Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => The Coffee Corner => Topic started by: LesPalenik on July 01, 2019, 08:47:59 pm

Title: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 01, 2019, 08:47:59 pm
46C in France, 39C in Germany, Autobahn disintegrating, heat records being broken across Europe from Spain to Poland, and 150cm of hail in Guadalajara  in Mexico.
And there are still people who don't accept the climate changes.

In Germany, they wouldn't cancel or postpone the Ironman race. The top athletes were competing in 38C (100F) tempratures in a grueling race, taking overv nine hours.
 
Quote
Two-time U.S. Olympian Sarah True collapsed while leading in the last 100-degree mile of the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt, Germany, on Sunday. True, who said she had a seven-minute lead, was carried off the course by four people after nine hours of racing. She later said she could not remember the last two miles of the 140.6-mile competition (2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike and a marathon) and that the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/07/01/sarah-true-ironman-collapse/

Quote
A freak hailstorm on Sunday struck Guadalajara, one of Mexico's most populous cities, shocking residents and trapping vehicles in a deluge of ice pellets up to two yards deep.

more photos and article about the ice storm:
https://news.yahoo.com/photos-freak-hail-storm-hits-guadalajara-mexico-131844700.html

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 01, 2019, 09:11:27 pm
... And there are still people who don't accept the climate changes...

Nobody denies that climate changes. It's been changing for billions of years.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 01, 2019, 09:25:45 pm
Quite right! But this time, the changes are caused by man. Actually, by almost 8 million humans.
Not counting 1.5 billion cows, 2 billion pigs, and 19 billion chickens. That's over 60 billion gas producing orifices and who knows how much CO2 and methane.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: langier on July 01, 2019, 10:07:23 pm
The "Record Temperature" near Paris was apparently measured between a highway and a bunch of greenhouses...the "urban heat island" effect used for effect...

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2019/06/29/frances-new-hottest-recorded-temperature-ever-is-in-question-guess-where-it-was-measured/

Scrolling down the page, it also may not be a record high despite the anomaly of the siting of the weather station.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 01, 2019, 10:14:53 pm
un record est un record or as French say une record temperature
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 01, 2019, 10:40:12 pm
In the meantime, Miami is enjoying the same balmy weather as every year. No records here. So, where is the “global” part ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 01, 2019, 10:58:36 pm
Miami is indeed a special place. Let's enjoy it while we can.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 01, 2019, 11:52:29 pm
46C in France, 39C in Germany, Autobahn disintegrating, heat records being broken across Europe from Spain to Poland, and 150cm of hail in Guadalajara  in Mexico.
And there are still people who don't accept the climate changes.

In Germany, they wouldn't cancel or postpone the Ironman race. The top athletes were competing in 38C (100F) tempratures in a grueling race, taking overv nine hours.
 
https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/07/01/sarah-true-ironman-collapse/

more photos and article about the ice storm:
https://news.yahoo.com/photos-freak-hail-storm-hits-guadalajara-mexico-131844700.html

Funny you should bring up Germany.  They have been going full retard on wind/solar, while decreasing their nuclear, and their carbon emissions have only being increasing, or , best case, flat lining while having energy prices skyrocket.  Meanwhile France, 96+% of electricity from nuclear, has seen their emissions go down with electricity prices a 1/3 of Germany's.

So here is an idea, why dont we actually get on a winning team, and start supporting nuclear and stop our fairy tale addiction of wind/solar. 

Wow, wind and solar, it's almost like, the natural problems that exist with them, like, cant be, like, over come since they are natural and inherent to the energy source, like, no matter what we do, like, we will always deal with the intermittency and dilutantancy issues with, like, wind and solar to the point of it costing us a shit ton of money.   ???



Also, please explain to us how the freak hail storm in Mexico has anything to do with climate change.  Hail storms have been going on forever in the summer, and just because one happens to strike means nothing insofar as climate change.  It's like the wild fires in CA; they have nothing to do with climate change and are almost certainly the result of the Smokey Bear Effect. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2019, 12:02:41 am
The sources of pollution and their consequences don't necessarily align.
In seventies and eighties many lakes in Northern Ontario were seriously acidified and pretty much dead - devoid of any organic life, such as plants or fish. Between 50% and 70% of Canada's acid rain came from the United States, while only 2-10% of America's pollution in this area came from Canada. Fortunately, by now after new protective legislations, most lakes in the Sudbury region have recovered, which is also a proof, that the problems were caused and can be fixed by man.

Quote
"Compared to some other environmental problems, we caught the worst of it in time," Smol explained, "and we had significant legislation, especially in the early 1990s, that really made a big difference in acid rain. That's one of the reasons we don't hear about it as much these days."

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/acid-rain-the-sort-of-environmental-success-story/44801

Joe, instead of repeating the same stuff over and over, you should read my posts more carefully. As to the nuclear energy, I have mentioned in one of my previous posts that Ontario utilizes mainly nuclear and hydroelectric generation plants, and a small percentage of electricity comes from wind and solar. Quebec, the second most populous province in Canada, produces close to 96% of its electricity through hydropower. Newfoundland and British Columbia use also primarily hydroelectric plants. Coal-fired generation plants are still used to some extent in other Canadian provinces. 
 
I've seen quite a few hail storms, but never even heard of one which deposited 5 feet of ice. Extreme in every way. As to the explanation of the Guadalajara hail storm, I'm not a meteorologist, but have you heard about the Butterfly Effect? A butterfly flapping its wings somewhere over the Pacific Ocean can cause a hurricane in Florida. It may take a very long time, but the connection is real. If the butterfly had not flapped its wings at just the right point in space/time, the hurricane would not have happened.

When it comes to hail storms, it is well known that:

Quote
hail formation occurs "when strong currents of rising air, known as updrafts, carry droplets of water high enough that they freeze." The higher these droplets get, the cooler the temperature, even during a hot summer.

Recently, I read that the current weather extremes are caused by powerful air currents (stronger than before and also occurring in different patterns) and it's not difficult to add up the two facts above and understand that the new air currents and weather patterns might be causing more dangerous storms - producing also large quantities of hail or water.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 02, 2019, 01:26:36 am
46C in France, 39C in Germany, Autobahn disintegrating, heat records being broken across Europe from Spain to Poland, and 150cm of hail in Guadalajara  in Mexico.
And there are still people who don't accept the climate changes.


Hold on to your hats, the Flat Earthers will be along in a minute ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 02, 2019, 05:00:07 am
The odd thing is this: almost everybody I speak with in life as against online is complaining about the heat this early in summer - which is pretty high - and of the fact that the past winter has been unusually mild; yes, cold, but compared with earlier winters, mild. (And I know this, not by being obsessed with the thermometer, but by dint of my hands not being as badly affected this winter by Raynaud's as in past years) Rainfall has been low, and this bodes ill for the water supply.

The winters here of the 80s were spectacular displays of lightning and thunder; can't remember the last time we had that kind of sustained display in recent years. I used to get robins in the garden and on the terrace each winter; I haven't seen one in the past two. Ditto lizards: each summer would see them lie in wait on the terrace walls or ceiling. Not seen one there in years, though I have seen one elsewhere on the building. By now, the evening sky would be alive with little bats doing their acrobatic displays; not so far this time around. Of course things have changed during the past few year; you'd have to live in a closed box not to notice.

As you would not to notice that parking these days in this little pair of towns (Pollensa and its Port) is almost impossible, where once there was unlimited space right in front of your destination.

Why do some here look upon big cars or tucks as being valid only in terms of the price of their fuel? What about the shit they pump out into the air? Does it make more sense to drive two tons of crap with just the driver inside, or something that weighs less than half that? As I asked before, where do folks think those escaped gasses go? The bits that separate out and become heavier than air fall back down, but the gasses lighter than air can't, and they stop right where they have the same weight as the much thinner air around them at that altitude, and so on outwards. They can't fall back down and be "treated". They cause the layers that trap heat. And somebody thinks that adding and adding to that, which is what man is doing, makes no difference, that it would happen anyway? What would happen anyway does; but we add a helluva lot to that. And what we add are perhaps the bits that become trapped above our heads. For ever. Those can't be washed back down by rain. They are above it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 02, 2019, 07:55:12 am
I feel I need to apologize for my remarks.  They were a little abrasive here.  I get frustrated with the whole carbon emissions issue and feel nothing is really being done.  Wind and solar is a rabbit whole not slowing emissions and the fact that nuclear is not being given more credence is annoying. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 02, 2019, 08:06:24 am
Absolutely, Les. As Chicken Little said, "The sky is falling." I think we should all run for it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Chairman Bill on July 02, 2019, 08:08:20 am
Hold on to your hats, the Flat Earthers will be along in a minute ...

Indeed. They will be revealing the global conspiracy by evil scientists to con us into believing that global heating is occurring, in the hope that we'll make them rich by switching to renewable forms of energy, reducing deforestation & increasing tree planting, all to make the Earth more habitable by lizard-alien Overlords of the New World Order. We can only be saved by politicians who get lots of funding from oil companies - our heroes <swoon>
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 02, 2019, 08:17:06 am
Indeed. They will be revealing the global conspiracy by evil scientists to con us into believing that global heating is occurring, in the hope that we'll make them rich by switching to renewable forms of energy, reducing deforestation & increasing tree planting, all to make the Earth more habitable by lizard-alien Overlords of the New World Order. We can only be saved by politicians who get lots of funding from oil companies - our heroes <swoon>


Hey, why neglect the gun lobby? Swoon, gulp, the end.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2019, 09:09:38 am
Absolutely, Les. As Chicken Little said, "The sky is falling." I think we should all run for it.

Russ, it wasn't the sky, it was just a lot of ice.
In case of sky falling, the big sky chunks will fall just behind the earth edge. However, in case of ice balls, they could hit your house. I sincerely hope they won't.
Where I am, it's improbable that we will see any hail, since the air and water temperatures are unusually cold this summer. Could be caused by those new pesky air currents.
 

 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 02, 2019, 10:45:14 am
Temperatures in Alaska are supposed to set records over the next couple of days. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 02, 2019, 10:53:13 am
That'll be nice for Alaska.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2019, 10:54:32 am
But uncomfortably hot for grizzlies.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 02, 2019, 10:57:44 am
Well, it might be uncomfortable for the rapidly multiplying polar bears, but grizzlies also live a lot farther south -- say in Colorado for instance as I remember. They'll be okay. They're probably stretched out on rocks right now going "Ahhhhhhhh....."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 02, 2019, 11:07:11 am
... more photos and article about the ice storm:
https://news.yahoo.com/photos-freak-hail-storm-hits-guadalajara-mexico-131844700.html

What I am going to say is not related to global warming. Nor I claim a conspiracy or photoshopping. I am genuinely puzzled.

Looking at the photos, I wonder:

1. How is it possible that no windshield or car roof appears damaged? Really small hail? And yet huge chunks of ice on the ground. Smail hail melted to form huge chunks?

2. No ice on the bushes or house roofs

3. No ice further away from the main street. Steep side streets, sloping toward the main street? Don't look that way on the photograph, but possible.

4. Not a single video of the hail actually falling? In a city of 5 million people?

To me, the way it entered the city street, it looks like a mudslide or flash flood from the neighboring hills (except it was ice, not mud or rain). The position of the cars in the middle of the street also suggest something like flash flood. The city is at a 5000-feet altitude, btw, and used to hail storms, just not this freakish.

In any case, freakishly unusual.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 02, 2019, 11:17:29 am
Then again, it isn't so unheard of in Colorado, for instance, though you can clearly see hail damage to cars:

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 02, 2019, 11:21:55 am
Impossible to say. All of my cars in Spain have suffered hail damage but never (thank God) broken glass.

The first shots look like white flooding of something thickly creamy, but the last one shows some residual white on roofs, as well as collapsed, cheap roofing. Now, if the hail happened suddenly, followed by sunshine, small areas would melt more quickly than large; five feet deep makes sense if you think of it as in streets, where roofs have emptied onto them, but that depends on whether or not the place uses flat roofing or pitched.

Odd event. Or more of what Alan would almost certainly define as fake news. Perhaps it is all fake story, and there was a drain blockage at the central laundry. Or nightclub.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 02, 2019, 11:35:20 am
...  collapsed, cheap roofing. ..flat roofing or pitched...

In places like those, collapsed roofing has been there for a while most likely, and not from snow. Most roofs are flat in the pictures.

It looks like the freakish height of the accumulated melted hail is more a result of the terrain configuration, leading to a concentration in the lower main street, than the sheer amount of hail. Which would make the event less freakish, as the Colorado pictures, where it is more or less a regular occurance, confirm.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Martin Kristiansen on July 02, 2019, 11:41:15 am
Looks like hail to me. Small hail.  We get a lot of hail. Almost weekly in summer months when we get our rainfall. Hail can be really localized.  One street gets blitzed and another nothing. Hail is almost always associated with massive rainfalls. I mean like a cloudburst. That results in hail being washed into concentrated areas once on the ground. I have seen hail as big as golf balls several times in my life. Car windows brake with that type of hail but not the little stuff no matter how thick that falls. It’s very slippery to drive on.

I have built hail men on a few occasions with very heavy hail but I have never seen anything like in these photos.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2019, 05:42:53 pm
Despite the hail storm in Quadalajara, Mexico,  June 2019 was hottest month ever recorded on Earth.

Quote
Global readings taken by the EU-ran Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) showed European temperatures were around 2 deg C hotter than normal, and globally Earth was 0.1 deg C hotter than the previous June record.

The heatwave last week smashed national records for the hottest single day as scorching weather spread across Europe from the Sahara.

It was so intense that temperatures were as much as 10 deg C higher than normal across France, Germany, northern Spain and Italy.

https://www.thedailystar.net/world/news/june-was-hottest-month-ever-recorded-earth-eu-satellite-agency-1765669
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 03, 2019, 11:25:48 am
Hold on to your hats, the Flat Earthers will be along in a minute ...

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 03, 2019, 11:58:02 am
Speaking about Flat Earthers:

Quote
Recently, Twitter user @NotaCelebirty asked the Flat Earth Society if members believe in climate change.

“Certainly,” the society replied, in a post that’s caught the attention of Reddit users in recent days. “It would be nothing short of irresponsible to question something with so much overwhelming evidence behind it, and something that threatens us so directly as a species.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2018/09/07/the-flat-earth-society-weighs-climate-change/pyRLW25ksFUvzsxQ5iDuHO/story.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 03, 2019, 01:00:14 pm
Global warming causing yet another fire.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jim-beam-bourbon-fire-kentucky-warehouse-destroys-45-000-barrels-n1026236

And here I was, hoping to put all that ice from Mexico to a good use ;)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 03, 2019, 01:21:55 pm
That's a serious loss, 45,000 barrels of whiskey. They could have it used it as a biofuel instead.
 
Little bit further north, a different crisis hit makers of iceberg vodka. Somebody stole their melted iceberg water.

Quote
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -- The remarkable theft of about 30,000 litres of iceberg water from a vodka company warehouse in Newfoundland has bewildered the firm's owners.

Iceberg Vodka CEO David Meyers said he and his staff were shocked on Monday morning to discover one of 10 tanks of water in the company's Port Union, N.L., warehouse had been drained of its precious contents. Police are now investigating a theft valued between $9,000 and $12,000.

But there are still plenty of icebergs around.

https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/busy-iceberg-season-expected-this-year-in-newfoundland-and-labrador-306152/

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/they-re-everywhere-you-look-iceberg-spotters-flock-to-newfoundland-1.4432043

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 03, 2019, 01:44:32 pm
Thank God it was whiskey and vodka, both horrible spirits.  I'll raise a glass of rum to that! 

Now we just need a good gin fire too. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 03, 2019, 06:09:04 pm
Funny you should bring up Germany.  They have been going full retard on wind/solar, while decreasing their nuclear, and their carbon emissions have only being increasing, or , best case, flat lining while having energy prices skyrocket.  Meanwhile France, 96+% of electricity from nuclear, has seen their emissions go down with electricity prices a 1/3 of Germany's.

So here is an idea, why dont we actually get on a winning team, and start supporting nuclear and stop our fairy tale addiction of wind/solar. 

Wow, wind and solar, it's almost like, the natural problems that exist with them, like, cant be, like, over come since they are natural and inherent to the energy source, like, no matter what we do, like, we will always deal with the intermittency and dilutantancy issues with, like, wind and solar to the point of it costing us a shit ton of money.   ???



Also, please explain to us how the freak hail storm in Mexico has anything to do with climate change.  Hail storms have been going on forever in the summer, and just because one happens to strike means nothing insofar as climate change.  It's like the wild fires in CA; they have nothing to do with climate change and are almost certainly the result of the Smokey Bear Effect. 
Joe, you been behind the times.  When there's a freak hot spell it caused by climate change.  When there's a freak cold spell it's caused by a weather pattern.  Get with it, will ya?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 05, 2019, 08:11:51 am
Joe, you been behind the times.  When there's a freak hot spell it caused by climate change.  When there's a freak cold spell it's caused by a weather pattern.  Get with it, will ya?

On the charitable thought that you forgot the smiley: local weather patterns are brought about by patterns and changes across the world. You can be as greenly credentialed as you like, but if Mon Oncle Sam continues to hold hands with China and India, everybody is fucked, determinedly responsible virgins or otherwise.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 12, 2019, 07:52:15 am
Let's hope that New Orleans makes it through the rough storm that is coming in this weekend.  The US spent $14B to fix all the pumping stations and other flood control stuff.  this should be the first real test.

We've had really bad storms up here in the DC area as well.  On Tuesday parts of the area received four inches (10cm) of rain in one hour.  There were some pictures of people on their way to work whose cars got stuck in flood waters on some major roads.  We had another set of storms yesterday afternoon and they are really quite scary with the wind and driving rain.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 12, 2019, 08:03:25 am
Let's hope that New Orleans makes it through the rough storm that is coming in this weekend.  The US spent $14B to fix all the pumping stations and other flood control stuff.  this should be the first real test.

We've had really bad storms up here in the DC area as well.  On Tuesday parts of the area received four inches (10cm) of rain in one hour.  There were some pictures of people on their way to work whose cars got stuck in flood waters on some major roads.  We had another set of storms yesterday afternoon and they are really quite scary with the wind and driving rain.

On the Louisiana radio station I listen to, they said last night that the storm was still some way off, and moving at about 3mph towards them.

Couple of days ago we had another Sahara rain experience, where it rains brown. This time, it was the worst I have ever seen. The cars outside were monochromatic, just like in a drawing on brown paper.

So yeah, over my almost forty years of seeing such events, it's got a lot more severe now.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: BernardLanguillier on July 12, 2019, 08:28:26 am
Joe, you been behind the times.  When there's a freak hot spell it caused by climate change.  When there's a freak cold spell it's caused by a weather pattern.  Get with it, will ya?

Are you denying the reality of global warming or that man's activity has a dominant effect on it?

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 08:30:00 am
Are you denying the reality of global warming or that man's activity has a dominant effect on it?

No/yes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 08:44:19 am
Not so much in Florida, where the average temperature over the last fifty years rose only by about 1 degree (C). However, in northern Canada, the average temperatures rose by over double that rate.
Sometimes, even the small gradual changes cause big events. For example, in 2016 in Yukon, melting glacier opened a new channel and two large lakes and Slims River drained up. That has cause other changes for the natives living in that area.

Quote
The higher lake drained into the lower, directing the entire meltwater flow first east to the Kaskawulsh river, and eventually south toward the Pacific Ocean.
...
Wildlife has changed their routines as well. South of Burwash Landing, Sharon Kabanak stands on a parched piece of land.
“The ducks used to land here all the time. It was kind of like a duck sanctuary,” she says, “but it’s all dry now.”

http://projects.thestar.com/climate-change-canada/yukon/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 08:47:02 am
Are you denying the reality of global warming or that man's activity has a dominant effect on it?

Cheers,
Bernard

the coverage is spotty and not complete. There's an unfairness in how they report it
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 08:54:42 am
For example, since it's warmed up, an area approximately twice the size of the United States has become green with trees and grass. 
That provide more habitat for animals and plants to expand their territory and for more farming area for men as well.  But you never read about things like this.   Warming is always negative. The fact is the earth and its inhabitants have always done better when it's warmer.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 12, 2019, 09:07:25 am
No/yes.

+1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 09:20:47 am
the coverage is spotty and not complete. There's an unfairness in how they report it

If the little rise in the temperature affects only your A/C bill, I can understand you reasoning.   
However, if two lakes and a river disappear, with all the waterfowl and fish gone, that sounds rather complete to me.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 12, 2019, 10:15:16 am
For example, since it's warmed up, an area approximately twice the size of the United States has become green with trees and grass. 
That provide more habitat for animals and plants to expand their territory and for more farming area for men as well.  But you never read about things like this.   Warming is always negative. The fact is the earth and its inhabitants have always done better when it's warmer.
While true, there is also increase in the range of disease carrying insects and invasive plant species.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 12, 2019, 10:37:02 am
Better run for the hills, Alan.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: BernardLanguillier on July 12, 2019, 11:07:50 am
No/yes.

So you think that the current warming is one of those natural cycles that occurred in the past as well?

How do you explain the the rate of warming is much much much faster this time?

Cheers,
Bernard
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 12, 2019, 11:10:32 am
For example, since it's warmed up, an area approximately twice the size of the United States has become green with trees and grass. 
That provide more habitat for animals and plants to expand their territory and for more farming area for men as well.  But you never read about things like this.   Warming is always negative. The fact is the earth and its inhabitants have always done better when it's warmer.

I'm looking forward to hearing about the new habitat for the polar bears, not to mention the cold-water fish and other mammals. Obviously enough the tiny existing deserts like the Gobi, the Sahara, the Arabian Peninsula, the Atacama are going to expand; much of the rest of Africa will turn brown, and then, as since it's warmed up, an area approximately twice the size of the United States has become green with trees and grass. That (will) provide more habitat for animals and plants to expand their territory and for more farming area for men as well.  But you never read about things like this.   Warming is always negative. The fact is the earth and its inhabitants have always done better when it's warmer.

Have you dug to Australia yet?

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 12, 2019, 11:20:18 am
No/yes.

OMG, even your government admits it is human-caused.
You must be in a deep state of denial to not even believe the Trump administration's own reports.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 11:21:04 am
OMG, even your government admits it is human-caused.
You must be in a deep state of denial to not even believe the Trump administrations own reports...

There are morons everywhere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 12, 2019, 11:23:14 am
There are morons everywhere.

You mean you have proof that their assessment is incorrect, or what do you mean?

