Global Temperature Over My Lifetime
I was really impressed by the accuracy of some of the report's predictions about fossil fuel consumption. Then I realized, oh, right, of course.
I was really impressed by the accuracy of some of the report's predictions about fossil fuel consumption. Then I realized, oh, right, of course.
This is Randall Munroe in his role as a meticulous, conscientious presenter of scientific data. The activities shown in Randall's lifeline, whether learning to ride a bike or even getting married, pale into insignificance when the consequences of unprecedented global average temperature rise are understood and accepted. In particular, he shows that back in 1982, two years before Randall was born, Exxon wrote an internal report predicting the rise of global temperatures due to fossil fuel use, and 40 years later their prediction (shown as the X in a circle at the top-right) is being shown to be right on track. Unfortunately, that report was hidden and not seen until much later, and the world has been slow to respond with the urgency needed to reverse the damage being done to the planet.
The Wikipedia article global temperature record has some telling graphs to supplement Randall's. This one: Global Average Temperature is the global average temperature change for the modern era, since data started being collected regularly in 1850. This one: 2000 Year Temperature Comparison reconstructs 2000 years of temperatures.
And this comic is a small segment of another comic: 1732: Earth Temperature Timeline.
The comic itself links to the referenced Exxon document about CO2 emissions.
The comic was published on the same day that the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its 2021 Assessment Report
One of the entries is I somehow graduate despite spending most of my time playing Mario Kart. Mario Kart is a popular video game series developed by Nintendo, and has been a recurring theme on xkcd. Hewing close to the comic's timeline, 127: The Fast and the Furious, which contains an early Mario Kart joke, was released in July 2006.
The title text refers to the fact that Exxon, being a fossil fuel company, is likely to make better predictions on fossil fuel use as they are involved in fossil fuel production themselves.
