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Earth had a climate long before we showed up and started noticing it and it's influenced by a whole series of cycles that have been churning along for hundreds of millions of years. In most cases those cycles will continue long after we're gone. A look at the history of climate change on Earth can give us some much needed perspective on our current climate dilemma because the surprising truth is, what we're experiencing now is different than anything this planet has encountered before. So, let's take a stroll down Climate History Lane and see if we can find some answers to a question that's been bugging Hank a lot lately - just how much hot water are we in?

Earth had a climate long before we showed up and started noticing it and it's influenced by a whole series of cycles that have been churning along for hundreds of millions of years. In most cases those cycles will continue long after we're gone. A look at the history of climate change on Earth can give us some much needed perspective on our current climate dilemma because the surprising truth is, what we're experiencing now is different than anything this planet has encountered before. So, let's take a stroll down Climate History Lane and see if we can find some answers to a question that's been bugging Hank a lot lately - just how much hot water are we in?

"Earth Ed is an engaging specialist science and mathematics facility providing real world Earth Science educational experiences for Victorian students. Focusing on Renewable Energy, Climate Science, Sustainability and Geology, our programs provide access to specialist scientific equipment, innovative digital resources, and promote a scientific inquiry approach to learning."

"The UN claims climate change is 'almost definitely' caused by humans, and now Google Earth users can see the impact they are supposed to have made to temperature changes in their local area. Climate researchers at the University of East Anglia have added the world's temperature records as a layer on the mapping service. It lets users zoom into 6,000 global weather stations and see monthly, seasonal and annual temperature changes dating back to 1850."

Welcome to the Anthropocene is a website which is designed to improve our collective understanding of the Earth system. The site aims to inspire, educate and engage people about humanity's impact on Earth. Its unique combination of high-level scientific data and powerful imagery will help people visualize and better understand humanity's geographic imprint in recent time. Watch a 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the Rio+20 Summit. The film charts the growth of humanity into a global force on an equivalent scale to major geological processes.

"Hawkesdale P12 College is a small, rural school of about 230 students from prep to year 12, located about 15 kilometres north west of the Macarthur Wind Farm, in SW Victoria. We have a history of excellent results at VCE level, award-winning teachers and an innovative ICT program. This letter is seeking support for our education for sustainability programs, specifically to allow the VCE Environmental Science class of 2014 to attend the Actions for Earth Global Youth Summit in January."

"By the end of this century, Earth may be home to 11 billion people, the United Nations has estimated, earlier than previously expected. As part of a week-long series, LiveScience is exploring what reaching this population milestone might mean for our planet, from our ability to feed that many people to our impact on the other species that call Earth home to our efforts to land on other planets. Check back here each day for the next installment."

"Global warming's maths means Australia really counts It's simple maths: we can burn less than 565 more gigatons of carbon dioxide and stay below 2°C of warming - anything more than that risks catastrophe for life on earth. The only problem? Fossil fuel corporations now have 2,795 gigatons in their reserves, five times the safe amount. And they're planning to burn it all - unless we rise up to stop them."

Last week the world's atmosphere took a giant leap backward. For the first time in more than 3 million years, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 400 parts per million. This was recorded at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Laboratory located on Mauna Loa in Hawaii right out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, a long way from major sources of CO2 in Asia and North America. What this means for the environment is uncertain but it's likely that, if no measures are taken to reduce this level of greenhouse gas, we could be headed for 3-4 degrees C warming globally by the end of this century

"Earth Day 2013 came and went in April with the usual fanfare of green festivals, volunteer programs, company campaigns and reflections on the question, "How are we doing, anyway?" On this last point, the answer this year seemed to be a somewhat lukewarm, "Well…we've been better.""

"The majority of the 9 billion people on Earth will live with severe pressure on fresh water within the space of two generations as climate change, pollution and over-use of resources take their toll, 500 scientists have warned."