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 12, 2019, 11:25:04 am
I think I might rechristen LuLa Alice in Wonderland.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 11:31:14 am
OMG, even your government admits it is human-caused.
You must be in a deep state of denial to not even believe the Trump administration's own reports.

Cheers,
Bart
Every species affects the environment for "good and bad".  The measure of whether it's good for a particular species has always been expansion of range and population. So on those criteria, humans are very successful.    Sure, there will be pockets of damage that affects particular individuals.   But the species as a whole is what's measured. 

Frankly, having retired and moved to New Jersey farm country, I'm disappointed by how many new developments have been builts around here in the last six years.  I enjoy driving around the farms and ranches and seeing horses, cows and other animals.  But the buildings.  It's we're too damn successful.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 11:42:19 am
You mean you have proof that their assessment is incorrect, or what do you mean?

30 years ago, a United Nations report predicted dire climate consequences for the world: whole islands underwater, sea rise flooding whole coastal areas, blah, blah, blah. None of that happened. Al Gore said a polar cap might melt completely by 2018. Didn't happen. AOC predicts the world will end in 12 years. Wanna bet how that one is going to go?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 11:51:49 am
While true, there is also increase in the range of disease carrying insects and invasive plant species.
Those are minor negatives when comparing to expanding populations of species.   You could argue that since the populations are expanding, there will be more deaths as well.  But arguing that would be just as illogical and superficial.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 11:53:20 am
The "New Energy Economy": An Exercise in Magical Thinking

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/green-energy-revolution-near-impossible?fbclid=IwAR2FpPsBFFmMp7BjwxAn3wqxZ6RpqERKFLkz9lxKn285fbgnxuQbbku88Zg

(Emphasis mine)

Quote
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This paper highlights the physics of energy to illustrate why there is no possibility that the world is undergoing—or can undergo—a near-term transition to a “new energy economy.”

Among the reasons:

Scientists have yet to discover, and entrepreneurs have yet to invent, anything as remarkable as hydrocarbons in terms of the combination of low-cost, high-energy density, stability, safety, and portability. In practical terms, this means that spending $1 million on utility-scale wind turbines, or solar panels will each, over 30 years of operation, produce about 50 million kilowatt-hours (kWh)—while an equivalent $1 million spent on a shale rig produces enough natural gas over 30 years to generate over 300 million kWh.

Solar technologies have improved greatly and will continue to become cheaper and more efficient. But the era of 10-fold gains is over. The physics boundary for silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells, the Shockley-Queisser Limit, is a maximum conversion of 34% of photons into electrons; the best commercial PV technology today exceeds 26%.
Wind power technology has also improved greatly, but here, too, no 10-fold gains are left. The physics boundary for a wind turbine, the Betz Limit, is a maximum capture of 60% of kinetic energy in moving air; commercial turbines today exceed 40%.

The annual output of Tesla’s Gigafactory, the world’s largest battery factory, could store three minutes’ worth of annual U.S. electricity demand. It would require 1,000 years of production to make enough batteries for two days’ worth of U.S. electricity demand. Meanwhile, 50–100 pounds of materials are mined, moved, and processed for every pound of battery produced.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 11:56:01 am
The problem is everyone is focused on warming as a negative.  No one talks about the positives.  If you only examine the negatives and highlight them, sure, people get worried.  But we should look at the whole picture.  Then decide what should be done if anything.  Even costs to change climate have an effect.  There's only so much money available.  Using it to change the climate removes funding for other important work - cancer research, feeding people, medical care, etc.  These have to be computed into the formula before you make a commitment to spend trillions and trillions that might be better spent elsewheres.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 12, 2019, 12:24:52 pm
30 years ago, a United Nations report predicted dire climate consequences for the world: whole islands underwater, sea rise flooding whole coastal areas, blah, blah, blah. None of that happened. Al Gore said a polar cap might melt completely by 2018. Didn't happen. AOC predicts the world will end in 12 years. Wanna bet how that one is going to go?

Besides the fact that that was not based on scientific evidence, and Al Gore is not a scientist either, you are basically saying you don't have proof or even a theory to share, because you don't trust anybody.

How strange, when even an oil company like Shell knew in 1991 what was happening, and made a video documentary about it:
Climate of Concern - Royal Dutch Shell (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOWi8oVXmo

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 12:38:05 pm
It looks like this winter we will be still able to enjoy the South Florida beaches. But Miami mayor is worried.

Quote
“We’ve been increasing at a small level every year,” Jane Gilbert said.
Gilbert is the City if Miami’s chief resilience officer. It’s a role meant to literally keep families above water.

The greatest threat now from sea level rise, is flooding especially as Hurricane Season approaches.
“The combination of higher storm surge and more precipitation. That could increase the flood risk,” Gilbert said.

Quote
In November 2017, voters approved a $400 Million Miami Forever Bond. Nearly half the funds go toward tackling sea level rise.

Why would they spend unnecessary money on alarmist news?


https://miami.cbslocal.com/2019/05/21/faster-than-predicted-rising-sea-levels-coastal-cities/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 12, 2019, 01:07:39 pm
Yes, I know; those pesky icebergs sink ships! Let's melt them all; you know nothing will happen. The money spent doing that will create jobs and make America Great Again! There will be more money to fund the gun lobby and less to waste on cancer research which we don't do much of now because it's not cost efficient and hey, we're all gonna die some day anyway, right? Look on the positive side!

The holiday industry will thrive, especially the big cruise liner section: instead of going to the cold seas (brrrr!!!!) to watch whales we can all go to Venice Beach instead, or maybe to New New Orleans and fill the place with fresh day-trippers every day! When that bores, there's always the new thrill of the old North Pole route, now free of ice and bustling with Russian yachts, Chinese junks etc. Bring your large digital camera(s) and get the same photos as everyone else you envied does! Count the hairs! Feel the bokeh!

Mr Trump has pioneered a new company and great plan to raise the whole of Miami on stilts! Then see how great the south will be again, and how envious those Europeans will feel as their own waterways lose visitors to the new, shiny, Technicolor Las Vegas-by-the-Sea.  The rigs in the Gulf? What rigs? The last hurricane cleaned them all away, don't you remember? So environmentally friendly, our Gulf.

Wait: is that a little group of people from a photographic website out in a dighy looking for seals and penguins? No worries, lads; we have an indoor reservation for you to visit - you can sail right in through the airlock - and any number of people dressed in the appropriate costumes will clap their hands, waddle, and/or balance colouted balls on the tip of their nose for you; our staff are better than the uncooperative real things in the old documentaries; did you know it once took weeks to get a couple of minutes of movie? Our backgrounds are authentic scenes specially curated from old National Geographic archives, guaranteed better than real. And get this: our 'bergs are color coded to your sensor setting of choice! Wow! What more could a sane man desire?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 12, 2019, 01:12:33 pm
The problem is everyone is focused on warming as a negative.  No one talks about the positives.  If you only examine the negatives and highlight them, sure, people get worried.  But we should look at the whole picture.  Then decide what should be done if anything.  Even costs to change climate have an effect.  There's only so much money available.  Using it to change the climate removes funding for other important work - cancer research, feeding people, medical care, etc.  These have to be computed into the formula before you make a commitment to spend trillions and trillions that might be better spent elsewheres.
At least you admit it is happening.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 01:14:22 pm
At least you admit it is happening.

But there are still two more who are denying it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 01:18:27 pm
Besides the fact that that was not based on scientific evidence, and Al Gore is not a scientist either...

The UN report was based on science. Gore's claim was based on a scientific report. I just don't know what science AOC was smoking for her 12-year prognosis.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 12, 2019, 01:21:43 pm
I just don't know what science AOC was smoking for her 12-year prognosis.
I believe she said she was joking, but the climate change deniers jumped all over it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 01:25:22 pm
And now they say that even the air traffic will be affected by rising emissions.

Quote
In April, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants wrote a commentary on the Vox website noting an association between climate change and an increase in the frequency and intensity of air turbulence.

"Research indicates that rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere cause disruptions to the jet streams and create dangerous wind shears that greatly increase turbulence, especially at moderate latitudes where the majority of air travel occurs," Sara Nelson wrote. "For flight attendants and passengers alike, that dangerous, shaky feeling in midair comes from air currents shifting."

She added that clear-air turbulence, also known as CAT, is the most dangerous.

"It cannot be seen and is virtually undetectable with current technology," Nelson noted. "One second, you’re cruising smoothly; the next, passengers and crew are being thrown around the cabin. For flight attendants, who are often in the aisles, these incidents pose a serious occupational risk.""

https://www.straight.com/life/1265566/clear-air-turbulence-linked-past-climate-change-injures-35-people-air-canada-flight
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 01:32:30 pm
"the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants"

You mean an association of glorified bartenders, just like AOC, is engaged in a scientific analysis of CO2 impact? Good Lord!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 01:33:31 pm
I believe she said she was joking...

If you accept that everything she says is a joke, then I agree with you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 12, 2019, 01:36:49 pm
If you accept that everything she says is a joke, than I agree with you.
Not that I am a fan, but I do think some of what she says is to bait the right, which just can't resist. They would be better off ignoring her.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 01:39:11 pm
"the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants"

You mean an association of glorified bartenders, just like AOC, is engaged in a scientific analysis of CO2 impact? Good Lord!

As a matter of fact, on my last flight to Miami, I also experienced a bad case of air-turbulence. Just to be on safe side, next time I'm driving.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 12, 2019, 01:39:46 pm
You mean you have proof that their assessment is incorrect, or what do you mean?

Cheers,
Bart

That's not the question Bart. Nobody has to "prove" a negative. It's up to the "assessors" to prove their "assessment." They're guessing. I'm guessing. I'd bet, based on the history of these things, that my guess is right and theirs is wrong.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 12, 2019, 01:40:43 pm
As a matter of fact, on my last flight to Miami, I also experienced a bad case of air-turbulence. Just to be on safe side, next time I'm driving.

 8) ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 12, 2019, 01:43:29 pm
As a matter of fact, on my last flight to Miami, I also experienced a bad case of air-turbulence...

You sure it wasn't the pre-flight visit to a Taco Bell?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 12, 2019, 01:50:41 pm
At least you admit it is happening.
I haven't admitted anything. What it seems like is that the climate is warming up. But I don't know if that's just a perturbation that will reverse itself in ten or a hundred years or that is increasing for the Long Haul.  But whether it's being caused by nature or man or both again I don't know. What I do know and I've expressed it in our last thread a couple years ago over and over again, is that we're not looking at warming as a balance of good and bad. We're focusing on only the bed which is a big mistake. We have to be honest about what's going on and look at the good as well otherwise we're going to make poor decisions on what to do one way or the other.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 12, 2019, 01:51:20 pm
You sure it wasn't the pre-flight visit to a Taco Bell?
Nah, I'm sticking to clean, good quality food.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 14, 2019, 04:43:12 am
To survive in a wetter world, farmers in Bangladesh are adapting to climate change, and are switching from raising chickens to ducks.

Quote
The advantages of ducks for farmers such as Akter are several. Chickens catch infections much more easily than ducks do when they get wet, too hot, or too cold.

The Haors, the wetlands where Akter lives, used to have regular rains, says Miganur Rahman, a BRAC staffer, but now precipitation is unpredictable. There are periods of both unexpected flooding and drought. This has a big impact on paddy farmers: When the rain comes too early, they cannot harvest their crops, and lose their investment.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/bangladesh-climate-change-floods-ducks/593581/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 08:40:05 am
This, from two brief showers brough to Mallorca by southern winds bearing Sahara dust. I have experienced it every year, but never quite as strongly.

The car had just been washed two days before.

Direct from the iPad camera:

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 14, 2019, 09:26:11 am
That’s why my previous car was golden metallic. Not gaudy golden, I think the official name was “desert sand mica.” Had to wash it every... year. My daughter likes black, and it seems it needs washing every... day.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 14, 2019, 09:30:45 am
... farmers in Bangladesh are adapting to climate change...

So much smarter, those farmers, than the loonie left who would rather eliminate humanity to save the planet than adapt.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on July 14, 2019, 09:31:38 am
My white Prius needs washing every day.

But it gets washed about once a year.   :(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 14, 2019, 09:46:38 am
We have paved roads here, so my blue van doesn't need washing at all.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 14, 2019, 10:35:02 am
To survive in a wetter world, farmers in Bangladesh are adapting to climate change, and are switching from raising chickens to ducks.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/07/bangladesh-climate-change-floods-ducks/593581/
Man adapts and will learn to deal with climate change as they always have.  So will other species.  The polar bear will turn brown as it again forages on land for food. etc.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 10:43:14 am
My white Prius needs washing every day.

But it gets washed about once a year.   :(

It's a Zen thing.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 10:45:30 am
Man adapts and will learn to deal with climate change as they always have.  So will other species.  The polar bear will turn brown as it again forages on land for food. etc.

No; they become extinct.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 14, 2019, 11:37:14 am
No; they become extinct.

Rob
Species adapt as the weather shifts.  If the area expands, their range expands.  If the area shrinks, they move on or adapt.
 Some adapt in other creating new species and modifications of existing species. 

Do you really think man is going to disappear because of weather changes?  There will be inconveniences in local areas.  People will farm ducks instead of chickens.  But the world will go on. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on July 14, 2019, 02:38:16 pm
No; they become extinct.

Some do, some don't. Look at the history of the peppered moth.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on July 14, 2019, 03:36:02 pm
No; they become extinct.

Rob

The polar bears survived the Medieval Warm Period, 900-1300 AD, which was warmer than today.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 14, 2019, 04:20:43 pm
The polar bears survived the Medieval Warm Period, 900-1300 AD, which was warmer than today.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png/1280px-2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png)

Not quite, it's globally warmer today, and even more in the Northern hemisphere.

And some more info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4Yecsx_-s

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 05:16:26 pm
Some do, some don't. Look at the history of the peppered moth.

Jeremy


Jeremy, tell me you are joking. It's 23:16 as I type!

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 05:18:10 pm
Species adapt as the weather shifts.  If the area expands, their range expands.  If the area shrinks, they move on or adapt.
 Some adapt in other creating new species and modifications of existing species. 

Do you really think man is going to disappear because of weather changes?  There will be inconveniences in local areas.  People will farm ducks instead of chickens.  But the world will go on.


Yes, we agree: there will be inconveniences. I love understatement.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 14, 2019, 05:24:43 pm

Yes, we agree: there will be inconveniences. I love understatement.

Rob
li
Cutting back on fossil fuels will also cause inconveniences. Cheap fuel like coal and gas allows people to keep warm. Without that fuel they freeze to death. It's the other side of the coin that you have to pay attention to also.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 14, 2019, 05:35:12 pm
li
Cutting back on fossil fuels will also cause inconveniences. Cheap fuel like coal and gas allows people to keep warm. Without that fuel they freeze to death. It's the other side of the coin that you have to pay attention to also.


That's some coin you've got there: so far, it has revealed several sides to itself and the week has just begun!

Go, daddy go!

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 14, 2019, 07:57:19 pm
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png/1280px-2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png)

Not quite, it's globally warmer today, and even more in the Northern hemisphere.

And some more info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4Yecsx_-s

Cheers,
Bart

You need to find a cave to move into, Bart. Caves are cooler.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 14, 2019, 09:11:09 pm
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c1/2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png/1280px-2000_Year_Temperature_Comparison.png)

Not quite, it's globally warmer today, and even more in the Northern hemisphere.

And some more info:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4Yecsx_-s

Cheers,
Bart

Just like map, reading a graph without a key is pretty annoying.  Could you please tell us what the different colors represent? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 14, 2019, 09:23:59 pm
Just like map, reading a graph without a key is pretty annoying.  Could you please tell us with the different colors represent?

Hi Joe,

Reconstructions from different sources/locations in the Northern Hemisphere, tree-rings, sediment layers, altitudes with certain seeds, isotopes, etc.. The black line is actual recordings with instrumentation (thermometers).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 14, 2019, 09:26:45 pm
Hi Joe,

Reconstructions from different sources/locations in the Northern Hemisphere, tree-rings, sediment layers, altitudes with certain seeds, isotopes, etc.. The black line is actual recordings with instrumentation (thermometers).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

Cheers,
Bart

The black line (absolute temperature) is what counts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 14, 2019, 09:37:49 pm
Hi Joe,

Reconstructions from different sources/locations in the Northern Hemisphere, tree-rings, sediment layers, altitudes with certain seeds, isotopes, etc.. The black line is actual recordings with instrumentation (thermometers).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period

Cheers,
Bart

Thanks!  It appears like those who posted it don't even supply the key though, or at least post it with the graph. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 14, 2019, 10:00:58 pm
The black line (absolute temperature) is what counts.


Les,  Warm is good.  Isn't it?  After all, you're Canadian.  Wouldn't you like a little warmer winters?  You wouldn't have to vacation in FLorida which is suppose to be going under anyway.  You'll be able to catch some sun rays on the St. Lawrence  and save all that air fare money. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 14, 2019, 10:58:29 pm
Les,  Warm is good.  Isn't it?  After all, you're Canadian.  Wouldn't you like a little warmer winters?  You wouldn't have to vacation in FLorida which is suppose to be going under anyway.  You'll be able to catch some sun rays on the St. Lawrence  and save all that air fare money.

The primary beneficiary of warmer weather will be Iceland. All tourists complaining of bitterly cold winds and heavy snowfalls on the roads there can breath out now. Just imagine how many more photographers will come if they'll promise milder weather and more passable roads.
 
https://icelandmag.is/article/winter-2016-17-was-fourth-warmest-winter-record

When it comes to the warming trend and Canadian winters, 2 degrees difference won't cut it, we might just get the NJ climate. Still too cold for swimming in Lake Superior or Atlantic ocean, and no fresh mangoes as in Florida.

Right now, we are having another hot summer here. The air and water temperatures in southern Ontario are now pretty much the same as in southern Florida. For this coming week, the Toronto forecast calls for up to 32C (90F) temperatures, with Humidex reaching 43C (109F). Too hot for me and all dogs in our neighbourhood.

It seems that because of wet spring and now hot summer we have more mosquitos this year and also the ticks have started to migrate from south, but so far no dangerous creatures and no stinking seaweeds in the lakes. A week ago, I took my canoe to a scenic river north of Toronto, and while on the water and in the sun the paddle and swim were very enjoyable, upon the return to the take-out spot and while strapping the canoe on the car, the copious and voracious mosquitos spoiled all the fun from an otherwise fine outing.   

Quote
“We’re warning residents that the mosquitos are on their way and [some] have arrived this past weekend,” said Russell Eirich, Regina city’s senior program manager for forestry, pest control, and horticulture.

“For the Sunday night-only counts, we were at 106 mosquitos per trap. Our average historically, if you want to put that into perspective, is approximately 70.”

https://globalnews.ca/news/5473321/regina-mosquito-population-spike/

So back to your opening comment, too much of warmth is sometimes not so good.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 15, 2019, 04:33:41 am
There  was a documentary recently on tv about the Tundra in  Russia. Apparently, vast craters are opening up as the deep permafrost melts and the suface collapses downwards.

As Russ suggests, nice to be old enough not to see the worst of it when it cometh. But the kids, the kids...

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 15, 2019, 06:13:16 am
Right now, we are having another hot summer here. The air and water temperatures in southern Ontario are now pretty much the same as in southern Florida. For this coming week, the Toronto forecast calls for up to 32C (90F) temperatures, with Humidex reaching 43C (109F). Too hot for me and all dogs in our neighbourhood.


Quote
So back to your opening comment, too much of warmth is sometimes not so good.

And it's not just that on average it's getting warmer, it's the relatively extreme rate of increase that's unprecedented. Nature cannot adapt fast enough, so ecosystems will suffer casualties. Human behavior is one of the main reasons that ecosystems are spiraling out of control.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 15, 2019, 06:47:21 am
And irony of ironies, they look to space travel as a holy grail. The lemmings are not all in the British Isles.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 07:47:40 am
  • More Cities in several regions, like in India, are becoming too hot for human life.

Cheers,
Bart
We take heat for granted in the US because of the massive amount of air conditioning in homes and offices that keep things tolerable.  The vast number of people in the world do not have such a 'luxury' including much of Western Europe.  The last bad heat wave in Europe (ten years ago???) saw over 100 deaths in Paris IIRC.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 15, 2019, 08:04:58 am
We take heat for granted in the US because of the massive amount of air conditioning in homes and offices that keep things tolerable.  The vast number of people in the world do not have such a 'luxury' including much of Western Europe.  The last bad heat wave in Europe (ten years ago???) saw over 100 deaths in Paris IIRC.

Yes, air-conditioning can mitigate. But what if the power supply fails? And if the power is generated with fossil fuels, it will only add to the problem.

It also takes a different style of housing/building construction (better isolation, smaller windows, and 'green' roofs) and city planning (more room for trees and vegetation, to improve evapotranspiration and create more shadow areas, and rainwater storage facilities). Urban Heat Island effects have a significant impact on local heat-stress conditions. It easily exceeds an additional temperature rise of 2- 5 degrees Celsius locally (or more near the dark surface of roads, so children and small animals/pets are even more affected).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 09:11:11 am
  • Average global temperatures increases are just that, Average. The extremes will become more extreme, and it will heat-up faster on the Northern hemisphere with more landmass.
  • Statistics from the USA indicate that at the current rate of warming, 1% more deaths are expected/reported due to heat-stress in the USA .
  • More Cities in several regions, like in India, are becoming too hot for human life.
  • More regions are falling victim to flooding due to the expanding watervolumes and heavier local downpours.
  • More periods of extreme drought will cause failed harvests.
  • In my country we are suffering from exotic insect infestations (and we're situated at a latitude similar to The Canada/USA border), there are not enough natural enemies for those insects. Currently, we have a tripling of the number of Oak Procession-Caterpillars (Thaumethopea processionea) in 1 year, and there are not enough resources to clean the environment with mechanical means. They cause extreme irritation that can result in anaphylactic shock. Another version that lives on pine trees is approaching fast.
  • Mosquitoes have 'hatched' 1 month earlier than usual, and we are at the verge of losing the battle with the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) which carries the West Nile virus and Dengue fever, which is likely to permanently settle in my country (without natural enemies it will cause explosive growth of those mosquitoes). Malaria mosquitoes are inbound as well.
And it's not just that on average it's getting warmer, it's the relatively extreme rate of increase that's unprecedented. Nature cannot adapt fast enough, so ecosystems will suffer casualties. Human behavior is one of the main reasons that ecosystems are spiraling out of control.

Cheers,
Bart
More people die from cold than heat.  A few extra degrees in  winter will save lives.  There are positives as well as negatives from warming. 


