Global Warming and the Polar Vortex

2014-01-10 · explainer · Hank · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Science & nature · mode: Explainer · tags: timely hook

Hank explains the polar vortex and argues that local cold is the wrong lens on global warming: the word 'global' is the hard part, so he thinks of it as an increase in energy trapped in the atmosphere.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Montana is fine; montage of people saying "polar vortex"

★ Hank says it is nice in Montana, where it gets to about -20 once every year, so he doesn't know what everyone is complaining about. (playful) — 00:00:02 · Montana

00:00:28 — What polar vortices are; the offshoot that dipped into America, colder in Georgia than Alaska

★★★ Hank explains polar vortices are cyclones of air around both poles, caused by the temperature difference between equator and pole; they have always existed and every planet with an atmosphere has them. — 00:00:28
★★ Hank says that, unusually, an offshoot of the polar vortex dipped down into America and stayed; it was colder in Georgia than in Alaska. — 00:00:46 · United States

00:00:57 — Cold weather is the wrong way to think about global warming; the name misleads; 4 degrees global vs local; climate change

★★★ Hank says weird weather always makes us talk about global warming, which is exactly the wrong way to think about it; local cold no more disproves it than an absurd non sequitur. — 00:00:57 · climate change
★★★ Hank thinks the problem is that 'global warming' is a terrible name for the thing: it makes it sound like things will just get warmer. (hedged) — 00:01:13 · climate change
★★★ Hank says a 4 degree Celsius rise for the planet would be a disaster, while the same rise in a town would go unnoticed. — 00:01:30 · climate change
★★ Hank says the scientific community prefers "global climate change" because it is not just warming: some places get warmer, some colder, some lose rain. — 00:01:43 · climate change
★★★ Hank says the real problem is not 'climate change' or 'warming' but 'global': we are terrible at thinking globally, it is impossible. — 00:01:59 · climate change

00:02:04 — We are terrible at thinking globally: Hank guesses the US is 5% of the world, it is 1.9%

★★ Testing himself, Hank guesses the US covers 5% of the world's area; he looks it up and finds 1.9%, including Alaska. — 00:02:09 · United States
★★ Hank says we know we're not the center of the universe, but it doesn't seem like we really know it. — 00:02:32

00:02:36 — Hank thinks of global warming as an increase in energy trapped in the atmosphere

★★★ Hank thinks of global warming as an overall increase in energy trapped in the atmosphere, as water vapour, wind, heat, hurricanes or polar vortices; as it increases the globe warms and the climate changes. — 00:02:44 · climate change
★★★ Hank feels people would accept the idea more if it were framed as an energy increase, separate from everyday experience, though 'average global atmospheric energy increase' isn't catchy and he could be wrong. (hedged) — 00:03:09 · average global atmospheric energy increase, climate change

“average global atmospheric energy increase”

00:03:39 — Sign-off; footage from Hank's photo shoot in Alex Day's clothes

★ Hank closes with footage from his photo shoot wearing Alex Day's clothes. — 00:03:41

Humor (significant)

After a montage of clips and voices endlessly repeating 'polar vortex', Hank feigns bewilderment at the sudden buzzword. — 00:00:24

“I've never heard of this thing! Where did it come from? Why do we have a polar vortex all the sudden?”
Hank says claiming cold weather disproves global warming is like a non sequitur. — 00:01:08

“I have a calculator, which is proof that Jean Claude Van Damme eats turnips.”
After signing off Hank shows footage from his photo shoot in Alex Day's clothes. — 00:03:55

“Look at Hank's face. It's my face. Look at Hank's face.”

Threads in this video

restate · How serious is climate change? — Hank says the energy trapped in the atmosphere is increasing, which no one can argue with; as it does the globe warms on average and the climate changes. (00:02:56)

Mentioned

Central: average global atmospheric energy increase · climate change · polar vortex

Also: Alaska · Alex Day · climate change denial · Georgia (U.S. state) · Jean-Claude Van Damme · Montana · United States

Only in the description or credits: Flula Borg

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