All the events in the wikipedia articles are localized, whereas the current global warming is a a global event, which is what is referenced by xkcd.
What this means is that the frequency and/or the intensity of these local outlier events can increase significantly. This is what man-made climate change means and we can still avoid most of the negative effects if we want to.
Often these local climate change events are taken as proof that 'climate has always changed'. Well, yes of course - but not on a global scale during human civilization as we know it.
Personally, imagining these events occuring during our lifetime, maybe several at once or just a couple of decades apart scares the crap out of me.
I took a random one for the country I live in:
According to wikipedia, this person who got his PhD in 1973 and has since retired has done research in 'quantum philosophy and spirituality'.
The second one, retired also, is a biologist who researched subterranean mammals. He and his team got an Ig-Nobel price in 2014 for their finding that dogs align themselves to earth's magnetic field when pooping.
What this means is that the frequency and/or the intensity of these local outlier events can increase significantly. This is what man-made climate change means and we can still avoid most of the negative effects if we want to.
Often these local climate change events are taken as proof that 'climate has always changed'. Well, yes of course - but not on a global scale during human civilization as we know it.
Personally, imagining these events occuring during our lifetime, maybe several at once or just a couple of decades apart scares the crap out of me.