In any case, why don;t we address climate change fro the standpoint of what we can to about the effects. It doesn;t seem like we're going to change it.  It's like complaining about the weather. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 15, 2019, 09:16:36 am
Yes, air-conditioning can mitigate. But what if the power supply fails? And if the power is generated with fossil fuels, it will only add to the problem.

It also takes a different style of housing/building construction (better isolation, smaller windows, and 'green' roofs) and city planning (more room for trees and vegetation, to improve evapotranspiration and create more shadow areas, and rainwater storage facilities). Urban Heat Island effects have a significant impact on local heat-stress conditions. It easily exceeds an additional temperature rise of 2- 5 degrees Celsius locally (or more near the dark surface of roads, so children and small animals/pets are even more affected).

Cheers,
Bart

Obviously we all should go back to hunting and gathering. That would eliminate the supposed cause of the problem.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 09:16:44 am
  • We take heat for granted in the US because of the massive amount of air conditioning in homes and offices that keep things tolerable.  The vast number of people in the world do not have such a 'luxury' including much of Western Europe.  The last bad heat wave in Europe (ten years ago???) saw over 100 deaths in Paris IIRC.
    [/l][/l]
Hot spikes may be worse.  But cold cumulative appears worse.  In any case, take your pick.  Here's an article that compares differing conclusions from US Federal Agencies of which is worse.  Just like climate change itself, the data and analysis are not so clear cut.

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Which-Kills-More-People-Extreme-Heat-or-Extreme-Cold (https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Which-Kills-More-People-Extreme-Heat-or-Extreme-Cold)[/list]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 09:17:29 am
Obviously we all should go back to hunting and gathering. That would eliminate the supposed cause of the problem.
I love campfires.  Would that be OK?  Can we roast marshmallows? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 10:11:29 am
More people die from cold than heat.  A few extra degrees in  winter will save lives.  There are positives as well as negatives from warming. 

Not according to my sources. During the heat wave in July 2018 in Quebec, hospitalizations almost doubled and deaths outside hospitals more than tripled. Public-health officials recorded almost 6,000 ambulance calls and 66 heat-related deaths. And it can get even worse.

As Alan Goldhammer pointed out, most households in central and northern Europe do not have air-conditioning and the houses and apartments were not built for it, so if a heat wave comes, there is not much people can do.

Quote
The first seriously scary heat wave of the Northern Hemisphere’s summer is a good time to remember that extreme heat in the U.S. already causes more deaths than any other severe weather event, killing an estimated 1,500 people each year. And the future looks dangerously hotter: The United Nations warned last November that global temperatures are on track to rise by at least 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, soaring past the two-degree goal that nearly 200 cities signed onto in 2015 as part of the Paris Agreement.

With funding from the Union of Concerned Scientists, researchers modeled the relationship between mortality and temperature rise in 15 U.S. cities across various regions. They estimate that as many as 1,980 deaths per city could be avoided in a 1-in-30-year heat wave event if global heating is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, rather than 3 degrees. If temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the potential number of lives saved jumps up to as much as 2,716.

If the world hits that 3-degree threshold, once-rare heat cataclysms would become routine. An event as deadly as the three-day 1995 heat wave in Chicago, which killed 739 people—many of them elderly, isolated, and living on fixed incomes—could happen once every 1.4 years.

https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/06/extreme-heat-wave-data-deaths-health-risks-climate-change/590941/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 15, 2019, 10:48:16 am
Yes, air-conditioning can mitigate. But what if the power supply fails? And if the power is generated with fossil fuels, it will only add to the problem.

It also takes a different style of housing/building construction (better isolation, smaller windows, and 'green' roofs) and city planning (more room for trees and vegetation, to improve evapotranspiration and create more shadow areas, and rainwater storage facilities). Urban Heat Island effects have a significant impact on local heat-stress conditions. It easily exceeds an additional temperature rise of 2- 5 degrees Celsius locally (or more near the dark surface of roads, so children and small animals/pets are even more affected).

Cheers,
Bart

Wouldn't smaller windows increase the need for more interior lights and electricity, thus adding to the problem?  I like being able to not have to turn on any lights during the day.  Granted my interiors are all painted white, but having large bay windows really helps. 

Now insofar as the modern move in housing and building construction, it is a double edged sword that can have some pretty bad side effects.  For starters, since buildings are made so much more air tight then before, indoor air quality is worse then what it use to be.  It is even the case that with modern office buildings you can no longer open the windows.  Even though we have come a long way in HVAC technology, it still does not replace a nice breeze bringing in fresh air. 

On top of that, tighter built houses require a significantly higher build quality, which not all contractors will master, since moisture gets trapped inside the walls and does not evaporate out.  This will lead to rot in many cases, and, even with properly built homes, it can be difficult to avoid.  In my house, which was built in the 1920s, my joists sit directly in masonry joist pockets on top of the brick.  Having wood on brick/stone goes against all logic since brick/stone releases moisture, causing rot.  But since my house is not completely air tight, this moisture dries out before rot can set in and my near 100 year old joists are all in great condition.

Masonry joist pockets are now against code due to how air tight houses are required to be built today.  So work arounds are devised, such as using treated rim joists sitting on the foundation with metal joist hangers.  But even here, treated wood eventually rots and replacing a rim joist is no easy task. 

Insulation too can have bad effects on facades, especially masonry ones.  Although most houses no long use masonry baring walls, many have masonry facades, which absorb moisture.  Problem though is that moisture trapped in stone during a freeze thaw cycle will cause micro cracks in the masonry material, leading to failure over time.  Fortunately, heated bricks/stones hold less moisture, so if your house is not insulated, you have nothing to worry about since the heat will force the moisture out.  However, unless you have closed cell spray foam directly on the inner side of the masonry wall, insulating an exterior masonry wall will lead to eventual failure.  You cant prevent moisture from being drawn into the wall from convection currents that naturally form during the winter, even with a moisture barrier.  Moisture barriers only protect from moisture dispersion, which only accounts for about 5% of moisture entering into the interior wall. 

(FYI, if you have masonry baring wall, never insulate them except with closed-cell foam.) 

I feel like with some of these modern building techniques, we are getting more efficient heating and cooling at the expense of the need to preform major maintenance projects more often.  On top of that, many contractors are just being trained in modern techniques and materials, some of which can not be used with older houses.  For instance, my foundation is schist stone, which is a softer stone.  Modern mortar mixes use a 3:1 ratio of sand to Portland cement and this cures to being harder then schist, and many pre-WW1 stone/brick.  You never want the mortar to be harder then the stone, since it will cause the wall to eventually fail, so you need to use a more dilute mix. 

Although many masons know that mortars need to be softer then the stone, nearly all available modern stones/bricks are harder then the standard mortar mix.  So in many cases, it never crosses their minds to use a more dilute mix if they are working on an older house. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 10:51:34 am
Not according to my sources. During the heat wave in July 2018 in Quebec, hospitalizations almost doubled and deaths outside hospitals more than tripled. Public-health officials recorded almost 6,000 ambulance calls and 66 heat-related deaths. And it can get even worse.

As Alan Goldhammer pointed out, most households in central and northern Europe do not have air-conditioning and the houses and apartments were not built for it, so if a heat wave comes, there is not much people can do.

https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/06/extreme-heat-wave-data-deaths-health-risks-climate-change/590941/ (https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/06/extreme-heat-wave-data-deaths-health-risks-climate-change/590941/)

Your post stated from the article:
"With funding from the Union of Concerned Scientists, researchers modeled the relationship between mortality and temperature rise in 15 U.S. cities across various regions. They estimate that as many as 1,980 deaths per city could be avoided in a 1-in-30-year heat wave event if global heating is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, rather than 3 degrees. If temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the potential number of lives saved jumps up to as much as 2,716."

How can a model be so accurate for something that happens once in 30 years trying to estimate deaths based on a one degree difference?    In any case, where's the model for a 1 in 30 year freeze snap that will not occur because it's warmer due to climate change.  My point is that scientists are always looking at the negatives for warming, never the positives.  So the public only hears part of the news making false analysis and making bad recommendations on what to do.  These scientists just cherry picked the data and the study to show bad things.  That's not good science. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 10:56:15 am
Wouldn't smaller windows increase the need for more interior lights and electricity, thus adding to the problem?  I like being able to not have to turn on any lights during the day.  Granted my interiors are all painted white, but having large bay windows really helps. 
LED lighting is a game changer in terms of electric usage.  Windows are very energy efficient.  Some years ago we replaced all the windows in our 1955 built house and saved 20% on both heating and AC costs.

Quote
Now insofar as the modern move in housing and building construction, it is a double edged sword that can have some pretty bad side effects.  For starters, since buildings are made so much more air tight then before, indoor air quality is worse then what it use to be.  It is even the case that with modern office buildings you can no longer open the windows.  Even though we have come a long way in HVAC technology, it still does not replace a nice breeze bringing in fresh air. 
Yes, this is a problem with office buildings

Quote
On top of that, tighter built houses require a significantly higher build quality, which not all contractors will master, since moisture gets trapped inside the walls and does not evaporate out.  This will lead to rot in many cases, and, even with properly built homes, it can be difficult to avoid.  In my house, which was built in the 1920s, my joists sit directly in masonry joist pockets on top of the brick.  Having wood on brick/stone goes against all logic since brick/stone releases moisture, causing rot.  But since my house is not completely air tight, this moisture dries out before rot can set in and my near 100 year old joists are all in great condition.
I think Tyvek which is used in most construction as the outer sheet is permeable and allows moisture to escape.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:07:00 am
Wouldn't smaller windows increase the need for more interior lights and electricity, thus adding to the problem?  I like being able to not have to turn on any lights during the day.  Granted my interiors are all painted white, but having large bay windows really helps. 

Now insofar as the modern move in housing and building construction, it is a double edged sword that can have some pretty bad side effects.  For starters, since buildings are made so much more air tight then before, indoor air quality is worse then what it use to be.  It is even the case that with modern office buildings you can no longer open the windows.  Even though we have come a long way in HVAC technology, it still does not replace a nice breeze bringing in fresh air. 

On top of that, tighter built houses require a significantly higher build quality, which not all contractors will master, since moisture gets trapped inside the walls and does not evaporate out.  This will lead to rot in many cases, and, even with properly built homes, it can be difficult to avoid.  In my house, which was built in the 1920s, my joists sit directly in masonry joist pockets on top of the brick.  Having wood on brick/stone goes against all logic since brick/stone releases moisture, causing rot.  But since my house is not completely air tight, this moisture dries out before rot can set in and my near 100 year old joists are all in great condition.

Masonry joist pockets are now against code due to how air tight houses are required to be built today.  So work arounds are devised, such as using treated rim joists sitting on the foundation with metal joist hangers.  But even here, treated wood eventually rots and replacing a rim joist is no easy task. 

Insulation too can have bad effects on facades, especially masonry ones.  Although most houses no long use masonry baring walls, many have masonry facades, which absorb moisture.  Problem though is that moisture trapped in stone during a freeze thaw cycle will cause micro cracks in the masonry material, leading to failure over time.  Fortunately, heated bricks/stones hold less moisture, so if your house is not insulated, you have nothing to worry about since the heat will force the moisture out.  However, unless you have closed cell spray foam directly on the inner side of the masonry wall, insulating an exterior masonry wall will lead to eventual failure.  You cant prevent moisture from being drawn into the wall from convection currents that naturally form during the winter, even with a moisture barrier.  Moisture barriers only protect from moisture dispersion, which only accounts for about 5% of moisture entering into the interior wall. 

(FYI, if you have masonry baring wall, never insulate them except with closed-cell foam.) 

I feel like with some of these modern building techniques, we are getting more efficient heating and cooling at the expense of the need to preform major maintenance projects more often.  On top of that, many contractors are just being trained in modern techniques and materials, some of which can not be used with older houses.  For instance, my foundation is schist stone, which is a softer stone.  Modern mortar mixes use a 3:1 ratio of sand to Portland cement and this cures to being harder then schist, and many pre-WW1 stone.  You never want the mortar to be harder then the stone, since it will cause the wall to eventually fail, so you need to use a more dilute mix. 

Although many masons know that mortars need to be softer then the stone, nearly all available modern stones/bricks are harder then the standard mortar mix.  So in many cases, it never crosses their minds to use a more dilute mix if they are working on an older house. 
Joe Your house renovation is really making you an expert at these things.  I live in a ten year old home.  My utility bills are really low even though I keep the temperature set at 72 degrees year round.  There's 6 inch insulation in all the exteriors walls and above the ceiling in the attic.  All window are double pane.  Right now I opened the doors and windows to air out the place.  I wait until my wife leaves because she doesn;t like it because pollen gets in.  But you got to air out rooms from odors and other pollutants.   
Just a clarification because I worked in the HVAC industry.  Office building systems are required to have minimum fresh air intakes for ventilation, let's say 10-15%.  The rest is recirculated to keep energy costs down.  The CFM is calculated by code against the full system supply that's based on a number of changes per hour for the square feet being heated and cooled.  Besides health, you don't want workers falling asleep from 100% stale, recirculated air. I'm not familiar with home construction whether there are fresh air requirements.  Frankly, I don;t even know what's in my house except that its sealed very well and I love my utility bills. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on July 15, 2019, 11:13:14 am
Joe Your house renovation is really making you an expert at these things.  I live in a ten year old home.  My utility bills are really low even though I keep the temperature set at 72 degrees year round.  There's 6 inch insulation in all the exteriors walls and above the ceiling in the attic.  All window are double pane.  Right now I opened the doors and windows to air out the place.  I wait until my wife leaves because she doesn;t like it because pollen gets in.  But you got to air out rooms from odors and other pollutants.   
Just a clarification because I worked in the HVAC industry.  Office building systems are required to have minimum fresh air intakes for ventilation, let's say 10-15%.  The rest is recirculated to keep energy costs down.  The CFM is calculated by code against the full system supply that's based on a number of changes per hour for the square feet being heated and cooled.  Besides health, you don't want workers falling asleep from 100% stale, recirculated air. I'm not familiar with home construction whether there are fresh air requirements.  Frankly, I don;t even know what's in my house except that its sealed very well and I love my utility bills.

The saving grace with my utility bills is that my house is a connect townhouse (row house) in the middle of the block.  So I only loose energy through the two 16 foot wide front and rear walls, and my roof, which is not insulated (plus my parti-walls are plaster directly on brick, giving me a few more inches of width).  If I could insulate my roof, I would, but I don't feel like taking on a $10K roofing project right now. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 11:18:11 am
Your post stated from the article:
"With funding from the Union of Concerned Scientists, researchers modeled the relationship between mortality and temperature rise in 15 U.S. cities across various regions. They estimate that as many as 1,980 deaths per city could be avoided in a 1-in-30-year heat wave event if global heating is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, rather than 3 degrees. If temperature rise is limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the potential number of lives saved jumps up to as much as 2,716."

How can a model be so accurate for something that happens once in 30 years trying to estimate deaths based on a one degree difference?    In any case, where's the model for a 1 in 30 year freeze snap that will not occur because it's warmer due to climate change.  My point is that scientists are always looking at the negatives for warming, never the positives.  So the public only hears part of the news making false analysis and making bad recommendations on what to do.  These scientists just cherry picked the data and the study to show bad things.  That's not good science. 

Alan, that model might be hypothetical, but the quoted Montreal death reports are real.

And if you couple an extreme weather event (heat or freeze) with a hypothetical power outage, the results could be catastrophic. A few winters ago, we had here a storm combined with freezing rain, and many power lines went down. Although my gas furnace runs on gas, it needs the electricity for its thermostat, so I was shivering for two days. Fortunately, in the two days the indoor temperature didn't go down below 40F, so the water pipes didn't burst. However, some homes didn't get their power back for 3-5 days, so there was all kinds of damage (not including fallen trees). I worry equally about the extreme cold snaps as about the heat waves.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:18:41 am
  • We take heat for granted in the US because of the massive amount of air conditioning in homes and offices that keep things tolerable.  The vast number of people in the world do not have such a 'luxury' including much of Western Europe.  The last bad heat wave in Europe (ten years ago???) saw over 100 deaths in Paris IIRC.
    [/l][/l]
As someone who lived in hot NYC all my life, I've taken air conditioning for granted, assuming everyone has it.  I was surprised that even going to upper NY or much of New England, that many, maybe most homes are not air conditioned.  When my wife and I would look for a house to rent for a week, let's say in the Adirondack Mountains, that was one of the first questions we asked, after"do you accept dogs".  Amazing how many people would say it doesn't get that hot.  And you don;t need air conditioning only to find when you go, it's sweltering without AC.  I guess people get use to it. We never did.

In any case, I wouldn't knock air conditioning.  It's made FLorida what it is which would still be swamp without it.  Who'd want to live there to sweat?     Where would Canadians go in the winter?  :)
[/list]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 11:23:45 am
JOffice building systems are required to have minimum fresh air intakes for ventilation, let's say 10-15%.  The rest is recirculated to keep energy costs down.  The CFM is calculated by code against the full system supply that's based on a number of changes per hour for the square feet being heated and cooled.  Besides health, you don't want workers falling asleep from 100% stale, recirculated air. I'm not familiar with home construction whether there are fresh air requirements.  Frankly, I don;t even know what's in my house except that its sealed very well and I love my utility bills.
Building codes differ by state and sometimes even locality.  My late father was a structural engineer and co-founder of an architectural firm in San Diego.  though most of their work was in San Diego county they did have occasional jobs outside California and codes were different, particularly in areas where there are no earthquake threats. 

Home construction differs in that heating and cooling have installation codes at least in Maryland.  We have to have an inspection done each time we did a full heating/cooling replacement.  AC compressors do not bring any fresh air into the house and even with it running one day with all the windows and doors closed the house will get quite stale.  Fortunately, most mornings so far this summer are relatively nice so we can open windows and doors to air the house out.  Most years our utility bill for AC is higher than that for heating.  It costs more to cool than heat even with modern day units.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:26:35 am
Alan, that model might be hypothetical, but the quoted Montreal death reports are real.

And if you couple an extreme weather event (heat or freeze) with a hypothetical power outage, the results could be catastrophic. A few winters ago, we had here a storm combined with freezing rain, and many power lines went down. Although my gas furnace runs on gas, it needs the electricity for its thermostat, so I was shivering for two days. Fortunately, in the two days the indoor temperature didn't go down below 40F, so the water pipes didn't burst. However, some homes didn't get their power back for 3-5 days, so there was all kinds of damage (not including fallen trees). I worry equally about the extreme cold snaps as about the heat waves.

Les, I'm sure they're real. But they only analyzed warm snaps.  A fair assessment would be to analyze cold snaps as well and what a warming trend will do at that end of the scale.  Having only half the data distorts the results.

When Hurricane Sandy hit, power was lost in my community (before i moved here) for a week.  Afterwards, a lot of people installed electric generators that are connected to the natural gas lines for fuel to run.  I didn't think it was worth it.  Plus you have to deal with regular testing and maintenance, just another problem to deal with.  I figure that the worse that could happen is we lose the food in the freezer and refrigerator.  It would cost a lot less to restock than pay for a generator.  I suppose I could run an extension cord to my next door neighbor's unit.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 11:28:01 am
As someone who lived in hot NYC all my life, I've taken air conditioning for granted, assuming everyone has it.  I was surprised that even going to upper NY or much of New England, that many, maybe most homes are not air conditioned.  When my wife and I would look for a house to rent for a week, let's say in the Adirondack Mountains, that was one of the first questions we asked, after"do you accept dogs".  Amazing how many people would say it doesn't get that hot.  And you don;t need air conditioning only to find when you go, it's sweltering without AC.  I guess people get use to it. We never did.

In any case, I wouldn't knock air conditioning.  It's made FLorida what it is which would still be swamp without it.  Who'd want to live there to sweat?     Where would Canadians go in the winter?  :)
I grew up in San Diego and we never had air conditioning.  The only times temperatures got hot was in September when we would get Santa Ana dessert winds.  Temps would go up to 100F or more but it was dry heat with no humidity.  Only when I moved to Indiana for grad school did I live with AC.  I really don't like AC other than to take the humidity out of the house and we keep the thermostat set at 78F which is fine with me.

I've been to Florida a number of times and would never want to live there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 11:36:01 am
Les, I'm sure they're real. But they only analyzed warm snaps.  A fair assessment would be to analyze cold snaps as well and what a warming trend will do at that end of the scale.  Having only half the data distorts the results.

When Hurricane Sandy hit, power was lost in my community (before i moved here) for a week.  Afterwards, a lot of people installed electric generators that are connected to the natural gas lines for fuel to run.  I didn't think it was worth it.  Plus you have to deal with regular testing and maintenance, just another problem to deal with.  I figure that the worse that could happen is we lose the food in the freezer and refrigerator.  It would cost a lot less to restock than pay for a generator.  I suppose I could run an extension cord to my next door neighbor's unit.  :)
LOL, I did the same calculation.  We used to have regular power outages because of tree branches snapping power lines.  The local utility was forced by the county to engage in an aggressive tree trimming plan and this seems to have worked.  We went for three years before having a 2 hour outage last Thursday because of a bad storm with high winds.  We would also have problems in the winter because of ice storms also snapping off branches.  One year we were out of power for four days in February.  It was weird because right after the ice storm a warm front came through and temperatures outside during the daylight hour were higher than those in the house.  We keep the house at 68F during the winter and after the power went off (furnace is gas forced air and requires electricity for the blower motor) the house went down to about 53F rather quickly.  We sent the girls over to friends who had power so they would not complain and we just added an extra quilt to the bet.  I kept simmering pots of water on the stove in the kitchen to keep it somewhat warm.

I never felt the need to get one of the generators you mention.  Up front costs and maintenance for maybe two days a year isn't worth it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 11:36:21 am
Les, I'm sure they're real. But they only analyzed warm snaps.  A fair assessment would be to analyze cold snaps as well and what a warming trend will do at that end of the scale.  Having only half the data distorts the results.

I don't have number of freezing deaths, but based on the newspaper reports, I would estimate it at several dozens per year (for the whole of Canada).
Actually, we get here more death cases because of drowning than from freeze. There were 423 unintentional water-related fatalities in Canadian waters in 2015, a good part of them drunken boaters or daredevils on skidoos on thin ice.
 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:42:11 am
Building codes differ by state and sometimes even locality.  My late father was a structural engineer and co-founder of an architectural firm in San Diego.  though most of their work was in San Diego county they did have occasional jobs outside California and codes were different, particularly in areas where there are no earthquake threats. 

