Earth’s Temperature Hottest in 12,000 Years

Even scarier than the 12,000 figure: Earth is within one degree Celsius of the maximum temperature of the past million years.

AP:

... Hansen, who first warned of the danger of climate change decades ago, said that human-made greenhouse gases have become the dominant climate change factor.

The study said the recent warming has brought global temperature to a level within about one degree Celsius 1.8 degree Fahrenheit—of the maximum temperature of the past million years.

“If further global warming reaches 2 or 3 degrees Celsius, we will likely see changes that make Earth a different planet than the one we know. The last time it was that warm was in the middle Pliocene, about 3 million years ago, when sea level was estimated to have been about 25 meters (80 feet) higher than today,” Hansen said.

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From the NYT

Sir Richard Branson pledges $3 billion to the Clinton Global Initiative to fund research into alternative energy sources.