"The Face of Climate Change - Climate change can seem like a remote problem for our leaders, but the fact is that it's already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places. These Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day. Fortunately, other Faces of Climate Change are multiplying too: those stepping up to do something about it. Help us personalize the massive challenge climate change presents by taking a photo and telling your story. How has climate change impacted you? What are you doing to be part of the solution?"

"Edible City is a fun, fast-paced journey through the Local Good Food movement that's taking root in the San Francisco Bay Area, across the nation and around the world. Introducing a diverse cast of extraordinary and eccentric characters who are challenging the paradigm of our broken food system, Edible City digs into their unique perspectives and transformative work, finding hopeful solutions to monumental problems. Inspirational, down-to-earth and a little bit quirky, Edible City captures the spirit of a movement that's making real change and doing something truly revolutionary: growing the model for a healthy, sustainable local food system."

"A brutal and potentially historic heat wave is in store for the West as parts of Nevada, Arizona and California may get dangerously hot temperatures starting Thursday and lasting through next week. In fact, by the end of the heat wave, we may see a record tied or broken for the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth."

Plastic Free July is a simple idea developed in 2011. It aims to raise awareness of the amount of plastic in our lives by encouraging people to eliminate the use of single-use plastic during July each year. Plastic Free July is an initiative of the Western Metropolitan Regional Council (WMRC) in Perth, Western Australia. It was developed by clever Earth Carers staff. It has now gone worldwide.

"Published on Aug 28, 2013 If Earth is going to remain habitable for more than about one billion people we need urgent and drastic action on climate change, not piecemeal solutions and a "softly-softly" approach. We have a choice. Future generations will not."

"THE United Nation's latest investigation into climate change reportedly admits the world has been warming at only just over half the rate it had claimed in 2007. According to the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, a leaked draft of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) latest assessment of the state of the climate and global warming - AR5 - says the earth has been warming at a rate of 0.12C each decade since 1951. But it says the last major IPCC report, released in 2007 and called AR4, claimed the planet was warming at a rate of 0.2C every decade." See also http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/sep/16/climate-change-contrarians-5-stages-denial

"The fact that the business-as-usual pursuit of profits and growth is destabilising life on earth is no longer something we need to read about in scientific journals. The early signs are unfolding before our eyes. And increasing numbers of us are responding accordingly: blockading fracking activity in Balcombe; interfering with Arctic drilling preparations in Russian waters (at tremendous personal cost); taking tar sands operators to court for violating indigenous sovereignty; and countless other acts of resistance large and small. In Brad Werner's computer model, this is the "friction" needed to slow down the forces of destabilisation; the great climate campaigner Bill McKibben calls it the "antibodies" rising up to fight the planet's "spiking fever"."

"For the first time ever, environmental groups have staged a mass walkout of a U.N. climate summit. Citing immense frustration with the lack of productive action in the COP19 climate talks, which have been dogged by a persistent rift between rich and poor countries on the responsibility of paying for climate damages, hundreds of people from dozens of environmental groups and movements from all corners of the Earth have voluntarily withdrawn from the talks. According to a spokesperson for Oxfam, around 800 civil society members (which is the label applied to all advocate and activist types at these meetings) have walked out. In a joint statement, group leaders offered that "the best use of their time" was to now focus "on mobilizing people to push our governments to take leadership for serious climate action.""

"All over the world, people are learning to work with each other, technology, and the earth, to create systems that are better, cheaper, and more resilient than conventional systems. Join us as we explore what lies beyond sustainability. A more peaceful, abundant, beautiful world is possible. Welcome to the Symbiosis Project."

"Growing veggies is fun, cheap, and worth it. Having a garden doesn't just mean you can grab free and fresh meals from the dirt out back. It means you've create a relationship with the earth. You noticed what type of soil and fertilizer to use. What vegetables are in season and how often they need sun and water. Today's infographic is really the best guide for growing veggies out there. Follow this advice and you will be cookin' up your own gumbo in no time."