Home construction differs in that heating and cooling have installation codes at least in Maryland.  We have to have an inspection done each time we did a full heating/cooling replacement.  AC compressors do not bring any fresh air into the house and even with it running one day with all the windows and doors closed the house will get quite stale.  Fortunately, most mornings so far this summer are relatively nice so we can open windows and doors to air the house out.  Most years our utility bill for AC is higher than that for heating.  It costs more to cool than heat even with modern day units.
Earthquakes have nothing to do with ventilation requirements.  I've done HVAC control since 1969, in NYC.  Codes for HVAC systems always required ventilation in ducted systems.  Even then.  The idea that an office building with sealed windows would not have ventilation requirements in other localities isn't true.  Air Quality standards have been in effect for at least 40 years,  Codes follow at a minimum American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) ventilation standards.  No mechanical engineer (licensed Professional Engineer PE) would write a specification that does not include ventilation and air quality to  meet ASHRAE standards. 


By the way, the compressor outside your home is to circulate the liquid Freon  or Puron refrigerant through coolant piping.  It doesn't circulate air at all. That's the function of the HVAC system fan in the duct.  Unless you actually look at the ductwork to check if there's a fresh air intake, you really don;t know what your system is doing.  You could have fresh air or not. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:45:44 am
I grew up in San Diego and we never had air conditioning.  The only times temperatures got hot was in September when we would get Santa Ana dessert winds.  Temps would go up to 100F or more but it was dry heat with no humidity.  Only when I moved to Indiana for grad school did I live with AC.  I really don't like AC other than to take the humidity out of the house and we keep the thermostat set at 78F which is fine with me.

I've been to Florida a number of times and would never want to live there.
Never been to San Diego.  But my cousin lived there and loved it.  The weather is great I understand. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 11:51:02 am
LOL, I did the same calculation.  We used to have regular power outages because of tree branches snapping power lines.  The local utility was forced by the county to engage in an aggressive tree trimming plan and this seems to have worked.  We went for three years before having a 2 hour outage last Thursday because of a bad storm with high winds.  We would also have problems in the winter because of ice storms also snapping off branches.  One year we were out of power for four days in February.  It was weird because right after the ice storm a warm front came through and temperatures outside during the daylight hour were higher than those in the house.  We keep the house at 68F during the winter and after the power went off (furnace is gas forced air and requires electricity for the blower motor) the house went down to about 53F rather quickly.  We sent the girls over to friends who had power so they would not complain and we just added an extra quilt to the bet.  I kept simmering pots of water on the stove in the kitchen to keep it somewhat warm.

I never felt the need to get one of the generators you mention.  Up front costs and maintenance for maybe two days a year isn't worth it. 
We lost power for 4 hours last week when a transformer in our community burned out.  My wife goes nuts insisting on an emergency generator.  So I say, do you want a generator or do you want to go on a cruise?  That quiets her down. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 15, 2019, 12:21:59 pm
Mallorca seems to be an island where building is associated with the holiday dream. My place, as with pretty much everything except old stone buildings, consists of a single thickness of hollow cement bricks or blocks, or whatever the correct term for them is. In winter the heating passes straight through and keeps the gardens happy and me cold. And the bills astronomical. In summer, the heat comes in unless you balance that out with cunning use of wooden shutters and glass windows, where your objective is to encourage the air from the shaded side of the building to flow inwards and the heated side to embrace it outside. Do that at night and you get mosquitoes.

I have thought of double glazing, but as I have no wall insulation...

I have air con in the office from when, in the 80s, it doubled as a now-and-then darkroom. I never use it; I rather become acclimatised. The same holds in the car, where unless on the motorway, I keep the driver's door widow down. Air con may be essential in some climes, but Mallorca ain't it. Yet, everybody gets one unit at least.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 15, 2019, 12:24:30 pm
We lost power for 4 hours last week when a transformer in our community burned out.  My wife goes nuts insisting on an emergency generator.  So I say, do you want a generator or do you want to go on a cruise?  That quiets her down.

Do you actually take her or just threaten? You could not pay me enough to make me go on a cruise. Had he the desire, then perhaps Mr Gates might.

No, I love yachts, the bigger the better; it's not the boats nor the seas.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: mbaginy on July 15, 2019, 12:31:18 pm
    ...The last bad heat wave in Europe (ten years ago???) saw over 100 deaths in Paris IIRC.
The summer heat wave of 2003 was made responsible for over 70,000 fatalities in Europe.

Roughly four weeks of temps in the high 30s and some days over 40.  Nights offered no cooling.  I recall working from my home office dressed only in swimming trunks.  Luckily I didn’t have any skype meetings, just phone calls.  Was called to a meeting at Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.  They were displeased with details of a project and demanded my attendance.  Elevators were inop so I climbed the four or five stories to the meetings room.  Thought I would faint.  No greetings, no refreshments, just 20 minutes of verbal attacks.  Then I was dismissed and delighted to return to my car and a (very warm) bottle of water. The five-hour return was a pleasure thanks to aircon.[/list]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 02:59:16 pm
By the way, the compressor outside your home is to circulate the liquid Freon  or Puron refrigerant through coolant piping.  It doesn't circulate air at all. That's the function of the HVAC system fan in the duct.  Unless you actually look at the ductwork to check if there's a fresh air intake, you really don;t know what your system is doing.  You could have fresh air or not.
Perhaps new builds might have an air duct to the outside but I doubt it.  All the AC units I'm familiar with do exactly what you describe above.  Ours uses the furnace blower to push the cold air through the house.  The furnace burner (new Lenox model, 3 years old) has a sealed burner in the heat exchanger and cold air for combustion comes from the outside and is exhausted back out of the house.  One of the reasons they now require a carbon monoxide detector is that there is no fresh air coming into the house and if the heat exchanger has a leak you will get CO in the house which is life threatening.  They installed one on our upper level when the furnace was installed.  they also put some ventilation grates on the door to the laundry room where the furnace is located.  That was also a requirement.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 02:59:47 pm
We lost power for 4 hours last week when a transformer in our community burned out.  My wife goes nuts insisting on an emergency generator.  So I say, do you want a generator or do you want to go on a cruise?  That quiets her down.
I tell my wife to go out and take a drive in her air conditioned car.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 03:46:26 pm
Do you actually take her or just threaten? You could not pay me enough to make me go on a cruise. Had he the desire, then perhaps Mr Gates might.

No, I love yachts, the bigger the better; it's not the boats nor the seas.
We went on a cruise out of NYC a few months ago to the Bahamas and FLorida.  The NYC port is only a cab drive away from us.  Very convenient.  No planes.  Just drop your bag off and relax.  We had a problem on our last cruise.  First the thing tilted in a 100 knot wind.  I thought were capsizing. It was pretty scary. Then my wife's clothes somehow got wet in the luggage.  So they gave us $100 and a special pass to get off the ship when we got home.  It took only 20 minutes from our cabin, off the ship, collecting our bags, and through US customs to our cab.  That was sweet.
Here's someone's video of the ship tilting.  Come to think of it, maybe we'll take a bus next time.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/us/norwegian-cruise-line-ship-passengers-hurt/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 03:50:03 pm
Perhaps new builds might have an air duct to the outside but I doubt it.  All the AC units I'm familiar with do exactly what you describe above.  Ours uses the furnace blower to push the cold air through the house.  The furnace burner (new Lenox model, 3 years old) has a sealed burner in the heat exchanger and cold air for combustion comes from the outside and is exhausted back out of the house.  One of the reasons they now require a carbon monoxide detector is that there is no fresh air coming into the house and if the heat exchanger has a leak you will get CO in the house which is life threatening.  They installed one on our upper level when the furnace was installed.  they also put some ventilation grates on the door to the laundry room where the furnace is located.  That was also a requirement.

I added a combination CO and natural gas sensor in my laundry room adjacent to the hot water heater.  THe three other ceiling smoke detectors in the rest of the house also monitors for CO. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Chris Kern on July 15, 2019, 03:57:19 pm
Perhaps new builds might have an air duct to the outside but I doubt it.  All the AC units I'm familiar with do exactly what you describe above.  Ours uses the furnace blower to push the cold air through the house.  The furnace burner (new Lenox model, 3 years old) has a sealed burner in the heat exchanger and cold air for combustion comes from the outside and is exhausted back out of the house.

Our house, which was constructed in 2013 and is also in Montgomery County, Maryland, has a fresh air intake for each of its two ventilating systems.  I was under the impression that was a requirement of the version of the building code that was in effect when our permits were issued, but in any event our construction manager told me an outdoor supply was necessary because the enclosure was so airtight.  (Technically, each state in the United States maintains its own building code, but my understanding is that the basic requirements are essentially the same everywhere in the country and the differences involve local additions based on particular regional conditions: e.g., earthquake resistance in areas near fault lines.)

My wife has relatives in Singapore.  Their house has air conditioning, but they only use it when they have foreign guests.  Office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, and other commercial spaces in Singapore are air-conditioned, so it's not as though the family finds it unusual or unpleasant; they just don't seem to feel the need for it at home.

My sister and her husband live in Frankfurt, Germany.  During the recent severe heat wave, I asked her whether they would now consider retrofitting some form of air conditioning, and she said all they planned to do was install some exterior blinds on some second floor windows and interior blinds in a bathroom that gets a lot of sun.

Of course, what we in the Washington area would consider normal mid-summer temperatures have been quite rare in central Europe until recently.  On the other hand, Singapore is as hot and humid all year as Washington is in July and August.  Expectations are a major factor in determining how people react to weather.  People in London and Vancouver seem awfully blasé about the rain from my perspective.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 04:08:14 pm
Our house, which was constructed in 2013 and is also in Montgomery County, Maryland, has a fresh air intake for each of its two ventilating systems.  I was under the impression that was a requirement of the version of the building code that was in effect when our permits were issued, but in any event our construction manager told me an outdoor supply was necessary because the enclosure was so airtight.  (Technically, each state in the United States maintains its own building code, but my understanding is that the basic requirements are essentially the same everywhere in the country and the differences involve local additions based on particular regional conditions: e.g., earthquake resistance in areas near fault lines.)

My wife has relatives in Singapore.  Their house has air conditioning, but they only use it when they have foreign guests.  Office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, and other commercial spaces in Singapore are air-conditioned, so it's not as though the family finds it unusual or unpleasant; they just don't seem to feel the need for it at home.

My sister and her husband live in Frankfurt, Germany.  During the recent severe heat wave, I asked her whether they would now consider retrofitting some form of air conditioning, and she said all they planned to do was install some exterior blinds on some second floor windows and interior blinds in a bathroom that gets a lot of sun.

Of course, what we in the Washington area would consider normal mid-summer temperatures have been quite rare in central Europe until recently.  On the other hand, Singapore is as hot and humid all year as Washington is in July and August.  Expectations are a major factor in determining how people react to weather.  People in London and Vancouver seem awfully blasé about the rain from my perspective.

I can understand Germans.  Because of their switchover to solar and wind (40% of their energy), the cost of electricity has skyrocketed so it's 2 1/2 times the cost of what we spend here in the USA per KWH.   They still produce about the same amount of CO2 however as they did before.  Can you imagine what their costs for electricity would be if they installed more AC's?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 04:13:35 pm
Interesting article on ventilation codes for homes in the US.  Of course the issue is trading off a tighter house that saves energy vs. the need to breathe better air, air quality, and safety concerns regarding gases that might choke you to death.
https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/2018-building-code-makes-change-in-ventilation
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 04:32:39 pm
Our house, which was constructed in 2013 and is also in Montgomery County, Maryland, has a fresh air intake for each of its two ventilating systems.  I was under the impression that was a requirement of the version of the building code that was in effect when our permits were issued, but in any event our construction manager told me an outdoor supply was necessary because the enclosure was so airtight.  (Technically, each state in the United States maintains its own building code, but my understanding is that the basic requirements are essentially the same everywhere in the country and the differences involve local additions based on particular regional conditions: e.g., earthquake resistance in areas near fault lines.)
One learns something new every day.  I did a simple Google search on 'fresh air intake hvac' and came up with multiple hits showing different approaches.  I didn't see anything mentioning building code but perhaps it might be a local requirement.  Our attic is ventilated at both ends so there is fresh air up there (albeit hot in the summer and cold in the winter).  We have an antique AC compressor up in the attic that was separate to the heating and AC system we have now.  That compressor failed at some point during the previous owner's occupancy.  We have the old vent system for the AC in the ceilings of some of the rooms and the attic air can come in through that route.  I would certainly want a fresh air intake system in a new house if I had one as they are so air tight.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 04:51:09 pm
One learns something new every day.  I did a simple Google search on 'fresh air intake hvac' and came up with multiple hits showing different approaches.  I didn't see anything mentioning building code but perhaps it might be a local requirement.  Our attic is ventilated at both ends so there is fresh air up there (albeit hot in the summer and cold in the winter).  We have an antique AC compressor up in the attic that was separate to the heating and AC system we have now.  That compressor failed at some point during the previous owner's occupancy.  We have the old vent system for the AC in the ceilings of some of the rooms and the attic air can come in through that route.  I would certainly want a fresh air intake system in a new house if I had one as they are so air tight.
New building codes usually are "grandfathered".  They don't apply to existing installations. They only affect new construction and renovations.  If you're doing a renovation, be careful to follow codes. Otherwise, you could have big problems when you try to sell your house.  The prospective buyer's home inspector will probably pick up the violations.  Then you'll have to correct them before you can sell the house.  If the renovation requires a building inspection, pay for it and have it done when you do the work.  If work requires a license, ie. electrical, underground fuel oil tanks removals, plumbing, etc. make sure it gets filed by a licensed contractor.   If the local building department didn't sign it off, you'll have to inspect anyway and open yourself up to problems of non-compliance holding up the sales and costing a lot of money after the fact to correct.  It's also nice to know that the work was done correctly.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 04:59:09 pm
Also, filed the work with the local building department before it's done.  That will require a licensed contractor at a minimum or PE depending on the work and locality.  Work has to be filed for the inspection to be scheduled.  It may be simple, such as the licensed electrician filing a list of the fixtures he's going to install.  No drawing may be required.  It cost me only $75 extra paid to the bldg's department when my electrician installed high hat lights throughout the house, extra power line, switches, dimmers, and a few other things.  When he was done, I called the inspector who took 20 minutes to inspect.  There was actually a change required.  The electrician installed a non-childproof tamper resistant receptacle that's not allowed any longer.  It's this kind of thing that protects you while you're living in the house and when you want to sell it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 05:59:27 pm
New building codes usually are "grandfathered".  They don't apply to existing installations. They only affect new construction and renovations.  If you're doing a renovation, be careful to follow codes. Otherwise, you could have big problems when you try to sell your house.  The prospective buyer's home inspector will probably pick up the violations.  Then you'll have to correct them before you can sell the house.  If the renovation requires a building inspection, pay for it and have it done when you do the work.  If work requires a license, ie. electrical, underground fuel oil tanks removals, plumbing, etc. make sure it gets filed by a licensed contractor.   If the local building department didn't sign it off, you'll have to inspect anyway and open yourself up to problems of non-compliance holding up the sales and costing a lot of money after the fact to correct.  It's also nice to know that the work was done correctly.
Our 1955 home is a tear down.  I won't even bother listing it as nobody these days wants a 1955 split level.  I get two letters a month from builders who will pay me straight cash (no broker fee) for the home and lot.  We have 13K square feet inside the DC beltway, walking distance to NIH and Walter Reed Naval Medical Center where there is also a subway stop to downtown.

I had lunch with a former colleague today whose house was badly damaged by a neighbor's oak tree that fell on the back half.  The neighbor was incredibly irresponsible as they were told on several occasions over five years that the tree was damaged and would fall.  Their neighbor's insurance company ended up on the hook for the damage.  My friends have to rebuild the back half of the home with a new foundation.  Front half is OK according to the engineers though the foundation has to be stabilized when they start building.  Your correct about the code compliance.  Since this is a major renovation they will have to do a lot more than if it was a simple room addition.  they will have been out of their home probably for almost 18 months depending on the speed of construction which won't start until next month.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 15, 2019, 06:02:38 pm
Also, filed the work with the local building department before it's done.  That will require a licensed contractor at a minimum or PE depending on the work and locality.  Work has to be filed for the inspection to be scheduled.  It may be simple, such as the licensed electrician filing a list of the fixtures he's going to install.  No drawing may be required.  It cost me only $75 extra paid to the bldg's department when my electrician installed high hat lights throughout the house, extra power line, switches, dimmers, and a few other things.  When he was done, I called the inspector who took 20 minutes to inspect.  There was actually a change required.  The electrician installed a non-childproof tamper resistant receptacle that's not allowed any longer.  It's this kind of thing that protects you while you're living in the house and when you want to sell it.
We had our kitchen redone about 12 years ago.  No major build out other than removing all the old cabinets, counters, appliances and floor.  We still had to have the electrical line to the kitchen upgraded and a new breaker box installed to meet the code.  It was all pretty painless and the paperwork was all handled by the remodeling company.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 15, 2019, 06:17:18 pm
We went on a cruise out of NYC a few months ago to the Bahamas and FLorida.  The NYC port is only a cab drive away from us.  Very convenient.  No planes.  Just drop your bag off and relax.  We had a problem on our last cruise.  First the thing tilted in a 100 knot wind.  I thought were capsizing. It was pretty scary. Then my wife's clothes somehow got wet in the luggage.  So they gave us $100 and a special pass to get off the ship when we got home.  It took only 20 minutes from our cabin, off the ship, collecting our bags, and through US customs to our cab.  That was sweet.
Here's someone's video of the ship tilting.  Come to think of it, maybe we'll take a bus next time.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/us/norwegian-cruise-line-ship-passengers-hurt/index.html


Cruises, in the sense you mean, are the province of widows and widowers looking to catch and get caught. The fact of communal dining tables, whether the Captain's or not, fills me with horror (in fact, his would  be worse because there would be the expectation of gratitude for the honour) as does the thought of sitting at bars and being nice to total strangers; I'd rather go feed the friendly white horse I chat to every day - more or less. She has no conversation, but beautiful eyes. The eyes are the key to the soul, which tells anybody who's looked that cats don't have one any more than lions, tigers, sheep or goats.

Gorillas have one, but boy, are they pissed off! They would also be heavy drinkers, given the chance. It's all there in the eyes, no need for crystal balls or stethoscopes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 06:31:23 pm

Cruises, in the sense you mean, are the province of widows and widowers looking to catch and get caught. The fact of communal dining tables, whether the Captain's or not, fills me with horror (in fact, his would  be worse because there would be the expectation of gratitude for the honour) as does the thought of sitting at bars and being nice to total strangers; I'd rather go feed the friendly white horse I chat to every day - more or less. She has no conversation, but beautiful eyes. The eyes are the key to the soul, which tells anybody who's looked that cats don't have one any more than lions, tigers, sheep or goats.

Gorillas have one, but boy, are they pissed off! They would also be heavy drinkers, given the chance. It's all there in the eyes, no need for crystal balls or stethoscopes.

Communal dining  is passe if you don;t want it.  All the cruise lines offer "open dining".  If you eat in the main dining room, you go when you want and can eat by yourself.  No more dress codes.  If you rather not deal with a waiter at all, they have smorgasbord type dining where you pick the food out and go find a table to sit at by yourself pondering if your ship will be the next one to capsize.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 07:52:07 pm
I can understand Germans.  Because of their switchover to solar and wind (40% of their energy), the cost of electricity has skyrocketed so it's 2 1/2 times the cost of what we spend here in the USA per KWH.   They still produce about the same amount of CO2 however as they did before.  Can you imagine what their costs for electricity would be if they installed more AC's?

I don't think, it's the cost. I have family and friends in Germany, they are simply not used to AC. Maybe the young generation will expect and demand it, especially if the summer temperatures keep climbing, but the baby boomers lived all their lives without it, so why to switch now?
 
This summer, I have used AC in my house just north of Toronto only on two days. Fortunately, most nights were cooler, so the house cooled down overnight and in the morning, and then I closed the windows and drove for the afternoon to a nearby lake.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 15, 2019, 08:10:48 pm
I can understand Germans.  Because of their switchover to solar and wind (40% of their energy), the cost of electricity has skyrocketed so it's 2 1/2 times the cost of what we spend here in the USA per KWH.

If that's the case (for which you've shown no evidence), then it may have to do with the fact that the cost of fossil fuel is subsidized and/or doesn't reflect the real cost to society.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 08:34:25 pm
If that's the case (for which you've shown no evidence), then it may have to do with the fact that the cost of fossil fuel is subsidized and/or doesn't reflect the real cost to society.

Cheers,
Bart
Why should I believe your claim.   You've shown no evidence.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 10:18:47 pm
Another plague encouraged by hot weather - Japanese Beetles.
I've been gardening for over 40 years and never saw them before in any significant numbers, but for the last three years I've been fighting them and every year they come in greater numbers. They eat the leaves on various fruit plants, including blackberries, raspberries, currants and roses. It's easy to pick them (I flick or shake them from the leaves into a metal can filled half way with water), but every day a new contingent arrives. Their big Drang Nach Norden offensive just started, and I see that this summer I'll have to increase my daily engagement with them to twice-a-day routine to save the plants. They like hot weather and like to fool around in the heat of the day. Often you see several of them on top of each other engaging in indecent activities. They must enjoy the aforementioned midday activities and seem sluggish in the evening which is the best time to relocate them from the plants into a metal or glass container.

(https://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-SharedLibrary/default/dw96c30ca1/Articles/Gardening/Hero_Thumbnail/5163-japanese-beetle.jpg)

Quote
The beetles are back, but not with the cool hair and rocking music that we would be okay with (side note: as if the Beatles ever truly left). They are back in droves of shiny, green-eating, reproducing machines, also known as the Japanese Beetle. If you have never experienced these small beetles, you can count yourself among the lucky few, as their spread seems to be getting greater throughout the Niagara Region each year. These little guys will skeletonize leaves in the blink of an eye and can make their way through entire bushes in just a matter of days.

Like the name implies, the Japanese Beetle is native to Japan. They were imported into the United States supposedly in 1916 and have slowly spread throughout North America. The Japanese Beetle is about 1 cm long with a shiny, metallic-green body and bronze-colored outer wings. It begins feeding on plants in June/July. They are attracted to sweet smelling plants, which will become apparent as you see them on plants such as roses, lindens and grapes. It eats the tender tissues between the veins of leaves until all that’s left of the leaves are the brown, skeletal remains.
 

http://www.millionplants.com/advice/our-thoughts-and-advice-on-japanese-beetles/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 15, 2019, 10:33:03 pm
Another plague encouraged by hot weather - Japanese Beetles.
I've been gardening for over 40 years and never saw them before in any significant numbers, but for the last three years I've been fighting them and every year they come in greater numbers. They eat the leaves on various fruit plants, including blackberries, raspberries, currants and roses. It's easy to pick them (I flick or shake them from the leaves into a metal can filled half way with water), but every day a new contingent arrives. Their big Drang Nach Norden offensive just started, and I see that this summer I'll have to increase my daily engagement with them to twice-a-day routine to save the plants. They like hot weather and like to fool around in the heat of the day. Often you see several of them on top of each other engaging in group sex. They must enjoy the aforementioned midday activities and seem sluggish in the evening which is the best time to relocate them from the plants into a metal or glass container.

http://www.millionplants.com/advice/our-thoughts-and-advice-on-japanese-beetles/

  You're doing it all wrong.  You're suppose to interrupt their sexual activity during the day if you want to stop their spread, not wait until night when they're sleeping it off. 

When I was a kid, I used to see these beetles every year living in NYC.  But I haven't seen them in years.  Maybe it's a local phenomenon? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 10:48:40 pm
  You're doing it all wrong.  You're suppose to interrupt their sexual activity during the day if you want to stop their spread, not wait until night when they're sleeping it off. 

When I was a kid, I used to see these beetles every year living in NYC.  But I haven't seen them in years.  Maybe it's a local phenomenon?

They are more rambunctious and more agile during the day, consequently more capable of a fly-away escape. Also normally, I hate to interfere with couples in intimate moments.
From now on, I'll get up earlier and surprise them in the morning while they are still sluggish. 

Most probably, they are still in NYC, but unless you look for them or see the skeletonized leaves you wouldn't notice them. By now, they seem to be in every state and province. Apparently, they eat over 300 different plants and even lawns.

Quote
Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica (Newman), is a severe invasive insect pest of turf, landscapes, and horticultural crops. It has successfully colonized much of the United States and has recently established in mainland Europe. The distribution and voltinism of P. japonica will undoubtedly change as a consequence of climate change, posing additional challenges to the management of this species.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6429693/

https://journalstar.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/sarah-browning-japanese-beetles-taking-toll-on-plants/article_fdabae8e-e908-5c88-bc41-7c6d6f5d31f3.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on July 15, 2019, 10:53:08 pm
Get out the nematodes in August and let them go to town in your grass eating the grubs of the beetles.
http://www.millionplants.com/advice/our-thoughts-and-advice-on-japanese-beetles/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 15, 2019, 11:01:31 pm
Get out the nematodes in August and let them go to town in your grass eating the grubs of the beetles.
http://www.millionplants.com/advice/our-thoughts-and-advice-on-japanese-beetles/

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it this year. Apparently, one nematode package contains a whopping 10 million fighters.
However, the problem is that the Japanese bugs are quite competent fliers and come to visit from the neighbouring backyards.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on July 16, 2019, 07:49:41 am
We used to have a lot of Japanese Beetles but I've not seen much in the way of an infestation in the last five years.  Perhaps they don't like anything in our yard.  the other pest that has disappeared is the Gypsy Moth that used to infest oak trees.  It's been gone for over ten years in our area despite the prevalence of the host tree.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 16, 2019, 09:48:58 am
Rain?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaH4TUFjc_M
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 17, 2019, 11:18:53 pm
This afternoon, a friend of mine went to the beach and took with him a camera and tripod. It was a hot day even near water. 
He felt fine, took a few shots, moved a few meters to a new position, started to adjust his tripod, and next moment he was coming around from fainting beside his tripod. Fortunately, his wife had a thermos with cold water and resuscitated him.

Weather forecast for Fri and Sat calls for Humidex of 44C (110F). Not in Miami, but 2,400km north of it, right in Toronto.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 18, 2019, 04:18:39 am
This afternoon, a friend of mine went to the beach and took with him a camera and tripod. It was a hot day even near water. 
He felt fine, took a few shots, moved a few meters to a new position, started to adjust his tripod, and next moment he was coming around from fainting beside his tripod. Fortunately, his wife had a thermos with cold water and resuscitated him.

Weather forecast for Fri and Sat calls for Humidex of 44C (110F). Not in Miami, but 2,400km north of it, right in Toronto.


He's an activist; just another misguided soul who drank the C-C kool-aid and fell into step with the Red Chinese plot to destabilize the West!

(The above is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek, just in case it doesn't travel well in this heat.)

In Singapore our model crumbled off a rock and I caught her just in time to save the shoot - never mind her; in Key West my wife collapsed without warning: out. In both cases I suggest it was the oppressive heat married to the high humidity.

The thing is, it doesn't take a huge change to push the normal conditions into the unbearable. That's the trouble: people think that only twenty degrees or something of change will affect life; not so. Food sources fare no better; and without water not at all.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 18, 2019, 06:03:12 pm
Another energy boondoggle. 
"July 18 (Reuters) - New York on Thursday awarded two major offshore wind contracts to Norway’s Equinor and a joint venture between Denmark’s Orsted and U.S. utility Eversource, a key milestone in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ambitious plan to slash the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The two contracts add up to 1700 MW of capacity, or enough to power 1 million homes, Cuomo said at a press conference in New York City. Four major developers had submitted proposals to the state, which plans to procure 9,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035."


So people's utility costs and/or taxes will go up $3.2 billion dollars to pay for all this new economic activity.  That's $3200 per home for the million homes.  Of course all this economic activity has to be paid by someone through additional taxes or increased utility costs.  Plus, profits get sent partially to a foreign firm.  Good move Gov Cuomo.  I'm glad I moved to NJ where utility costs are less than I use to pay in NY. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 18, 2019, 06:03:40 pm
Here's the link.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/18/reuters-america-new-york-awards-offshore-wind-contracts-to-equinor-orsted.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 20, 2019, 10:30:53 pm
US farmers now face extreme heat wave after floods and trade war.

Quote
In the past year, torrential rains have dumped water on U.S. farmlands, destroying acreage and delaying crops from getting planted on time.

Now, farmers face another hurdle: a stifling heat wave that’s spreading across the United States and is expected to be the worst in the farm regions, including Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/extreme-heat-wave-hits-us-farmers-already-suffering-from-flooding.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 21, 2019, 04:08:26 am
Another energy boondoggle. 
"July 18 (Reuters) - New York on Thursday awarded two major offshore wind contracts to Norway’s Equinor and a joint venture between Denmark’s Orsted and U.S. utility Eversource, a key milestone in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s ambitious plan to slash the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The two contracts add up to 1700 MW of capacity, or enough to power 1 million homes, Cuomo said at a press conference in New York City. Four major developers had submitted proposals to the state, which plans to procure 9,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2035."


So people's utility costs and/or taxes will go up $3.2 billion dollars to pay for all this new economic activity.  That's $3200 per home for the million homes.  Of course all this economic activity has to be paid by someone through additional taxes or increased utility costs.  Plus, profits get sent partially to a foreign firm.  Good move Gov Cuomo.  I'm glad I moved to NJ where utility costs are less than I use to pay in NY.


You are obsessed with figures. Either you are in your mid-nineties and give not a bugger about the generations to come and care only about stretching your pension and savings for another year or so (my concern too, the fiscal, but not the future bit) or, simply, you think it's all one gigantic joke or scam, an invention of the biased, anti-Trump press. If that's the case, bear in mind that the concerns were there before the word Trump had any connotation beyond games of cards.

You rather die rich and leave the coming generations cursing your name?

As has been pointed out, it's not so much what alternatives cost to make, but what they cost if not made.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 07:27:38 am
US farmers now face extreme heat wave after floods and trade war.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/19/extreme-heat-wave-hits-us-farmers-already-suffering-from-flooding.html

I don't envy the farming community. The above article, of course, talks about Weather and not about Climate. However, there is a clear pattern emerging that the weather extremes are becoming more frequent, which is in line with Climate change.

Last month of June, was in my country the warmest June since official systematic recording started in 1901. Coming week we are likely to have another heatwave. The lack of rain, last year and this year so far, already is causing failed crop production (and soil salination near the coast), and it increases the chance of wildfires. Exotic insects bring new (tropical) diseases to our Latitudes. All that already causes human and economic hardship, hurts the economy more than it would have cost to prevent it, and nature has a hard time to adapt fast enough.

The above article also illustrates the incomprehensible stupidity of those who say that they don't mind a few degrees warmer winter weather. Those few degrees are Global, and Average. They are constructed from higher highs and lower lows, with the extremes becoming more extreme. Food production is at stake, and human health is under pressure.

And this is only the beginning.

There are some promising attempts to get a grip on the situation, but it will take an increasing amount of effort the longer we wait. We can only hope we do not cross irreversible tipping points.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 21, 2019, 08:58:05 am
And this is only the beginning.


Last two days we had in Toronto Humidex up to 44C. It was too hot to go to the lake! Paddling a canoe is no fun at those temperatures. Also no fun for fish, since warm water has a low capacity for holding oxygen.
The hot and humid weather, caused by a so-called “heat dome,” stretched across southern and northern Ontario, southern Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

Quote
Climate change means that temperatures could be even more unbearable in the future, according to Miriam Diamond, earth sciences professor at the University of Toronto. “The important point here is that this is not the new normal,” Diamond told CTV News Chanel. “The climate is continuing to heat up. So, we’re really hot right now and the future holds even higher temperatures for longer, more prolonged periods.”

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/humidex-tops-44-c-as-eastern-canada-swelters-under-heat-dome-1.4516713
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 10:03:50 am
This is the international (NOAA) table that our Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute uses for 'Heat Index'
(https://cdn.knmi.nl/system/data_center_discover_blocks/image1s/000/000/315/large/heatindex.png?1502456661)

Cheers,
Bart

P.S. Here's more info on "Humid heat waves at different warming levels":
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-07536-7
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 10:08:35 am

You are obsessed with figures. Either you are in your mid-nineties and give not a bugger about the generations to come and care only about stretching your pension and savings for another year or so (my concern too, the fiscal, but not the future bit) or, simply, you think it's all one gigantic joke or scam, an invention of the biased, anti-Trump press. If that's the case, bear in mind that the concerns were there before the word Trump had any connotation beyond games of cards.

You rather die rich and leave the coming generations cursing your name?

As has been pointed out, it's not so much what alternatives cost to make, but what they cost if not made.

Based on the NYS project costs, it would cost $8 trillion dollars to replace the electric production in the US with wind assuming it was possible to operate with wind 100%.  Of course, you can't   Nor does the sun shine for solar.  You still need to operate fossil fuel plants because wind doesn;t blow all the time.  So you don't save anything.  Look at Germany.  40% of its electric are from renewables.  Yet, their costs are 2 1/2 times Americas per KWH.  Also, their CO2 production has hardly changed in ten years.   So what have they accomplished?  Nothing.

By comparison, the US spends $3.5 trillion totally on all medical costs.  So the $8 trillion for wind generation would pay for all medical care for over two years. 

The Federal government will have a trillion dollar deficit this year.  NYS long term liabilities (pensions, etc.) are over $250 billion.  And NYS is a rich state compared to most states throughout the country which are in worse shape.    You don;t live here so you're not familiar with just how broke the states and federal government are.  The fed owes over $20 trillion dollars.  It's already paying something like $500 billion on interest just to finance our debt.  That's money that's just getting pissed away.

Bankrupting the country does not help future generations.  They will be the ones absorbing all the additional debt being held by the Chinese and others.  So on the hope you're going to change the climate, we should bankrupt the economy?  That's nuts. 


Here's an article on NYS electric issues.  We're going to shutdown an existing nuclear plant and replace it with fossil fuels.  Another Gov Cuomo plan.  That's also nuts. Also, read how dangerous from a power failure offshore wind is compared to on-land fossil or nuclear.  So we should expect more blackouts.  And none of the solar or wind will replace conventional because there aren't enough batteries to store power for use at night or when the wind stops. 

 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 10:11:33 am
Here's th link to the article mentioned in my last post regarding NY electricity.
https://www.manhattan-institute.org/new-york-prepare-for-more-green-blackouts-nuclear-solar-wind
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 10:34:36 am
Based on the NYS project costs, it would cost $8 trillion dollars to replace the electric production in the US with wind assuming it was possible to operate with wind 100%.  Of course, you can't   Nor does the sun shine for solar.  You still need to operate fossil fuel plants because wind doesn;t blow all the time.  So you don't save anything.

Alan, that's nonsense, you're creating a strawman. You do save by having to burn less fossil fuel (and produce less CO2 emission) with free wind and sun. These systems are complementary, and will not totally replace Fossil fuel utility plants.


Quote
Look at Germany.  40% of its electric are from renewables.  Yet, their costs are 2 1/2 times Americas per KWH.

Are you serious? Since when does the cost in the USA reflect the true cost of energy? Add the cost to society from increased droughts, flooding, Hurricanes, diseases, etc., and you'll get a more realistic comparison.

Quote
Also, their CO2 production has hardly changed in ten years.   So what have they accomplished?  Nothing.

That's not due to renewable enery. If Germany hadn't added renewables to the mix, then their emissions would have skyrocketed. They do need to scale down the coal-generated energy production, and they are aware of that because they've committed to doing that in the light of the Paris agreements.

You are still searching for arguments for inaction. Time has run out for such games.

Soon there will be Carbon taxing on international trade, and the laggards will pay dearly.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 21, 2019, 11:06:44 am
Quote
Soon there will be Carbon taxing on international trade, and the laggards will pay dearly.

Bart, do you mean Christine Lagarde?  ;)




Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 11:19:04 am
Alan, that's nonsense, you're creating a strawman. You do save by having to burn less fossil fuel (and produce less CO2 emission) with free wind and sun. These systems are complementary, and will not totally replace Fossil fuel utility plants.


Are you serious? Since when does the cost in the USA reflect the true cost of energy? Add the cost to society from increased droughts, flooding, Hurricanes, diseases, etc., and you'll get a more realistic comparison.

That's not due to renewable enery. If Germany hadn't added renewables to the mix, then their emissions would have skyrocketed. They do need to scale down the coal-generated energy production, and they are aware of that because they've committed to doing that in the light of the Paris agreements.

You are still searching for arguments for inaction. Time has run out for such games.

Soon there will be Carbon taxing on international trade, and the laggards will pay dearly.

Cheers,
Bart

What do you own stock in these companies?  :)

Sure you save some emissions.  But you still need the fossil fuel for backup.  It's not like you can shut them down.  So homeowner have to pay for both the new green energy and pay for upkeep of the existing fossil generators. 

Germany's costs are higher than other European countries, not only the USA.  Most Germans are furious about that.  With all the hot weather you're getting, most Germans don;t have and would not be able to afford air conditioning with the cost of electricity being what it became.  CO2 not only comes from the production of electricity.  What about heating, automobiles, factory production, etc.  Speaking of cars, Germany's diesel engines have been adding illegal pollution as well as CO2 to the air at 50-100 times the rate the law allows. 


Regarding taxing on international trade, America has plenty of green energy.  The oil-rich state of Texas has more wind production on it's own than all countries except for five.  America is #2 in the world in green energy.  Hey, we have Tesla cars and Tesla batteries. :)   In any case, I don;t see how you can place taxes on trade.  If you did, we'd just place a tariff on your goods.  You don; think Trump will let you do that without hitting back, do you? :)
https://www.power-technology.com/features/wind-energy-by-country/ (https://www.power-technology.com/features/wind-energy-by-country/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 11:20:51 am
Bart, do you mean Christine Lagarde?  ;)

LOL, who knows what she will do when she becomes the new President of the European Central Bank, to replace Mario Draghi ...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2019, 11:22:16 am
If you did, we'd just place a tariff on your goods.  You don; think Trump will let you do that without hitting back, do you?
And American consumers would pay the price at the checkout counter.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 11:22:39 am
LOL, who knows what she will do when she becomes the new President of the European Central Bank, to replace Mario Draghi ...

Cheers,
Bart
Trump should warm up to her easier than Dragi.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 11:24:05 am
And American consumers would pay the price at the checkout counter.
And manufacturing companies will lose business to other suppliers as the prices on their goods go up. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 11:28:42 am
By the way, fab, placing a energy tax on our goods means that your country's consumers are paying higher prices at the counter as well. Did you forget that works both ways?  It's just a tariff by another name. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 11:43:11 am
Sure you save some emissions.  But you still need the fossil fuel for backup.  It's not like you can shut them down.  So homeowner have to pay for both the new green energy and pay for upkeep of the existing fossil generators.

The fuel for solar and wind is free. So that part of the energy production changes to only paying for the infrastructure and maintenance, zero for fuel. So, if the building of the renewable energy plans is affordable (and the first ones are currently being built without the need for subsidies, thanks to the learning experiences and falling costs), the plants can be run at competitive costs. This includes the need for fast starting smaller Fossil fuel plants, which are also cheaper than full-scale plants that cannot throttle up/down as fast, and they use less fuel. 

Quote
Germany's costs are higher than other European countries, not only the USA.

Part of that has to do with the more rapid closing of nuclear energy plants. The losses for the owners of those plants need to be compensated. So there are several factors and one-time transition costs that make a simplistic cost comparison like you made, misleading.

Quote
CO2 not only comes from the production of electricity.  What about heating, automobiles, factory production, etc.  Speaking of cars, Germany's diesel engines have been adding illegal pollution as well as CO2 to the air at 50-100 times the rate the law allows.
 

Correct, there are other large producers of CO2 and other exhaust gasses. Steel production is a major one, but transportation is another big one. And Airplane fuel and Ship fuel are not even taxed yet, while they are producing another huge amount of CO2 and other emissions.

Carbon taxation is being implemented in Europe, and it won't be long before others, from outside the EU, will have to pay.

And because the USA imports more than it exports, the consumers will pay for the import taxes (just like they are doing now for Chinese manufactured goods).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 21, 2019, 11:44:31 am
Hi Bart, I know you've probably answered the question already, but I can't find the answer. What's your position on nuclear power?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 11:44:36 am
And American consumers would pay the price at the checkout counter.

Exactly. It will become cheaper to reduce emissions, to begin with.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 21, 2019, 11:52:14 am
Hi Bart, I know you've probably answered the question already, but I can't find the answer. What's your position on nuclear power?

Hi Russ,

I'm in favor, as far as I can now judge, of the next generation of nuclear energy production, Thorium based reactors. They basically burn their own waste, so there is less of a waste management issue. But it will take some 30+ years before that becomes a feasible alternative. We cannot wait for that, and it will be hard to find investors, so it will be slow to add energy to the production pool.

So the solution will be to use multiple sources of clean energy, and transition to them fast to avoid the cost of Global warming.

There is also growing potential for Hydrogen fueled plants, or local generators, and engines for transportation. During the summer, there will soon be more energy produced than can be consumed. That excess can be used to produce Hydrogen gas for storage. The electrolysis 
process is not very efficient, but it's better to use the surplus energy than to let it go to waste.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2019, 11:54:47 am
By the way, fab, placing a energy tax on our goods means that your country's consumers are paying higher prices at the counter as well. Did you forget that works both ways?  It's just a tariff by another name.
What do you mean by "your country"?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 21, 2019, 12:08:25 pm
What do you own stock in these companies?  :)

Sure you save some emissions.  But you still need the fossil fuel for backup.  It's not like you can shut them down.  So homeowner have to pay for both the new green energy and pay for upkeep of the existing fossil generators. 

Germany's costs are higher than other European countries, not only the USA.  Most Germans are furious about that.  With all the hot weather you're getting, most Germans don;t have and would not be able to afford air conditioning with the cost of electricity being what it became. CO2 not only comes from the production of electricity.  What about heating, automobiles, factory production, etc.  Speaking of cars, Germany's diesel engines have been adding illegal pollution as well as CO2 to the air at 50-100 times the rate the law allows. 


Regarding taxing on international trade, America has plenty of green energy.  The oil-rich state of Texas has more wind production on it's own than all countries except for five.  America is #2 in the world in green energy.  Hey, we have Tesla cars and Tesla batteries. :)   In any case, I don;t see how you can place taxes on trade.  If you did, we'd just place a tariff on your goods.  You don; think Trump will let you do that without hitting back, do you? :)
https://www.power-technology.com/features/wind-energy-by-country/ (https://www.power-technology.com/features/wind-energy-by-country/)


You're kidding, right?

Germans make the most money in Europe! I wouldn't be at all surprised if they were at the top or very near the top of world earners.  Best economy on the continent. Not sure about Switzerland and Luxembourg in this context, though: they are banking nations, so who knows how they calculate per capitas.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 21, 2019, 12:20:28 pm
Hi Russ,

I'm in favor, as far as I can now judge, of the next generation of nuclear energy production, Thorium based reactors. They basically burn their own waste, so there is less of a waste management issue. But it will take some 30+ years before that becomes a feasible alternative. We cannot wait for that, and it will be hard to find investors, so it will be slow to add energy to the production pool.

So the solution will be to use multiple sources of clean energy, and transition to them fast to avoid the cost of Global warming.

There is also growing potential for Hydrogen fueled plants, or local generators, and engines for transportation. During the summer, there will soon be more energy produced than can be consumed. That excess can be used to produce Hydrogen gas for storage. The electrolysis 
process is not very efficient, but it's better to use the surplus energy than to let it go to waste.

Cheers,
Bart

Actually, we don’t have to wait. We already have a straightforward method of recycling spent nuclear fuel into mixed oxide which is usable again in a reactor. The plug in the pipe is political. There’s great fear about nuclear power because of things like Three Mile Island, where no contamination escaped, the Fukushima disaster, caused by an earthquake and tsunami where according to the WHO the amount of radiation exposure to workers in the plant is unlikely to cause problems, and finally Chernobyl, a real catastrophe. The answers to these problems are: (1) build containment structures like the ones at Three Mile Island, (2) don’t build nuclear plants within reach of a tsunami, and (3) don’t let Russians build nuclear  plants.

I’m glad to hear that you’re good with nuclear. I hope we can transition to nuclear power before we’ve killed all the world’s birds with windmills and solar.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 02:43:52 pm
The fuel for solar and wind is free. So that part of the energy production changes to only paying for the infrastructure and maintenance, zero for fuel. So, if the building of the renewable energy plans is affordable (and the first ones are currently being built without the need for subsidies, thanks to the learning experiences and falling costs), the plants can be run at competitive costs. This includes the need for fast starting smaller Fossil fuel plants, which are also cheaper than full-scale plants that cannot throttle up/down as fast, and they use less fuel. 

Part of that has to do with the more rapid closing of nuclear energy plants. The losses for the owners of those plants need to be compensated. So there are several factors and one-time transition costs that make a simplistic cost comparison like you made, misleading.
 

Correct, there are other large producers of CO2 and other exhaust gasses. Steel production is a major one, but transportation is another big one. And Airplane fuel and Ship fuel are not even taxed yet, while they are producing another huge amount of CO2 and other emissions.

Carbon taxation is being implemented in Europe, and it won't be long before others, from outside the EU, will have to pay.

And because the USA imports more than it exports, the consumers will pay for the import taxes (just like they are doing now for Chinese manufactured goods).

Cheers,
Bart
  $3200 per household for a million homes in the NYS project is a lot of money to install wind turbines. Those costs don't include overruns which always happens with construction.  It doesn;t include additional lines for the power grid connection.  It doesn;t include the costs to shutdown existing facilities.  It doesn;t include the cost for smaller fossil fuel backup plants or for maintaining the larger existing facilities to backup when there's no wind.  So I'm not misleading.  The green energy community are the ones who are misleading because they never include the true overall cost.  They only quote the cost to build the green plant.  Germany is a perfect example as KWH costs have skyrocketed even though 40% of their electric production is green.  The only thing green is the money they're spending. 

Having said that, I'm all in favor of green energy. I have no axe to grind.  If someone could come up with a design to use water to make energy and power cars, I'd be for it in a heartbeat.  But the public should know what true costs are for green because that's money that might otherwise be spent for cancer research or to feed poor people. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 03:48:26 pm
What do you mean by "your country"?
You responded to an original point I was making to Bart, a Dutchman.   So I thought you were not an American.  Sorry about that. 

It would be helpful though if you added your nationality to your profile.  Our forum is international.  It makes it easier to address and understand people's points if you know where they're from. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2019, 04:16:56 pm
You responded to an original point I was making to Bart, a Dutchman.   So I thought you were not an American.  Sorry about that.  It would be helpful though if you added your nationality to your profile.  Our forum is international.  It makes it easier to address and understand people's points if you know where they're from.
It's amazing. I disagree with most of Russ's and your points and he thinks I am too young to understand and you think I am a foreigner. I'll refrain from profiling myself; it is much more revealing when you two do it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: bassman51 on July 21, 2019, 04:38:42 pm
  $3200 per household for a million homes in the NYS project is a lot of money to install wind turbines. Those costs don't include overruns which always happens with construction.  It doesn;t include additional lines for the power grid connection.  It doesn;t include the costs to shutdown existing facilities.  It doesn;t include the cost for smaller fossil fuel backup plants or for maintaining the larger existing facilities to backup when there's no wind.  So I'm not misleading.  The green energy community are the ones who are misleading because they never include the true overall cost.  They only quote the cost to build the green plant.  Germany is a perfect example as KWH costs have skyrocketed even though 40% of their electric production is green.  The only thing green is the money they're spending. 

Having said that, I'm all in favor of green energy. I have no axe to grind.  If someone could come up with a design to use water to make energy and power cars, I'd be for it in a heartbeat.  But the public should know what true costs are for green because that's money that might otherwise be spent for cancer research or to feed poor people.

I think part of the problem about costs is that no one really understands the real cost of either traditional fossil fuels or “Green” energy. 

On the legacy side, the economic costs - at least in the US - are hugely distorted by direct and indirect government subsidies built into the tax code.  However, we have a pretty good idea of the environmental costs, most of which are not reflected in what consumers pay for the energy. 

On the “Green” side, we probably understand the economic costs, because the market is still relatively small and the government distortions are small enough to calculate.  I don’t believe, however, we have a good handle on the environmental costs.  Can anyone predict the cost of disposing of the lithium from tens of millions of car batteries? How about the environmental impact of manufacturing those batteries?  There’s lots of new technology to be deployed, and we can’t understand how it will work out until we have a lot more of it than we have today, and it’s run through it’s useful life.

So how to decide?  I think we need a risk management approach.  As in: what are the risks from taking one or the other course? 

I think the risks from a carbon-fuel based future are clear: continued warming and an environmental disaster which will affect everyone, but disproportionately the poor. 

The main risk from an aggressive renewable energy approach seems to be that it will cost more money in the short run, and probably push off some other beneficial uses of that money, again impacting the poor. The secondary risks are that we may fail to make any impact in global warming and therefore have wasted the money, and/or we may create some other environmental problem we don’t foresee.  But I doubt this track will have the same long-term impact on the world than our current course seems to hold.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 21, 2019, 05:04:14 pm
I think part of the problem about costs is that no one really understands the real cost of either traditional fossil fuels or “Green” energy. 

On the legacy side, the economic costs - at least in the US - are hugely distorted by direct and indirect government subsidies built into the tax code.  However, we have a pretty good idea of the environmental costs, most of which are not reflected in what consumers pay for the energy. 

On the “Green” side, we probably understand the economic costs, because the market is still relatively small and the government distortions are small enough to calculate.  I don’t believe, however, we have a good handle on the environmental costs.  Can anyone predict the cost of disposing of the lithium from tens of millions of car batteries? How about the environmental impact of manufacturing those batteries?  There’s lots of new technology to be deployed, and we can’t understand how it will work out until we have a lot more of it than we have today, and it’s run through it’s useful life.

So how to decide?  I think we need a risk management approach.  As in: what are the risks from taking one or the other course? 

I think the risks from a carbon-fuel based future are clear: continued warming and an environmental disaster which will affect everyone, but disproportionately the poor. 

The main risk from an aggressive renewable energy approach seems to be that it will cost more money in the short run, and probably push off some other beneficial uses of that money, again impacting the poor. The secondary risks are that we may fail to make any impact in global warming and therefore have wasted the money, and/or we may create some other environmental problem we don’t foresee.  But I doubt this track will have the same long-term impact on the world than our current course seems to hold.


That's pretty reasonable.

Regarding the cars: I fear that in the long run (no pun etc.) we will be using neither gas nor battery power for cars. I think cars will be off the road except for some official ones that carry VIPs of one kind or another. The problem isn't going to be fueling them but space for them. Cities are already a driving nightmare unless you are just passing through, and yes, dud batteries are going to be one helluva recycling deal. The Mafia could use the opportunity, though.


I mentioned some time ago that a lot of young people who live in cities no longer seek driving licences; I can see their point. They have not grown up with the competitive thing that cars usually become for the young, competitive in the sense if mine is hotter than yours competitive, which grows into the mine cost more than yours did thing. The subway or the bus is all they need or perhaps a taxi at night. Quite how folks in the sticks will get on is something else. Les gilets jaunes had a word or two about that.

Basically, I think our problems arise more from too much unprotected sex than any other factor: we are worse than the steel industries when it comes to overproduction. We make too many copies.

To fix that, though, we have to fight some churches as well as some urges. My wise old mo 'n law used to say that a standing dick had no conscience. I often wondered if she was speaking generally, pointedly or mystically. Always suspected the lady of being slightly fey.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 05:46:48 pm
I think part of the problem about costs is that no one really understands the real cost of either traditional fossil fuels or “Green” energy. 

On the legacy side, the economic costs - at least in the US - are hugely distorted by direct and indirect government subsidies built into the tax code.  However, we have a pretty good idea of the environmental costs, most of which are not reflected in what consumers pay for the energy. 

On the “Green” side, we probably understand the economic costs, because the market is still relatively small and the government distortions are small enough to calculate.  I don’t believe, however, we have a good handle on the environmental costs.  Can anyone predict the cost of disposing of the lithium from tens of millions of car batteries? How about the environmental impact of manufacturing those batteries?  There’s lots of new technology to be deployed, and we can’t understand how it will work out until we have a lot more of it than we have today, and it’s run through it’s useful life.

So how to decide?  I think we need a risk management approach.  As in: what are the risks from taking one or the other course? 

I think the risks from a carbon-fuel based future are clear: continued warming and an environmental disaster which will affect everyone, but disproportionately the poor. 

The main risk from an aggressive renewable energy approach seems to be that it will cost more money in the short run, and probably push off some other beneficial uses of that money, again impacting the poor. The secondary risks are that we may fail to make any impact in global warming and therefore have wasted the money, and/or we may create some other environmental problem we don’t foresee.  But I doubt this track will have the same long-term impact on the world than our current course seems to hold.


I agree.  Knowing all the facts is important to making good decisions.  That's what I've been arguing here for two years. Unfortunately, the press and politicians and green industry corporations have not provided both sides - the good as well as the bad.  You'll see that one poor polar bear starving over and over.  But you won;t see nature programs showing the eagles killed by the wind turbines.  They'll tell you about all the energy savings from green.  But you won't see the cost to society in other areas from the shifting of limited resources from cancer research to green energy rebates. 

In order to make smart decisions for the future, the public should have all the data.  Unfortunately, it's been cherry picked.  The public senses that too.  They know when someone has their hand in their pockets.  So a lot of the public refutes the "proof" because it starts looking like a setup.  People know when they're getting hoodwinked.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 05:53:31 pm

That's pretty reasonable.

Regarding the cars: I fear that in the long run (no pun etc.) we will be using neither gas nor battery power for cars. I think cars will be off the road except for some official ones that carry VIPs of one kind or another. The problem isn't going to be fueling them but space for them. Cities are already a driving nightmare unless you are just passing through, and yes, dud batteries are going to be one helluva recycling deal. The Mafia could use the opportunity, though.


I mentioned some time ago that a lot of young people who live in cities no longer seek driving licences; I can see their point. They have not grown up with the competitive thing that cars usually become for the young, competitive in the sense if mine is hotter than yours competitive, which grows into the mine cost more than yours did thing. The subway or the bus is all they need or perhaps a taxi at night. Quite how folks in the sticks will get on is something else. Les gilets jaunes had a word or two about that.

Basically, I think our problems arise more from too much unprotected sex than any other factor: we are worse than the steel industries when it comes to overproduction. We make too many copies.

To fix that, though, we have to fight some churches as well as some urges. My wise old mo 'n law used to say that a standing dick had no conscience. I often wondered if she was speaking generally, pointedly or mystically. Always suspected the lady of being slightly fey.

"I'll give you my car when you take it from my cold, dead hands" 

I agree about the sex.  Nothing is going to change with the climate until the population declines about 50%.   But how that might happen is horrendous thinking about it.   In fact, as more and more Chinese become middle class, it's going to get worse and worse.  Europe isn;t so bad.  The population is declining there in many areas.  But as it gets hotter, everyone will want air conditioning like in America.  After all, Americans are so cool.   8)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 21, 2019, 09:15:17 pm
Americans are so cool.

And First Lady is hot.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on July 21, 2019, 09:33:13 pm
Thanks Les. So how many of you would support Trump if admitted to being a racist?  I'll be the first to admit that my lively hood depends on capitalism and making some sacrifices of delayed gratification, but how can anyone accept Trump's racist rhetoric? Funny, both of my wife's parents were immigrants and have made positive contributions to our country but they are white.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2019, 09:41:56 pm
And First Lady is hot.
She's so hot, she's cool.   :P
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 22, 2019, 03:45:32 am
She's so hot, she's cool.   :P

I think she has become - mentally - flattened.

She seemed suitably impressed with her rôle at first, but now looks more and more as if she wishes she were somewhere else. Who can blame her?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 24, 2019, 05:28:39 pm
A new study reinforces the evidence that human actions are driving rapid changes to the climate of the whole planet. Global warming is happening on the 98% of the Earth surface.

Quote
Climate change “deniers” who claim the rapid temperature rise experienced by the world is part of a natural cycle have been proven wrong by a new study, experts said after it revealed that global warming is happening at an “unprecedented” scale that far exceeds temperature fluctuations during the last two millennia.

Warming in the 20th century, seen over 98 per cent of the world, is in “stark contrast” to previous warm and cool periods such as the “Little Ice Age” when frost fairs were famously held on a frozen Thames, according to the findings in published in the journal Nature.

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/global-warming-earth-history-heatwave-study-climate-deniers-a9019391.html

Quote
“This paper should finally stop climate change deniers claiming that the recent observed coherent global warming is part of a natural climate cycle. This paper shows the truly stark difference between regional and localised changes in climate of the past and the truly global effect of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 24, 2019, 06:31:57 pm
Well, I thought we had another 12 years.  But it seems we all have only 18 months before it's over.  The changing climate is going to do us all in.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736

Climate expert Prince Charles concurs so we know it must be true. Now he'll never become King.   No wonder he's so upset.
https://www.smart-energy.com/industry-sectors/business-finance-regulation/next-18-months-will-decide-climate-change-success-prince-charles/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 24, 2019, 09:07:46 pm
Well, I thought we had another 12 years. 


Alan,

are you really denying all those facts or are you just happy to see me (supplying new facts and evidence)?
Here is the latest data as of today:

Quote
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have recorded their highest ever temperatures, in a heatwave searing Western Europe.
  • The Belgian town of Kleine Brogel hit 39.9C (102F), the hottest since 1833.
  • The southern Dutch city of Eindhoven beat the 75-year-old national record, with a new high of 39.3C.
  • Germany's weather service said a new record of 40.5C - just 0.2C higher - had been set in Geilenkirchen, near the Belgian and Dutch borders.
The new German record was still to be confirmed, it said, warning that it could get even hotter on Thursday.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49100271
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 24, 2019, 11:18:38 pm

Alan,

are you really denying all those facts or are you just happy to see me (supplying new facts and evidence)?
Here is the latest data as of today:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49100271

I don't know what the facts are.   I'm not that wise.   I'm just happy knowing that Prince Charles is on the case.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 25, 2019, 12:12:32 am
I don't know what the facts are.   I'm not that wise.   I'm just happy knowing that Prince Charles is on the case.  :)

As to the facts, there are widely available - even in the link which I posted.
And as to Prince Charles, he is doing his best. He discussed the climate change even with Donald Trump.

Quote
“What he really wants and what he really feels warmly about is the future,” Trump said of Prince Charles. “He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate, as opposed to a disaster, and I agree. I did mentioned a couple of things. I did say, ‘Well, the United States right now has among the cleanest climates there are, based on all statistics.’ And it’s even getting better because I agree with that. I want the best water, the cleanest water —crystal clean, crystal clean air.

Quote
“I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways. Don’t forget, it used to be called global warming. That wasn’t working. Then it was called climate change. Now it’s actually called extreme weather — because with extreme weather, you can’t miss,” Trump said on the morning show.

https://time.com/5601169/donald-trump-prince-charles-climate-change/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 06:45:00 am
As to the facts, there are widely available - even in the link which I posted.
And as to Prince Charles, he is doing his best. He discussed the climate change even with Donald Trump.

Quote
"“What he really wants and what he really feels warmly about is the future,” Trump said of Prince Charles. “He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate, as opposed to a disaster, and I agree. I did mentioned a couple of things. I did say, ‘Well, the United States right now has among the cleanest climates there are, based on all statistics.’ And it’s even getting better because I agree with that. I want the best water, the cleanest water —crystal clean, crystal clean air.”"

https://time.com/5601169/donald-trump-prince-charles-climate-change/ (https://time.com/5601169/donald-trump-prince-charles-climate-change/)

What Trump said is never reported widely in the media.  Nor was his comment about getting back into Paris which he said he'd do if the Chinese had to reduce CO2 as well rather than letting them do nothing until 2030.  Of course, with the world ending in 18 months, it really won;t matter. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 25, 2019, 12:44:33 pm
The Met Office in UK has confirmed that the 36.9C temperature recorded at Heathrow Airport earlier is the new record temperature for July. Among other problems, this is also affecting the transportation.

Paris has beaten its all-time heat record, hitting 40.6 C amid a heat wave breaking barriers across Europe. Authorities say the temperature is still rising. It’s one of several records set in this week’s heat wave, the second wave baking the continent this summer. France saw its hottest-ever day on record last month, when a southern town reached 46C.

Quote
Commuters have been warned to not travel as soaring temperatures cause disruption to some services. The rising temperatures caused damage to overhead electric wires between London St Pancras and Luton, blocking all lines.

The blistering temperatures also damaged overhead electric wires between London Euston and Watford Junction, disrupting Virgin Trains services. Commuters have been warned to not travel as soaring temperatures cause disruption to some services. The rising temperatures caused damage to overhead electric wires between London St Pancras and Luton, blocking all lines.


https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2019/jul/25/heatwave-uk-weather-set-to-break-records-as-europes-cities-await-hottest-day-live?page=with:block-5d39a5de8f08cf92bb776cf1#block-5d39a5de8f08cf92bb776cf1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 25, 2019, 12:54:50 pm
So I hear that Paris is about to break the record temperature from 1947. Wait, what!? It was even hotter in 1947 than today!? 72 years ago?

72 years ago the world population was about 2-2.5 billion people, today it is 3x as much, with corresponding industrialization and CO2 emissions. And yet it was as hot as today.

Three to five million years ago, the concentration of CO2 was as high as today, and the see level was like 10m higher. Today it isn't.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 25, 2019, 01:56:17 pm
You don't want to confuse folks with facts, Slobodan. It doesn't inform them; it just makes them angry because you're puncturing their bubble.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 02:01:00 pm
I just added flood insurance to my home insurance. You guys convinced me.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 25, 2019, 02:07:33 pm

Alan,

are you really denying all those facts or are you just happy to see me (supplying new facts and evidence)?
Here is the latest data as of today:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49100271

As a Belgian and living in the warmest part of Belgium I can tell this is exceptional. But there is more than one or two warm days. I have a small pond with fishes that normally do not reproduce in our climate. Since last year, I have juvenile fish in the pond. Climate is changing, but that’s not new. If human influence speeds things up, don’t know, we should stop believing we can steer nature. ( in negative or positive way) That being said, it doesn’t change the fact that we are ruining our planet on high speed. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 02:28:57 pm
As a Belgian and living in the warmest part of Belgium I can tell this is exceptional. But there is more than one or two warm days. I have a small pond with fishes that normally do not reproduce in our climate. Since last year, I have juvenile fish in the pond. Climate is changing, but that’s not new. If human influence speeds things up, don’t know, we should stop believing we can steer nature. ( in negative or positive way) That being said, it doesn’t change the fact that we are ruining our planet on high speed. 
Thanks for the positive news about global warming.  So fish are expanding their range becoming more successful due to the increase in temperature.  That's the point I've been making for two years.  Warming climate has both positive as well as negative effects. It's interesting however that you automatically concluded that it's ruining our planet at high speed.   If those fish could talk, they wouldn't agree with your point of view.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 25, 2019, 02:29:57 pm
So I hear that Paris is about to break the record temperature from 1947. Wait, what!? It was even hotter in 1947 than today!? 72 years ago?

72 years ago the world population was about 2-2.5 billion people, today it is 3x as much, with corresponding industrialization and CO2 emissions. And yet it was as hot as today.

Today, the temperatures in the Netherlands were a record high since the mid 1800's (records before that were not as scientifically accurate or methodical). But then, these local weather extremes are, well, local and weather. Climate change, as has been explained many times already, is the long (11, 20 or 30 years) term trend.

What also appears not to register with the climate change deniers (could it be caused by their brains overheating?) is that the rate of temperature rise is unprecedented (especially absent solar irradiance maxima or change in earth axis tilt, or orbital forcing) in known history.

Quote
Three to five million years ago, the concentration of CO2 was as high as today, and the see level was like 10m higher. Today it isn't.

Since you don't provide a source, and rather than debunking each point for the umpteenth time, let's debunk the 10 most common ones in one go:
https://youtu.be/FBF6F4Bi6Sg?t=1

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 25, 2019, 02:37:14 pm
... Climate change, as has been explained many times already, is the long (11, 20 or 30 years) term trend...

11 years!? Even 30!? Seriously!? That’s climate change???

You guys are getting more and more laughable. Coincides with rising temperatures?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 25, 2019, 03:07:45 pm
Thanks for the positive news about global warming.  So fish are expanding their range becoming more successful due to the increase in temperature.  That's the point I've been making for two years.  Warming climate has both positive as well as negative effects. It's interesting however that you automatically concluded that it's ruining our planet at high speed.   If those fish could talk, they wouldn't agree with your point of view.

If fish could talk they would tell you about the plastic mess in the oceans, Alan.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 03:19:07 pm
If fish could talk they would tell you about the plastic mess in the oceans, Alan.

Pollution has nothing to do with warming temperatures.  In any case, more fish means more sea lions and more penguins that means more food for polar bears to feed on. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 25, 2019, 03:19:59 pm
11 years!? Even 30!? Seriously!? That’s climate change???

You guys are getting more and more laughable. Coincides with rising temperatures?

A guide in the Tatra explained the canyon we looked at. 9000 Years ago (when all was see in that area!) a giant glacier of 350 m height broke off and found his way to the see.
Doesn’t this sound familiar?
It is not an uncommon mistake of science to narrow everything down to the world of what science already can explain.

Question for the scientists among us. Is earth not warming up since Pinedale glaciation?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 25, 2019, 03:22:34 pm
Pollution has nothing to do with warming temperatures.  In any case, more fish means more sea lions and more penguins that means more food for polar bears to feed on.

I don’t make that link. I say human sort is ruining earth in speed. Pollution and destruction of the natural habitat of other species as main reason.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 25, 2019, 03:31:36 pm
In any case, more fish means more sea lions and more penguins that means more food for polar bears to feed on.
Polar bears are not predators of sea lions. And I doubt many polar bears are going to swim from the Arctic to the Antarctic to feed on penguins.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 25, 2019, 03:32:58 pm
I doubt many polar bears are going to swim from the arctic to the antarctic to feed on penguins.

Ha! Fake news, Faberyman!! 🥴
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 03:42:39 pm
I doubt many polar bears are going to swim from the Arctic to the Antarctic to feed on penguins.
Hey you never know.  If they get hungry enough.  :)

OK more seals and sea lions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 03:46:39 pm
I don’t make that link. I say human sort is ruining earth in speed. Pollution and destruction of the natural habitat of other species as main reason.

Why don;t you make that link?  Just like the suspension of hunting seals has expanded their population and the subsequent population of white sharks that feed on them, more fish expands the population of animals that feed on fish.  So more seals helps polar bears to survive.  Also white sharks. That's how nature works.  Global warming has cause the greening of the earth to the tune of twice the area of the United States.  Think of all the species expansion that has occured.  Of course, the climate change proponents won't tell you about the species that expand, only those that decrease.  They cherry pick bad news only to fool the public.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 25, 2019, 03:52:01 pm
... Since you don't provide a source...

I thought you are current with the latest news? Or you just notice those confirming your bias?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/warming-temperatures-could-transform-antarctica-plant-filled-land-green-180971880/

"CO2 Levels Are as High as They Were Three Million Years Ago"


Quote
...the last time Earth’s atmosphere contained the amount of carbon dioxide present today, Antarctica was a plant-covered oasis, sea levels were an estimated 10 to 20 meters higher, and global temperatures were an average of 2 to 3 degrees Celsius warmer. In the Arctic, summer temperatures were a full 14 degrees higher than they are now.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 03:59:03 pm
I thought you are current with the latest news? Or you just notice those confirming your bias?

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/warming-temperatures-could-transform-antarctica-plant-filled-land-green-180971880/

"CO2 Levels Are as High as They Were Three Million Years Ago"


My wife and I were planning a cruise from Rio to Chile around South America with a stop off in Antarctica to eat some penguins.  If we wait awhile, we might be able to leave our parkas at home. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 25, 2019, 04:56:22 pm
11 years!? Even 30!? Seriously!? That’s climate change???

Yes, that's the period over which to average to pick up the Trend and suppress the fluctuations. The 11 year period e.g. is to even out the solar sunspot cycle fluctuation. Surprised you didn't know that.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 25, 2019, 05:05:07 pm
Yes, that's the period over which to average to pick up the Trend and suppress the fluctuations. The 11 year period e.g. is to even out the solar sunspot cycle fluctuation. Surprised you didn't know that.

Trend smoothing is one thing. Claiming that 11 years represent "climate" vs. "weather" is quite another.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 25, 2019, 07:31:21 pm
Pollution has nothing to do with warming temperatures.  In any case, more fish means more sea lions and more penguins that means more food for polar bears to feed on.

Allan, the fish stock in the oceans has been continuously decreasing. The only places the fish stock is increasing are the fish farms, but that fish comes laced with antibiotics, hormones and sea lice.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 25, 2019, 07:37:55 pm
My wife and I were planning a cruise from Rio to Chile around South America with a stop off in Antarctica to eat some penguins.  If we wait awhile, we might be able to leave our parkas at home.

Never mind parkas, but maybe also the forks and knives.

Quote
Antarctic penguin populations have dropped more than 25 percent on average over the past two decades, according to a new report released Tuesday from the nonprofit environmental group Oceanites. Climate change is leading to a precipitous decline in several penguin populations on the Antarctic Peninsula, according to the group, which completed the first comprehensive survey of the region’s species in 24 years using satellite images.

What happens to penguins, happens to us all. We’re all biological creatures,” Naveen said, adding that humans, like penguins, have four basic needs for survival: food, home, health and offspring.

Could be due to climate change or cruise tourists.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/penguin-populations-shrinking-antarctica

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 07:52:54 pm
Allan, the fish stock in the oceans has been continuously decreasing. The only places the fish stock is increasing are the fish farms, but that fish comes laced with antibiotics, hormones and sea lice.
Fish population reduction in the open oceans due to man eating more of them is one thing.  But if climate changes allows population increases, that's a separate issue and a plus for warming.  So the problem is not the climate.  It's man's increasing population as a predator that's affecting fish stocks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 08:05:50 pm
Never mind parkas, but maybe also the forks and knives.

Could be due to climate change or cruise tourists.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/penguin-populations-shrinking-antarctica



I was going to say photograph penguins.  But I thought I'd wake everyone up by saying we'd eat them.  Anyway, my wife is a part-vegetarian and would only eat the fish they're eating, but stays away from eating birds, fork or no fork. :)

Speaking of penguin population, they discovered 1 1/2 million  of them that they didn;t know even existed.  They were hidden for almost three thousand years.  Of course, the scientists claim that climate change has even decreased this population by 10-20%.  How do they know?  Seems like everything gets blamed on climate change.  MAybe it's just man eating too many of the same fish penguins depends on.  What I wonder about is why does the tropics where it is warmest have the most diverse and populated species in the world?  The colder climes get, the less diverse and less populated.  As the earth warms, it actually will be better for creatures.  Even man has done better in warmer climates as agriculture provides more food when it's warmer.  Mini-ice ages decrease human populations as well as other species. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 25, 2019, 08:06:31 pm
Trend smoothing is one thing. Claiming that 11 years represent "climate" vs. "weather" is quite another.

As I said, "Climate change, as has been explained many times already, is the long (11, 20 or 30 years) term trend."

Apparently, I also had to explain (in at least one simple way of doing it) how a trend is calculated.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 08:07:12 pm
Here's the link for the penguins million.
https://www.livescience.com/64282-hidden-adelie-penguin-supercolony.html (https://www.livescience.com/64282-hidden-adelie-penguin-supercolony.html)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 25, 2019, 08:16:10 pm
Here's the link for the penguins million.
https://www.livescience.com/64282-hidden-adelie-penguin-supercolony.html (https://www.livescience.com/64282-hidden-adelie-penguin-supercolony.html)
Do you even bother to read the articles you cite?

"After all, the rest of the Adélie penguins on the mainland, their habitat hit hard by climate change, have been steadily declining for the past 40 years. In fact, "nowhere is the climate changing more rapidly than on the Antarctic peninsula," Lynch said.

But some of the team's new findings suggest that although 1.5 million seems like a big number, it's not as large as it once might have been. After their initial analyses of recent satellite imagery, the team decided to look at past satellite images that date back to 1982.

They found that the Adélie penguin populations likely peaked in the late 1990s and "has been on a slow but steady decline ever since," Lynch said. The decline "is not catastrophic," but rather on the order of a 10 to 20 percent decline, she later added.

Because the Danger Islands are almost always surrounded by sea ice, they are more protected from krill fishing and other human interventions than other areas of the continent, Lynch said. But even so, the best working hypothesis is that the population decline there is probably also due to climate change."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 08:32:51 pm
Do you even bother to read the articles you cite?

"After all, the rest of the Adélie penguins on the mainland, their habitat hit hard by climate change, have been steadily declining for the past 40 years. In fact, "nowhere is the climate changing more rapidly than on the Antarctic peninsula," Lynch said.

But some of the team's new findings suggest that although 1.5 million seems like a big number, it's not as large as it once might have been. After their initial analyses of recent satellite imagery, the team decided to look at past satellite images that date back to 1982.

They found that the Adélie penguin populations likely peaked in the late 1990s and "has been on a slow but steady decline ever since," Lynch said. The decline "is not catastrophic," but rather on the order of a 10 to 20 percent decline, she later added."

I acknowledged the 10-20% decline in my post #214.  Apparently you didn't read it.  What I don't necessarily agree with that it's due to climate change.  They made an assumption that their belief of a decline on the mainland due to climate change also applies to the island where these penguins live.  They haven't studied the reason for the decline on the island. They only jumped to a conclusion, not a scientific method. 

The other issue is, that over time, population groups move and change in size as the climate changes.  This happens with all species.  It takes time for things to settle down again.  But over the long haul, there no deleterious effect to the species itself.  Species population expand and contract all the time due to all kinds of changes in the environment.  So what? It's normal.  The penguins could rebound elsewhere where the climate has now become more favorable to them.  But we're only taking a snapshot in time and not seeing the whole evolution playing out.  Of course, in extreme cases, species go extinct or evolve.  Brown bears become polar bears and might go back to being brown bears again and feed on warmer land.   But that's been going to for billions of years.  Again, so what?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 08:41:19 pm
Impact of climate change on man through time.  Civilizations have come and gone because of climate changes.  And these changes occur naturally without man's interference.  Arguing that somehow we have to maintain climates as they were one or two hundred years ago before fossil fuels were used, is an impossible goal. Better we analyze what the changes are to be expected. Then use resources efficiently to compensate for those changes. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_impacts_of_climate_change
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 25, 2019, 10:44:55 pm
Today, the temperatures in the Netherlands were a record high since the mid 1800's (records before that were not as scientifically accurate or methodical).

What also appears not to register with the climate change deniers (could it be caused by their brains overheating?) is that the rate of temperature rise is unprecedented (especially absent solar irradiance maxima or change in earth axis tilt, or orbital forcing) in known history.

Don't you notice a contradiction in your above statements, Bart? You claim temperature records before the mid 1800's are not as scientifically accurate as current temperatures records, then go on to claim that the current rate of temperature rise is unprecedented.

I think what you should have written is, "It is thought, by those who believe in the AGW hypothesis, that the current rate of warming is unprecedented, but this cannot be confirmed with any confidence because of the lack of sufficiently accurate temperature records of the past."

Now that would have made more sense to those of us who are rational and unbiased.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2019, 10:50:41 pm
It's nice to see you back Ray with your insight of the climate issues.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2019, 12:18:16 am
It's nice to see you back Ray with your insight of the climate issues.

Thanks, Alan. I've never denied that climate is always changing and that human activities in general quite likely have at least some effect on the current change in climate.

The problem is, it's impossible to accurately quantify the proportion of the current warming that is natural, the proportion which is caused by massive deforestation for agricultural purposes, the proportion which is due to land-clearing for mining purposes, urbanisation and the construction of roads and cities, and the proportion which is due to minuscule increases in atmospheric CO2 due to the burning of fossil fuels.

However, such uncertainty does not lend itself to political action.
The late Professor Stephen Schneider, who was Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University, explained this problem of uncertainty and its solution quite clearly in the following quote, which I believe is the full quote.

"On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but – which means that we must include all doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands and buts.

On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we’d like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climate change.

To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, means getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have.

This “double ethical bind” we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both."


Now, there's no harm in scientists hoping that they can be both honest and effective, but when they cease to be honest for any reason, they are ceasing to be scientific. Science is the pursuit of truth.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 26, 2019, 12:25:48 am
... I've never denied that climate is always changing...

Of course it does... every 11 years.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ivo_B on July 26, 2019, 04:51:06 am
Good article in the local Flemish newspaper.

In short: there is no hard to prove one to one relation between climate change and human impact such as pollution, greenhouse gasses , etc. But, there is an influence on how the weather is impacted by the climate due to pe high Greenhouse gasses.

...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2019, 05:44:14 am
Of course it does... every 11 years.

Since climate is an average of weather events, we would need very accurate, numerous and wide-spread monitoring devices to confidently detect any slight change in climate during short periods of time on a global scale, but that doesn't mean the climate is not slowly changing from year to year. Something as complex and chaotic as the climate cannot possibly remain static.

That the average global temperature is claimed to have increased by approximately 1 degree Centigrade during the past 170 years does not sound alarming to me, especially considering that this figure is unlikely to be accurate due to the lack of sufficient measuring devices in the past, globally.

That most of this warming is claimed to have occurred since the 1950's, when I was a young kid at school, also doesn't seem alarming. One of the reasons I decided to emigrate to Australia is because I didn't like the bloody cold weather in the UK.  ;D

I'm currently in Thailand because I find the winter in semi-tropical Brisbane, Australia, is uncomfortably cold, and decided to holiday in a warmer climate. I recall in June this year, in Brisbane one day, watching the world weather report on TV. The forecast for the following day was a maximum of 20 degree C  in Brisbane, and a maximum of 20 degrees C in London. What a coincidence I thought. In London it's summer time, and in Brisbane it's winter time.

I'm sure glad I'm not in the UK, I felt. A rise in average temperature of just 0.8 degrees since the 1950's would not have been enough for me, had I remained n the UK.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 26, 2019, 06:22:20 am
Another day, another record

(https://accuweather.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2fcb089/2147483647/resize/590x/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faccuweather-bsp.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F71%2F5f50465a4066acb28f8497f630a4%2Fall-time-records-set.jpg)

and 42.6C (108.7F) in Paris
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2019, 08:05:34 am
Does the Gulf Stream have anything to do with the heat wave in Europe?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 26, 2019, 08:16:03 am
Another day, another record

(https://accuweather.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2fcb089/2147483647/resize/590x/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faccuweather-bsp.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F71%2F5f50465a4066acb28f8497f630a4%2Fall-time-records-set.jpg)

and 42.6C (108.7F) in Paris

Yes, 2 records in 2 days.

BTW, the official maximum temperature in the Netherlands was corrected to 40.7 °C (still a record) after an hour, since that was reported. The  1 degree spike was very short and very sudden, so probably an anomaly, so it was decided to use the temperature before and after that spike and label the spike but not use it for the official records. In urban areas the temprerature was even higher than on the official meadow.

And another record was set. Last night was the warmest night ever measured. The mercury at the end of the night, usually the coldest moment, remained stuck at 25.6  °C in Deelen. It's been climbing since but it looks like it's just going to miss yesterday's record by 1 degree or so.

Since last night we have an official heatwave.

This is exceptional according to meteorologists, because of the proximity of the sea which usually limits the possible temperature rise.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 26, 2019, 08:25:34 am
Does the Gulf Stream have anything to do with the heat wave in Europe?

I'm not sure if specifically the Gulf Stream is causing the current heat wave, but there is evidence that the air currents in general have changed in the recent years.
It is not important which of the air streams is causing a particular weather change, since this is not something you can control.
 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 26, 2019, 08:36:44 am
Does the Gulf Stream have anything to do with the heat wave in Europe?

It's a combination of factors. A barely moving high-pressure system over the North-Eastern part of Europe transports warm land wind from Southern Europe to the North and reduces Relative Humidity during the day. The cooling effect of the Sea is less in countries next to the Sea. And global temperatures are rising, mostly over the Northern Hemisphere.

That heat also extracts a lot of moisture from the land/plants/crops. Lack of water, after not fully having recovered from last year's drought, causes crop failure and increases wildfire risks. In my country, the use of surface water for irrigation is prohibited. Like last year, it's probably going to be only a good year for wine, even at our higher latitudes.

Cheers,
Bart

P.S. A while ago I 've read about a change in the meandering pattern of the jet-streams around the Arctic circle, but I'm not sure if that still plays a role in this particular heatwave. That change was supposed to cause High- and Low-pressure systems to move slower, become more stationary.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2019, 09:11:57 am
I remember years ago when New York City had a water drought. We usually very good here in the Northeast as far as rain goes. But back then we had no water for a while or at least ienough quantities to make a difference. So they stopped serving water in restaurants you had to ask for it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 26, 2019, 09:15:54 am
Nope, the cooling, shifting GF has to be absolved of guilt: it's changed pressure areas driving African desert winds up through Europe and further northwards.

The fact that polar areas are melting puts more cold water into the system, and that system has to cope with that additional cold water, which will eventially heat up as the normally hotter waters also rise due to the other influences affecting the overall system.

As water is at its most dense at just under 4 degrees C, and not when ice, the cold water/melted ice caps/hotter water ratios, as they affect the ultimate levels of the seas, make for interesting calculations and conclusions.

No doubt we have suitable armchair experts here who will tell us what to expect.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2019, 07:43:19 pm
Another day, another record

(https://accuweather.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/2fcb089/2147483647/resize/590x/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Faccuweather-bsp.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3d%2F71%2F5f50465a4066acb28f8497f630a4%2Fall-time-records-set.jpg)

and 42.6C (108.7F) in Paris

Wow! That certainly is alarming. All-Time Record! What does 'all-time' mean? Surely it must mean 'since the Big Bang'. Isn't that when time began?  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 26, 2019, 07:47:34 pm
It means since the "media" started worrying about stuff like this.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2019, 08:58:42 pm
Europeans who now don't use air conditioning much, will now run out and install AC's like crazy.  Electricity use will triple.  Fossil fuel plants will re-open. CO2 production will choke the polar bears and temperatures will hit 45 degrees C.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 26, 2019, 11:39:50 pm
Complete structures can collapse in these record heat temperatures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhPC51ycqK0
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 26, 2019, 11:51:45 pm
Complete structures can collapse in these record heat temperatures.

Let alone snowflakes ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 01:27:25 am
And now something to please our alarmist friends:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 02:05:16 am
Also, as Alan Klein keeps pointing out, global warming has many positive impacts:

https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAETEWC?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 27, 2019, 04:42:15 am
Also, as Alan Klein keeps pointing out, global warming has many positive impacts:

https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAETEWC?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare

If it's CNN, how can you possibly quote it?

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 06:18:06 am
No climate event of the last 2,000 years looks like humanity’s
Warm or cool periods you may have heard of were regional affairs
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/the-only-global-climate-event-of-last-2000-years-was-ours/
Quote
Some people who reject climate science seem to think climate scientists have never heard that the climate has changed in the past—as if scientists weren’t the ones who discovered those events in the first place. In reality, researchers are intensely interested in past climates because there is a lot to learn from them. You can see how sensitive Earth’s climate is to changes, for example, or how variable things can be even when the long-term average temperature is steady.

(“Climate has changed without humans before, so humans can’t be changing it now” is not a logically valid argument, FYI. It's the equivalent to arguing that we can't cause forest fires, since they occurred before we were around.)

Quote
The results showed that only one period was a truly global event—the modern warming caused by human activities. More than 98% of the globe experienced the warmest temperatures of the last 2,000 years during the 20th century.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 09:19:55 am
So freaking what?

Some people did something. We exist. We do things. What do you want? Humans not to exist? Or to stop our activities?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2019, 09:26:10 am
So freaking what?

Some people did something. We exist. We do things. What do you want? Humans not to exist? Or to stop our activities?

Good point.  We effect the land. The whole middle of the US has been farmed for a couple of hundred years due to population increase.  That's affected the earth.  There are hundreds of things we do that affects the earth.  Unless we plan on limiting births through force like China did with their one-child policy, we're not going to change much.  Even China still has 1.4 billion people, so that didn't work anyway.  We have to trust that the earth will take care of itself.  It adapts; we adapt. That doesn;t mean we shouldn't try be good stewards of the environment and nature.  But just be reasonable.  A little humility about our limited power would be helpful. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 09:51:47 am
So freaking what?

Some people did something. We exist. We do things. What do you want? Humans not to exist? Or to stop our activities?

I think Bart's telling us we need to run for it, Slobodan. That would be about as useful a defense as anything else anyone could do.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 09:54:53 am
... Unless we plan on limiting births through force like China did with their one-child policy...

Do not worry. We have a much more formidable totalitarian force than the communist China: feminists and leftists. Neither China, nor Russia, with all their military might, even combined, would ever be able to decimate the Western civilization they way our own feminists and leftists will.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2019, 10:05:32 am
Do not worry. We have a much more formidable totalitarian force than the communist China: feminists and leftists. Neither China, nor Russia, with all their military might, even combined, would ever be able to decimate the Western civilization they way our own feminists and leftists will.
Interestingly, births are down in many western societies (plus Japan).  Isn't Europe decreasing in population, at least native born?  Maybe the flow of immigrants is a natural condition.  And beneficial.  After all, isn't that how Africans inhabited Europe. Now, others are immigrating there. Look what happened to the population of North America in just a few hundred years.  With America going broke, I was telling my my wife we should let in anyone who wants to come here and legalize all illegals. After all, someone has to pay for our Social Security. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 27, 2019, 10:36:42 am
What, you think you couldn't make it happen again, worldwide this time?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_Bowl

The first one was largely ignorance-led; that excuse is now redundant. I see it hasn't taken long for the mindset to return, though, within an educated group of those with the ability to be movers and shakers, that should be far more aware and willing to think about prevention and act accordingly. But no...

It's driving part of the African migration; across the world Mongolian wanderers have had to give up their herds and try to gather in cities; China and Russia face similar, and if this temperature change keeps up, Europe will fare little better. It's not just a bunch of have-nots looking for a free lunch, any more than it was for the Oakies.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 10:58:14 am
... to think about prevention and act accordingly. But no...

Like what? Banning plastic straws? Erecting more Don Quixote enemies?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 11:53:37 am
Like what? Banning plastic straws? Erecting more Don Quixote enemies?

Even those beat being hated by your (grand)children or others who will suffer the consequences.

Many fires can be put out with a single cup of water, if applied early.
Waiting to take corrective actions will only magnify the task and its cost.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 11:57:26 am
I think Bart's telling us we need to run for it, Slobodan. That would be about as useful a defense as anything else anyone could do.

I'm not so sure that Canada would let you in. Aren't they planning to build a wall to keep the Americans out?

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 11:58:28 am
Even those beat being hated by your (grand)children or others who will suffer the consequences.

Many fires can be put out with a single cup of water, if applied early.
Waiting to take corrective actions will only magnify the task and its cost.

Cheers,
Bart

Okay, Bart, tell us what you think the "cup of water" is.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 12:08:37 pm
... Waiting to take corrective actions...

Again, like what?

Banning air traffic and cow farting? Not having children? The catastrophic scenarios are like 100 to 200 years away, not 12 years. In that time frame we will find technological solutions and/or adapt, without killing our way of life to return to hunting for our lunch with bow and arrow.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 12:47:51 pm
Again, like what?

Banning air traffic and cow farting? Not having children? The catastrophic scenarios are like 100 to 200 years away, not 12 years. In that time frame we will find technological solutions and/or adapt, without killing our way of life to return to hunting for our lunch with bow and arrow.

Making the bows and arrows will be easy, but there won't be any lunch game to hunt for.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 01:05:39 pm
quote author=Slobodan Blagojevic link=topic=131117.msg1121489#msg1121489 date=1564239494]
Quote
Like what? Banning plastic straws? Erecting more Don Quixote enemies?

That's a good suggestion, Slobodan. Banning plastic straws is an excellent first initiative. But since many youths are now unable to drink without a straw, some education may be needed.
In Singapore, they invented and documented a not too difficult method to tackle this challenge:

Quote
In a highly technical yet precise manner, the forum user breaks it down into 5 simple steps that is achievable enough.

https://mothership.sg/2018/07/kfc-no-straw/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 27, 2019, 01:52:50 pm
Like what? Banning plastic straws? Erecting more Don Quixote enemies?

Straws would be a start, then we could think sbout the zillions of plastic flip-flop shoes that I heard are even more prevalent on beaches - as washed up junk - than bags, even. The shops here are doing a good thing with bags: they charge for them now. I have been reusing mine for months and they hold up perfectly well. The car has climate: I tried it when new to make sure it was working - after figuring out how! - and it hasn't been used since except for the very rare times I have to hit the motorway, when the main reason I close the window is to prevent getting pebbles and rubbish in my face. The home unit hasn't been on in decades, other than to check out it works.

I discovered my legs a couple of years ago, and now driving is only for heavy shopping; the klick's walk into the port and a supermarket does me good. I even use the iPad most of the time instead of the desktop computer and the monitor. How many lights do I need to have on to use it or watch the news or Montalbano? Tiny things, multiplied by households, and they achieve something to the general good. And save us money, which is a pleasant side-effect.

Everyone can find little things they can think about in their own lifestyle, things that have no purpose whatsoever but, nonetheless, churn up the bills and waste energy.

There doesn't have to be a total revolution to get things going in the right direction.

You only have to examine your own style of living and can find all sorts of tiny things that add up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 02:15:56 pm
Okay, Bart, tell us what you think the "cup of water" is.

Too little, too late. We've passed the point where a cup sufficed several decades ago.

Right now it already takes a lot more to even stabilize the situation at a 2 degree Celsius Global temperature increase.

