just as well with the current population of Hamburg or any other large port city.
Well it seems clear we should put the question to a global vote, since it affects everyone on the planet. Of course, since more than 50% of the world’s population lives between 25 deg north and 25 deg south latitude, they may vote to lower the earth’s temperature by 3-4 deg C. Since I live in Singapore I’d like to see the temperature here drop by about 6 deg C. Of course my friends in the far north and far south may object (virtually all of the US, most of China, Europe, etc) but as long as it’s democratic I’m sure it’s OK. Probably the UN could hand this, don’t you think?
I live in central Arizona. My perfect temperature is highs of 115 in the summer, and 70 in the winter. Lows of 90 in the summer, and 40 in the winter.
More global warming please!
Please can we leave it just as it is until after I have been to Antarctica next Feb! After that, 3 degrees walmer in the UK wouldbe nice.
The temperature that would maximise global food production. Plug that into your 3 trillion byte supercomputer, UEA, make it useful for something.
We’re going to need it.
Lerner and Loewe probably said it best:
It’s true! It’s true! The crown has made it clear
The climate must be perfect all the year
A law was made a distant moon ago here
July and August cannot be too hot
And there’s a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot
The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre
But in Camelot, Camelot
That’s how conditions are
The rain may never fall till after sundown
By eight, the morning fog must disappear
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot
Camelot! Camelot!
I know it gives a person pause
But in Camelot, Camelot
Those are the legal laws
The snow may never slush upon the hillside.
By nine p.m. the moonlight must appear
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot
davidmhoffer says:
March 7, 2014 at 7:50 pm
Have you lost your mind?
Have you gone stark staring mad?
Are you trying to start a war?
The auto industry invented dual zone climate control so that we don’t have to answer this question! And you want an answer for the whole planet? Nothing good can come of this…
+++++++++
BINGO! Essentially, it’s like asking the three bears – Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear…