explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1000: 1000 Comics/1000 characters

2017-01-04T20:35:31Z

Bitsofstring: Gray Hairbun?

If you find any missing errors in the table please correct them or if it is a big operation please send a personal comment to me, maybe my original table can be mended easily? (well this is written before the table is even begun ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 14:53, 21 July 2016 (UTC)

I thought it was pretty clear that 127 was supposed to be Cloud with his spiky hair and huge Buster Sword? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.246.114|108.162.246.114]] 19:32, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

Definitely agreed on 127 being Cloud. We know Randall is a Final Fantasy fan, and Cloud has a pretty iconic look that is well represented here. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.10|108.162.216.10]] 18:50, 4 January 2017 (UTC)borntowander

Wouldn't Occam's Razor suggest that a character with a gray hairbun is still Hairbun (though the person is evidently older)? [[User:Bitsofstring|Bitsofstring]] ([[User talk:Bitsofstring|talk]]) 20:35, 4 January 2017 (UTC)

what if?

2016-12-11T22:14:32Z

Bitsofstring: /* Articles */ Start coming up with answers, this could be a long task!

:''Not to be confused with [[17: What If]].''
[[File:whatifbanner.jpg]]

'''''[http://what-if.xkcd.com/ what if?]''''' is a blog hosted on the [[xkcd]].com domain and written by [[Randall Munroe]] with entries posted [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/once-in-a-blue-moon.html occasionally]. Before publishing the what if? book, articles were posted weekly.

On the blog, Randall uses his degree in physics and strong scientific background to discuss hypothetical physics questions apparently submitted by readers.
Since 2014, there's also a book of the blog.

Unlike other sites which answer readers' questions, ''what if?'' typically takes the question beyond the original scope likely intended by the reader and takes it to some extreme for humorous effect. For example, in {{what if|1|the first article}}, he discusses what would happen if a baseball were pitched at 90% of the speed of light. After effectively describing what would occur as a nuclear explosion, leveling the stadium and the surrounding mile radius, he concludes with the note ''"A careful reading of official Major League Baseball Rule 6.08(b) suggests that in this situation, the batter would be considered 'hit by pitch', and would be eligible to advance to first base."''

The questions Randall tackles range from realistic possibilities (e.g. the probability of achieving a {{what if|2|perfect SAT score by guessing}}) to completely fictional questions (e.g. {{what if|3|How much Force power}} can {{w|Yoda}} output?). In his explanations, Randall, often uses diagrams in an ''xkcd'' style. Regardless of the context, Randall tends to take the questions extremely literally and responds seriously to them, even if they are whimsical (such as the Yoda question). This is clear from his response to the question of what would happen if everybody on Earth stood together and {{what if|8|jumped at the same time}}. After acknowledging that the question has been answered elsewhere, he recaps the result, but then focuses more intently on the unasked resulting issue of the aftermath of everyone on Earth being magically transported to one location as they all try to return home.

This site is not under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License] like [[xkcd]] is.

==Release schedule==
*The two first articles were released on the same day, Tuesday July 10, 2012, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more.
**After that they were released weekly for almost three years, with just a few times with two (and once three) weeks between releases, up until article 136 was released on April 12, 2015 (2 years and 40 weeks).
**First after 25 releases was there a two week Christmas break before article 26 was released on December 31, 2012.
**After that there were five more two weeks break, one three week break (before December 11, 2014) and two releases in a row (133-134 towards the end of this period of 136 articles), where the release dates where shifted so the two came out over three weeks' time with about 1.5 weeks between them.
**The second break came a year after the first and was also a Christmas break before article 77 was released on December 31, 2013
**Then from August 2014 there came several two week breaks, one in August, one in September and two in November, the last lasting three weeks into December, and on top of that the normal two weeks Christmas break.
**After this less orderly period there came a period of 10 weeks in a row with 10 releases starting on January 1, 2015.
*The release day was fixed to once a week on a given weekday, except for a few articles that were delayed a day (or two) in one week, but then next week's article would again be released on the normal day.
**To begin with the release day was '''Tuesdays''', and the third article was released a week after the first two on Tuesday July 17, 2012.
**The release day shifted to '''Wednesday''' from article 100 released on Wednesday June 11, 2014.
**The release day shifted once more to '''Thursday''' from article 117 released on Thursday October 23, 2014.
**The final six articles in this period were released on four different week days, only two of them with one week apart.
*The result of the above is that over the first 144 weeks 136 articles where released with never more than 3 weeks between releases. As the first two were released on week 1, this means that there were 134 articles released over the next 143 weeks, meaning there were only 9 weeks without an article.
*After article 136 was released on April 12, 2015, Randal took a '''13 weeks break''' from updates until July 14, 2015.
**At the time Randall wrote a note stating "What If updates are temporarily on hold, and will resume on July 14th, 2015 at 7:49:59 AM EDT."
**This was the date and time that the {{w|New Horizons}} probe achieved its closest approach to {{w|Pluto}}.
**The article 137 from July 14, 2015 was about the New Horizons probe.
*After the break only three articles were released, two more were released after article 137 over three weeks, the last article 139 released on August 4, 2015.
**But then there were '''two more breaks''', so only one more article was released in 2015, with article 150 released after more than 6 weeks on September 18, 2015.
*First after 17 more weeks releases began again with article 141 on Tuesday January 16, 2016.
**After that articles began coming out regularly with a total of 9 releases out before the end of March 2016, mainly on Tuesdays to begin with, then one on a Friday before the last two came on Saturdays with two weeks breaks before each, the last being article 149 on March 26, 2016.
*Since then only two more articles have been released with about 8 weeks between them.
**So, at the moment of writing this, summer 2016, it seems it is down to about one release every two months.
*See more details for breaks in the releases in the table with a list of all the [[#Articles|articles]] down below.

==The book==
Randall announced his ''what if?'' book on 12 March 2014 in [http://blog.xkcd.com/2014/03/12/what-if-i-wrote-a-book/ the blag]. It was published on September 2, 2014, and the UK edition of the book was published on September 4, 2014. It is the 2nd book published by Randall.
[[Image:What_If?.jpeg|frame|The general cover of the book]]
It is just like 'xkcd:volume 0' a compilation of some questions from the website, but half of them are new.

In the UK edition of the book, Randall included a preface about his thoughts on the units used in the UK. (The Metric System)
====Summary====
'''The summary on the back of the book reads:'''

''Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.

*If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?
*How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?
*If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?
*What if everyone only had one soulmate?
*When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?
*How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?
*What would happen if the moon went away?

''In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.''

'''The summary on the back of the UK edition of the book reads:'''

''Hey! Thanks for looking at my book. If you're thinking about buying it, here are some things you might want to know:''

Humans can't digest the cellulose in paper, but if we could, eating this book would give you about 2,300 calories (including the cover).

This book can't stop most bullets; if you want to use it for armour, you may want a lot more than one copy.

If you have a good arm, you could probably throw this book about 45 feet. With practice, it's possible to throw a book every 800 milliseconds, which means that if human attackers are sprinting towards you, you'll have three or four chances to hit them before they reach you. If, on the other hand, you're being attacked by a coyote, it's higher top speed means you'll have only one chance to hit it. Aim carefully.

''HIDDEN FEATURE: The inside of this book has words and pictures, plus a special UK foreword.'' It answers many important questions, including whether you could jump from a plane with a helium tank and inflate balloons fast enough to slow your fall and survive (yes) and whether you could hide from a supersonic windstorm in Finland (yes, but it won't help).

==Trivia==
*There is an easy way to link to a given what if? story by using [[Template:what if|a template]]. For instance write the following:
**<nowiki>See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.</nowiki>
*Copy paste the above text and correct the number and the title to get this result:
**See the [[what if?]] ''{{what if|147|Niagara Straw}}''.

