The Internet Reacts To 2016’s Record-Breaking Global Temperature

So, in case you hadn’t heard, 2016 broke global temperature records. This is the third year in a row, which more or less has shifted the issue from “Hey, let’s argue about it some more” to “Uh, we’re going to be knee-deep in dead polar bears and the world will starve if we don’t get off our butts.”

The overall news is pretty grim, although scientists agree 2017 will cool off a bit. But, as climate experts from NOAA to NASA point out to the New York Times, three years in a row marks a trend that we’ll need to reverse if we want to have any hope of surviving, let alone thriving, in the future.

Yes, it is a massive bummer. Fortunately, the internet is here to save the day with a load of gallows humor:

https://twitter.com/JSteinbeck1939/status/821754763620614144

https://twitter.com/ARFueller89/status/821747363802939398

https://twitter.com/iampatlee/status/821759056444588032

One thing that came up often was Trump’s take on climate change.

https://twitter.com/TouchlineDC/status/821757075160186880

https://twitter.com/delrayser/status/821755746497032192

And, of course, hopeful ignorance and complaints about fake news:

https://twitter.com/Jacquibr/status/821764383005143041

But at least there were some constructive solutions:

https://twitter.com/trockdirty/status/821757771318116352

https://twitter.com/alextumay/status/821758167398883328

So, to conclude: If nothing else, when we’re all forced to live on artificial islands and have crickets as our primary source of protein, at least we’ll be able to laugh about it, right?

(via The New York Times)