==Articles==
*Below is a list of the articles released in the what if? blog.
**This list can also be found in the [https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ acrhive section] on the what if? blog.
**But here more data can be added...
{| class="wikitable " |
! No.
! Title
! Release date
! Weeks since last release
! Question(s) answered / Topic
! Comment/Short note on subject
|-
| 1 || {{what if|1|Relativistic Baseball}} || July 10, 2012 || || What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? || The very first what if? The result would be some kind of nuclear explosion.
|-
| 2 || {{what if|2|SAT Guessing}} || July 10, 2012 || 0.0 || What if everyone who took the SAT guessed on every multiple-choice question? How many perfect scores would there be? || This second article was released on the same day as the first, probably to get the blog going, and let users of xkcd see that there was going to be more. No one would get a perfect score
|-
| 3 || {{what if|3|Yoda}} || July 17, 2012 || 1.0 || How much Force power can Yoda output? || First regular release. From here on standard release day was Tuesday.
|-
| 4 || {{what if|4|A Mole of Moles}} || July 24, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if you were to gather a mole (unit of measurement) of moles (the small furry critter) in one place? || As a mole is such a high number this would be tricky.
|-
| 5 || {{what if|5|Robot Apocalypse}} || July 31, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there was a robot apocalypse? How long would humanity last? ||
|-
| 6 || {{what if|6|Glass Half Empty}} || August 7, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a glass of water was, all of a sudden, literally half empty? || As in a vacuum? It would explode.
|-
| 7 || {{what if|7|Everybody Out}} || August 14, 2012 || 1.0 || Is there enough energy to move the entire current human population off-planet? ||
|-
| 8 || {{what if|8|Everybody Jump}} || August 21, 2012 || 1.0 || What would happen if everyone on earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant? ||
|-
| 9 || {{what if|9|Soul Mates}} || August 28, 2012 || 1.0 || What if everyone actually had only one soul mate, a random person somewhere in the world? ||
|-
| 10 || {{what if|10|Cassini}} || September 4, 2012 || 1.0 || What would the world be like if the land masses were spread out the same way as now - only rotated by an angle of 90 degrees? ||
|-
| 11 || {{what if|11|Droppings}} || September 11, 2012 || 1.0 || If you went outside and lay down on your back with your mouth open, how long would you have to wait until a bird pooped in it? ||
|-
| 12 || {{what if|12|Raindrop}} || September 18, 2012 || 1.0 || What if a rainstorm dropped all of its water in a single giant drop? ||
|-
| 13 || {{what if|13|Laser Pointer}} || September 25, 2012 || 1.0 || If every person on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color? ||
|-
| 14 || {{what if|14|Short Answer Section}} || October 2, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How long would the Sun last if a giant water hose were focused upon it? My sixth grade brother, Adam, asked me this.
* What if you shined a flashlight (or a laser) into a sphere made of one-way mirror glass?
* If Michael Phelps could hold his breath indefinitely, how long would it take for him to reach the lowest point in the ocean and back if he swam straight down and then straight back up?
* In the first Superman movie, Superman flies around Earth so fast that it begins turning in the opposite direction. This somehow turns back time [... ] How much energy would someone flying around the Earth have to exert in order to reverse the Earth's rotation?
* How fast would you have to go in your car to run a red light claiming that it appeared green to you due to the Doppler Effect?
* What would happen if you opened a portal between Boston (sea level) and Mexico City (elev. 8000+ feet)?
* When my wife and I started dating she invited me over for dinner at one time. Her kitchen had something called Bauhaus chairs, which are full of holes, approx 5-6 millimeters in diameter in both back and seat. During this lovely dinner I was forced to liberate a small portion of wind and was relieved that I managed to do so very discretely. Only to find that the chair I sat on converted the successful silence into a perfect, and loud, flute note. We were both (luckily) amazed and surprised and I have often wondered what the odds are for something like that happening. We kept the chairs for five years but despite laborious attempts it couldn't be reproduced.
||
|-
| 15 || {{what if|15|Mariana Trench Explosion}} || October 9, 2012 || 1.0 || What if you exploded a nuclear bomb (say, the Tsar Bomba) at the bottom of the Marianas Trench? ||
|-
| 16 || {{what if|16|Today's topic: Lightning}} || October 16, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* How dangerous is it, really, to be in a pool during a thunderstorm?
* What would happen if you were taking a shower when you were struck by lightning? Or standing under a waterfall?
* What would happen if you were in a boat or a plane that got hit by lightning? Or a submarine?
* What if you were changing the light at the top of a radio tower and lightning struck? Or what if you were doing a backflip? Or standing in a graphite field? Or looking straight up at the bolt?
* What would happen if lightning struck a bullet in midair?
* What if you were flashing your BIOS during a thunderstorm and you got hit by lightning?
||
|-
| 17 || {{what if|17|Green Cows}} || October 23, 2012 || 1.0 || If cows could photosynthesize, how much less food would they need? ||
|-
| 18 || {{what if|18|BB Gun}} || October 30, 2012 || 1.0 || In Armageddon, a NASA guy comments that a plan to shoot a laser at the asteroid is like “shooting a b.b. gun at a freight train.” What would it take to stop an out-of-control freight train using only b.b. guns? ||
|-
| 19 || {{what if|19|Tie Vote}} || November 6, 2012 || 1.0 || What if there's LITERALLY a tie? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2013.
|-
| 20 || {{what if|20|Diamond}} || November 13, 2012 || 1.0 || If a meteor made out of diamond and 100 feet in diameter was traveling at the speed of light and hit the earth, what would happen to it? ||
|-
| 21 || {{what if|21|Machine Gun Jetpack}} || November 20, 2012 || 1.0 || Is it possible to build a jetpack using downward firing machine guns? ||
|-
| 22 || {{what if|22|Cost of Pennies}} || November 27, 2012 || 1.0 || If you carry a penny in your coin tray, how long would it take for that penny to cost you more than a cent in extra gas? ||
|-
| 23 || {{what if|23|Short Answer Section II}} || December 4, 2012 || 1.0 ||
* If my printer could literally print out money, would it have that big an effect on the world?
* What would happen if you exploded a nuclear bomb in the eye of a hurricane? Would the storm cell be immediately vaporized?
* If everyone put little turbine generators on the downspouts of their houses and businesses, how much power would we generate? Would we ever generate enough power to offset the cost of the generators?
* Using only pronounceable letter combinations, how long would names have to be to give each star in the universe a unique one word name?
* I bike to class sometimes. It's annoying biking in the wintertime, because it's so cold. How fast would I have to bike for my skin to warm up the way a spacecraft heats up during reentry?
* How much physical space does the internet take up?
* What if you strapped C4 to a boomerang? Could this be an effective weapon, or would it be as stupid as it sounds?
||
|-
| 24 || {{what if|24|Model Rockets}} || December 11, 2012 || 1.0 || How many model rocket engines would it take to launch a real rocket into space? ||
|-
| 25 || {{what if|25|Three Wise Men}} || December 18, 2012 || 1.0 || The story of the three wise men got me wondering: What if you did walk towards a star at a fixed speed? What path would you trace on the Earth? Does it converge to a fixed cycle? ||
|-
| 26 || {{what if|26|Leap Seconds}} || December 31, 2012 || 1.9 || Every now and then we have to insert a leap second because the Earth’s rotation is slowing down. Could we speed up Earth’s rotation, so that we do not need Leap Seconds? || The first two weeks Christmas break
|-
| 27 || {{what if|27|Death Rates}} || January 8, 2013 || 1.1 || If one randomly chosen extra person were to die each second somewhere on Earth, what impact would it have on the world population? ||
|-
| 28 || {{what if|28|Steak Drop}} || January 15, 2013 || 1.0 || From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground? ||
|-
| 29 || {{what if|29|Spent Fuel Pool}} || January 22, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation? How long could I stay safely at the surface? ||
|-
| 30 || {{what if|30|Interplanetary Cessna}} || January 29, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if you tried to fly a normal Earth airplane above different Solar System bodies? ||
|-
| 31 || {{what if|31|FedEx Bandwidth}} || February 5, 2013 || 1.0 || When - if ever - will the bandwidth of the Internet surpass that of FedEx? ||
|-
| 32 || {{what if|32|Hubble}} || February 12, 2013 || 1.0 || If the Hubble telescope were aimed at the Earth, how detailed would the images be? ||
|-
| 33 || {{what if|33|Ships}} || February 19, 2013 || 1.0 || How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth's waters? ||
|-
| 34 || {{what if|34|Twitter}} || February 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How many unique English tweets are possible? How long would it take for the population of the world to read them all out loud? ||
|-
| 35 || {{what if|35|Hair Dryer}} || March 5, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power was turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1 meter box? ||
|-
| 36 || {{what if|36|Cornstarch}} || March 12, 2013 || 1.0 || How much cornstarch can I rinse down the drain before unpleasant things start to happen? ||
|-
| 37 || {{what if|37|Supersonic Stereo}} || March 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What if you somehow managed to make a stereo travel at twice the speed of sound, would it sound backwards to someone who was just casually sitting somewhere as it flies by? ||
|-
| 38 || {{what if|38|Voyager}} || March 26, 2013 || 1.0 || With today's technology, would it be possible to launch an unmanned mission to retrieve Voyager I? ||
|-
| 39 || {{what if|39|Hockey Puck}} || April 2, 2013 || 1.0 || How hard would a puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie himself backwards into the net? ||
|-
| 40 || {{what if|40|Pressure Cooker}} || April 9, 2013 || 1.0 || Am I right to be afraid of pressure cookers? What's the worst thing that can happen if you misuse a pressure cooker in an ordinary kitchen? ||
|-
| 41 || {{what if|41|Go West}} || April 16, 2013 || 1.0 || If everybody in the US drove west, could we temporarily halt continental drift? ||
|-
| 42 || {{what if|42|Longest Sunset}} || April 23, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the longest possible sunset you can experience while driving, assuming we are obeying the speed limit and driving on paved roads? ||
|-
| 43 || {{what if|43|Train Loop}} || April 30, 2013 || 1.0 || Could a high-speed train run through a vertical loop, like a rollercoaster, with the passengers staying comfortable? ||
|-
| 44 || {{what if|44|High Throw}} || May 7, 2013 || 1.0 || How high can a human throw something? ||
|-
| 45 || {{what if|45|ISS Music Video}} || May 14, 2013 || 1.0 || Is [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo this] the most expensive music video ever? ||
|-
| 46 || {{what if|46|Bowling Ball}} || May 21, 2013 || 1.0 || I've been told that if the Earth were shrunk down to the size of a bowling ball, it would be smoother than said bowling ball. My question is, what would a bowling ball look like if it were blown up to the size of the Earth? ||
|-
| 47 || {{what if|47|Alien Astronomers}} || May 28, 2013 || 1.0 || Let's assume there's life on the the nearest habitable exoplanet and that they have technology comparable to ours. If they looked at our star right now, what would they see? ||
|-
| 48 || {{what if|48|Sunset on the British Empire}} || June 4, 2013 || 1.0 || When (if ever) did the Sun finally set on the British Empire? ||
|-
| 49 || {{what if|49|Sunless Earth}} || June 11, 2013 || 1.0 || What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off? ||
|-
| 50 || {{what if|50|Extreme Boating}} || June 18, 2013 || 1.0 || What would it be like to navigate a rowboat through a lake of mercury? What about bromine? Liquid gallium? Liquid tungsten? Liquid nitrogen? Liquid helium? ||
|-
| 51 || {{what if|51|Free Fall}} || June 25, 2013 || 1.0 || What place on Earth would allow you to freefall the longest by jumping off it? What about using a squirrel suit? ||
|-
| 52 || {{what if|52|Bouncy Balls}} || July 2, 2013 || 1.0 || What if one were to drop 3,000 bouncy balls from a seven story parking structure onto a person walking on the sidewalk below? Should the person survive, what would be the number of bouncy balls needed to kill them? What injuries would occur and what would the associated crimes be? || The release date in the archive is the wrong month June.
|-
| 53 || {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}} || July 9, 2013 || 1.0 || How quickly would the ocean's drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space was created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water is being drained? ||
|-
| 54 || {{what if|54|Drain the Oceans: Part II}} || July 16, 2013 || 1.0 || Supposing you did {{what if|53|Drain the Oceans}}, and dumped the water on top of the Curiosity rover, how would Mars change as the water accumulated? ||
|-
| 55 || {{what if|55|Random Sneeze Call}} || July 23, 2013 || 1.0 || If you call a random phone number and say “God bless you”, what are the chances that the person who answers just sneezed? On average, not just in spring or fall. ||
|-
| 56 || {{what if|56|Restraining an Airplane}} || July 30, 2013 || 1.0 || If you wanted to anchor an airplane into the ground so it wouldn't be able to take off, what would the rope have to be made out of? ||
|-
| 57 || {{what if|57|Dropping a Mountain}} || August 6, 2013 || 1.0 || What if a huge mountain—Denali, say—had the bottom inch of its base disappear? What would happen from the impact of the mountain falling 1 inch? What about 1 foot? What if the mountain's base were raised to the present height of the summit, and then the whole thing were allowed to drop to the earth? ||
|-
| 58 || {{what if|58|Orbital Speed}} || August 12, 2013 || 0.9 ||
* What if a spacecraft slowed down on re-entry to just a few miles per hour using rocket boosters like the Mars-sky-crane? Would it negate the need for a heat shield?
* Is it possible for a spacecraft to control its reentry in such a way that it avoids the atmospheric compression and thus would not require the expensive (and relatively fragile) heat shield on the outside?
* Could a (small) rocket (with payload) be lifted to a high point in the atmosphere where it would only need a small rocket to get to escape velocity?
||
|-
| 59 || {{what if|59|Updating a Printed Wikipedia}} || August 20, 2013 || 1.1 || If you had a printed version of the whole of (say, the English) Wikipedia, how many printers would you need in order to keep up with the changes made to the live version? ||
|-
| 60 || {{what if|60|Signs of Life}} || August 27, 2013 || 1.0 || If you could teleport to a random place of the surface of the Earth, what are the odds that you'll see signs of intelligent life? ||
|-
| 61 || {{what if|61|Speed Bump}} || September 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? ||
|-
| 62 || {{what if|62|Falling With Helium}} || September 10, 2013 || 1.0 || What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge, un-inflated balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would I need in order for the balloon to slow me enough that I could land safely? ||
|-
| 63 || {{what if|63|Google's Datacenters on Punch Cards}} || September 17, 2013 || 1.0 || If all digital data were stored on punch cards, how big would Google's data warehouse be? ||
|-
| 64 || {{what if|64|Rising Steadily}} || September 24, 2013 || 1.0 || If you suddenly began rising steadily at one foot per second, how exactly would you die? Would you freeze or suffocate first? Or something else? ||
|-
| 65 || {{what if|65|Twitter Timeline Height}} || October 1, 2013 || 1.0 || If our Twitter timelines (tweets by the people we follow) actually extended off the screen in both directions, how tall would they be? ||
|-
| 66 || {{what if|66|500 MPH}} || October 8, 2013 || 1.0 || If winds reached 500 mph, would it pick up a human? ||
|-
| 67 || {{what if|67|Expanding Earth}} || October 15, 2013 || 1.0 || How long would it take for people to notice their weight gain if the mean radius of the world expanded by 1cm every second? (Assuming the average composition of rock were maintained.) ||
|-
| 68 || {{what if|68|Little Planet}} || October 22, 2013 || 1.0 || If an asteroid was very small but supermassive, could you really live on it like the Little Prince? ||
|-
| 69 || {{what if|69|Facebook of the Dead}} || October 29, 2013 || 1.0 || When, if ever, will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than of living ones? ||
|-
| 70 || {{what if|70|The Constant Groundskeeper}} || November 5, 2013 || 1.0 || How big of a lawn would you have to have so that when you finished mowing you'd need to start over because the grass has grown? ||
|-
| 71 || {{what if|71|Stirring Tea}} || November 12, 2013 || 1.0 || I was absentmindedly stirring a cup of hot tea, when I got to thinking, "aren't I actually adding kinetic energy into this cup?" I know that stirring does help to cool down the tea, but what if I were to stir it faster? Would I be able to boil a cup of water by stirring? ||
|-
| 72 || {{what if|72|Loneliest Human}} || November 19, 2013 || 1.0 || What is the furthest one human being has ever been from every other living person? Were they lonely? ||
|-
| 73 || {{what if|73|Lethal Neutrinos}} || November 26, 2013 || 1.0 || How close would you have to be to a supernova to get a lethal dose of neutrino radiation? ||
|-
| 74 || {{what if|74|Soda Planet}} || December 3, 2013 || 1.0 || How much of the Earth's currently-existing water has ever been turned into a soft drink at some point in its history? ||
|-
| 75 || {{what if|75|Phone Keypad}} || December 10, 2013 || 1.0 || I use one of those old phones where you type with numbers—for example, to type "Y", you press 9 three times. Some words have consecutive letters on the same number. When they do, you have to pause between letters, making those words annoying to type. What English word has the most consecutive letters on the same key? ||
|-
| 76 || {{what if|76|Reading Every Book}} || December 17, 2013 || 1.0 || At what point in human history were there too many (English) books to be able to read them all in one lifetime? ||
|-
| 77 || {{what if|77|Growth Rate}} || December 31, 2013 || 2.0 || What height would humans reach if we kept growing through our whole development period (i.e. till late teens/early twenties) at the same pace as we do during our first month? || The second two weeks Christmas break
|-
| 78 || {{what if|78|T-rex Calories}} || January 7, 2014 || 1.0 || If a T-rex were released in New York City, how many humans/day would it need to consume to get its needed calorie intake? ||
|-
| 79 || {{what if|79|Lake Tea}} || January 14, 2014 || 1.0 || What if we were to dump all the tea in the world into the Great Lakes? How strong, compared to a regular cup of tea, would the lake tea be? ||
|-
| 80 || {{what if|80|Pile of Viruses}} || January 21, 2014 || 1.0 || What if every virus in the world were collected into one area? How much volume would they take up and what would they look like? ||
|-
| 81 || {{what if|81|Catch!}} || January 28, 2014 || 1.0 || Is there any way to fire a gun so that the bullet flies through the air and can then be safely caught by hand? e.g. shooter is at sea level and catcher is up a mountain at the extreme range of the gun. ||
|-
| 82 || {{what if|82|Hitting a comet}} || February 5, 2014 || 1.1 || Astrophysicists are always saying things like "This mission to this comet is equivalent to throwing a baseball from New York and hitting a particular window in San Francisco." Are they really equivalent? ||
|-
| 83 || {{what if|83|Star Sand}} || February 11, 2014 || 0.9 || If you made a beach using grains the proportionate size of the stars in the Milky Way, what would that beach look like? ||
|-
| 84 || {{what if|84|Paint the Earth}} || February 18, 2014 || 1.0 || Has humanity produced enough paint to cover the entire land area of the Earth? ||
|-
| 85 || {{what if|85|Rocket Golf}} || February 25, 2014 || 1.0 || Assuming that you have a spaceship in orbit around the Earth, could you propel your ship to speeds exceeding escape velocity by hitting golf balls in the other direction? If so, how many golf balls would be required to reach the Moon? ||
|-
| 86 || {{what if|86|Far-Traveling Objects}} || March 4, 2014 || 1.0 || In terms of human-made objects, has Voyager 1 travelled the farthest distance? It's certainly the farthest from Earth we know about. But what about the edge of ultracentrifuges, or generator turbines that have been running for years, for example? ||
|-
| 87 || {{what if|87|Enforced by Radar}} || March 11, 2014 || 1.0 || I've occasionally seen "radar enforced" on speed limit signs, and I can't help but ask: How intense would radio waves have to be to stop a car from going over the speed limit, and what would happen if this were attempted? ||
|-
| 88 || {{what if|88|Soda Sequestration}} || March 18, 2014 || 1.0 || How much CO2 is contained in the world's stock of bottled fizzy drinks? How much soda would be needed to bring atmospheric CO2 back to preindustrial levels? ||
|-
| 89 || {{what if|89|Tungsten Countertop}} || March 25, 2014 || 1.0 || How far would a tungsten countertop descend if I dropped it into the Sun? ||
|-
| 90 || {{what if|90|Great Tree, Great Axe}} || April 3, 2014 || 1.3 ||
''If all the seas were one sea, 
''What a great sea that would be! 
''If all the trees were one tree, 
''What a great tree that would be! 
''If all the men were one man, 
''What a great man that would be! 
''If all the axes were one axe, 
''What a great axe that would be! 
''And if the great man took the great axe, 
''And cut down the great tree, 
''And let if fall into the great sea, 
''What a great splish-splash that would be!'' 
... How great would all of these things be?
||
|-
| 91 || {{what if|91|Faucet Power}} || April 8, 2014 || 0.7 || I just moved into a new apartment. It includes hot water but I have to pay the electric bill. So being a person on a budget ... what's the best way to use my free faucet to generate electricity? ||
|-
| 92 || {{what if|92|One-Second Day}} || April 15, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Earth's rotation were sped up until a day only lasted one second? ||
|-
| 93 || {{what if|93|Windshield Raindrops}} || April 22, 2014 || 1.0 || At what speed would you have to drive for rain to shatter your windshield? ||
|-
| 94 || {{what if|94|Billion-Story Building}} || April 29, 2014 || 1.0 || My daughter — age 4.5 — maintains she wants a billion-story building. It turns out not only is that hard to help her appreciate this size, I am not at all able to explain all of the other difficulties you'd have to overcome. ||
|-
| 95 || {{what if|95|Pyramid Energy}} || May 6, 2014 || 1.0 || What took more energy, the building of the Great Pyramid of Giza or the Apollo Mission? If we could convert the energy to build the Great Pyramid, would it be enough to send a rocket to the Moon and back? ||
|-
| 96 || {{what if|96|$2 Undecillion Lawsuit}} || May 14, 2014 || 1.1 || What if Au Bon Pain lost [http://loweringthebar.net/2014/05/2-undecillion-dollar-demand.html this lawsuit] and had to pay the plaintiff $2 undecillion? ||
|-
| 97 || {{what if|97|Burning Pollen}} || May 20, 2014 || 0.9 || What if you were to somehow ignite the pollen that floats around in the air in spring? Other than being a really bad idea, what effect would it have? ||
|-
| 98 || {{what if|98|Blood Alcohol}} || May 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could you get drunk from drinking a drunk person's blood? ||
|-
| 99 || {{what if|99|Starlings}} || June 3, 2014 || 1.0 || I was watching [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakKfY5aHmY this video] and was wondering: How many birds there would need to be for gravity to take over and force them into a gargantuan ball of birds? ||
|-
| 100 || {{what if|100|WWII Films}} || June 11, 2014 || 1.1 || Did WWII last longer than the total length of movies about WWII? For that matter, which war has the highest movie time:war time ratio? || From here on standard release day was Wednesday.
|-
| 101 || {{what if|101|Plastic Dinosaurs}} || June 18, 2014 || 1.0 || As plastic is made from oil and oil is made from dead dinosaurs, how much actual real dinosaur is there in a plastic dinosaur? ||
|-
| 102 || {{what if|102|Keyboard Power}} || June 25, 2014 || 1.0 || As a writer, I'm wondering what would be the cumulative energy of the hundreds of thousands of keystrokes required to write a novel. ||
|-
| 103 || {{what if|103|Vanishing Water}} || July 2, 2014 || 1.0 || What would happen if all the bodies of water on Earth magically disappeared? ||
|-
| 104 || {{what if|104|Global Snow}} || July 9, 2014 || 1.0 || From my seven-year-old son: How many snowflakes would it take to cover the entire world in six feet of snow? (I don't know why six feet...but that's what he asked.) ||
|-
| 105 || {{what if|105|Cannibalism}} || July 16, 2014 || 1.0 || How long could the human race survive on only cannibalism? ||
|-
| 106 || {{what if|106|Ink Molecules}} || July 23, 2014 || 1.0 || Suppose you were to print, in 12 point text, the numeral 1 using a common cheap ink-jet printer. How many molecules of the ink would be used? At what numerical value would the number printed approximately equal the number of ink molecules used? ||
|-
| 107 || {{what if|107|Letter to Mom}} || July 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What’s the fastest way to get a hand-written letter from my place in Chicago to my mother in New Jersey? ||
|-
| 108 || {{what if|108|Expensive Shoebox}} || August 13, 2014 || 2.0 || What would be the most expensive way to fill a size 11 shoebox (e.g. with 64 GB MicroSD cards all full of legally purchased music)? || The third two weeks break.
|-
| 109 || {{what if|109|Into the Blue}} || August 20, 2014 || 1.0 || If I shot an infinitely strong laser beam into the sky at a random point, how much damage would it do? ||
|-
| 110 || {{what if|110|Walking New York}} || August 27, 2014 || 1.0 || Could a person walk the entire city of NY in their lifetime? (including inside apartments) ||
|-
| 111 || {{what if|111|All the Money}} || September 2, 2014 || 0.9 || People sometimes say "If I had all the money in the world ..." in order to discuss what they would do if they had no financial constraints. I'm curious, though, what would happen if one person had all of the world's money? ||
|-
| 112 || {{what if|112|Balloon Car}} || September 17, 2014 || 2.1 || My 12-year-old daughter is proposing an interesting project. She is planning to attach a number of helium balloons to a chair, which in turn would be tethered by means of a rope to a Ferrari. Her 13-year-old friend would then drive the Ferrari around, while she sits in the chair enjoying uninterrupted views of the countryside. Leaving aside the legal and insurance difficulties, my daughter is keen to know the maximum speed that she could expect to attain, and how many helium balloons would be required. || The fourth two weeks break.
|-
| 113 || {{what if|113|Visit Every State}} || September 24, 2014 || 1.0 || How fast could you visit all 50 states? ||
|-
| 114 || {{what if|114|Antimatter}} || October 1, 2014 || 1.0 || What if everything was antimatter, EXCEPT Earth? ||
|-
| 115 || {{what if|115|Into the Sun}} || October 8, 2014 || 1.0 || When I was about 8 years old, shoveling snow on a freezing day in Colorado, I wished that I could be instantly transported to the surface of the Sun, just for a nanosecond, then instantly transported back. I figured this would be long enough to warm me up but not long enough to harm me. What would actually happen? ||
|-
| 116 || {{what if|116|No-Rules NASCAR}} || October 15, 2014 || 1.0 || If you stripped away all the rules of car racing and had a contest which was simply to get a human being around a track 200 times as fast as possible, what strategy would win? Let's say the racer has to survive. ||
|-
| 117 || {{what if|117|Distant Death}} || October 23, 2014 || 1.1 || What is the farthest from Earth that any Earth thing has died? || From here on standard release day was Thursday.
|-
| 118 || {{what if|118|Physical Salary}} || October 30, 2014 || 1.0 || What if people's incomes appeared around them as cash in real time? How much would you need to make to be in real trouble? ||
|-
| 119 || {{what if|119|Laser Umbrella}} || November 13, 2014 || 2.0 || Stopping rain from falling on something with an umbrella or a tent is boring. What if you tried to stop rain with a laser that targeted and vaporized each incoming droplet before it could come within ten feet of the ground? || The fifth two weeks break.
|-
| 120 || {{what if|120|Alternate Universe What Ifs}} || November 20, 2014 || 1.0 || Dispatches from a horrifying alternate universe ||
|-
| 121 || {{what if|121|Frozen Rivers}} || December 11, 2014 || 3.0 || What would happen if all of the rivers in the US were instantly frozen in the middle of the summer? || The only tree weeks break, the sixth break in total.
|-
| 122 || {{what if|122|Lava Lamp}} || December 18, 2014 || 1.0 || What if I made a lava lamp out of real lava? What could I use as a clear medium? How close could I stand to watch it? ||
|-
| 123 || {{what if|123|Fairy Demographics}} || January 1, 2015 || 2.0 || How many fairies would fly around, if each fairy is born from the first laugh of a child and fairies were immortal? || The third two weeks Christmas break, the seventh break in total
|-
| 124 || {{what if|124|Lunar Swimming}} || January 8, 2015 || 1.0 || What if there was a lake on the Moon? What would it be like to swim in it? Presuming that it is sheltered in a regular atmosphere, in some giant dome or something. ||
|-
| 125 || {{what if|125|Bowling Ball}} || January 15, 2015 || 1.0 || You are in a boat directly over the Mariana Trench. If you drop a 7kg bowling ball over the side, how long would it take to hit the bottom? ||
|-
| 126 || {{what if|126|Stairs}} || January 22, 2015 || 1.0 || If you made an elevator that would go to space (like the one you mentioned in the billion-story building) and built a staircase up (assuming regulated air pressure) about how long would it take to climb to the top? ||
|-
| 127 || {{what if|127|Tug of War}} || January 28, 2015 || 0.9 || Would it be possible for two teams in a tug-o-war to overcome the ultimate tensile strength of an iron rod and pull it apart? How big would the teams have to be? ||
|-
| 128 || {{what if|128|Zippo Phone}} || February 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What in my pocket actually contains more energy, my Zippo or my smartphone? What would be the best way of getting the energy from one to the other? And since I am already feeling like Bilbo in this one, is there anything else in my pocket that would have unexpected amounts of stored energy? ||
|-
| 129 || {{what if|129|Black Hole Moon}} || February 12, 2015 || 1.0 || What would happen if the Moon were replaced with an equivalently-massed black hole? If it's possible, what would a lunar ("holar"?) eclipse look like? ||
|-
| 130 || {{what if|130|Snow Removal}} || February 19, 2015 || 1.0 || I've long thought about putting a flamethrower on the front of a car to melt snow and ice before you drive across it. Now I've realized that a flamethrower is impractical, but what about a high-powered microwave emitter? ||
|-
| 131 || {{what if|131|Microwaves}} || February 27, 2015 || 1.1 || I have had a particular problem for as long as I can remember. Any time I attempt to heat left over Chinese food in a microwave, it fails to heat completely through somewhere. Usually the center but not always and usually rice, but often it will be a small section of meat. It's baffling and has made me automatically adjust heating times to over 2 minutes. In most cases this tends to heat the bowl or plate more than the food. So I suppose the question is what is the optimal time to heat left over Chinese food in the microwave, how about an 800 watt microwave? || The release date in the archive is the wrong year 2014. From here on there seems to no longer be a standard release day for some time.
|-
| 132 || {{what if|132|Hotter than Average}} || March 7, 2015 || 1.1 || I saw a sign at a hot springs tub saying "Caution: Water is hotter than average" with water at about 39°C. Although they were presumably trying to say "hotter than the average swimming pool," this got me wondering: What is the average temperature of all water on the Earth’s surface, and how does that temperature compare to 39°C? ||
|-
| 133 || {{what if|133|Flagpole}} || March 17, 2015 || 1.4 || So, you're falling from a height above the tallest building in your town, and you don't have a parachute. But wait! Partway down the side of that skyscraper there's a flagpole sticking out, sans flag! You angle your descent and grab the pole just long enough to swing around so that when you let go you're now heading back up toward the sky. As gravity slows you and brings you to a halt, you reach the top of the skyscraper, where you reach out and pull yourself to safety. What's the likelihood this could happen? || The first of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 134 || {{what if|134|Space Burial}} || March 28, 2015 || 1.6 || I've often joked I'd like to have my remains put into orbit. Not in a "scatter my ashes" sense, but, like, "throw my naked corpse out the airlock" sense. Honestly, my main motivation is to baffle someone in the distant future, but it's an interesting scientific question: what would happen to my body in orbit over the course of years, decades or centuries? || The second of two longer shifts in release day two weeks in a row which resulted in only two releases over three weeks, resulting in the eight break in total.
|-
| 135 || {{what if|135|Digging Downward}} || April 5, 2015 || 1.1 || What would happen if I dug straight down, at a speed of 1 foot per second? What would kill me first? ||
|-
| 136 || {{what if|136|Spiders vs. the Sun}} || April 12, 2015 || 1.0 || Which has a greater gravitational pull on me: the Sun, or spiders? Granted, the Sun is much bigger, but it is also much further away, and as I learned in high school physics, the gravitational force is proportional to the square of the distance. ||
|-
| 137 || {{what if|137|New Horizons}} || July 14, 2015 || 13.3 || What if New Horizons hits my car? || The second longest break up til summer 2016, the only one to have been announced. The ninth break in total.
|-
| 138 || {{what if|138|Jupiter Submarine}} || July 28, 2015 || 2.0 || What if you released a submarine into Jupiter's atmosphere? Would it eventually reach a point where it would float? Could it navigate? || The sixth two weeks break, tenth break in total.
|-
| 139 || {{what if|139|Jupiter Descending}} || August 4, 2015 || 1.0 || If you did {{what if|138|fall into Jupiter's atmosphere in a submarine}}, what would it actually look like? What would you see before you melted or burned up? ||
|-
| 140 || {{what if|140|Proton Earth, Electron Moon}} || September 18, 2015 || 6.4 || What if the Earth were made entirely of protons, and the Moon were made entirely of electrons? || First and shortest of two long breaks in a row, the 11th break in total.
|-
| 141 || {{what if|141|Sunbeam}} || January 12, 2016 || 16.6 || What if all of the sun's output of visible light were bundled up into a laser-like beam that had a diameter of around 1m once it reaches Earth? || Second and longest break so far of two long breaks in a row, the 12th break in total. From here on standard release day was again Tuesday.
|-
| 142 || {{what if|142|Space Jetta}} || January 20, 2016 || 1.1 || What if I tried to re-enter the atmosphere in my car? (a 2000 VW Jetta TDI). Would it do more environmental damage than it is already apparently doing? ||
|-
| 143 || {{what if|143|Europa Water Siphon}} || January 26, 2016 || 0.9 || What if you built a siphon from the oceans on Europa to Earth? Would it flow once it's set up? (We have an idea for selling bottled Europa water.) ||
|-
| 144 || {{what if|144|Saliva Pool}} || February 2, 2016 || 1.0 || How long would it take for a single person to fill up an entire swimming pool with their own saliva? ||
|-
| 145 || {{what if|145|Fire From Moonlight}} || February 9, 2016 || 1.0 || Can you use a magnifying glass and moonlight to light a fire? ||
|-
| 146 || {{what if|146|Stop Jupiter}} || February 16, 2016 || 1.0 || I understand that the New Horizons craft used gravity assist from Jupiter to increase its speed on the way to Pluto. I also understand that by doing this, Jupiter slowed down very slightly. How many flyby runs would it take to stop Jupiter completely? ||
|-
| 147 || {{what if|147|Niagara Straw}} || February 26, 2016 || 1.4 || What would happen if one tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a straw? || From here on there is no longer any standard release days.
|-
| 148 || {{what if|148|Eat the Sun}} || March 12, 2016 || 2.1 || What percentage of the Sun's heat (per day) does the population of Earth eat in calories per year? What changes could be made to our diets for the amount of calories to equal the energy of the Sun? || The seventh two weeks break, 13th break in total.
|-
| 149 || {{what if|149|Pizza Bird}} || March 26, 2016 || 2.0 || My boyfriend recently took a flight on a plane with wifi, and while he was up there, wistfully asked if I could send him a pizza. I jokingly sent him a photo of a parrot holding a pizza slice in its beak. Obviously, my boyfriend had to go without pizza until he landed at JFK. But this raised the question: could a bird deliver a standard 20" New York-style cheese pizza in a box? And if so, what kind of bird would it take? || The eight two weeks break, 14th break in total.
|-
| 150 || {{what if|150|Tatooine Rainbow}} || May 23, 2016 || 8.3 || Since rainbows are caused by the refraction of the sunlight by tiny droplets of rainwater, what would rainbow look like on Earth if we had two suns like Tatooine? || First two months break of at least two in a row, the 15th break in total.
|-
| 151 || {{what if|151|Sun Bug}} || July 21, 2016 || 8.4 || How many fireflies would it take to match the brightness of the Sun? || Second two months break of at least two in a row, the 16th break in total. The release date in the archive is the wrong month June. It was released [http://web.archive.org/web/20160718014924/http://what-if.xkcd.com/ between 18-20 July], as the link here was posted on the 20th. But on the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160724210016/https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/ archive page] is says it was released on June 21, which should probably have been July 21.
|-
| 152 || {{what if|152|Flood Death Valley}} || October 18, 2016 || 12.6 || Since Death Valley is below sea level could we dig a hole to the ocean and fill it up with water? ||
|}



[[Category:Meta]]

Talk:1765: Baby Post

2016-11-28T18:15:42Z

Bitsofstring: /* Wrong use of plurals? */

Somebody doesn't know young children very well. Or the amount of time they spend watching old movies. I know a couple of four year olds who might just do this after catching a rerun of one of the Pink Panther movies. Get away with it, though, is something entirely different.[[User:Seebert|Seebert]] ([[User talk:Seebert|talk]]) 14:35, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Check the header, new shirts! [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 15:01, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

If the cell phone or tablet is set to remember passwords, it's not impossible to a children to buy a ticket to london or even call an uber. [[User:Wrojr|Wrojr]] ([[User talk:Wrojr|talk]]) 15:24, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

== Wrong use of plurals? ==

Shouldn't this be Crown Jewels Rooms? Beside which, how can one jewel be in more than one room? [[User:Bitsofstring|Bitsofstring]] ([[User talk:Bitsofstring|talk]]) 15:54, 28 November 2016 (UTC)
:I'm pretty sure that Ponytail just doesn't care about pluralizing in this informal context. [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 16:05, 28 November 2016 (UTC)
I'm not sure if there's anything wrong with saying "crown jewel rooms". As an analogy, if you had several rooms for your trophies, you'd say "these are my trophy rooms" (ie. my rooms for trophies) even though, presumably, you have more than one trophy. The only part that makes me a bit hesitant is that they are called the "crown jewels". But "crown jewels rooms" sounds really awkward to me.

There is also the puzzle of using blueprints to describe a room's security plan. But it might just be simplified to put into a strip. 18:15, 28 November 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1765: Baby Post

2016-11-28T18:14:01Z

Bitsofstring: /* Wrong use of plurals? */

Talk:1765: Baby Post

2016-11-28T15:54:01Z

Bitsofstring: /* Wrong use of plurals? */ new section

1688: Map Age Guide

2016-11-22T15:00:12Z

Bitsofstring: Not enough room for maps of Oz and Pern.

{{comic
| number = 1688
| date = June 1, 2016
| title = Map Age Guide
| image = map_age_guide.png
| titletext = Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death? If yes, banshee. If no, seagull.
}}

*A [http://xkcd.com/1688/large/ larger version] of this image can be found by clicking the image at xkcd.com - the comic's page can also be accessed by clicking on the comic number above.

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Errors in the year etc. should be collected in the [[#Trivia|trivia section]]. Another table with the possible year ranges and the length of their interval would be interesting. (Only for the political maps) What are the longest range after 1805 and how finely disected are the maps closer to today?}}
The comic consists of a flowchart depicting various ways to tell what era a map is from based on present country borders and land forms. (Except in the Not a Political Map Branch (from "Can you see the familiar continents?" downwards), the comic applies to a political map.) While many of the options are very serious, a few bizarre options reference to fictional maps ({{w|Discworld}}, {{w|Narnia}} and Tolkien's {{w|Middle-earth}}), or consider that seagulls, staplers, tubas or breadboxes could be mistaken for a map. Randall also mentions US President {{w|Jimmy Carter}} being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit, an event previously referenced as one we must never forget in [[204: America]].

The flowchart, although probably effective in eventually identifying the production year of certain maps, is designed in a rather inefficient way as some early distinctions are already on a very detailed level before some really important distinctions (fictional or non-political map) are made. This, of course, adds to the humorous tone of the comic. It is also hampered by several smaller or larger error (see [[#Trivia|trivia]]), the biggest a whole section on I-25 that gives year in the range 1948-1952, before the I-25 was built and coming from a question that fixed the year range to 1960-1961.

Additionally, (possible) future maps including a "Radioactive Exclusion Zone" in the place of Colorado are mentioned. It predicts that some kind of nuclear incident will occur in Colorado (possibly at Rulison or Rio Blanco nuclear testing sites) in 2022. It also predicts that the area will be infested by radioactive spiders one year later.

The title text continues the path where the user has confused a seagull for a map by inquiring if the (presumed) seagull might be a banshee based on the effect of its screams.

===Table===
*Going through the flowchart, taking the leftmost path first, recursively. (Note there is no recursive loop). See also {{w|Depth-first search}}.
**"Prior Date Range" is the range determined immediately before the question, carried over from the previous question.
**"Question Date Range" is the range each answer choice implies.
**"New Date Range" is the intersection of the Prior Date Range and the Question Date Range for each choice, and is the range determined by all questions hitherto answered.

{| border =1 width=100% cellpadding=5 class="wikitable"
! # !! Question !! Explanation !! Prior Date Range !! Question Date Range !! New Date Range
|-
! 1
| '''Istanbul or Constantinople'''
| The largest city in {{w|Turkey}} is famous for having different names at different times or to different people. Variations on both names go back at least 1,000 years. Other names have also been used at various points. {{w|Istanbul}} has been the official name in Western languages since the 1920s (although it's been the native name since 1453), although Western maps often referred to it as Constantinople as late as the 1960s; on the flowchart, the choice of name appears to go with the 1920s date. The name changes are the subject of a [http://mentalfloss.com/article/60314/original-istanbul-not-constantinople song], originally by the Four Lads, but now mainly known for the They Might Be Giants recording.
| '''Start here'''
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928
* Neither: inconclusive
* Istanbul: 1928+
|
* Constantinople: 330 – 1928 (Go to 2)
* Neither: inconclusive (Go to 19)
* Istanbul: 1928+ (Go to 51)
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' the chart splits here into three divisions, each from a choice in question 1. The Neither Division will attempt to use other indicators to sort maps into one of the other two divisions or branches thereof, or, after 5 failures to find a country, conclude that the "map" in question is not a political map and proceed to find out what it is (the Not a Political Map Branch). The Constantinople and Istanbul Divisions are linear except where the Neither Division joins them as stated above.
|-
! colspan="6" | Constantinople Division
|-
! 2
| '''Do any of these exist?'''
* '''Independent Canada'''
* '''US Territory of Alaska'''
* '''Tokyo'''
| All these seem to specify a date cut-off of 1867/8, but there are caveats attached to each:
* {{w|Canada}} gained its independence gradually, but it would appear as its own country (the Dominion of Canada) on maps some time between the {{w|Constitution Act, 1867}} (which created Canada as a British dominion) and the {{w|Statute of Westminster 1931}} (which made Canada largely self-governing).
* The {{w|Territory of Alaska}} existed between 1912 (previously, it was a US district) and 1959 (when it became a state). The US has owned Alaska since the 1867 {{w|Alaska Purchase}}, but it was not a territory then.
* {{w|Tokyo}} was once called Edo. It was renamed Tokyo (which means "Eastern Capital") when it became the capital in 1868. [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Tokyo%2CTokei&year_start=1870&year_end=1880&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CTokyo%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CTokei%3B%2Cc0 Most English books around then] would actually have called it "Tokei", the Chinese reading. The name Tokyo didn't take off until {{w|Hepburn romanization}} was popularized in the 1880s.
| 330–1928 (from 1)
1299–1922 (from 19 in the Neither Division)
(from 24 in the Neither Division)
|
* No: 1867-
* Yes: 1868+
|
* No: 330–1867 (Go to 3)
* Yes: 1868–1928 (Go to 11)
|-
! colspan="6" | Holy Roman Empire Branch
|-
! 3
| '''The Holy Roman Empire?'''
| The predecessor to modern Germany, the {{w|Holy Roman Empire}} was a union of hundreds of small states in Central Europe. Nationalism and the concept of the {{w|nation state}} hadn't taken off yet, so countries as we know them didn't really exist. There were just small lands, often with keenly contested borders, owned by minor aristocracy who pledged allegiance to one of the big powers. The HRE was {{w|Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire|dissolved}} in 1806 after it was invaded by Napoleon, arguably the first leader to realise the potential of making a nation salute a flag.
| 330–1867
|
* Yes: 899–1806
* No: 899- or 1806+
|
* Yes: 899–1806 (Stated in comic as "1805 or earlier", since modern map-making was fuzzy as a concept prior) ('''Stop''')
* No: 330–899 or 1806-67 (Go to 4)
|-
! 4
| '''The United States?'''
| The original {{w|Thirteen Colonies|13 colonies}} declared independence in 1776. A map that does not include ''either'' the HRE ''or'' the USA must be older than the HRE which would put the map some time prior to 1000 AD, when there really were no countries, and English wasn't used yet, hence Randall's comment.
| 330–899 or 1806-67
|
* No: 1776-
* Yes: 1776+
|
* No: 330–899 (Not stated in comic, since a map in this period is probably not in English, which violates a proviso of the comic) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1806-67 (Go to 5)
|-
! 5
| '''Texas is... Part of Mexico? Independent? Part of the US?'''
| {{w|Mexico}} (and before its independence {{w|New Spain}}) occupied the area modern day Texas from around 1718 ({{w|Spanish Texas|when the first permanent Spanish settlements were founded}}) to the {{w|Texas Declaration of Independence}} in 1836 (the comic apparently cited 1834 as the date)–the land called "Texas" was only a small part of the modern day state. The {{w|Republic of Texas}} only lasted a decade, and joined the US in 1846.
| 1806-67
|
* Part of Mexico: 1718–1836
* Independent: 1836-46
* Part of the US: 1846+
|
* Part of Mexico: 1806-36 (Go to 6)
* Independent: 1836-46 (stated in comic as 1834-45–a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Part of the US: 1846-67 (Go to 9)
|-
! 6
| '''Florida is part of... Spain? The US?'''
| Spain occupied {{w|Florida}} (as {{w|East Florida}} and {{w|West Florida}}) but frankly they didn't actually want it–it was expensive to send people to settle it, and there wasn't much economic value in it. So they gave it to the US for free in the 1819 {{w|Adams–Onís Treaty}} (which took effect in 1821) in exchange for the US giving up parts of Mexico and paying off angry Spanish settlers. (For some reason, the comic treats Florida as part of the US in 1818; see questions 7 and 8.)
| 1806-36
|
* Spain: 1565–1763 or 1783–1821
* The US: 1821+
|
* Spain: 1806-21 (Go to 7)
* The US: 1821-36 (Go to 8)
|-
! 7
| '''{{w|Paraguay}}?'''
| Declared independence from Spain in 1811 (although it might appear on older maps as the Spanish Province of Paraguay).
| 1806-21
|
* No: 1811-
* Yes: 1811+
|
* No: 1806-11 (stated in comic as 1806-10) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1811-21 (stated in comic as 1811-17–a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 8
| '''{{w|Venezuela}} and/or {{w|Ecuador?}}'''
| Both declared independence from {{w|Gran Colombia}} (Greater Colombia) in 1830.
| 1821-36
|
* No: 1830-
* Yes: 1830+
|
* No: 1821-30 (stated in comic as 1818-29–a discrepancy (see question 6)) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1830-36 (stated in comic as 1830-33–a discrepancy (see question 5)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 9
| '''Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?'''
| The 1858 {{w|Treaty of Aigun}} brought the {{w|Russian Empire}}'s border to the {{w|Sea of Japan}}.
| 1846-67
|
* No: 1858-
* Yes: 1858+
|
* No: 1846-58 (Go to 10)
* Yes: 1858-67 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 10
| '''The US's southern border looks...'''
| The last southward expansion of the US is the 1854 {{w|Gadsden Purchase}}, where the US bought a chunk of what is now {{w|Arizona}} and {{w|New Mexico}} so they could build a railway that avoided unfavourable terrain. The southern border looks "weird" before that because we are accustomed to the current border shape.
| 1846-58
|
* Weird: 1854-
* Normal: 1854+
|
* Weird: 1846-54 (stated in comic as 1846-53) ('''Stop''')
* Normal: 1854-58 (stated in comic as 1854-56–a discrepancy (where is 1857?)) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | South Africa Branch
|-
! 11
| '''{{w|South Africa}}?'''
| The {{w|Union of South Africa}} was created in 1910 out of four British colonies ({{w|Cape Colony}}, {{w|Colony of Natal|Natal}}, {{w|Transvall Colony|Transvaal}} and {{w|Orange River Colony|Orange River}}), although South Africa was then not yet fully independent from the United Kingdom (which would not happen until 1931).
| 1868–1928
|
* No: 1910-
* Yes: 1910+
|
* No: 1868–1910 (Go to 12)
* Yes: 1910-28 (Go to 16)
|-
! 12
| '''Rhodesia?'''
| The region that now makes up {{w|Zambia}} and {{w|Zimbabwe}} was named {{w|Rhodesia (region)|"Rhodesia"}} by the {{w|British South Africa Company}} in 1895. An {{w|Rhodesia|unrecognised state}} (1965-79) and a {{w|Southern Rhodesia|colony}} (1923-80 on-and-off) also bore this name, but they are both outside the Prior Date Range.
| 1868–1910
|
* No: 1895-
* Yes: 1895+
|
* No: 1868-95 (Go to 13)
* Yes: 1895–1910 (Go to 15)
|-
! 13
| '''Is Bolivia landlocked?'''
| {{w|Bolivia}} lost its coastal territory to {{w|Chile}} in the {{w|War of the Pacific}}, ceding {{w|Antofagasta}} in the {{w|Treaty of Valparaiso}} in 1884.
| 1868-95
|
* No: 1825-84
* Yes: 1884+
|
* No: 1868-84 (Go to 14)
* Yes: 1884-95 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 14
| '''"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?'''
| In 1873, the cities of {{w|Buda}} and {{w|Pest, Hungary|Pest}} joined together to form the city of {{w|Budapest}}.
| 1868-84
|
* Buda and Pest: 1247–1873
* Budapest: 1873+
|
* Buda and Pest: 1868-73 (stated in comic as 1868-72) ('''Stop''')
* Budapest: 1873-84 (stated in comic as 1873-83) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 15
| '''Is Norway part of Sweden?'''
| {{w|Norway}} was ceded to {{w|Sweden}} in 1814, from which it separated in 1905.
| 1895–1910
|
* Yes: 1814–1905
* No: 1814- or 1905+
|
* Yes: 1895-1905 (Stated in comic as 1896-1905) ('''Stop''')
* No: 1905-10 (Stated in comic as 1906-09) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 16
| '''Austria-Hungary?'''
| {{w|Austria-Hungary}} formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. (However, during that time period, it was frequently called simply "Austria"; it is more consistently called "Austria-Hungary" in historical maps created later, for example, in history textbooks illustrating the alliances of {{w|World War One}}.)
| 1910-28
|
* Yes: 1867-1918
* No: 1918+
|
* Yes: 1910-18 (Go to 17)
* No: 1918-28 (Go to 18)
|-
! 17
| '''Albania?'''
| {{w|Albania}} declared independence from the {{w|Ottoman Empire}} in 1912.
| 1910-18
|
* No: 1912-
* Yes: 1912+
|
* No: 1910-12 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1912-18 (stated in comic as 1913-18) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 18
| '''Leningrad?'''
| {{w|Saint Petersburg}} was known as Leningrad between 1924 and 1991. The city was founded in 1703 as Saint Petersburg (specific spellings vary); in August 1914, due to major anti-German sentiment related to WWI, it was renamed Petrograd (essentially the Russian translation of Petersburg). On January 26, 1924, five days after the death of {{w|Vladimir Lenin}} (the main revolutionary leader), the new Communist government (hostile to both the the Orthodox {{w|Saint Peter}} the city was named after and the Czar {{w|Peter the Great}} who named it) renamed the city Leningrad in his honor. After the decline of the Soviet government in 1991, the name became unpopular, and a referendum in June 1991 (concurrently with the first Russian presidential election) restored the name Saint Petersburg for the city (officially in September 1991), which it holds to this day.
| 1918-28
|
* No: 1924- or 1991+
* Yes: 1924-91
|
* No: 1918-24 (stated in comic as 1919-23) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1924-28 (stated in comic as 1924-29) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Neither Division
|-
! 19
| '''Does the Ottoman Empire exist?'''
| The {{w|Ottoman Empire}} was founded in 1299, and defeated and dissolved on November 1, 1922 when the sultanate was abolished.
| Inconclusive
|
* Yes: 1299-1922
* No: 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1299-1922 (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922+ (Go to 20)
|-
! 20
| '''The Soviet Union?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}} is one of the largest countries ever to exist consisting of Russia and large portions of eastern Europe and central Asia. It was a major political force from December 28, 1922, when several allied Soviet republics united, to 1991, when it broke up.
''Note:'' This question is the same as question 51 in the Istanbul Division, but because there a Prior Date Range of 1928+ has already been established by the presence of Istanbul, we need one more question to determine whether we are within the range of 1928+.
| 1299- or 1922+
|
* Yes: 1922-91
* No: 1922- or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1922-91 (Go to 21)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+ (Go to 22)
|-
! 21
| '''Saudi Arabia?'''
| The Kingdom of {{w|Saudi Arabia}} was founded in 1932. It is the first modern state to exert control over the area it claims, which previously were controlled by various tribal leaders. Most maps before 1932 will not mark the area as belonging to a nation at all, will attempt to mark the various shifting chieftains, or will attribute the land to the {{w|Ottoman Empire}}, which claimed the land but did not effectively control it.
| 1922-91
|
* Yes: 1932+
* No: 1932-
|
* Yes: 1932-91 (Go to 52 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1922-32 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 22
| '''North Korea?'''
| The {{w|Korean Peninsula}} was divided into two regions, the north of which would be known as {{w|North Korea}}, at the end of {{w|World War II}} in 1945. This resulted in the inconclusive {{w|Korean War}}.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) or 1991+
|
* Yes: 1945+
* No: 1945-
|
* Yes: 1991+ (Go to 69 in the Istanbul Division)
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 23)
|-
! 23
| '''Saint Trimble's Island'''
| Since [[Randall]] just made up this place, it is impossible that a map would include it, probably as a {{w|trap street|cartographer's fingerprint}} indicating plagiarism?
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* No: inconclusive
* Yes: impossible
|
* No: 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28) (Go to 24)
* Yes: impossible ('''Stop''')
|-
! 24
| '''Is Jan Mayen part of the kingdom of Norway?'''
| Jurisdiction over the island of {{w|Jan Mayen}} was given to {{w|Norway}} around 1920, and it officially joined in 1930. '''Note:''' Strictly speaking, it should be almost impossible to answer "Yes" to this question–the Ottoman Empire existed until 1922, the Soviet Union existed from 1922 to 1991, and North Korea from 1945 onwards, so by answering "No" to the previous three questions, the user has ruled out the entire period during which Norway has officially owned Jan Mayen, and almost the entire period it controlled it bar an extremely slim sliver of time between November 1, 1922 to December 28, 1922. The following questions ignore the previous ones (East Germany only existed at the same time as the USSR, and Pakistan was founded later than North Korea, so both should have already been excluded)–essentially, the Jan Mayen question reboots the test.
| 1299- or 1922 (November 1–December 28)
|
* Not yet: prior to 1930
* What?: Not a political map
* Yes: 1930+
|
* Not yet: (Go to 2 in the Constantinople Division)
* What?: (Go to 25)
* Yes: (Go to 53 in the Istanbul Division)
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Political Map Branch
|-
! 25
| '''Can you see the familiar continents?'''
| At this point it is clear that the map in question is not a political map from any time. Therefore the comic tries to determine whether it is a map of the Earth at all by asking if the continents are there.
|
|
* Yes: map of the Earth
* No: not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of the Earth (Go to 26)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 32)
|-
! colspan="6" | Topographical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch
|-
! 26
| '''This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.'''
| A map of the Earth that does not label political regions must be a topological map; or, it can be a satellite image of the Earth.
| Map of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* Yes, that's it: topographical map or satellite image of the Earth (Go to 27)
|-
! 27
| '''Is Lake Chad missing?'''
| {{w|Lake Chad}} lost 75% of its area in the 1970s, becoming too small to be included in a map or picture of the Earth.
| Topographical map or satellite image of the Earth
|
* No: 1970s-
* Yes: 1970s+
|
* No: 1970s- (Go to 28)
* Yes: 1970s+ (Go to 31)
|-
! 28
| '''How far east do the American prairies reach?'''
| As settlers made their way west, the prairie land in the {{w|Great Plains}} region was steadily replaced by farmland and ranches. By the 1920s, most of the land had been converted to agricultural use, and the last of the prairie was largely obliterated by the {{w|Dust Bowl}}s in the 1930s. The dividing lines correspond roughly to the three types of prairie: {{w|tallgrass prairie}} grew between the Mississippi and Indiana, {{w|mixed grass prairie}} covered Nebraska and other states on the {{w|100th meridian west}}, and {{w|shortgrass prairie}} covered the remaining area east of the Rocky Mountains. There's some overlap in the dates, since it's fairly arbitrary at what you point you say the prairies stopped existing. There are still patches of prairie (covering about 1% of their former reach), but these are probably not visible in a satellite image.

| 1970s-
|
* Indiana: Before 1830
* The Mississippi: 1830–1880s
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s
* What prairies?: 1920s+
|
* Indiana: Before 1830 ('''Stop''')
* The Mississippi: 1830–80s ('''Stop''')
* Nebraska: 1860s–1910s (Go to 29)
* What prairies?: 1920s–1970s (Go to 30)
|-
! 29
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)'''
| This is {{w|Salton Sea}}, a previously dry lake bed accidentally flooded in 1905 while attempting to increase irrigation to the area from the Colorado River
| 1860s–1910s
|
* No: before 1905
* Yes: 1905+
|
* No: 1860s–1900s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1910s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 30
| '''Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)'''
| {{w|Lake Volta}}, formed by the {{w|Akosombo Dam}} which was built in the 1960s
| 1920s–1970s
|
* No: before 1960s
* Yes: 1960s+
|
* No: 1920s–50s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1960s–70s ('''Stop''')
|-
! 31
| '''Is the Aral Sea missing?'''
| Shrinking since the 1930s, the {{w|Aral Sea}} would be too small to be on maps or images of the Earth by the 2000s.
| 1970s+
|
* No: 1990s-
* Yes: 2000s+
|
* No: 1970s-90s ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2000s+ ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Topograpical Map / Satellite Image Subbranch ends''
|-
! colspan="6" | Fictional Map / Non-Map Subbranch
|-
! 32
| '''Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?'''
| The rivers {{w|List of Middle-earth rivers#Sirion|Sirion}} and {{w|Anduin}} are part of {{w|Middle-earth|Middle-earth}}, the fictional setting of J.R.R. Tolkien's ''{{w|The Lord of the Rings}}'' books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Middle-earth (Go to 33)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 37)
|-
! colspan="6" | Middle-earth Subbranch
|-
! 33
| '''Mordor?'''
| {{w|Mordor}} is the base of operations of {{w|Sauron}}, who settled there c. 1000 in the {{w|Second Age}} (which lasted for 3,441 years).
| Map of Middle-earth
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000-
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+
|
* No: S.A. c. 1000- (Go to 34)
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000+ (Go to 35)
|-
! 34
| '''Beleriand?'''
| {{w|Beleriand}} was broken in the {{w|War of Wrath}} in the year 583 in the {{w|Years of the Sun}} in the {{w|First Age}} The First Age itself ran for 450 Valian Years and 590 Years of the Sun, adding up to between 5,023 and 65,390 Years of the Sun, depending on the conversion factor used ({{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}} has given several during the years). Note that Randall has apparently ignored the time before the First Age (4,550 Valian Years).
| S.A. c. 1000-
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age-
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age+
|
* Yes: Y.S. 583 First Age- (stated in comic as First Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: Y.S. 583 First Age–S.A. c. 1000 (stated in comic as early Second Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 35
| '''Númenor?'''
| The island of {{w|Númenor}} was raised from the sea at the start of the Second Age. It sank back into the sea in 3319 in the Second Age, as the formerly flat Earth was made into a globe.
| S.A. c. 1000+
|
* Yes: S.A. 1–3319
* No: First Age- or S.A. 3319+
|
* Yes: S.A. c. 1000–3319 (stated in comic as late Second Age) ('''Stop''')
* No: S.A. 3319+ (Go to 36)
|-
! 36
| '''The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...'''
| The forest {{w|Mirkwood}} was called Greenwood the Great from its discovery by the Elves c. V.Y. 4620 in the First Age to 1050 in the {{w|Third Age}} when the shadow of Sauron fell upon it and it was renamed. It was cleansed on 'March' 28, 3019 in the Third Age (which ran for 3,021 years), after which it is called the Wood of Greenleaves. Note that Randall ignores the Fifth Age and onwards; although Tolkien said that the present day is about the end of the Sixth Age or the beginning of the Seventh, nothing is written about these later Ages.
| S.A. 3319+
|
* Greenwood the Great: c. V.Y. 4620–T.A. 1050
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019-03-28
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019-03-28+
|
* Greenwood the Great: S.A. 3319–T.A. 1050 (stated in comic as early Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* Mirkwood: T.A. 1050–3019-03-28 (stated in comic as Late Third Age) ('''Stop''')
* The Wood of Greenleaves: T.A. 3019-03-28+ (stated in comic as Fourth Age) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Middle-earth Subbranch ends''
|-
! 37
| '''Cair Paravel?'''
| {{w|Cair Paravel}} is the fictional castle where the Kings and Queens of Narnia rule in ''{{w|The Chronicles of Narnia}}''.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: map of Narnia
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: map of Narnia (Go to 38)
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 42)
|-
! colspan="6" | Narnia Subbranch
|-
| colspan="6" | '''Note:''' This series contains seven books, whose original publication order does not match their chronological order. Specifically, ''The Magician's Nephew'' is earlier than ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', and ''The Horse and His Boy'' is between ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and ''Prince Caspian''. Questions in this subbranch concern whether the place referenced can be found in the map contained in each book, not in which books' time the place exists. Therefore, places that exist in a book published later but is chronologically earlier than another book will not appear in the latter book, even if canonically they still exist in its time. Here are the seven books in their original publication order, which they will be referred to as.

# ''{{w|The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe}}''
# ''{{w|Prince Caspian}}''
# ''{{w|The Voyage of the Dawn Treader}}''
# ''{{w|The Silver Chair}}''
# ''{{w|The Horse and His Boy}}''
# ''{{w|The Magician's Nephew}}''
# ''{{w|The Last Battle}}''
|-
! 38
| '''Calormen?'''
| {{w|Calormen}} is a foreign empire in ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. While it was indirectly referenced in the first three books, it was not included in maps until the later books in the series.
| Map of Narnia
|
* No: 3-
* Yes: 4+
|
* No: 3- (Go to 39)
* Yes: 4+ (Go to 41)
|-
! 39
| '''Lotta islands?'''
| Refers to [http://www.charliewstarr.com/_Media/mapdawntreader.gif this map] from ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'', which focused on a ship voyage from Cair Paravel to the eastern edge of the world and back.
| 3-
|
* No: not 3
* Yes: 3
|
* No: 2- (Go to 40)
* Yes: 3 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 40
| '''Beruna'''
| Refers to [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-54_2TDRUbHY/TpJHzFBzmiI/AAAAAAAALOA/q3RnPSvfdJ0/s1600/IMG.jpg the map] of Narnia originally published in Prince Caspian. During the time of ''The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe'', the people of Beruna crossed the Great River via a ford, but it had been replaced by a bridge at the beginning of ''Prince Caspian''.
| 2-
|
* Ford: 1
* Bridge: 2
|
* Ford: 1 ('''Stop''')
* Bridge: 2 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 41
| '''Weird recursive heaven?'''
| Refers to ''The Last Battle'', where the protagonists find themselves in {{w|Aslan's Country}}, a glorious afterlife of which Narnia (along with Earth and presumably every other world) is only a shadowy reflection.
| 4+
|
* No: 6-
* Yes: 7
|
* No: 4–6 (stated in comic as one of the random later books) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 7 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | ''Narnia Subbranch ends''
|-
! 42
| '''Mossflower?'''
| A forest from the ''{{w|Redwall}}'' book series. See also the comic [[370: Redwall]] and [[1722: Debugging]] that references the books.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Redwall''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Redwall'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 43)
|-
! 43
| '''Is the world on the back of a turtle?'''
| The comic fantasy book series ''{{w|Discworld}}'' is set on the fictional Discworld, a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: ''Discworld''
* No: inconclusive
|
* Yes: ''Discworld'' ('''Stop''')
* No: not a map of the Earth (Go to 44)
|-
! 44
| '''Are you ''sure'' this is a map?'''
| After incorrectly guessing several popular fictional world, it is fair to doubt whether the subject being identified here is a map at all.
| Not a map of the Earth
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
* No: not a map
|
* Yes: a map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth (Go to 45)
* No: not a map (Go to 47)
|-
! 45
| '''Did you make it yourself?'''
| At this point, the map can only be a homemade map of some other fictional world. (Although it might be a published map of another world, such as Pern, Oz or Mars but there isn't enough room for these options.)
| A map ''for sure'', just not of the Earth
|
* Yes: a homemade map
|
* Yes: a homemade map (Go to 46)
|-
! 46
| '''It's very nice.'''
| A stock response to "[It's] Very nice" is "Thanks, I made it myself". Since we have already done the "made it myself" part, we need to do the other parts too, albeit out of sequence.
| A homemade map
|
* Thank you!: something "very nice"
|
* Thank you!: a "very nice" homemade map ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Not a Map Subbranch
|-
! 47
| '''Is it trying to bite you?'''
| Now we are trying to guess something that is not a map. Makes sense to ask if it's something that bites, right? Right?
| Not a map
|
* No: doesn't bite
* Yes: bites
|
* No: doesn't bite and not a map (Go to 48)
* Yes: bites (Go to 49)
|-
! 48
| '''Is it larger than a breadbox?'''
| A typical, generic question asked Steve Allen on ''{{w|What's My Line?}}'', and is often used when playing {{w|Twenty Questions}}. However, instead of asking further questions to narrow down the choices, the comic just gives a guess for each response. The comic guesses a breadbox itself as something about the same size as a breadbox.
| Doesn't bite and not a map
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox
* No: smaller than a breadbox
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox
|
* Yes: larger than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|tuba}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: smaller than a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|stapler}}) ('''Stop''')
* About the same: about the same size as a breadbox, doesn't bite, and not a map (comic guesses a {{w|breadbox}}) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 49
| '''If you let it go, what does it do?'''
|
| Bites
|
* Hisses and runs away: hisses and runs away if let go
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Hisses and runs away: bites, and hisses and runs away if let go (comic guesses a {{w|cat}}) ('''Stop''')
* Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things: bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go (comic guesses a {{w|seagull}}) ('''Stop''' (however, see 50))
|-
! 50
| '''Does the screeching chill your blood and herald death?'''
| ''Note: Title text question.''
| Bites, and screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go
|
* Yes: Screeching chills your blood and heralds death
* No: Screeching does not chill your blood and herald death; or does not screech
|
* Yes: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching chills your blood and heralds death (title text guesses a {{w|banshee}}) ('''Stop''')
* No: bites; screeches and flaps around the room breaking things if let go; screeching does not chill your blood and herald death (title text guesses a seagull) ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Istanbul Division
|-
! 51
| '''Does the Soviet Union exist?'''
| The {{w|Soviet Union}}, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, existed from 1922–1991. After 1991, the Soviet Union split up into Russia and 15 other post-Soviet states.
|1928+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991
* No: 1991+
|
* Yes: 1928–1991 (Go to 52)
* No: 1991+ (Go to 69)
|-
! colspan="6" | West Africa branch
|-
! 52
| '''Is most of West Africa a giant French blob?'''
| Before 1960, most of West Africa consisted of a number of French colonies united under {{w|French West Africa}}.
|1928–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960
* No: 1960–1991
|
* Yes: 1928–1960 (Go to 53)
* No: 1960–1991 (Go to 60)
|-
! 53
| '''Pakistan?'''
| {{w|Pakistan}} was officially recognized as its own country in 1947, when {{w|British India}} was granted independence and {{w|Partition of India|partitioned into two nations}}. Pakistan was created at the request of Muslims who wished for a Muslim majority state.
|1928–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947
* Yes: 1947–1960
|
* No: 1928–1947 (Go to 54)
* Yes: 1948–1960 (Go to 56)
|-
! 54
| '''How many Germanys are there?'''
| During WWII, the {{w|Nazi Party}} invaded a large swath of Europe, which would make {{w|Nazi Germany}} huge on the map during that period. After the war, it split up into two countries — {{w|West Germany}} which was part of {{w|NATO}}, and {{w|East Germany}} which was part of the {{w|Warsaw Pact}}. Note that by modern standards, pre-WWII Germany was also quite huge, since at that point Germany included {{w|Prussia}} which contained much of modern Poland as well as Russian {{w|Kaliningrad}}, and in 1938 Germany took control of Austria in the {{w|Anschluss}} and the {{w|Sudetenland}} in {{w|Czechoslovakia}} following the {{w|Munich Agreement}}. Not all maps produced during WWII used the Nazi borders, since the Allies refused to recognize German occupation and supported the {{w|government-in-exile|governments-in-exile}}.
|1928–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945
* Two: 1946–1947
|
* One: 1928–1940 (Go to 55)
* One, but it's ''huge'': 1941–1945 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 1946–1947 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 55
| '''Persia or Iran?'''
| In 1935 the {{w|Iran|Iranian}} Government requested that westerners call it by the name its own people had used for hundreds of years, rather than after a tribe within it that gained prominence 2500 years earlier. The interval from 1928–1930 is dropped from this branch, but it would fall under {{w|Persia}}.
|1928–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934
* Iran: 1935–1940
|
* Persia: 1930–1934 ('''Stop''')
* Iran: 1935–1940 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 56
| '''Cambodia?'''
| {{w|Cambodia}} (or Kampuchea) declared independence from France in 1953.
|1948–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953
* Yes: 1953–1960
|
* No: 1948–1953 (Go to 57)
* Yes: 1953–1960 (Go to 59)
|-
! 57
| '''Eritrea is a part of...'''
| {{w|Eritrea}} declared independence from Italy in 1952, joining {{w|Ethiopia}} to create the {{w|Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea}}.
|1947–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953
|
* Italy: 1948–1952 (Go to 58)
* Ethiopia: 1952–1953 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 58
| '''Canada is...'''
| In 1949, the {{w|Dominion of Newfoundland}} became a part of {{w|Canada}}. Before that, it was marked as its own country on the map, so maps from 1948 and before would have Canada "missing a piece" on its east coast as compared to how it looks today.
|1947–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948
* Fine: 1949–1952
|
* Missing a piece: 1948 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1949–1952 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 59
| '''The United Arab Republic?'''
| The {{w|The United Arab Republic}} was a short-lived political union between {{w|Egypt}} and {{w|Syria}}. The union began in 1958 and existed until 1961 (although Egypt continued to call itself the United Arab Republic for several years after Syria left the union).
|1953–1960
|
* No: 1953-1958
* Yes: 1958-1960
|
* No: 1953-58 (stated in comic as 1954-57–a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 1958-60 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 60
| '''How many Vietnams are there?'''
| On April 30, 1975, forces from {{w|North Vietnam}} captured {{w|Saigon}} (now known as {{w|Ho Chi Minh City}}), and reunified the country, in an event known as {{w|Reunification Day}}, which marked the end of the {{w|Vietnam War}}. Maps before this date would have "North Vietnam" and "{{w|South Vietnam}}" on them rather than a single "{{w|Vietnam}}".
|1960–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975
* One: 1975–1991
|
* Two: 1960–1975 (Go to 61)
* One: 1975–1991 (Go to 64)
|-
! 61
| '''Bangladesh?'''
| {{w|Bangladesh}} (formerly {{w|East Pakistan}}) declared independence from {{w|Pakistan}} in 1972, as they had different languages, cultures, and the Bengalis felt their country was being run from West Pakistan without their input. The {{w|Bangladesh Liberation War|resulting war}} lasted just over 8 months and ended in Indian intervention.
|1960–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972
* Yes: 1972–1975
|
* No: 1960–1972 (Go to 62)
* Yes: 1972–1975 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 62
| '''Is the area south of Lake Victoria...'''
| The area south of {{w|Lake Victoria}} was called {{w|Tanganyika}}, and it declared independence from the United Kingdom to form its own country in 1961, and unified with {{w|Zanzibar}} to create {{w|Tanzania}} in 1964.
|1960–1972
|
* British: 1960–1961
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964
* Tanzania: 1965–1971
|
* British: 1960–1961 (Go to 63)
* Tanganyika: 1961–1964 ('''Stop''')
* Tanzania: 1965–1972 (stated in comic as 1964-1971–a discrepancy) ('''Stop''')
|-
! 63
| '''The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is... '''
| {{w|Interstate 25 in New Mexico|I-25}} didn't exist for any of the years listed for this item, since the Interstate Highway System wasn't launched until 1956. The highway designation on maps printed during the years listed was {{w|U.S. Route 85#New Mexico|US-85}}, and it was first replaced by I-25 in 1970-1990. The town changed its name from Hot Springs to "{{w|Truth or Consequences, New Mexico|Truth or Consequences}}" in 1950, although locals say that it provides more of the latter than of the former. Still the question would have made sense (although it should have been US-85) had it not been for the fact that the whole question is for the wrong time period, as the search tree leading to a British Tanganyika is only the period from 1960-1961. Actually this item seems like it should actually follow from the "Fine" option of "Canada is.." from 1949-1952 as it is in the same time period.
|1960–1961
|
* Hot Springs: 1916-49
* Truth or Consequences: 1950+
|
* Hot Springs: 1948-49 ('''Stop''') (a discrepancy as this is for a period from 1960-61)
* Truth or Consequences: 1950-52 ('''Stop''') (a discrepancy as this is for a period from 1960-61)
|-
! 64
| '''Jimmy Carter is...'''
| On April 20, 1979, {{w|Jimmy Carter}} was "{{w|Jimmy Carter rabbit incident|attacked}}" by a swamp rabbit, a fact referenced in [[204|204: America]]. This fact would not normally be referenced on a map, however, and is simply a joke entry that leads to the next question.
|1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979
* Fine: 1975–1991
|
* Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit: April 20, 1979 ('''Stop''')
* Fine: 1975–1991 (Go to 65)
|-
! 65
| '''The Sinai is part of what country?'''
| In 1979, {{w|Israel}} signed a peace treaty in which it would gradually retreat from the entire {{w|Sinai Peninsula}}, handing that area to {{w|Egypt}}. This happened over a period of three years, completing in 1982.
|1975–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979
* Mostly Israel: 1980
* Mostly Egypt: 1981
* Egypt: 1982–1991
|
* Israel: 1976–1979 (missing 1975?) ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Israel: 1980 ('''Stop''')
* Mostly Egypt: 1981 ('''Stop''')
* Egypt: 1982–1991 (Go to 66)
|-
! 66
| '''What's the capital of Micronesia?'''
| The {{w|Federated States of Micronesia}} are a group of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Their capital was {{w|Kolonia}} until 1989, when it changed to {{w|Palikir}}, on the same island.
|1982–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988
* Palikir: 1989–1991
|
* Kolonia: 1982–1988 (Go to 67)
* Palikir: 1989–1991 (Go to 68)
|-
! 67
| '''Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?'''
| {{w|Burkina Faso}} was named the {{w|Republic of the Upper Volta}} until 1984, when the president Thomas Sankara decided to rename it to promote a sense of unity in the nation and in an anti-colonial statement.
|1982–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988
|
* Upper Volta: 1982–1984 ('''Stop''')
* Burkina Faso: 1985–1988 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 68
| '''(Number of Yemens) + (Number of Germanys) = ?'''
| In 1990, two unification events took place: {{w|Yemeni unification}} on May 22, and {{w|German reunification}} on October 3. Before these events, in early 1990, there would have been four Yemens and Germanys total. In mid-1990, when only the Yemeni unification had taken place, there would be one Yemen and two Germanys, for a total of three. and in late 1990, after both events took place, there would be one of each for a total of two.
|1989–1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990
* Three: mid-1990
* Two: late 1990-1991
|
* Four: 1989–early 1990 ('''Stop''')
* Three: mid-1990 ('''Stop''')
* Two: late 1990-1991 ('''Stop''')
|-
! colspan="6" | Post-Soviet branch
|-
! 69
| '''Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"'''
| Zaire was one of a series of names for what is today called the {{w|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}. In 1996 a (successful) revolt began to oust the reigning government from power. As part of this revolution, the country was renamed. The original name change away from 'Congo' was part of an 'Africanisation' naming campaign, although 'Congo' is in origin an authentic African name for the river that set the boundaries of the nation.

{{w|Hong Kong}} was taken by the British in 1843 at the end of the {{w|First Opium War}}, and an additional area (the {{w|New Territories}}) were leased from China in 1898 on a 99-year lease. When the lease expired in 1997, {{w|Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|the whole of Hong Kong was returned to China}}.
|1991+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996
* No: 1996+
|
* Yes: 1992–1996 ('''Stop''')
* No: 1996+ (Go to 70)
|-
! 70
| '''Serbia and Montenegro are...'''
| The Union of {{w|Serbia and Montenegro}} was a remnant of {{w|Yugoslavia}}. {{w|Montenegro}} voted to become its own country in 2006. '''Note:''' For much of the prior date range, "Serbia and Montenegro" did not appear on maps–the states still went by the name Yugoslavia. {{w|Serbia and Montenegro#State union|Serbia and Montenegro only came into existence in 2003}}.
|1996+
|
* One country: 1996–2006
* Two countries: 2007+
|
* One country: 1996–2006 (Go to 71)
* Two countries: 2007+ (Go to 72)
|-
! 71
| '''East Timor?'''
| {{w|East Timor}} (also known as Timor-Leste) is a nation north of Australia and south east of {{w|Indonesia}}. During the Dutch colonization of Indonesia, East Timor remained in Portuguese hands. While {{w|Indonesian occupation of East Timor|occupied and annexed by Indonesia}} in 1976, East Timor retained its own culture and voted for independence, then had a nasty militia action that required UN peacekeeping action, and finally become independent in 2002.
|1996–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001
* Yes: 2002–2006
|
* No: 1997–2001 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2002–2006 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 72
| '''How many Sudans are there?'''
| In 2011, after a long history of violence between the two portions of the country (which can be characterized as Islam vs. Christianity and traditional religions), {{w|South Sudan}} became independent from {{w|Sudan}}.
|2006+
|
* One: 2007–2011
* Two: 2011+
|
* One: 2007–2011 ('''Stop''')
* Two: 2011+ (Go to 73)
|-
! 73
| '''Is Crimea disputed?'''
| In 2014, a {{w|Euromaidan|revolution}} ousted the current Ukrainian president. {{w|Crimea}} had its own civil unrest, and Russian troops exploited the unrest to launch {{w|Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|an invasion}}. A referendum, where many nations, including all member states of the EU, the USA, and Canada, disputed the democratic legitimacy of the referendum, was held during this and ostensibly decided in favor of Russian annexation. Depending on where you get your maps, Crimea might not be marked as disputed–[http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/04/12/302337754/google-maps-displays-crimean-border-differently-in-russia-u-s Google Maps Ukraine shows it as solely Ukrainian while Google Maps Russia shows it as Russian].
|2011+
|
* Yes: 2014+
* No: 2012–2013
|
* Yes: 2014+ (Go to 74)
* No: 2012–2013 ('''Stop''')
|-
! 74
| '''"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?'''
| This entry and the one below it are now referring to hypothetical future events: specifically, a huge radioactivity event in {{w|Colorado}} that takes place some time in 2022. Colorado has a previous history of radioactive contamination–it was home to uranium mines, nuclear tests (including {{w|Project Rulison}}, an attempt to use nuclear bombs to drill for natural gas that ended up making the gas radioactive) and the controversial {{w|Rocky Flats Plant}}, a nuclear weapons manufacturing facility that suffered {{w|Radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant|several fires and leaks}} and was ultimately raided and shut down by the FBI. None of these has yet caused spiders to mutate.{{Citation needed}}
|2014+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021
* Danger: 2022+
|
* Colorado: 2014–2021 ('''Stop''')
* Danger: 2022+ (Go to 75)
|-
! 75
| '''Does the warning mention the spiders?'''
| Presumably some time in 2023, the radioactive exclusion zone also becomes infested with mutant spiders.
|2022+
|
* No: 2022
* Yes: 2023 or later
|
* No: 2022 ('''Stop''')
* Yes: 2023 or later ('''Stop''')
|}

==Transcript==
:[A very complicated flow chart, which can only be read in detail using the larger image now shown at the top of this page. This transcript uses the large version, where there is no problem reading all entries.]

:[At the top of the chart there is a large caption, with a smaller caption below:]
:<big>Guide to figuring out the age of an undated world map</big>
:(Assuming it's complete, labeled in english, and detailed enough)

:[Below the starting bracket in the small caption is a start box. It has rounded corners and it is gray with white text. From this box there is a gray line to a box consisting of a black frame with rounded corners. In these kind of boxes there are questions regarding the map in black text. Below this box there are three gray boxes like the start box, superimposed over the bottom frame. In these boxes are the possible answers to the question in the frame above. From each of these options there is a gray line going to similar black framed boxes with other questions either below, or to either side. There can either be two, three or four gray boxes, two the most common. Only at the very bottom of the central branch where it turns out it was a home made map, are there two frames with only one gray question box each. This trend continues over this entire large image. When reaching the end of a branch in the flow chart, there is no line away from one, more or all of the gray boxes for a black frame. When this happens a year range or a guess at what the map shows, or what it is (if it turns out to not be a map) is written below the gray box in gray text. Of the text in the gray boxes are Yes/No, but not always. There are 74 boxes with black frames with 158 gray boxes and 78 endpoints with text below the gray box and one end point without text below (the one with the home made map).]

:Start
::Istanbul or Constantinople?
:::Constantinople
::::Do any of these exist? 
::::*Independent Canada
::::*US Territory of Alaska
::::*Tokyo
:::::No
::::::The Holy Roman Empire?
:::::::Yes
::::::::1805 or earlier (before this point, the modern idea of a complete political map of the world gets hard to apply.)
:::::::No
::::::::The United States?
:::::::::No
::::::::::How sure are you that this map is in english?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Texas is...
:::::::::::Part of Mexico
::::::::::::Florida is part of...
:::::::::::::Spain
::::::::::::::Paraguay?
:::::::::::::::No 1806-10
:::::::::::::::Yes 1811-17
:::::::::::::The US
::::::::::::::Venezuela and/or ecuador?
:::::::::::::::No 1818-29
:::::::::::::::Yes 1830-33
:::::::::::Independent 1834-45
:::::::::::Part of the US
::::::::::::Does Russia border the Sea of Japan?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::The US's southern border looks...
:::::::::::::::Weird 1846-53
:::::::::::::::Normal 1854-56
:::::::::::::Yes 1858-67
:::::Yes
::::::South Africa?
:::::::No
::::::::Rhodesia?
:::::::::No
::::::::::Is Bolivia landlocked?
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::"Buda" and "Pest" or "Budapest"?
:::::::::::::Buda and Pest 1868-72
:::::::::::::Budapest 1873-83
:::::::::::Yes 1884-95
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is Norway part of Sweden?
:::::::::::Yes 1896-1905
:::::::::::No 1906-09
:::::::Yes
::::::::Austria-Hungary?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Albania?
:::::::::::No 1910-12
:::::::::::Yes 1913-18
:::::::::No
::::::::::Leningrad?
:::::::::::No 1919-23
:::::::::::Yes 1924-29
:::Neither
::::Does the Ottoman Empire exist?
:::::Yes [[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::No
::::::The Soviet Union?
:::::::Yes
::::::::Saudi Arabia?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Is most of West Africa a giant french blob?
:::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::Bangladesh?
:::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::Is the area south of Lake Victoria...
:::::::::::::::British
::::::::::::::::The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is...
:::::::::::::::::Hot Springs 1948-49
:::::::::::::::::Truth or Consequences 1950-52
:::::::::::::::Tanganyika 1961-64
:::::::::::::::Tanzania 1965-71
:::::::::::::Yes 1972-75
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::How many Vietnams are there?
:::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::[[#bangladesh]]
:::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::Jimmy Carter is...
:::::::::::::::Being attacked by a giant swimming rabbit April 20, 1979
:::::::::::::::Fine
::::::::::::::::The Sinai is part of what country?
:::::::::::::::::Israel 1976-79
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Israel 1980
:::::::::::::::::Mostly Egypt 1981
:::::::::::::::::Egypt
::::::::::::::::::What's the capital of Micronesia?
:::::::::::::::::::Kolonia
::::::::::::::::::::Republic of the Upper Volta or Burkina Faso?
:::::::::::::::::::::Upper Volta 1982-84
:::::::::::::::::::::Burkina Faso 1985-88
:::::::::::::::::::Palikir
::::::::::::::::::::(number of Yemens) + (number of Germanys) = ?
:::::::::::::::::::::Four 1989-early 1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Three mid-1990
:::::::::::::::::::::Two late 1990-1991
:::::::::No 1922-1932
:::::::No
::::::::North Korea?
:::::::::Yes
::::::::::Zaire? or: "Hong Kong (UK)"
:::::::::::Yes 1992-96
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Serbia/Montenegro are...
:::::::::::::One country
::::::::::::::East Timor?
:::::::::::::::No 1997-2001
:::::::::::::::Yes 2002-06
:::::::::::::Two countries
::::::::::::::How many Sudans are there?
:::::::::::::::One 2007-11
:::::::::::::::Two
::::::::::::::::Is Crimea disputed?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::"Colorado" or "Danger—Radioactive Exclusion Zone—Avoid"?
:::::::::::::::::::Colorado 2014-21
:::::::::::::::::::Danger
::::::::::::::::::::Does the warning mention the spiders?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 2022
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2023 or later
:::::::::::::::::No 2012-13
:::::::::No
::::::::::Saint Trimble's Island
:::::::::::No
::::::::::::Is Jan Mayen part of the Kingdom of Norway?
:::::::::::::Not yet
::::::::::::::[[#canada-alaska-tokyo]]
:::::::::::::What?
::::::::::::::Can you see the familiar continents?
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::This sounds like a physical map or satellite photo.
:::::::::::::::::Yes, that's it
::::::::::::::::::Is Lake Chad missing?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::How far east do the American Prairies reach?
:::::::::::::::::::::Indiana before 1830
:::::::::::::::::::::The Mississippi 1830s-80s
:::::::::::::::::::::Nebraska
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Southern California? (created by mistake)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1860s-1900s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1910s
:::::::::::::::::::::What prairies?
::::::::::::::::::::::Is there a big lake in the middle of Ghana? (created on purpose)
:::::::::::::::::::::::No 1920s-50s
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes 1960s-70s
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Is the Aral Sea missing?
:::::::::::::::::::::No 1970s-90s
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes 2000s+
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::Rivers "Sirion" or "Anduin"?
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::Mordor?
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Beleriand?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes First Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No Early Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Númenor?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes Late Second Age
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::The forest east of the Misty Mountains is...
:::::::::::::::::::::::Greenwood Early Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::Mirkwood Late Third Age
:::::::::::::::::::::::The Wood of Greenleaves Fourth Age
:::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::Cair Paravel?
:::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::Calormen?
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Lotta Islands?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Beruna
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Ford The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Bridge Prince Caspian
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Dawn Treader
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Weird recursive heaven?
:::::::::::::::::::::::No One of the random later books
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes The Last Battle
:::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::Mossflower?
:::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::Redwall
:::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::Is the world on the back of a turtle?
:::::::::::::::::::::::Yes Discworld
:::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::Are you ''sure'' this is a map?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Did you make it yourself?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::It's very nice.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Thank you!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it trying to bite you?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Is it larger than a breadbox?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes tuba
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::No stapler
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::About the same breadbox
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::If you let it go, what does it do?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Hisses and runs away cat
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Screeches and flaps around the room breaking things seagull
:::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::Pakistan?
:::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::How many Germanys are there?
:::::::::::::::::One
::::::::::::::::::Persia or Iran?
:::::::::::::::::::Persia 1930-34
:::::::::::::::::::Iran 1935-40
:::::::::::::::::One, but it's ''huge'' 1941-45
:::::::::::::::::Two 1946-47
:::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::Cambodia?
:::::::::::::::::No
::::::::::::::::::Eritrea is part of...
:::::::::::::::::::Italy
::::::::::::::::::::Canada is...
:::::::::::::::::::::Missing a piece 1948
:::::::::::::::::::::Fine 1949-52
:::::::::::::::::::Ethiopia 1952-53
:::::::::::::::::Yes
::::::::::::::::::The United Arab Republic?
:::::::::::::::::::No 1954-57
:::::::::::::::::::Yes 1958-60
:::::::::::Yes No, I made that one up.
:::Istanbul
::::Does the Soviet Union exist?
:::::Yes
::::::[[#west-africa-french-blob]]
:::::No
::::::[[#zaire]]

==Trivia==
*There are some errors and several discrepancies in the comic regarding how year ranges is given.
**The largest error seem to be a real mistake, rather than just not being precise.
***It regards the entry ''The town on I-25 between Albuquerque and El Paso is...'' which gives a year range from 1948-1952, but to get to this entry the previous answer ''British'' fixes the time to 1960-1961. Also the I-25 was built in 1970-1990 through New Mexico, see the [[#Table|table]] above for more info.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Large drawings]]
[[Category:Flowcharts]]
[[Category:Maps]]
[[Category:Time]]
[[Category:Geography]]
[[Category:Comics featuring politicians]]
[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:LOTR]]
[[Category:Fiction]]
[[Category:Spiders]]

1762: Moving Boxes

2016-11-21T21:51:49Z

Bitsofstring: Explanation about various items.

{{comic
| number = 1762
| date = November 21, 2016
| title = Moving Boxes
| image = moving_boxes.png
| titletext = Later, when I remember that I'm calling movers, I frantically scribble over the labels and write 'NORMAL HOUSE STUFF' on all of them, which actually makes things worse.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Fill table}}
[[Randall]] talks about moving boxes and not labeling them until he forgets what's in them. Since he doesn't know what's in them, he writes silly things on the boxes as a joke. Some things are unusual/unlikely (e.g. sand, hydrants, peat) and some are abstract/impossible (e.g. elves, taupe, dark matter). Several of the categories overlap confusingly; for instance, "sand" and "silt" and "dark matter" are all generally considered as "particles"; "membranes", "edges", and "shawls" are all kinds of "manifolds"; "hooves" are part of "bison"; "fog" contains "water"; and "triangles" consist of three "edges". Another way to interpret this comic is that Randall actually has these items (or at least some of them) in the boxes and has simply forgotten which boxes contain what.

===Explanation of boxes===
{| class="wikitable" width="100%"
!Label
!Explanation
|-
!Box 1
|-
|Grids|| [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grid Grids] are mathematical drawings; they would be constructed by drawing them, not stored in a box (though {{w|graph paper}} might be). May refer to a classic {{w|snipe hunt}} where a hazing victim is tasked with finding "a box of grid squares".
|-
|Bison||{{w|Bison}}, sometimes mistakenly called buffalo, are large animals{{Citation needed}} that would probably not fit in the box{{Citation needed}}.
|-
|Checkerboards||A tabletop gaming board on which one plays {{w|English draughts|Checkers}}.
|-
|Fog||{{w|Fog}} is essentially low-lying clouds which, being gaseous, are hard to box using only cardboard.
|-
!Box 2
|-
|Beacons||A device designed to draw attention to itself, for various reasons. From the generic term "beacon" this could mean anything from electronic GPS locator beacons to miniature replicas of naval lighthouses.
|-
|Elves||A fictional race (or rather, [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurElvesAreBetter many, many fictional races]) of human-like magical creatures.
|-
|Sand||Fine particles of rock. While it's not unheard of for people to need to store sand, it's usually not stored along with your personal belongings on moving day.
|-
!Box 3
|-
|Hemoglobin||{w|Hemoglobin} is the protein found in red blood cells that carries oxygen around the body. This may be a solution of hemoglobin protein, but one human generally would not need a full box of it{{Citation needed}}.
|-
!Box 4
|-
|Water||As with sand, it's not unheard of for, say, a laboratory to store water samples for testing. But again, these wouldn't be stored along with your personal belongings on moving day. And if this is meant to be drinking water, it would be a waste of effort; it's taken as red that any house you're moving into has its own plumbing.
|-
|Hooves|| This could also be read as a compound word, Water-Hooves akin to water-wings.
|-
!Box 5
|-
|Shorebirds|| Birds which live by the seashore.
|-
!Box 6
|-
|Oil|| Again, hard to store in boxes.
|-
|Vectors||{{w|Vector}}s are not physical objects, so they cannot be put in boxes.
|-
|Silt|| Material between sand and clay, sediment.
|-
!Box 7
|-
|Membranes||Delicate thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds. Usually fragile or cut easily. Not something you would expect to be packed with something sharp, which shards are likely to be.
|-
|Shards||Broken pieces of smooth and hard objects, e.g. ceramic, glass, crystal. Something you would normally expect to be thrown out, rather than packed up for moving house.
|-
!Box 8
|-
|Shawls||Simple item of clothing, worn loosely over shoulders. Of rectangular shape, and is supposed to be worn in colder weather, winter.
|-
|Glucose||{{w|Glucose}} is possibly best-known as the sugar plants produce for energy, but can be manufactured.
|-
|Kits||A kit is any set of tools, supplies, and/or instructions for a specific purpose. These could be first aid kits, software development kits, bomb-making kits, sewing kits... Alternatively, this may be a compound word "Glucose Kits", diabetic assay tools to help the patient regulate their blood sugar.
|-
!Box 9
|-
|Hydrants||{{w|Fire hydrant}}s, which are likely too big to fit in boxes, and are also simply odd objects to be packing into a box.
|-
|Particles||As almost all matter is composed of {{w|particles}}, it is hard to find exceptions. Thus, this is very vague.
|-
|Knots||
|-
!Box 10
|-
|Graphite||
|-
|Taupe|| {{w|Taupe}}, a dark tan color in between brown and gray.
|-
!Box 11
|-
|Field Lines||This could refer to {{w|field line}}s as used to depict electromagnetic force fields, or possibly to the lines painted on an athletic field to mark the boundaries of play. The former are a visualization tool rather than physical objects; the latter consist of streaks of paint on grass or artificial turf, and thus neither kind of field line is the kind of physical object that could be packed into a box.
|-
!Box 12
|-
|Traps||May be a reference to 'My house is full of traps from [https://what-if.xkcd.com/34// What-If #34]
|-
!Box 13
|-
|Edges||
|-
|Tribes||
|-
|Dough||
|-
!Box 14
|-
|Dark Matter||{{w|Dark matter}}
|-
!Box 15
|-
|Manifolds||Akin to topological universes.
|-
!Box 16
|-
|Triangles||Within the context of this comic, the reference is likely to the shape. On the other hand, it would not be unusual to pack one or more {{w|Triangle (musical instrument)}}s into a box.
|-
|Peat|| {{w|Peat}}, an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that forms in wetland bogs, moors, mires, and swamps.
|-
|Crowns|| May be royal crowns, or may be coins worth five shillings in UK pre-decimal currency.
|-
!Box 17
|-
|Scrolls|| {{w|Scroll}}, a roll of papyrus, paper, or parchment that contains writing
|}

According to the title text, when Randall remembers that he is calling movers, he frantically scribbles "Normal House Stuff" on all the boxes. He says this makes the situation worse because the movers see the scribble and become suspicious.

==Transcript==
[A bunch of cardboard boxes stacked up, each labeled]
{| class="wikitable"
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" height="80px" width="80px" |
Grids 
Bison 
Checkerboards 
Fog
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px"|
Beacons 
Elves 
Sand
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Hemoglobin
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Water 
Hooves
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Shorebirds
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Oil 
Vectors 
Silt
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Membranes 
Shards
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Shawls 
Glucose 
Kits
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| style="visibility:hidden" |
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Hydrants 
Particles 
Knots
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Graphite 
Taupe
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Field Lines
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Traps
| style="visibility:hidden" |
|-|
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Edges 
Tribes 
Dough
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Dark Matter
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Manifolds
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Triangles 
Peat 
Crowns
| colspan="2" width="80px" height="80px" |
Scrolls
|}
[A caption:]
I always forget to label my moving boxes until they're sealed up and I've forgotten what's in them.
{{comic discussion}}

1732: Earth Temperature Timeline

2016-11-14T19:21:52Z

Bitsofstring: Trojan Horse not really part of the Iliad or the Odyssey.

{{comic
| number = 1732
| date = September 12, 2016
| title = Earth Temperature Timeline
| before = [[#Explanation|↓ Skip to explanation ↓]]
| image = earth_temperature_timeline.png
| titletext = [After setting your car on fire] Listen, your car's temperature has changed before.
}}

==Explanation==
{{TOC}}
This comic is a [[:Category:Timelines|timeline]] on how the temperature has changed from 20,000 BCE (Before {{w|Common Era}}) to the present day (2016), with three predictions for the rest of the 21st century depending on what actions are taken (or not taken) to stop CO₂ emission. This comic is a direct, but much more thorough, follow up on the previous global warming comic: [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]. By having readers scroll through millennia of slow-paced natural changes, Randall uses the comic to confront the the rapid temperature rise in the recent years.

Over the past 100 years, human action has produced a large amount of {{w|CO₂ emissions}}, which have caused a rise in average global temperature through the {{w|greenhouse effect}}. This is called {{w|global warming}} and is part of a {{w|climate change}}, a subject that has become a [[:Category:Climate change|recurrent subject]] on xkcd. There are still many people who claim that this is not happening, or at least that it is not caused by any human actions, called {{w|Climate change denial|climate change deniers}}. One argument of theirs is that global warming is happening for natural causes, summarized with the phrase "temperature has changed before".

This comic shows that while temperature changes have indeed occurred before, the speed of the current temperature rise is much, much faster than those measured for many previous thousands of years. The comic became so popular that [[Randall]] [[#Popularity_of_comic|postponed the release]] of his next comic to keep this one on the front page one day longer.

The temperature curve is a dotted line most of the time, but from about 1850 to 2016 the measurement data is good enough to let the curve become a solid line indicating that this is not an estimate. Before 1850 the temperature is an estimate based on the [[#Sources|sources]] given. And likewise into the future the three possible curves are also dotted to show that they are predictions, based on how seriously the population of Earth takes knowledge (and comics) like this.

Although this is a topic Randall obviously takes very seriously, and by far most of the facts fit with known history, he still includes several [[#Jokes in the comic|jokes in the comic]]. See also the [[#Table of all elements|table]] explaining each item in the comic.

The title text compares the saying that "the temperature has changed before" comparing temperature changes over thousands of years to the rapid global warming over the last century with saying that the "small" changes to the temperature a car experiences over the years of normal usage should not make you worried over the rapid temperature increase that happens when someone sets your car on fire. A related joke was used recently in [[1693: Oxidation]].

===Jokes in the comic===
* By placing the invention of the internet at 1980 in the chart, just where the temperature curve starts its most rapid increase, Randall humorously implies that the internet caused the rise in temperature.
* At 13600 BCE a glacier is shown retreating from New York because of the warm up. It is disgusted by the new changes and proclaims: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!'' A joke on the typical saying by US citizens that are unhappy with changes in their country, as a kind of protest. According to the chart the glacier first retreated over the Canadian border around 8400 BCE more than 5000 years later.
* At 13400 BCE it is mentioned that {{w|origin of the domestic dog|humans domesticate dogs}}. [[Megan]] talks to a wolf about to be tamed making a deal with it, that it can eat and sleep with the humans as long as they can yell at it for pooping indoor. This sounds like a sweet deal for the wolf until [[Cueball]] mentions that they will {{w|Dog breeding|breed}} it to be {{w|Chihuahua (dog)|very small}} and then dress it up in small {{w|Dog's fashion|costumes}}. The wolf says wait, but it is already too late...
* The {{w|Pokémon}} reference at 9000 BCE about them going extinct in North America (although Megan does proclaim that this is not a real fact). As the writing stated that ''Pokémon go extinct'' this can also be seen as a reference to the recently released {{w|Pokémon Go}} game and hence also the recent comic [[1705: Pokémon Go]].
* At 4500 BCE, next to "{{w|Proto-Indo-European language}} develops", [[Ponytail]] gets the idea to develop the language heavily inflected to make it difficult to remember all the verb endings for future students. A direct reference to the recent comic [[1709: Inflection]].
* The reference to the 1984 {{w|mockumentary}} about the fake rock band {{w|This Is Spinal Tap}} in conjunction with {{w|Stonehenge}} at 2200 BCE. In the movie the band ordered a giant 18 feet Stonehenge megalith but a writing mistake gives them one that is only 18 inches high.
**Another real band {{w|Nine Inch Nails}} is referenced 16000 BCE where Megan writes the bands stylized name NIИ on the wall next to [[Hairy]] who is in the process of painting the {{w|cave painting}} at {{w|Lascaux}} in France.
* Around the setting of the {{w|Iliad}} and the {{w|Odyssey}} (1200 BCE) a drawing of the {{w|Trojan Horse}} has writing on it that states: ''Not a trap''.
* Just below the previous entry also at 1200 BCE is the mentioning of the invasion of the {{w|Sea Peoples}}. This sounds so much like a reference to {{w|Mermaid|mermaids}}, often called {{w|Mermaid#One_Thousand_and_One_Nights|sea people}} that Randall feels the need to note that this invasion and these sea people is ''a real thing'' in a foot note. This is opposed to the Pokémon reference above where he notes that it is ''not a real fact''. The sea people was a seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt around this time.
* At 450 BCE a reference to the {{w|Battle of Thermopylae}} (also known as 300 Spartans) he references this by comparing the event with the 2007 movie ''{{w|300 (film)|300}}'' about this battle. But notes that in the real world the fighting of course occurred at regular speed and that they probably had more clothing on in the real world than in the fictionalized action movie.
*There are other minor jokes but this list mentions all the major jokes.

===Table of all elements===
*Here is table including all elements in the chart with explanations including reading off temperature and year for each event from the curve.
**The year group is just an easy way to find the section.
**Element is a description mainly taken from the transcript.
**The actual year of an event has been read off more precisely on the chart.
***The central part of the element has mainly been used.
***Only rarely has ranges below 100 years been used but if a location is clearly midway between two hundred years intervals 50 year range has been used.
***Only when there are several posts close to each other has smaller range been used a few times.
**T (°C) is the number of degrees celcius above or below the 1961-1990 average, which on this graph is set to zero,(i.e. not the number of physical degrees above or below this 0°C).
***These have been read of to 0.1°C rounding up or down. Lines have been inserted over the chart, 10 for each degree, to make this as accurate as possible.
***In a few cases where a maximum is reached 0.05°C has been used
**Explanation of each element.
{| class="wikitable"
!Year group
!Element
!Year
!T (°C)
!Explanation
|-
| rowspan="2"| 20000 BCE
| [An arrow goes from the dotted line to the central line at 0°C (representing the 1961-1990 average). In the middle of the line there is a temperature label:] 4.3°C At the start of our timeline, 22,000 years ago, Earth is 4°C colder than during the late 20th century. || 20000 BCE || -4.3 || The scale here is relative, showing the magnitude of change rather than an absolute temperature reading. As a rule, {{w|climate}} changes are compared with a 30 year interval, and {{w|Climate#Definition|recently}} the 1961-1990 average was chosen for convenience as the "normal" to compare temperature changes with, but any other choice of baseline would show the exact same changes. The {{w|Last glacial period}} (aka ice age) reached its {{w|Last Glacial Maximum|maximum extent}} approximately 22 to 24 thousand years ago.
|-

| {{w|Boston}} is buried under almost a mile of ice, and the {{w|glaciers}} reach as far south as {{w|New York City}}. [The Statue of Liberty is shown in front of a glacier front. A guy with a white {{w|knit cap}} is seen walking in a snowy landscape. The skyline of Boston is shown under a half a mile of ice.] || 19700 BCE || -4.3 || This shows what a difference 4 degree in global temperature means (massive effect), as opposed to four degrees on a daily weather wise scale (trivial). The Boston image is directly taken from [[1225: Ice Sheets]] about the ice age glacier coverage; it was also shown buried in ice in [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]. The guy with the white knit cap could be the guy from [[1321: Cold]] also about global warming. Knit caps have only been used a few times in xkcd, most prominently on [[1350:_Lorenz#Knit_Cap_Girl|Knit Cap Girl]] in [[1350: Lorenz]].

|-
| rowspan="3"| 19500 BCE
| But the world is about to warm up. || 19500 BCE|| -4.3 || The warming process actually takes thousands of years, which this comic will portray down thousands of pixels to come. This is not a fast warm up, especially not compared to the one we are currently experiencing (at the bottom of the chart).
|-
| By this time, humans have already spread across {{w|Africa}}, {{w|Eurasia}}, and {{w|Australia}}. || 19300 BCE || -4.3 || {{w|Homo Sapiens}} successfully {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Movement_out_of_Africa|migrated out of Africa}} somewhere between {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Dating:_pre-or_post-Toba|130,000}} and {{w|Recent_African_origin_of_modern_humans#Coastal_route|70,000}} BCE.
|-
| They’ve created {{w|painting}}, {{w|pottery}}, {{w|rope}}, and {{w|Bow and arrow|bows and arrows}}, but haven’t developed {{w|writing}} or {{w|farming}}. || 19100 BCE || -4.3 || The {{w|History of painting#Pre-history|oldest known paintings}} date back to about 38,000 BCE. The {{w|Ceramic_art#History|oldest known pottery}} date back to about 20,000 BCE. The {{w|Rope#History|oldest known rope}} date back to about 26,000 BCE. The {{w|History_of_archery#Stone_Age_and_Bronze_Age_archery|oldest known arrows}} date back to about 70,000 BCE, but Randall seems to be mistaken about the bows which seems to be {{w|History_of_archery#Stone_Age_and_Bronze_Age_archery|at most 10,000 years old}}. Writing is mentioned again at 3500 BCE and farming at 10,000 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 19000 BCE
| Changes in the Earth’s orbit mean that more sunlight reaches the polar ice… || 18600 BCE || -4.2 ||{{w|Milankovitch cycles}} are repeated climate variations on a timescale of tens of millennia caused by cyclic variations in {{w|Orbital eccentricity|eccentricity}}, {{w|axial tilt}}, and {{w|precession}} of the {{w|Earth's orbit}}, which thus then determined climatic patterns on Earth. The Milankovitch cycles are referenced again around 4700 BCE.

|-
| [A line chart with a labeled Y-axis "Summer sun W/m2 at 60°N" with three labeled ticks ranging from 450-550. The curve starts up and then goes down five times and up four times ending down. There is one plateau towards the end compared to the rest of the curve where the ups and downs are quite alike.] || 18600 BCE || -4.2 || The chart shows the input of sun during summer time in the {{w|Northern hemisphere}} (at {{w|60° northern latitude}}) as the effect (W) per square meter (m2) which fluctuated in the range from 450-550 during the time shown in the chart. There is, however, no scale for the time between the peaks. This chart relates to the text about increasing sun to the polar ice in the entry above.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 18500 BCE
| [A map of the world. At the top is a light gray area covering {{w|North America}}, {{w|Greenland}} and northern {{w|Europe}} and most of the northern part of {{w|Russia}}. A similar gray area covers {{w|Antarctica}}. The gray areas are labeled as ice.] || 18300 BCE || -4.2 || This [[:Category:Maps|map]] shows where the ice covered the {{w|northern hemisphere}} (and Antarctica) during the {{w|Last Glacial Maximum}}. The continents have not moved much since then, but the lower water level caused by the amount of water bound up in the ice, can clearly be seen in several locations. For instance, the {{w|British islands}}, Greenland, and {{w|Papua New Guinea}} are connected to their respective neighboring continents. Also {{w|Alaska}} and Russia are connected through the ice sheets covering the northern part of the Earth.
|-
| rowspan="1"| 18000 BCE
| …And the ice sheets start to melt. || 17900 BCE || -4.1 || This was a slow process that takes 10,000 years. The ice is mentioned again at 13,600 and 8400 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 17500 BCE
| Temperatures have been creeping upward, but around this point, CO2 levels start to climb…|| 17300 BCE || -4.1 || Due to the release of gasses from various sources (dissolved in the ocean, trapped in {{w|permafrost}}, etc), {{w|Carbon dioxide in Earth's_atmosphere#Measuring ancient-Earth carbon dioxide concentration|atmospheric CO2 levels}} increased by 100 parts per million over a span of thousands of years. Modern civilization has added the same amount in a single century.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 17000 BCE
| …And then the warming speeds up. || 16700 BCE || -4.1 || It took 3000 years for the temperature to increase with one degree. So this sentence can be seen as sarcasm about the rate of natural climate change compared to modern {{w|anthropogenic}} (human caused) warming.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 16500 BCE
| [Cueball is standing with a spear just the right of the graph talking to a rabbit.] Cueball: Still pretty cold. || 16200 BCE || -4.0 || True, because although the temperature has risen with 0.3°C over the last 4000 years, it's still 4°C below the 1961-1990 average.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 16000 BCE
| [Megan touches the dotted line to the right of her, with Ponytail standing on the other side. The graph has finally passed the -4°C line below the 1961-1990 average.] || 15600 BCE || -3.9 || Megan is the first drawing on the left side of the curve. She seems to be pushing the temperature up.
|-
| [In the right part of the chart is an explanation of the data. Below the first two lines there are four drawings each showing possible temperature swings in reality compared to the smoothed data that represents the dotted curve of the entire chart. The dotted curve is shown in all four drawings and a thin line is shown running along it but with much more fluctuation left and right on the first two, a large spike right on the third and a large bump way right on the fourth. Above these there are two labels. The first labels is inside a bracket that covers the first three, and the last label is for the last drawing. Below is a list of sources.] Limits of this data: Short warming or cooling spikes might be “smoothed out” by these reconstructions but only if they’re small or brief enough. Possible Unlikely Reconstructions are from Shakun (2012) and Marcott (2013), scaled to Annan + Hargreaves (2013) estimate for the last glacial period. || 15600 BCE || -3.9 || This is Randall's pre-emptive response to skepticism about the accuracy of prehistoric data. {{w|Ice cores}} and similar records might miss individual year-to-year variation, but should catch sustained changes lasting many decades, which is the time scale that matters for climate. See links to the [[#Sources|sources below]].

|-
| rowspan="1"| 15500 BCE
| In what is now {{w|France}}, humans paint murals on the walls of the {{w|Lascaux}} caves [Hairy paints three animals, two with horns, and two humans, Cueball holding hand with Hairy who has a spear. On the other side of the central line Megan writes three letters, the last of which is reversed:] NIИ || 15200 BCE || -3.8 || A reference to the industrial techno band {{w|Nine Inch Nails}} as Megan writes the bands stylized name NIИ on the wall next to Hairy who is in the process of painting part of the {{w|cave paintings}} at Lascaux in France.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 15000 BCE
| Ice sheets around {{w|Alaska}} shrink, exposing a land bridge between Asia and North America [From around the bottom if this section and down to 11500 BCE the dotted curve moved steadily to the right towards warmed temperature peaking close to 1.5°C below the 1961-1990 average. Before this the temperature had not moved much away from that at the start.] || 14600 BCE || -3.5 || This land bridge is known as {{w|Beringia}}. It is mentioned again at 8300 when it disappears due to the rising seas.
|-
| rowspan="1"| 14500 BCE
| [Cueball walks right looking back at the graph behind him. Megan walks in front of him pointing further right.] Cueball: Cool. Humans reach {{w|North America}}. || 14200 BCE || -3.3 || This is approximately when the humans from {{w|Asia}} crossed the land bridge mentioned in the previous entry, from what is now {{w|Siberia}} to what is now {{w|Alaska}}. {{w|Settlement of the Americas}} occurred around the time shown in the chart, although {{w|Settlement_of_the_Americas#Chronology|it's possible}} that earlier humans did so by boat prior to the formation of the land bridge. Cueball's comment is a double entendre; it was figuratively "cool" that early people migrated this far, and the climate was literally cool compared to modern times.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 14000 BCE
| The edge of the ice withdraws from {{w|New York City}} and retreats north. || 13700 BCE || -3.1 || Even though the ice began to melt 4000 years before (at 18,000 BCE in the chart) it is first now that New York City is free of ice.
|-
| [A large glacier front speaks in a speech bubble with an arrow pointing at it. Behind is there are four peaks in the horizon and in front of it three small melting pools and some rocks on the ground.] Glacier: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!'' || 13600 BCE || -3.0 || When US citizens are unhappy with changes in their country, they sometimes say they will move to Canada in protest. Here it is the glacier that is anthropomorphically unhappy with the climate changes. However this is a slow process; it crosses the Canadian border more than 5000 years later.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 13500 BCE
| Humans domesticate dogs (Date uncertain, may be much earlier) || 13400 BCE || -3.0 || See {{w|Origin of the domestic dog}}. This timeline event is not quite accurate. The first dogs differentiated from {{w|Gray wolf|wolves}} about {{w|Origin_of_the_domestic_dog#Time_of_domestication|23,500 years ago}}, but there was an event around 13500 BCE that increased the population size and may be attributable to domestication events.
|-
|| [Megan and Cueball is watching a wolf looking at them.] Megan: Okay, you can live in our homes and we’ll feed you, but we’ll still get mad if you poop on the floor. Wolf: Deal. Cueball: And we get to breed you to be tiny and dress you in little costumes. Wolf: …Wait. || 13100 BCE || -2.8 || Megan is making a deal with the wolf that it can eat and sleep with the humans as long as they can yell at it for pooping indoor. This sounds like a sweet deal for the wolf until Cueball mentions that they will {{w|Dog breeding|breed}} it to be {{w|Chihuahua (dog)|very small}} and then dress it up in small {{w|Dog's fashion|costumes}}. The wolf says wait, but it is already too late...

|-
| rowspan="2"| 13000 BCE
| {{w|Woolly Rhino}} goes extinct || 12900 BCE || -2.7 || Mainland woolly rhinos died in the {{w|Quaternary extinction event}}, but a small island population survived until {{w|Woolly_rhinoceros#Extinction|around 8000 BCE}}. Woolly rhinos likely became extinct in part due to {{w|Holocene extinction|over-hunting}}. Randall's choice of species on this chart seems to focus on animals that were greatly affected by humans, for good or ill.
|-
| {{w|Oregon}} is scoured by huge floods as glacial dams burst and lakes of meltwater flow to the sea || 12600 BCE || -2.2 || This is a reference to the {{w|Missoula Floods}} several cataclysmic floods that swept periodically across eastern {{w|Washington}} and down the {{w|Columbia River Gorge}} flooding much of eastern Washington and the {{w|Willamette Valley}} in western Oregon at the end of the last ice age. During the last {{w|deglaciation}} ice dams formed then burst several times between 13,000 and 11,000 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 12500 BCE
| Ice sheets withdraw from Chicago || 12200 BCE || -1.8 || The next step towards the Canadian border, after they left New York at 13,600 BCE.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 12000 BCE
| Humans settle {{w|Abu Hureyra}} in {{w|Syria}} || 11550 BCE || -1.6 || A well-preserved prehistoric village that existed from 11,000 to 7000 BCE (a little later than noted in the chart), allowing archaeologists to study how their culture developed.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 11500 BCE
| [An arrow on the left side of the dotted curve is pointing down along the dotted curve and to the left indicate temperature is declining again, meaning the dotted curve now moves left to colder temperatures. This only continues until 10500 BCE. It is only the second time something is noted on the left side after Megan at 16000 BCE] Temperatures start to decline, mainly in the Northern hemisphere This may be caused by changes in ocean circulation due to the floods of cold fresh meltwater flowing into the Atlantic as the North American ice sheet melts. This cooler period is called the {{w|Younger Dryas}} || 11300 BCE || -1.6 || In the Younger Dryas, the Earth cooled by almost one degree over 1000 years. There were {{w|Outburst flood#Glacial_floods_in_North_America_.288.2C000_to_15.2C000_years_ago.29|several floods}} during the end of the ice age but the most famous is the one from {{w|Lake Agassiz}}. A similar but less global effect could occur if the ice on {{w|Greenland}} melts too quickly and causes a {{w|shutdown of thermohaline circulation}}. Without the {{w|Gulf Stream}}, hot water would remain in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean instead of warming the {{w|North Atlantic}} and Europe. The movie {{w|The Day After Tomorrow}} dramatized a worse-than-worst-case version of this, happening in days instead of centuries.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 11000 BCE
| [This is the first text to the left of the dotted curve:] Humans reach {{w|Argentina}} || 10900 BCE || -1.8 || The earliest evidence of {{w|Indigenous_peoples_in_Argentina#Prehistory|humans in Argentina}}. Finally the temperature graph has risen enough that there is space to write text on the left side of the curve.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 10500 BCE
| [An arrow pointing down along the right side of the dotted curve and to the right indicate temperature is increasing again, meaning the dotted curve now moves right to hotter temperatures. This continues until 8000 BCE where it levels out just above the 1961-1990 average.] Warming resumes || 10500 BCE || -1.8 || After 1000 years of slightly decreasing temperatures the warm up of Earth resumes. Over the next 3000 years the temperature increases 2.5°C, reaching a long plateau about 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average around 7500 BCE.
|-
| Human settlements at {{w|Jericho}} ||10050 BCE || -1.4 || The {{w|Jericho#Pre-Pottery_Neolithic.2C_c._9500_BCE|first permanent settlement}} on the site of Jericho occurred around 9500 BCE, but there is evidence of {{w|Jericho#Natufian_hunter-gatherers.2C_c._10.2C000_BCE|non permanent settlement}} during this period, when cold and drought made permanent habitation in that region difficult.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 10000 BCE
| First development of {{w|farming}} || 9750 BCE || -1.1 || This is now called the {{w|Neolithic Revolution}}, i.e. the wide-scale transition of many human cultures from a lifestyle of {{w|Hunter-gatherer|hunting and gathering}} to one of {{w|agriculture}} and settlement. The {{w|history of agriculture}} began independently in several locations with both {{w|domestication}} of animals and the farming of different {{w|cereals}}. One of the first regions to develop farming was the {{w|Fertile Crescent}}. This is also around this time that the last ice age is said to have ended.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 9500 BCE
| {{w|Saber-toothed cat}} goes extinct || 9200 BCE || -0.3 || Although one of these (Smilodon) was known as the {{w|saber-toothed tiger}}, most saber-toothed "cats" are not related to tigers, or any modern {{w|cats}} at all, but can be viewed as examples of convergent evolution. {{w|Smilodon}} became extinct around 8000 BCE, and the last Saber-toothed cat first became extinct around 7000 BCE, which does not fit very well with Randall's range. Indirectly humans may have caused the extinction of the Saber-toothed cat by over-hunting their {{w|megafauna}} prey, depriving the cats of food sources.

|-
| {{w|Horses}} disappear from {{w|North America}} || 9100 BCE || -0.2 || The {{w|evolution of the horse}} began millions of years ago in North America; early species {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_horse#Miocene_and_Pliocene:_true_equines|migrated across Beringia into Eurasia}} before their predecessors {{w|https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolution_of_the_horse#Pleistocene_extinctions|died out}}.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 9000 BCE
| | Last North American {{w|Pokémon}} go extinct [Cueball with a spear and Megan is looking up at this last “fact”.] Megan: That is not a real fact. || 8900 BCE || -0.1 || Pokemon are not real. This faux-extinction is likely a reference to the recent {{w|Pokémon Go}} game, which Randall spoofed in [[1705: Pokémon Go]]. Virtual Pokémon now thrive throughout the entire world, and are most commonly found near [http://time.com/4443225/pokemon-go-affluent-white-neighborhoods-report/ affluent first world neighborhoods].

|-
| Temperatures reach modern levels || 8800 BCE || 0.0 || It took 11,200 years for the temperature to increase 4.3°C. It's possible that human-created effects will produce an equal change in a few hundred years.
|-
| Rising seas cut off the {{w|land bridge}} between North America and Asia || 8700 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Beringia}} was freed of ice in 15,000 BCE. This is an example of what happens when the temperature rises and glaciers melt. Sea levels are rising again as ice on {{w|Greenland}} and {{w|Antarctica}} continues to melt.

|-
| {{w|Cattle}} domesticated || 8500 BCE || 0.2 || Cattle feature prominently in the comic [[1338: Land Mammals]].

|-
| rowspan="2"| 8500 BCE
| Ice sheets retreat across the Canadian border || 8400 BCE || 0.3 || Finally the glacier that began retreating from New York around 13,600 BCE succeeded in moving to Canada as it had threatened to do...
|-
| Temperatures start to level out slightly above 1961-1990 levels || 8050 BCE || 0.4 || The next 3000 years the temperature stays within 0.2°C degree of a temperature 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average. A very long and stable period.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 8000 BCE
| [The above sentence breaks over the 8000 BCE line. From here a maximum in temperature on the chart is reached at 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average, which will not be overtaken until 2000 CE. It stays almost constant here until 5000 BCE where a slight cooling begins.] || 8000 BCE || 0.4 || This is the only five hundred year span with no events listed fully inside. Maybe because nothing happens with the temperature.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 7500 BCE
| This warm, stable period is called the {{w|Holocene Climate Optimum}} || 7400 BCE || 0.5 || Some skeptics like to say "[http://www.skepticalscience.com/10000-years-warmer.htm it was warmer in the Holocene]." This is no longer true. Global temperature began encroaching Holocene levels in 1998, and has equaled or possibly exceeded them since 2014.
|-
| {{w|Jiahu}} settled in China || 7050 BCE || 0.5 || Jiahu is another prehistoric settlement, similar to Abu Hureyra (12000 BCE), that was extensively studied by archaeologists.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 7000 BCE
| Final collapse of the North American ice sheet leads to rapid 2-4m sea level rise… || 6800 BCE || 0.55 || The temperature almost reached 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average before this happened and caused the slight decrease in temperature mentioned below.
|-
| [A small arrow points down and left to the right of the dotted curve. There is a small decrease in temperature but it is very small and would have been missed without the arrow and label.] …And a period of cooling in the Northern hemisphere || 6550 BCE || 0.5 || A 0.05 degree decrease in 200 years again refers to the theme of slow natural climate change.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 6500 BCE
| As seas rise to near their modern levels, Britain is cut off from mainland Europe || 6300 BCE || 0.45 || This is a reference to the flooding of {{w|Doggerland}}.

|-
| rowspan="1"| 6000 BCE
| Humans develop copper metalworking || 5600 BCE || 0.5 || The {{w|copper age}} was relatively brief before humans discovered how to make {{w|bronze}}.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 5500 BCE
| Massive volcanic eruption in {{w|Oregon}} creates crater lake || 5300 BCE || 0.55 || {{w|Crater Lake}} is the caldera at the top of Mount Mazama, a collapsed stratovolcano. If it erupted again, it could become a Somma volcano (see [[1714: Volcano Types]]).
|-
| {{w|Gold}} metalworking || 5050 BCE || 0.6 || The temperature peaks here at just a bit more than 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average. It will not rise above this level until the global warming sets in in the 1900s.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 5000 BCE
| {{w|Invention of the wheel}} || 4900 BCE || 0.6 || Wheels are one of the most important inventions of humanity. They feature in many xkcd comics, such as [[1075: Warning]].
|-
| [To the right of the dotted curve is an arrow pointing down and slightly left. From here temperature decreases very slowly but steadily from 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average until 1000 BCE where a stable plateau is reached around the 1961-1990 average.] Earth begins to cool slowly mainly due to regular cycles in its orbit || 4800 BCE || 0.5 || Again a reference to the {{w|Milankovitch cycles}} mentioned in detail at 18,600 BCE. Here they cause a cooling rather than a heating as they did back then.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 4500 BCE
| {{w|Proto-Indo-European language}} develops || 4400 BCE || 0.5 || Most of the languages in Europe, the Middle East, and India share a surprising number of common roots. PIE is the theoretical ancestor from which they descend. Randall mentions this language family in many comics, such as [[890: Etymology]].
|-
| [To the right of the curve Ponytail holds up a hand towards Cueball.] Ponytail: Let’s make out language heavily inflected, so future students have to memorize a zillion verb endings! Cueball: Okay! || 4400 BCE || 0.5 || Ponytail gets the idea to develop the language heavily inflected to make it difficult to remember all the verb endings for future students and Cueball is okay with that. This is a direct reference to the recent comic [[1709: Inflection]].
|-
| Permanent settlements in the {{w|fertile crescent}} || 4200 BCE || 0.5 || The Fertile Crescent is one of those things you're supposed to remember from grade school. A lot of historic milestones happened there, such as the pyramids of Giza, the code of Hammurabi, and the Abrahamic religions.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 4000 BCE
| Horses domesticated || 3950 BCE || 0.5 || Horse riding was the greatest advance in land travel until the invention of engines. Horses appear in many xkcd comics, such as [[936: Password Strength]].
|-
| {{w|Minoan culture}} arises on Crete || 3700 BCE || 0.5 || Minoan culture invented many strange and wonderful things, such as the Labyrinth at Knossos and {{w|Bull-leaping}}.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 3500 BCE
| {{w|Egyptian mummification}} || 3500 BCE || 0.5 || xkcd has discussed mummification in {{what if|134|What If? 134: Space Burial}}.
|-
| Rise of the {{w|Indus Valley civilization}} || 3300 BCE || 0.5 || The largest bronze-age civilization.
|-
| Invention of {{w|writing}} in {{w|Sumer}} “{{w|prehistory}}” ends, “{{w|history}}” begins || 3200 BCE || 0.5 || Our knowledge of prehistoric events must rely on digging up artifacts and making inferences. After this time, it became possible to find descriptions of past people and events, which is the definition of history. (Old guy in Sumer: Kids these days with their new-fangled stone tablets, instead of using their memory...)
|-
| Earliest human whose name we know (Pharaoh {{w|Iry-Hor}} in Egypt) || 3100 BCE || 0.5 || The first named person we know of today! This was also mentioned as a "cool fact" in the title text of [[1355: Airplane Message]].
|-
| rowspan="5"| 3000 BCE
| {{w|Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors}} period in China || 2800 BCE || 0.4 || The temperature has finally dropped below 0.5°C above the 1961-1990 average after almost 2000 years of cooling from 0.6°C above the 1961-1990 average.
|-
| {{w|Gilgamesh}} || 2700 BCE || 0.4 || Gilgamesh was probably a Sumerian king whose tales were exaggerated into mythology.
|-
| {{w|Imhotep}} || 2600 BCE || 0.4 || Imhotep was not a pharaoh, but a wise commoner who was elevated to chancellor, high priest, and post-mortem divinity.
|-
| {{w|Maya civilization|Mayan}} culture emerges || 2600 BCE || 0.4 || Like the ancient Egyptians, Mayans are remembered for pyramids and {{w|logograph}}s.
|-
| {{w|Great Pyramid}} constructed || 2650 BCE || 0.4 || xkcd has discussed pyramids in [[1717: Pyramid Honey]] and {{what if|95|What If? 95: Pryamid Energy}}.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2500 BCE
| {{w|Corded Ware culture}} in Europe || 2500 BCE || 0.3 || The term Corded Ware was invented by an archaeologist; no civilization actually called themselves that.
|-
| [To the left of the curve two rock musicians with long hair and electrical guitars are standing on either side of a small gate made of three slabs of stone, one on top of the other two standing stones.] {{w|Stonehenge}} completed || 2200 || 0.3 || This is a reference to the 1984 {{w|mockumentary}} about the fake rock band {{w|This Is Spinal Tap}}. In the movie the band wanted a giant Stonehenge prop 18 feet high, but a writing mistake gives them one that is only 18 inches.
|-
| {{w|Chariots}} developed || 2000 BCE || 0.3 || But {{w|Chariots of Fire}} came much later.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2000 BCE
| {{w|Alphabetic writing}} developed in Egypt || 1750 BCE || 0.2 || Obligatory reference to xkcd [[1069: Alphabet]].
|-
| Last {{w|mammoth}}s on a tiny Siberian island go extinct || 1650 BCE || 0.2 || Many of the {{w|Pleistocene megafauna}} died in the {{w|Quaternary extinction event}}. Like the {{w|woolly rhino}} (see 12900 BCE) these animals likely became extinct in part due to {{w|Holocene extinction|humans hunting them}}, which may be why Randall included them in the chart. Most of the mammoths died out before 8000 BCE but {{w|Woolly_mammoth#Extinction|some survived in remote areas}} and the last known population died on {{w|Wrangel Island}} in the {{w|Arctic Ocean}} around 2000 BCE, slightly earlier than Randall shows here.
|-
| {{w|Minoan eruption}} || 1600 BCE || 0.2 || This volcano may have led to the downfall of Minoan civilization.

|-
| rowspan="5"| 1500 BCE
| {{w|Iron smelting}} || 1400 BCE || 0.1 || The beginning of the {{w|Iron Age}}.
|-
| {{w|Olmec}} civilization develops in Central America || 1350 BCE || 0.1 || No, Maggie, not Aztec, [http://vimeo.com/34002760 Olmec].
|-
| [A Trojan horse with two Cueball-like guys in front and a third standing on its back. Its back is at three Cueball’s height and its head rises to the level of the Cueball on its back. It stands on a platform with four wheel on the visible side. There is text on the horse] Setting of the ''{{w|Iliad}}'' and the ''{{w|Odyssey}}'' Text on horse: Not a trap || 1250 BCE || 0.1 || A reference to the {{w|Trojan War}} qua the drawing of the {{w|Trojan Horse}}. The horse was a big trap letting the soldiers hidden inside it into {{w|Troy}}. This explains why it has ''Not a trap'' written on it. Else they would not have taken the giant wooden horse present from their sworn enemies into their city just like that... Note that the Trojan horse isn't mentioned in the Iliad, and only recalled in passing by the characters in the Odyssey.
|-
| Invasion of the {{w|Sea peoples}}* * A real thing || 1200 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Mermaid#One_Thousand_and_One_Nights|Sea people}} might sound like a reference to mythical {{w|mermaid}}s, so Randall feels the need to footnote that this event was ''a real thing'' (as opposed to his Pokémon reference, which he notes is ''not a real fact''). The sea peoples were a seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt around this time.
|-
| {{w|Polynesians}} explore the Pacific Ocean || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || {{w|Polynesian navigation}} was surprisingly widespread.

|-
| rowspan="8"| 1000 BCE
| [From 1000 BBC to 1000 CE the temperature is stable and very close to the 1961-1990 average.] || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || The temperature has fallen from the Holocene Optimum by half a degree to just a bit above the the 1961-1990 average. It will stay in this range for the next 2000 years.
|-
| {{w|Solomon}} || 1000 BCE || 0.1 || Solomon may have been a real historical king, but he probably did not threaten to chop a baby in half.
|-
| {{w|Iliad}} and {{w|Odyssey}} composed || 900 BCE || 0.1 || These classic myths were written more than 300 years after their supposed events. Archaeologists believe the city of {{w|Troy}} existed (and was destroyed by war around the right time period), but characters like Helen, Odysseus, and Achilles did not.
|-
| Rise of {{w|Greek city-states}} || 800 BCE || 0.1 || This is ''Sparta'', along with Athens and several others.
|-
| {{w|Neo-Assyrian Empire}} || 800 BCE || 0.1 || Hi, you may remember us from such kings as Adad-nirari and Sennacherib.
|-
| {{w|Ancient Olympic Games|First Olympics}} || 750 BCE || 0.1 || The first of the ancient Olympic Games is traditionally dated to 776 BC.
|-
| {{w|Zapotec civilization|Zapotec}} writing in modern Mexico || 600 BCE || 0.0 || Another Central American culture that fell to the Spanish invasion.
|-
| {{w|Confucius}} || 550 BCE || 0.0 || "He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions."

|-
| rowspan="10"| 500 BCE
| The stuff in the {{w|300 (film)|movie ''300''}}, but regular speed and with more clothing || 450 BCE || 0.0 || A reference to the {{w|Battle of Thermopylae}} by comparison with the 2007 movie ''300'' about this battle. The real Spartans wore armor, and real humans don't [http://www.google.com/search?q=300+slow-motion fly through the air in slow motion when struck].
|-
| {{w|Buddha}} || 450 BCE || 0.0 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Jesus}} and {{w|Muhammad}}.
|-
| {{w|Nazca Lines}} || 350 BCE || 0.0 || These huge ancient drawings are difficult to see from ground level, leading some people to believe that they were intended for aliens.
|-
| {{w|Alexander the Great}} || 350 BCE || 0.0 || One of the most successful conquerors of the iron age, known for supposedly cutting the {{w|Gordian Knot}}.
|-
| {{w|Mayan hieroglyphics}} || 250 BCE || 0.0 || The {{w|Maya Calendar}} was probably created hundreds of years later.
|-
| {{w|Ashoka the Great}} || 250 BCE || 0.0 || The {{w|Edicts of Ashoka}} proselytized Buddhism across the continent.
|-
| {{w|Paper}} invented || 200 BCE || 0.0 || A significant step up from stone tablets or even papyrus.
|-
| {{w|Asterix}} || 100 BCE || 0.0 || Fictional main character in ''The Adventures of Asterix'', a comic series set around 50 BCE when {{w|Julius Caesar}} conquered {{w|Gaul}}.
|-
| {{w| Teotihuacan|Teotihuacán}} metropolis || 100 BCE || 0.0 || Another ancient city much beloved by archaeologists, even though they don't know who built it.
|-
| {{w|Julius Caesar}} || 50 BCE || 0.0 || Aside from being a conqueror, dictator, and deity, Julius had a big impact on {{w|Julian Calendar|calendars}}. The month of Quintilis was renamed July to honor him, and he was famously assassinated on the ides (middle day) of March.
|-

|-
| rowspan="8"|1 BCE 1 CE
| [Instead of a zero, there are two numbers for each of the two scales before (1 BCE) and after Christ (1 CE)] || 0 CE || -0.1 || Originally the year range went directly from 1 BC to 1 AD. The year zero has since been added for ease of mathematical and astronomical calculations.
|-
| {{w|Roman Empire}} || 1 CE || -0.1 || Julius never held the title "Emperor"; his adoptive son Augustus was the first to do so.
|-
| {{w|Jesus}} || 1 CE || -0.1 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Buddha}} and {{w|Muhammad}}.
|-
| [To the left and erupting volcano.] {{w|Pompeii}} || 100 CE || -0.1 || The volcano is {{w|Mount Vesuvius}} which exploded in 79 CE and is famous for burying everyone in the close by city Pompeii preserving peoples bodies inside the huge amount of ash that swallowed the city very rapidly. Today it has given the archeologist lots of knowledge about the culture of that time.
|-
| {{w|Three Kingdoms}} period || 250 CE || -0.1 || Not just a series of movies and video games, but an actual thing that happened in China.
|-
| {{w|Gupta empire}} || 700 CE || -0.1 || Not as great as Ashoka, but still a pretty important time in the history of India.
|-
| Various groups take turns sacking {{w|Rome}} || 550 CE || -0.1 || 500 years is a pretty successful span for an empire.
|-
| {{w|Attila the Hun}} || 550 CE || -0.1 || He probably would not mind being remembered as one of the most infamous barbarians in history.

|-
| rowspan="4"| 500 CE
| {{w|Muhammad}} || 600 CE || 0.0 || Randall also mentions other religious figures like {{w|Buddha}} and {{w|Jesus}}
|-
| {{w|Tang Dynasty}} || 750 CE || 0.0 || A golden age in China, responsible for the development of printing, gunpowder, and many other advances.
|-
| [An arrow to the right of the dotted curve pointing down, takes a swing far out from the curve and then bends back again. The text label next to it breaks into the next 500 period. The dotted curve stays stable at the 1961-1990 average along this arrow.] {{w|Medieval warm period}} in Europe and some northern regions (too regional to affect the global average much) || 900 CE || 0.0 || Changes in ocean currents caused various regions to warm up while others cooled.
|-
| {{w|Leif Eriksson}} || 950 CE || 0.0 || Probably the first European explorer to reach North America.

|-
| rowspan="7"| 1000 CE
| [To the left a drawing of a compass with needle pointing the black end towards north east. There are labels for the four main directions (N, S, W, E) and a label next to it:] {{w|Magnetic compass}} navigation || 1050 CE || 0.0 || It's much easier to sail to the Orient when you can orient yourself.
|-
| [The dotted curve moves to the left towards lower temperature reaching a minimum around 1650 CE of about 0.6°C below the 1961-1990 average at the {{w|Little Ice Age}}.] || 1150 CE || -0.1 || This less than half a degree drop in temperature over 500 years was ennough to cause the "Little Ice Age" which resulted in extended ice coverage in the winters in instance Europe. See more below at the entry for the Little Ice Age.
|-
| {{w|Ghengis Khan}} || 1200 CE || -0.2 || Mongol emperor. {{w|Gengar}} is not named after him, but [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Kangaskhan_(Pokémon) Kangaskhan] and [http://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Khal the Khals] are.
|-
| {{w|Zheng He}}’s fleet explores Asia and Africa || 1400 CE || -0.3 || He explored farther than European contemporaries like Dias or de Gama.
|-
| {{w|Aztec Empire|Aztec Alliance}} || 1400 CE || -0.3 || Aztec dominance only lasted a century until Cortes arrived, but their cultural legacy is indisputable.
|-
| {{w|Printing press}} || 1450 CE || -0.3 || {{w|Johannes Gutenburg}} ushered in the {{w|Age of Enlightenment}}.
|-
| {{w|Christopher Columbus|Columbus}} || 1490 CE || -0.3 || The time given here references when Christopher Columbus reached the {{w|Americas|new world}} in 1492. The five events around 1500 CE lies very close together but it fits with Columbus fitted in just before 1500.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1500 CE
| {{w|European Renaissance}} || 1500 CE || -0.3 || From here on, the chart has labels for each 100 year increment instead of 500, but the scale stays the same. Important events happens so much faster in these last five hundred years, there isn't enough space to write all of them, so Randall has had to be selective. He includes {{w|Isaac Newton}} but leaves out {{w|Albert Einstein}}, includes {{w|airplane}}s but leaves out {{w|car}}s, etc.
|-
| {{w|Shakespeare}} || 1600 CE || -0.4 || xkcd references Shakespeare many times, such as [[79: Iambic Pentameter]] and [[1026: Compare and Contrast]].

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1600
| {{w|Isaac Newton|Newton}} || 1650 CE || -0.4 || Isaac Newton appears in various xkcd comics, such as [[626: Newton and Leibniz]].
|-
| [To the right of the dotted curve there is an arrow pointing down that makes a swing in towards the curve and then back out again. This is the coldest it has been since 9500 BCE. It is labeled:] ”{{w|Little Ice Age}}” || 1650 CE || -0.4 || This was not a true geologic Ice Age, just a slightly chilly period when the temperature fell a fraction of a degree, but still colder than it had been through 11,000 years of human civilization. In Europe the winters were so cold that the river {{w|Thames}} {{w|Little_Ice_Age#Europe|froze over}} hard enough to hold {{w|River Thames frost fairs}} between 1607 and 1814. And in 1658 {{w|Sweden}} crossed the {{w|Danish Straits}} on foot to invade {{w|Copenhagen}} in the {{w|March Across the Belts}}. It was only possible due to the harsh winters of the Little Ice Age, demonstrating how much half a degree of climate change can mean.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 1700
| {{w|Steam engines}} || 1750 CE || -0.4 || The {{w|Age of Steam}} heralded the upsurge of human CO2 emissions.
|-
| {{w|United States Declaration of Independence|Unites States Independence}} || 1770 CE || -0.3 || On July 4, 1776.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 1800
| {{w|Industrial Revolution}} || 1825 CE || -0.3 || Not to be confused with {{w|Industrial music}} such as Nine Inch Nails.
|-
| {{w|Electrical telegraph|Telegraphs}} || 1830 CE || -0.3 || [https://youtu.be/gEGQUgWBQL4?t=56s -. --- .-- --..-- / - .... . / -- --- - .... . .-. / --- ..-. / ... .- -- ..- . .-.. / -- --- .-. ... . / .- .-.. .-- .- -.-- ... / ... . -. - / - .... . / .-.. .- -.. / --- ..- - / --- -. / .- / .... --- .-. ... .]
|-
| [After this the dotted curve becomes solid.] || 1850 CE || -0.3 || From 1850 weather records became sufficiently accurate and widespread to greatly improve the precision of climate measurements. Hence the curve stops being an estimate and thus also stops being a dotted curve and becomes solid.

|-
| rowspan="6"| 1900
| {{w|Airplane}}s || 1900 CE || -0.3 || xkcd discusses airplanes many times, such as [[726: Seat Selection]] and {{what if|30|30: Interplanetary Cessna}}.
|-
| {{w|World Wars}} || 1930 CE || -0.2 || Likewise, there are many xkcds on this topic, such as [[261: Regarding Mussolini]] and {{what if|100|100: WWII Films}}.
|-
| [The solid line takes a step to the right close to the 1961-1990 average. Over the rest of the 1900s it moves closer to the 1961-1990 average, crossing it before 2000 where it almost reaches the maximum temperature of 0.5 °C above the 1961-1990 average from earlier in 8000 BCE.] || 1940 CE || -0.2 || This is what the previous 14000 pixels of comic has been leading up to. After a laborious 20 millennia of gradual and meandering climate change, it should be clear that a full degree of warming in a single century is unprecedented in human history, and very unlikely to be natural variation.
|-
| {{w|Fossil fuel}} CO2 emissions start rapidly increasing || 1950 CE || -0.1 || The infamous [http://www.skepticalscience.com/Hockey-stick-or-hockey-league.html "hockey stick"] starts around here.
|-
| {{w|Nuclear weapons}} || 1950 CE || -0.1 || The Working Group on the 'Anthropocene' suggests dating the {{w|Anthropocene}} epoch from ~1950. The week after this comic [[1736: Manhattan Project]] with a mushroom cloud was released.
|-
| {{w|Internet}} || 1980 CE || 0.1 || The origin of the internet dates back to 1960 but it began growing rapidly in 1980. By placing the invention of the {{w|internet}} at 1980 in the chart, just where the temperature curve starts its most rapid increase, Randall uses this [[552: Correlation|correlation]] to humorously imply that the internet caused the rise in temperature. This is also where the temperature crosses the 1961-1990 average, which has to happen somewhere due to the {{w|Intermediate Value Theorem}}.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 2000
| {{w|Northwest Passage}} opens || 2000 CE || 0.4 || This was dramatic evidence that the climate had changed. When global warming removes enough sea ice to create shipping routes that never existed before, then it is clear to people that ''something'' is changing, even if they disregard who/what is responsible for the change.
|-
|[From here to present day the solid line increases rapidly and in 2016, present day, is almost reaches 1°C above the 1961-1990 average, with about 0.8°C above the 1961-1990 average.] || 2016 CE || 0.8 || '''Notice''': [http://www.skepticalscience.com/argument.php?a=11&p=2 Warming did not stop] in 1998.

|-
| rowspan="3"| 2016
| | Present day || 2016 CE || 0.8 || Today, just after the two hottest months ever measured since 1850 had ended (July and August 2016), this comic was released with the message displayed very clearly here below. Act now or fry...
|-
| [From here the curve once again becomes dotted as this is the future. After one dot it splits in two and after the first two dots another split between them occurs forming three possible future dotted curves.] || 2016 CE || 0.8 || Here stops the data and the projection into the future begins so the curve again becomes dotted. Three different scenarios are depicted.
|-
|The first curve bending down before the others, and thus to the right of the other two reaches about 1.2°C above the 1961-1990 average and then goes straight down and stops at the 2100 line. An arrow points to it from the left and a label is written partly before and the rest after the 2100 line to the left of the curve:] Best-case scenario assuming immediate massive action to limit emissions || 2100 CE || 1.2 || If humanity does all in its power to stop global warming we might be able to halt the global warming already before 2050 keeping the maximum temperature to just 1.2°C above the 1961-1990 average. Only 0.4°C above today's temperature.

|-
| rowspan="2"| 2100
| [The middle curve bends a little down after reaching 1.3°C above the 1961-1990 average, and then continues this path reaching 2°C above the 1961-1990 average in 2100. An arrow point from below to it and a label is written below the curve and below 2100 line:] Optimistic scenario|| 2100 CE || 2.0 || If all the current realistic preventions are implemented, which might not be so realistic, then we may not even stop the warming but slow it down so we "only" reach 2°C above the 1961-1990 average in 2100 CE but it would not stop there. This is half the temperature change experienced since the ice age, but the other way. This was directly referenced in the title text of [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]]: ''That's only HALF an ice age unit (IAU), which is probably no big deal.''
|-
| [The last line continues along the path from the last 16 years of the solid line reaching 4.2°C above the 1961-1990 average at 2100, almost as far on the other side of the 1961-1990 average in 150 years as it took 14,000 years to move from the other side from the start of the chart. Another arrow point to this from below with a label below the curve and below 2100 line:] Current Path || 2100 CE || 4.2 || In this last scary scenario Randall assumes the temperature keeps rising steadily by extrapolating along the slope of the last two to three years. Randall has warned about the hazards of [[Extrapolating]], but this line is in fact [http://www.skepticalscience.com/climate-best-to-worst-case-scenarios.html below the worst case predictions]. If this comes true we will reach a temperature increase taking us from the 1961-1990 average and in just 125 years to 4.2°C above this average. That is just as far above this average in that short time span as the ice age temperature was below. And it took more than 11,000 years for nature to reach such an increase. Randall already contemplated what this would be like in the +1 ice age unit (IAU) panel of [[1379: 4.5 Degrees]] two years ago, as well as in [[164: Playing Devil's Advocate to Win]] almost 10 years ago. He may get to ''enjoy quite a ride'' as he "wished" for back then.

There is no reason to assume the temperature will not keep rising past 2100 CE, so the {{w|Cretaceous Thermal Maximum|"Hothouse Earth"}} of the early {{w|Cretaceous period}} mentioned in the 4.5 degree comics +2 IAU panel might come to pass in future centuries if we continue on our current path. On the bright side, modern civilization might collapse if this trend keeps up, which would drastically cut our releases of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. But then again, positive feedback from methane in melting {{w|permafrost}} might take over... Good luck Earth.
|}

===Sources===
The image attributes climate data sources as "Shakun et al. (2012), Marcott et al. (2013), Annan and Hargreaves (2013), HadCRUT4, IPCC":
* Shakun et al. (2012) - [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v484/n7392/full/nature10915.html Nature], [http://www.atm.damtp.cam.ac.uk/mcintyre/shakun-co2-temp-lag-nat12.pdf (pdf)]
* Marcott et al. (2013) - [http://science.sciencemag.org/content/339/6124/1198 Science], [http://content.csbs.utah.edu/~mli/Economics%207004/Marcott_Global%20Temperature%20Reconstructed.pdf (pdf)]
* Annan and Hargreaves (2013) - [http://www.clim-past.net/9/367/2013/cp-9-367-2013.html Climate of the Past] [http://www.jamstec.go.jp/frsgc/research/d5/jdannan/LGM_temp.pdf (pdf)]
* {{w|HadCRUT#HadCRUT4 wikipedia|HadCRUT4}} - [http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcrut4/ Official site]
* {{w|Intergovernmental_Panel_on_Climate_Change|IPCC}} -[http://www.ipcc.ch/ Official site]

==Transcript==
'''Note''' there are several spelling errors in the comic, so please do only correct spelling errors that are not part of the comic! See more in the [[#Trivia|trivia section]].
:[A large heading, followed by a sub-caption. Below that two lines with a statement in between:]
:<big>A timeline of Earth’s average temperature</big>
:since the last ice age glaciation
:When people say “The climate has changed before,” these are the kinds of changes they’re talking about.

:[A very long chart below the headings above is headed with a label for the scale of the X-axis above the chart. Below that a sub-caption. To the left an arrow down to the top of the chart pointing to the dotted curves starting point (at -4.3°C below the 1961-1990 average) with a label above the arrow. And arrow pointing left to the left of the center and another pointing right to the right of the center has labels. Below these is the temperature scale of the X-axis, with 9 ticks between the borders each with a label ranging from -4 to +4°C compared to the 1961-1990 average, but with another step in each direction not labeled towards to axis so the chart covers -5 to +5°C compared to the 1961-1990 average.]
:'''Temperature'''
: Compared to the 1961-1990 average
:Start
:Colder
:Warmer
:-4°C -3°C -2°C -1°C 0°C +1°C +2°C +3°C +4°C

:[To the right of the chart is a gray text standing on the side down along the outer boarder of the chart with the sources for the chart:]
: Source: Shakun et. al. (2012) , Marcott et. al. (2013), Annan and Hargreaves (2013) , HadCRUT4, IPCC 

:[The chart is split in 10 columns by the temperature scale and the borders. The two central columns are white, and then from there to the left the background becomes a faded color that changes from light blue to blue at the edge in four steps. Similarly to the right the color changes from light red to red. To the left there is a time scale taking 500 years leaps from 20,000 BCE all the way to year 1, where there are two years, one for BBC and one for CE. The 500 year leaps continue until 1500 CE and from there the steps are down to 100 years until 2100 with also present day 2016 labeled. After 1500 the CE is omitted. The labels stop there, but there is space below covering down to 2200 CE. There is clearly visible division line across the chart on the level of each of the 500 step, and fainter lines for each of the 100 steps all the way even though only the last 5 of these 100 steps are labeled. There is a similar clear line at 2016. Below each step on the Y-axis is noted, and then any text starting before the next step is noted below indented. If there are extra image belonging to text this is indented once more. The graph that the whole chart is about is a dotted line that begins at the “start” point mentioned above at -4.3°C and then begins to go straight down. It will change left and right all the way down. To being with all text and most drawings are to right of the dotted curve. Whenever something is to the left it will be noted. When it says to the left above something, and then nothing over the next, then the next will be to the right. Only at the very bottom are there more entries to the left than right. ]
:20000 BCE
::[An arrow goes from the dotted line to the central line at 0°C. In the middle of the line there is a temperature label:]
::4.3°C
::At the start of our timeline, 22,000 years ago, Earth is 4°C colder than during the late 20th century.
::Boston is buried under almost a mile of ice, and the glaciers reach as far south as New York City.
:::[The Statue of Liberty is shown in front of a glacier front. A very tiny Cueball is on top of the glacier. The drawing is labeled and so is also the glacier.]
:::New York
:::Ice
:::[A guy with a white knit cap is seen walking in a snowy landscape leaving black footprints behind him. He walks through the white central part of the chart.]
:::[The skyline of Boston is shown with two clear buildings among all the other. Above it is a line and in between this area has been filled with thin lines. The drawing is labeled and so is this area. Also the skyline has an arrow pointing at it with a label:]
:::Boston
:::Ice
:::Modern skyline

:19500 BCE
::But the world is about to warm up.
::By this time, humans have already spread across Africa, Eurasia, and Australia.
::They’ve created painting, pottery, rope, and bows and arrows, but haven’t developed writing or farming.

:19000 BCE
::Changes in the Earth’s orbit mean that more sunlight reaches the polar ice…
:::[A line chart with a labeled Y-axis with three labeled ticks. The curve starts up and then goes down five times and up four times ending down. There is one plateau towards the end compared to the rest of the curve where the ups and downs are quite alike.]
:::Summer sun W/m2 at 60°N
:::550
:::500
:::450

:18500 BCE
::[A map of the world. At the top is a light gray area covering North America, Greenland and northern Europe and most of the northern part of Russia. A similar gray area covers Antarctica. There are two labels in the gray area above and one in the gray area below:]
::Ice Ice
::Ice

:18000 BCE
::…And the ice sheets start to melt.

:17500 BCE
::Temperatures have been creeping upward, but around this point, CO2 levels start to climb…

:17000 BCE
::…And then the warming speeds up.

:16500 BCE
::[Cueball is standing with a spear just the right of the graph talking to a rabbit.]
::Cueball: Still pretty cold.

:16000 BCE
::[Megan points to the graph to the right of her and between her and Ponytail standing on the other side. Mean is the first drawing on the left side of the dotted curve, which has hardly moved since the beginning, only to just on the other side of 4°C.]
::[In the right part of the chart is an explanation of the data. Below the first two lines there are four drawings each showing possible temperature swings in reality compared to the smoothed data that represents the dotted curve of the entire chart. The dotted curve is shown in all four drawings and a thin line is shown running along it but with much more fluctuation left and right on the first two, a large spike right on the third and a large bump way right on the fourth. Above these there are two labels. The first labels is inside a bracket that covers the first three, and the last label is for the last drawing. Below is a list of sources.]
::Limits of this data:
::Short warming or cooling spikes might be “smoothed out” by these reconstructions but only if they’re small or brief enough.
:::Possible Unlikely
::Reconstructions are from Shakun (2012) and Marcott (2013), scaled to Annan + Hargreaves (2013) estimate for the last glacial period.

:15500 BCE
::In what is now France, humans paint murals on the walls of the Lascaux caves
::[Hairy paints three animals, two with horns, and two humans, Cueball holding hand with Hairy who has a spear. On the other side of the central line Megan writes three letters, the last of which is reversed.]
:::NIИ

:15000 BCE
::Ice sheets around Alaska shrink, exposing a land bridge between Asia and North America
::[From around the bottom if this section and down to 11500 BCE the dotted curve moved steadily to the right towards warmed temperature peaking close to -1.5°C. Before this the temperature had not moved much away from that at the start.]

:14500 BCE
::[Cueball walks right looking back at the graph behind him. Megan walks in front of him pointing further right.]
::Cueball: Cool.
::Humans reach North America.

:14000 BCE
::The edge of the ice withdraws from New York City and retreats North.
::[A large glacier front speaks in a speech bubble with an arrow pointing at it. Behind is there are four peaks in the horizon and in front of it three small melting pools and some rocks on the ground.]
::Glacier: ''That’s it! I’m moving to Canada!''

:13500 BCE
::Humans domesticate dogs
::(Date uncertain, may be much earlier)
::[Megan and Cueball is watching a wolf looking at them.]
::Megan: Okay, you can live in our homes and we’ll feed you, but we’ll still get mad f you poop on the floor.
::Wolf: Deal.
::Cueball: And we get to breed you to be tiny and dress you in little costumes.
::Wolf: …Wait.

:13000 BCE
::[Randall did not use the normal spelling for Woolly Rhino, but this is an accepted alternative spelling:]
::Wooly Rhino goes extinct
::Oregon is scoured by huge floods as glacial dams burst and lakes of meltwater flow to the sea

:12500 BCE
::Ice sheets withdraw from Chicago

:12000 BCE
::Humans settle Abu Hureyra in Syria

:11500 BCE
::[An arrow on the left side of the dotted curve is pointing down along the dotted curve and to the left indicate temperature is declining again, meaning the dotted curve now moves left to colder temperatures. This only continues until 10500 BCE. It is only the second time something is noted on the left side after Megan at 16000 BCE]
::Temperatures start to decline, mainly in the Northern hemisphere
::This may be caused by changes in ocean circulation due to the floods of cold fresh meltwater flowing into the Atlantic as the North American ice sheet melts.
::This cooler period is called the Younger Dryas

:11000 BCE
::[This is the first text to the left of the dotted curve:]
::Humans reach Argentina

:10500 BCE
::[An arrow pointing down along the right side of the dotted curve and to the right indicate temperature is increasing again, meaning the dotted curve now moves right to hotter temperatures. This continues until 8000 BCE where it levels out just above 0°C.]
::Warming resumes
::Human settlements at Jericho

:10000 BCE
::First development of farming

:9500 BCE
::Saber-toothed cat goes extinct
::[To the left:]
::Horses disappear from North America

:9000 BCE
::[To the left, Randall spelled Pokémon wrong:]
:::Last North American Pokemon go extinct
:::[Cueball with a speak and Megan is looking up at this last “fact”.]
:::Megan: That is not a real fact.
::Temperatures reach modern levels
::Rising seas cut off the land bridge between North America and Asia
::Cattle domesticated

:8500 BCE
::Ice sheets retreat across the Canadian border
::Temperatures start to level out slightly above 1961-1990 levels

:8000 BCE
::[The above sentence breaks over the 8000 BCE line. From here a maximum in temperature on the chart is reached at 0.5°C which will not be overtaken until 2000 CE. It stays almost constant here until 5000 BCE where a slight cooling begins.]

:7500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::This warm, stable period is called the Holocene Climate Optimum
::[To the left:]
::Jiahu settled in China

:7000 BCE
::Final collapse of the North American ice sheet leads to rapid 2-4m sea level rise…
::[A small arrow points down and left to the right of the dotted curve. There is a small decrease in temperature but it is very small and would have been missed without the arrow and label.]
::…And a period of cooling in the Northern hemisphere

:6500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::As seas rise to near their modern levels, Britain is cut off from mainland Europe

:6000 BCE
::Humans develop copper metalworking

:5500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Massive volcanic eruption in Oregon creates crater lake
::Gold metalworking

:5000 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Invention of the wheel
::[To the left. To the right of the dotted curve is an arrow pointing down and slightly left. From here temperature decreases very slowly but steadily from 0.5°C until 1000 BCE where a stable plateau is reached around 0°C.]
::Earth begins to cool slowly mainly due to regular cycles in its orbit

:4500 BCE
::[To the left:]
:: Proto-Indo-European language develops
:::[To the right of the curve Ponytail holds up a hand towards Cueball.]
:::Ponytail: Let’s make out language heavily inflected, so future students have to memorize a zillion verb endings!
:::Cueball: Okay!
::[To the left:]
::Permanent settlements in the fertile crescent

:4000 BCE
::Horses domesticated
::[To the left:]
::Minoan culture arises on Crete

:3500 BCE
::Egyptian mummification
::Rise of the Indus Valley civilization
::[To the left:]
::Invention of writing in Sumer “prehistory” ends, “history” begins
::Earliest human whose name we know
::(Pharaoh Iry-Hor in Egypt)

:3000 BCE
::''Three Sovereigns and five emperors'' period in China
::Gilgamesh
::[To the left:]
::Imhotep
::Mayan culture emerges
::[To the left:]
::Great Pyramid constructed

:2500 BCE
::Corded Ware culture in Europe
::[To the left of the curve two rock musicians with long hair and electrical guitars are standing on either side of a small gate made of three slabs of stone, one on top of the other two standing stones.]
::Stonehenge completed
::Chariots developed

:2000 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Alphabetic writing developed in Egypt
::Last mammoths on a tiny Siberian island go extinct
::[To the left:]
::Minoan eruption

:1500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::Iron smelting
::Olmec civilization develops in Central America
::[A Trojan horse with two Cueball-like guys in front and a third standing on its back. Its back is at three Cueball’s height and its head rises to the level of the Cueball on its back. It stands on a platform with four wheel on the visible side. There is text on the horse]
:::Setting of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''
:::Text on horse: Not a trap
::[To the left:]
::Invasion of the Sea peoples*
::* A real thing
::Polynesians explore the Pacific Ocean

:1000 BCE
::[From 1000 BBC to 1000 CE the temperature is stable and very close to 0°C.]
::[To the left:]
::Solomon
::[Randall spelled Iliad wrongly this time:]
::Illiad and Odyssey composed
::[To the left:]
::Rise of Greek city-states
::Neo-Assyrian empire
::[To the left:]
::First Olympics
::Zapotec writing in modern Mexico
::[To the left:]
::Confucius

:500 BCE
::[To the left:]
::The stuff in the 300 (film)|movie ''300'', but regular speed and with more clothing
::Buddha
::Nazca Lines
::[To the left:]
::Alexander the Great
::[To the left:]
::Mayan hieroglyphics
::Ashoka the Great
::[To the left:]
::Paper invented
::[To the left:]
::Asterix
::Teotihuacán metropolis
::[To the left:]
::Julius Caesar

:[At the year 0, there is instead two numbers for each of the two scales before and after Christ:]
:1 BCE
:1 CE
::[To the left:]
::Roman Empire
::Jesus
::[To the left and erupting volcano.]
::Pompeii
::Three Kingdoms period
::[To the left:]
::Gupta empire
::[To the left:]
::Various groups take turns sacking Rome
::[Randall spelled Attila wrong:]
::Atilla the Hun

:500 CE
::Muhammad
::[To the left:]
::Tang Dynasty
::[An arrow to the right of the dotted curve pointing down, takes a swing far out from the curve and then bends back again. The text label next to it breaks into the next 500 period. The dotted curve stays stable at 0°C along this arrow.]
::Medieval warm period in Europe and some northern regions (too regional to affect the global average much)
::[To the left:]
::Leif Eriksson

:1000 CE
::[The dotted curve moves to the left towards lower temperature reaching a minimum around 1650 of about -0.6°C at the Little Ice Age.]
::[To the left a drawing of a compass with needle pointing the black end towards north east. There are labels for the four main directions and a label next to it:]
:::N
:::W E
:::S
:::Magnetic compass navigation
::[To the left:]
::Ghengis Khan
::Zheng He’s fleet explores Asia and Africa
::[To the left:]
::Aztec Alliance
::[To the left:]
::Printing press
::[To the left:]
::Columbus

:1500 CE
::European Renaissance
::[To the left:]
::Shakespeare

:1600
::[To the left:]
::Newton
::[To the right of the dotted curve there is an arrow pointing down that makes a swing in towards the curve and then back out again. At -0.6°C this is the coldest it has been since 9500 BCE. It is labeled:]
::”Little Ice Age”

:1700
::Steam engines
::[To the left:]
::Unites States Independence

:1800
::Industrial Revolution
::[To the left:]
::Telegraphs
::[After this the dotted curve becomes solid.]

:1900
::[To the left, and on the line for 1900:]
::Airplanes
::[To the left:]
::World Wars
::[The solid line takes a step to the right close to 0°C. Over the rest of the 1900s it moves closer to 0°C crossing it before 2000 where it almost reaches the maximum temperature of 0.5 °C from earlier in 8000 BCE.]
::Fossil fuel CO2 emissions start rapidly increasing
::[To the left:]
::Nuclear weapons
::[To the left:]
::Internet

:2000
::Northwest Passage opens
::[From here to present day the solid line increases rapidly and in 2016 present day is almost reaches 1°C, with about 0.8°C.]

:2016
::[To the left on the line for 2016:]
::Present day
::[From here the curve once again becomes dotted as this is the future. After one dot it splits in two and after the first two dots another split between them occurs forming three possible future dotted curves. The first curve bending down before the others, and thus to the right of the other two reaches about 1.2°C and then goes straight down and stops at the 2100 line. An arrow points to it from the left and a label is written patly before and the rest after the 2100 line to the left of the curve:]
::Best-case scenario assuming immediate massive action to limit emissions

:2100
::[The middle curve bends a little down after reaching 1.3°C and then continues this path reaching 2°C in 2100. An arrow point from below to it and a label is written below the curve and below 2100 line:]
::Optimistic scenario
::[The last line continues along the path from the last 16 years of the solid line reaching 4.2°C at 2100, almost as far on the other side of 0°C in 150 years as it took 14000 years to move from the other side from the start of the chart. Another arrow point to this from below with a label below the curve and below 2100 line:]
::Current Path

==Trivia==
*There have been several ''[[:Category:Large drawings|large drawings]]'' in the history of xkcd, and also some that are bigger than this one (for instance [[1110: Click and Drag]]).
**But among those that can be viewed in one go, without downloading a larger file or moving around, this is by far the longest.
**The next longest is probably [[482: Height]].
*The timeline starts at 20,000 BCE (22,000 years ago) and ends at 2100 CE, thus covering 22,100 years.
*There are several spelling mistakes.
**Most obvious is the second time Randall wrote the word "Iliad," because he just spelled it correctly at 1500 BCE and then spelled it ''Illiad'' at 1000 BCE with two "L"s.
**Attila the Hun becomes ''Atilla the Hun'' with ''one'' T and ''two'' L's.
**Pokémon is spelled ''Pokemon'', but then again that is not so strange for Randall (see [[1647: Diacritics]]). But he usually spells it correctly as in the recent comic [[1705: Pokémon Go]].
**Note that the fact that Woolly rhinoceros becomes ''Wooly rhino'' with only one l is not a spelling mistake but an alternative spelling of the word.
*Notably absent are the following facts
**1850: methodical temperature record begins. Although this fact is indirectly indicated when the temperature curve becomes solid around 1850 and until present day.
**The entire swing period between 20 and 200 thousand years prior to now, which would depict temperature swings with increasing frequency and amplitude (ref geological record). But of course this could not be included in a comic that only goes back to 20,000 BCE. And as is clear from the curve the temperature has been very stable these last 10,000 years which may explain why human civilization has peace from rapid changes in the environment to develop in the first place. And now it seems that we are causing this stable plateau to come to an end, and that was the point of the comic.
**The 300 million years prior to that, during much of which the Earth was significantly warmer than now. However, the data's temporal precision decreases with age; seemingly abrupt changes millions of years ago might have happened over centuries or millennia. Hence, the older data is not usable to compare rates of change.

===Popularity of comic===
*This comic became popular with a much broader audience than most xkcd comics. It was discussed admiringly by news sites such as [http://www.popsci.com/xkcd-earth-average-temperature-timeline Popular Science], [http://reason.com/blog/2016/09/14/send-around-this-xkcd-climate-change-web Reason], [http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/09/13/xkcd_takes_on_global_warming.html Slate], [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-comic-masterfully-shows-how-climate-has-changed-through-time-180960451/ Smithsonian], and [http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2016/09/13/heres-22000-years-of-climate-changes-in-a-single-comic/ Forbes]. It was promoted by famous individuals such as [[Elon Musk]] and [http://www.ecowatch.com/xkcd-climate-change-2003991855.html John Green], and of course criticized by climate skeptics such as [http://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/09/20/josh-takes-on-xkcds-climate-timeline/ Anthony Watts] and [http://joannenova.com.au/2016/09/how-to-make-climate-graphs-look-scary-a-reply-to-xkcd/ Joanne Nova].
*Due to increased interest, Randall decided to push the release of the next comic [[1733: Solar Spectrum]] one day back for a rare [[:Category:Thursday comics|Thursday release]] instead of the scheduled [[:Category:Wednesday comics|Wednesday release]].
**He [http://web.archive.org/web/20160915101125/http://xkcd.com/ noted this] above [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/a/a6/1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed_for_all_comics.png all the comics] in the [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/6d/1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed.png header text on xkcd]:
::Note: Since a lot of new people are here looking for this chart today,
::I'll be posting Wednesday's comic on Thursday instead.
*Before that the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160912181546/https://xkcd.com/ normal heading] with the release day of xkcd was shown.
**This was (of course) still there Tuesday the [http://web.archive.org/web/20160913231501/http://xkcd.com/ day after] the release, because it was first on Wednesday there were reason to note the delay.
**It stayed in place even [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/6/62/1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_changed_also_when_next_comic_was_released.png for some time after] the "Wednesday" comic was released on Thursday, but was [http://web.archive.org/web/20160915154605/http://xkcd.com/ then removed] before [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/images/e/ee/1732_Earth_Temperature_Timeline_header_text_back_to_normal_shortly_after_next_comic_was_released.png noon (EST)] on Thursday.
***Randall did thus not post a link to this comic in the header text for new visitors to use, only giving them that one extra day.
*Even though the next comic was released on a Thursday, the scheduled Friday comic [[1734: Reductionism]] was still released as planned.
**This was also the first time this occurred on xkcd - see [[1734:_Reductionism#Trivia|this trivia item]] from the Friday comic.

{{comic discussion}}

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