If you are seriously interested in doing something about it, I suggest reading a copy of "Drawdown" (https://www.drawdown.org/the-book). The choice of "the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming" might inspire you.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 02:26:32 pm
Straws would be a start, then we could think sbout the zillions of plastic flip-flop shoes that I heard are even more prevalent on beaches - as washed up junk - than bags, even. The shops here are doing a good thing with bags: they charge for them now. I have been reusing mine for months and they hold up perfectly well. The car has climate: I tried it when new to make sure it was working - after figuring out how! - and it hasn't been used since except for the very rare times I have to hit the motorway, when the main reason I close the window is to prevent getting pebbles and rubbish in my face. The home unit hasn't been on in decades, other than to check out it works.

I discovered my legs a couple of years ago, and now driving is only for heavy shopping; the klick's walk into the port and a supermarket does me good. I even use the iPad most of the time instead of the desktop computer and the monitor. How many lights do I need to have on to use it or watch the news or Montalbano? Tiny things, multiplied by households, and they achieve something to the general good. And save us money, which is a pleasant side-effect.

Everyone can find little things they can think about in their own lifestyle, things that have no purpose whatsoever but, nonetheless, churn up the bills and waste energy.

There doesn't have to be a total revolution to get things going in the right direction.

You only have to examine your own style of living and can find all sorts of tiny things that add up.

Fully agree, but I'm afraid it will fall on deaf ears.

It's even being used to troll (and demonstrate ignorance):
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49090643
Quote
"It just shows the lack of understanding the administration has on how the current waste management infrastructure works in the US. If they did, they'd know that straws are too lightweight to be recycled and are made of a material with no end-of-use life."

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 02:51:09 pm
... Everyone can find little things they can think about in their own lifestyle, things that have no purpose whatsoever but, nonetheless, churn up the bills and waste energy...

Yeah, it might make you feel oh, so good and righteous, but it does squat for the climate, even if 7.5 billion people would do the same.

I, for one, love my a/c (just not AOC) in my car and home.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 27, 2019, 03:18:34 pm
Yeah, it might make you feel oh, so good and righteous, but it does squat for the climate, even if 7.5 billion people would do the same.

I, for one, love my a/c (just not AOC) in my car and home.


Nothing to do with feeling righteous at all. Everything to do with cutting out waste and expense where possible, knowing it has the added advantage of being a useful effort. Everything helps in the battle against waste and the associated cost in energy terms of useless consumption. Regarding the straws, think of the energy saving in not producing the silly things in the first place, never mind the buying of them and then the clearing away of them.

Looking after the pennies helps the pounds look after themselves, you know.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 03:21:41 pm
Too little, too late. We've passed the point where a cup sufficed several decades ago.

Right now it already takes a lot more to even stabilize the situation at a 2 degree Celsius Global temperature increase.

If you are seriously interested in doing something about it, I suggest reading a copy of "Drawdown" (https://www.drawdown.org/the-book). The choice of "the 100 most substantive solutions to global warming" might inspire you.

Cheers,
Bart

Hi Bart, I'd probably read it if I had time, but I've been seeing and reading about the end of civilization -- due to global warming, due to population overload, etc., etc., etc., (seems to me the most recent one was Algore's movie) -- for the past fifty years. Every one of those predictions has turned out to be wrong. This one will too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 03:25:16 pm
Yeah, it might make you feel oh, so good and righteous, but it does squat for the climate, even if 7.5 billion people would do the same.

I, for one, love my a/c (just not AOC) in my car and home.

Actually, I found that the little things add up.
For example, you might start with posting just a few thoughts a day, and over the years it could add up to over 14,000 entries.
Or if I remove every day 35 japanese beetles from my blackberry bushes, in one month that adds up to over 1000 fewer beetles on this world. In more practical terms, that means saving my bushes, improving the air quality in this neighbourhood and eating daily organic and highly anti-oxidant fruit for the whole summer.

And to reduce dependency on the AC, I have two large maple trees shading half of the house. They started quite small.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 03:31:19 pm
Or if I remove every day 35 japanese beetles from my blackberry bushes, in one month that adds up to over 1000 fewer beetles on this world.

Sorry, Les, it doesn't mean anything of the sort. While you were removing those 1,000, another 50,000 hatched.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 03:37:58 pm
Sorry, Les, it doesn't mean anything of the sort. While you were removing those 1,000, another 50,000 hatched.

I ain't no quitter, Russ. With any luck I can neutralize another 1,000 before the end of this season.
If I haven't killed the 1,000 beetles, they and their offsprings would have produced another 100,000. As I say, in practical terms it means I can keep eating my berries and admire my bushes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 03:55:11 pm
Well, at least it'll keep you busy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 27, 2019, 03:59:01 pm
I ain't no quitter, Russ. With any luck I can neutralize another 1,000 before the end of this season.
If I haven't killed the 1,000 beetles, they and their offsprings would have produced another 100,000. As I say, in practical terms it means I can keep eating my berries and admire my bushes.

Which illustrates perfectly why every little bit helps.

It may not solve anything by itself, but many different little bits help things along in all sorts of ways. The worst aporoach is to give up and keep digging the hole deeper and deeper.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 04:00:39 pm
Well, at least it'll keep you busy.
Actually, it doesn't take much time. A few minutes in the morning and then repeat the exercise in the evening. So far, it hasn't interfered with my Lula postings.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 04:01:31 pm
... The worst aporoach is to give up and keep digging the hole deeper and deeper.

Actually, that is my preferred action. After all, Bart told us it is already too late, so why bother? Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 27, 2019, 04:08:45 pm
I personally rarely, if ever, use straws, however...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 07:33:43 pm
I personally rarely, if ever, use straws, however...

Now you'll be buying them to support Trump?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49090643
Quote
Thousands of Trump-branded plastic straws have been sold on the US president's official campaign website - at $15 for 10 - since they were launched as an alternative to "liberal" paper straws.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 27, 2019, 07:50:42 pm
We could go back to paper straws. Remember those? But then the tree huggers would be bitching about using wood to make straws. Bart probably would come up with a chart.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2019, 07:58:57 pm
We could go back to paper straws. Remember those? But then the tree huggers would be bitching about using wood to make straws. Bart probably would come up with a chart.
Here in New Jersey, restaurants are switching over to paper straws.  I hate them.  They have a funny feeling in your mouth.  They tend to get soft and fall apart.  They suck.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2019, 08:07:14 pm
The status quo, still accelerating:
(https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/wp-content/plugins/sio-bluemoon/graphs/mlo_full_record.png)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 09:26:57 pm
Here in New Jersey, restaurants are switching over to paper straws.  I hate them.  They have a funny feeling in your mouth.  They tend to get soft and fall apart.  They suck.

Why do you need the straws? They will make you flatulent and old looking.
I grew up behind the iron curtain and we had to learn at a young age how to drink straight from the cup or bottle.

Quote
“When drinking out of a straw, the movement of the mouth area that you have to make will encourage the breakdown of collagen and elasticity more quickly, causing unnecessary wrinkles and lines.”

https://www.littlethings.com/dangers-drinking-straw/2
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2019, 10:13:06 pm
Why do you need the straws? They will make you flatulent and old looking.
I grew up behind the iron curtain and we had to learn at a young age how to drink straight from the cup or bottle.

https://www.littlethings.com/dangers-drinking-straw/2
More flatulence?  That means more CO2 as well. So I'm killing the whales and causing global warming too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2019, 10:29:34 pm
More flatulence?  That means more CO2 as well. So I'm killing the whales and causing global warming too.

I'm not sure about the whales. On many occasions the whales get injured and killed by cruise ships.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 12:13:35 am
I'm not sure about the whales. On many occasions the whales get injured and killed by cruise ships.
Read item 7 in your link regarding whales. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 12:42:23 am
Both, the tiny straws and gigantic ships are a problem. As to the effects of flatulence, the methane in the air can indeed warm up the atmosphere, and indirectly also the oceans.

Quote
Warmer ocean temperatures and melting sea ice in the polar regions may jeopardise the ecology of the Arctic and Antarctic feeding grounds of many large whales. ... Climate change may also impact the areas of the oceans in which whales live, including migration patterns.

https://phys.org/news/2018-11-zealand-whale-strandings-linked-ocean.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 28, 2019, 01:41:56 am
No climate event of the last 2,000 years looks like humanity’s
Warm or cool periods you may have heard of were regional affairs
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/the-only-global-climate-event-of-last-2000-years-was-ours/
Cheers,
Bart

Thanks for the link, Bart. This report seems to be consistent with Professor Stephen Schneider's recommendation that climate scientists should be prepared to sacrifice some of the the truth in order to be politically effective.

I had a look at the abstract of the report in Nature.com, and discovered the headline is:
"No evidence for globally coherent warm and cold periods over the preindustrial Common Era"

'No evidence' is not 'evidence'. Didn't you mention in a previous post that temperature records prior to the 1850's are not as accurate as current records because they rely upon proxies, such as ice cores, tree rings and sediment analysis?

Another comment on the report:

"Raphael Neukom and colleagues assess the global patterns of climate variability during the Common Era, using data compiled from nearly 700 proxy records of temperature changes. In their Nature paper, they report that before the 20th century, climate epochs did not occur simultaneously across the globe as previously thought."

Less than 700 proxy records to examine the degree of global consistency of climate changes during the past 2,000 years, compared with the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of instrumental records we have for the 100 years or so since industrialisation!! Wow!! It's no wonder that Climatology is often described as a 'soft' science.  ;)

The other point I take issue with is, 'as previously thought'. The global extent of the Roman Warm Period, the MWP, and the LIA have always been contentious due to a lack of sufficiently accurate and widespread data.

The Michael Mann 'Hockey Stick' graph which seemed to obliterate the existence of the MWP as a global event, was severely criticised because a number of scientific studies already existed at the time, at least implying that the MWP was global. The issue led to a court case in which Mann struggled to defend his reputation.

Another issue which seems like an excellent example of a 'strawman argument', is the following comment.

Quote
“Climate has changed without humans before, so humans can’t be changing it now” is not a logically valid argument, FYI. It's the equivalent to arguing that we can't cause forest fires, since they occurred before we were around.

I've never heard any such argument from the skeptics. It's understood, at least by the skeptics whose opinions I've come across, that there are numerous influences on climate, which are too complex to accurately quantify. Only a fool would claim that humanity's activities have no influence on climate.

I would argue that it's a universal truth that nothing is permanent, although the degree of permanency varies enormously depending on the nature of the subject. Most complex systems are constantly subject to change. All life- forms change as they age, and eventually die. Buildings and infrastructure gradually decay, mountains gradually erode and new mountains are gradually created due to volcanic eruptions and plate tectonics, and so on.

Everything is subject to a process of 'cause and effect'.

I would say it's a reasonable hypothesis that the current warming might be more homogenous and synchronous, globally, than certain previous warm periods, due to mankind's increased activities in general, including, in particular, changing the environment by cutting down huge areas of forests, building cities, suburbs and roads world-wide, which create an Urban Heat Island effect, and ceasing to return our natural waste products such as crop residue, faeces and urine, back to the soil.

It's only reasonable to assume that emissions of CO2 due to the burning of fossil fuels must contribute at least something to the current warming, even though water vapour is by far a more significant greenhouse gas in total.

What concerns me about the demonisation of CO2 is the disregard, and even denial of the benefits of increased CO2 levels, which can be demonstrated in a 'hard science' way through repeated experiments, growing plants in an environment with increased CO2 levels, and observing the results.

Since we know with certainty that CO2 is essential for all life, and that most plants thrive on elevated levels, why not exploit the benefits to improve the environment, instead of ignoring the benefits?

The environment can be improved through reforestation. Newly planted forests will grow more quickly in elevated levels of CO2 and the increased precipitation that inevitably results from warming will also help.

It's also well established that modern agriculture tends to degrade our soils, reduces the biodiversity of the soil, and reduces the carbon content of the soil.
Changing this system for the better would potentially happen more quickly and more profitably with elevated CO2 levels. Instead of trying to eliminate CO2 emissions, why not sequester the carbon in the soil to restore the natural biodiversity of the soil, as well as continuing with the development of alternative forms of energy such as solar power, which would obviously be of great benefit as fossil fuel supplies dwindled and became more expensive, regardless of concerns about climate change?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 28, 2019, 08:14:38 am
The status quo, still accelerating:
(https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/wp-content/plugins/sio-bluemoon/graphs/mlo_full_record.png)

Good for you, Bart. I was pretty sure you'd come up with a chart.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 28, 2019, 08:29:19 am
Good for you, Bart. I was pretty sure you'd come up with a chart.

Too bad it isn't a cartoon, like Slobodan likes to post, but then there is little to laugh about the rate of increase ...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 09:20:18 am
Too bad it isn't a cartoon, like Slobodan likes to post, but then there is little to laugh about the rate of increase ...

Cheers,
Bart
Bart, What do you think about Ray's explanation in his last post how increased CO2 levels can also help the environment?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 09:22:47 am
Bart, What do you think about Ray's explanation in his last post how increased CO2 levels can also help the environment?

So can manure, but you wouldn't want it foot high.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 09:32:17 am
So can manure, but you wouldn't want it foot high.

No, I would not want mounds of it outside my door. But manure is spread around by farmers to fertilize the ground to help food production.  So it has an important benefit by adding minerals back into the ground.  That's what Ray suggested in his post about CO2.  There are good points about it.

It's also the point I;ve been making.  That there's two sides to a coin.  Climate change supporters only talk about the negative effects of climate change and CO2.  For the public to have a honest understanding of the whole truth about it, the whole truth should be revealed.  Only then can we make intelligent decisions about how to deal with it instead of using it to gain political advantage and force the redistribution of wealth which is what I see here in the USA. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 09:38:02 am
Wearable air conditioning. Never mind the Middle East.  They need it in Europe.
https://www.esquireme.com/content/37358-sonys-wearable-air-conditioner-is-exactly-what-the-middle-east-needs
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 28, 2019, 09:45:47 am
Too bad it isn't a cartoon. . .

It's not? ;D ;D 8)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 09:46:47 am
No, I would not want mounds of it outside my door. But manure is spread around by farmers to fertilize the ground to help food production.  So it has an important benefit by adding minerals back into the ground.  That's what Ray suggested in his post about CO2.  There are good points about it.

It's also the point I;ve been making.  That there's two sides to a coin.  Climate change supporters only talk about the negative effects of climate change and CO2.  For the public to have a honest understanding of the whole truth about it, the whole truth should be revealed.  Only then can we make intelligent decisions about how to deal with it instead of using it to gain political advantage and force the redistribution of wealth which is what I see here in the USA.

Sometime, too much of a good thing is simply too much. To continue with the cow output analogy, Netherlands has been for years confronted with overabundance of cow urine, and consequently with excess ammonia on the fields.

Quote
Urine can produce large amounts of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide after spilling onto the ground, soaking into soils and mixing with manure. Ammonia in the urine can also contribute directly to pollution and drive the creation of harmful algal blooms when it enters water systems. The Dutch government is introducing stricter rules on the ammonia emissions of its dairy sector, which is a crucial component in the nation’s economy.

However, cow urine is only one component in these emissions, with CO2 as well as methane and nitrous oxide from livestock and fertilizers contributing significant chunks as well.

Quote
Urine patches in cattle pastures generate large concentrations of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide through nitrification and denitrification processes in urine-contaminated soils.[1][2] Over the past few decades, the cattle population has increased more rapidly than the human population.[3] Between the years 2000 and 2050, the cattle population is expected to increase from 1.5 billion to 2.6 billion.[4] When large populations of cattle are packed into pastures, excessive amounts of urine soak into soils. This increases the rate at which nitrification and denitrification occur and produce nitrous oxide. Currently, nitrous oxide is one of the single most important ozone-depleting emissions and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_urine_patches

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on July 28, 2019, 09:52:42 am
Yet another reason to reduce industrial meat production or at least force more appropriate waste handling.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 10:12:31 am
People are the problem.  Increasing populations just affect the environment.  In Florida, look what the Burmese python has done there in the Everglades?  98% of mammals there have been wiped out since they "escaped" into the wild.   All species change nature to some extent.  Then nature balances it off and life goes on.  Because of our short lifespan,  we can only see a very narrow window of time.  We assume what is now was always before.  So when the environment or climate changes, we immediately think negatively.  Something must be wrong.  But it's only natural processes that are evolving that we, as a member of nature, are part of too. 


While I think we should be good stewards of the environment, we also should not go off half cocked.  A few decades ago I recall how experts were saying population increases will cause world-wide starvation. It didn't happen.  Sure there are pockets where people are hurting.  But those issues are more related to politics and poor distribution rather than not being enough food available.  Let's not overdo the climate change rhetoric.  It's been going on forever.  There are pluses as well as negatives.  Also, there are other important  things to do with our limited economic resources.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 28, 2019, 10:28:35 am
Sometime, too much of a good thing is simply too much. To continue with the cow output analogy, Netherlands has been for years confronted with overabundance of cow urine, and consequently with excess ammonia on the fields.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_urine_patches

I'm assuming here that the cattle are not in a sustaining and natural environment as in 'grass fed'. I assume they are mainly grain-fed and that large numbers are kept in small fields which wouldn't produce sufficient grass to feed them. Right?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 10:32:27 am
People are the problem.  Increasing populations just affect the environment.  In Florida, look what the Burmese python has done there in the Everglades?  98% of mammals there have been wiped out since they "escaped" into the wild.   

The Burmese pythons are indeed a serious problem. It is most remarkable that they established themselves in Florida in such a short time, just since 2000. Right now, they are still only in Florida, but it's only question of time before they will expand through the entire US south. 

Quote
There is a deadly battle playing out in the Florida Everglades between pythons and alligators. Unlike gators, pythons are not native to Florida. They were first reported in the state in 2000. They came as pets but ended up being released into the wild. Now, pythons and alligators are natural enemies.

https://cbs12.com/news/local/gator-vs-python-a-deadly-growing-battleground-in-the-florida-everglades
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 10:46:15 am
I'm assuming here that the cattle are not in a sustaining and natural environment as in 'grass fed'. I assume they are mainly grain-fed and that large numbers are kept in small fields which wouldn't produce sufficient grass to feed them. Right?

In both environments. To a smaller degree on pastures, which has been going on for centuries, but due to the industrialization of cattle farms, the cows are now housed mainly in confined areas and the urine and manure are trucked out onto the fields. About 25 years ago, I met a Dutch professor from the Wageningen University in Holland who was tasked with a project to dry and solidify the cow urine and find export markets for it. It was a big problem then and surely it is even bigger problem now. Recently, a new idea to tackle this problem was introduced - a cow toilet.

Quote
The innovative company Hanskamp, based in Doetinchem, has developed a cow toilet that collects urine in an effort to reduce ammonia. Designed primarily to ease the ever-increasing regulations on the dairy industry, the CowToilet is an automatic urinal that cows use voluntarily and is designed to collect urine before it hits the floor.

About 90 percent of ammonia emissions come from agriculture, according to Wageningen University and Research in The Netherlands. Excess ammonia emissions are a big deal in Europe; there are national limits in force aimed to reduce gases. In an effort to limit ammonia emissions from the agricultural sector, dairy farmers in Europe are forced to pay big fees to meet ammonia-emission and manure-disposal requirements.

https://www.agupdate.com/agriview/news/business/dutch-invent-cow-toilet/article_d16a86ad-f47b-56b9-aca9-c7c8b10effbe.html
 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 28, 2019, 11:02:51 am
About that manure...

Problem (emphasis mine):

Quote
It was a whopper of a problem.  Everything was transported by horse-drawn vehicles of one kind or another – people, goods, food – everything.  In cities like New York, the horse dung began to: stink, pile up, overwhelm... The average horse produced about 24 pounds of manure a day.  With 200,000 horses (in New York), that’s nearly 5 million pounds of horse manure.  A day.  Where did it go?

As described in the book Freakonomics:

Quote
In 1898, New York hosted the first International urban planning conference.  The agenda was dominated by horse manure, because cities around the world were experiencing the same crisis.  But no solution could be found.  “Stumped by the crisis,” writes Eric Morris, “the urban planning conference declared its work fruitless and broke up in three days instead of the scheduled ten.”  The world had seemingly reached the point where its largest cities could not survive without the horse but couldn’t survive it either. And then the problem vanished.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 11:40:58 am
About that manure...
The average horse produced about 24 pounds of manure a day.  With 200,000 horses (in New York), that’s nearly 5 million pounds of horse manure. 

Interesting angle on the subject. Most probably, all that substance has been transported onto the adjoining fields. I wonder how long that horse era in US cities lasted before the arrival of cars.
Compared with 200,000 horses then, today there are a million and half cars in New York, generating also a great quantity of undesirable waste, such as old oil, used tires, and all kinds of non-recyclable plastics.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 28, 2019, 12:00:59 pm
Bart, What do you think about Ray's explanation in his last post how increased CO2 levels can also help the environment?

Highlighting a single aspect of a complex system is an oversimplification. Most plants/trees have their specific CO2 optimum, so it's not one-size-fits-all, and also not more is 'better'. It not only benefits food-crops, but also weeds. Plants also need nutrients from the soil. More biomass may deplete soil nutrients. Without nutrients, no growth. More biomass extracts more moisture from the ground. Without sufficient water, no growth. Some leaf biomass can also lead to more runoff and erosion during rain, which can lead to loss of fertile soil and too many nutrients in the water, leading to Algae bloom, and fish starvation for a lack of oxygen.

That's just the Photosynthesis related part. The temperature rise caused by CO2 can lead to droughts and wildfires, or flooding and runoff, and exotic insects that could target the crops (and/or wildlife/humans) without natural enemies. It causes more frequent extreme weather events that could hurt crops but also humans.

Elevated levels of CO2 can be utilized in greenhouses, where all aspects can be controlled. But that already happens.

Excess CO2 also has drawbacks, and the current rate of CO2 growth causes more negative effects than positive ones.

The problem is the rate of change. It's too fast for nature to adapt smoothly, so it will lead to all sorts of disruptions and destruction. we need to reduce CO2 emissions to allow the earth to achieve a new equilibrium.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 28, 2019, 12:11:01 pm
In both environments. To a smaller degree on pastures, which has been going on for centuries, but due to the industrialization of cattle farms, the cows are now housed mainly in confined areas and the urine and manure are trucked out onto the fields. About 25 years ago, I met a Dutch professor from the Wageningen University in Holland who was tasked with a project to dry and solidify the cow urine and find export markets for it. It was a big problem then and surely it is even bigger problem now. Recently, a new idea to tackle this problem was introduced - a cow toilet.

https://www.agupdate.com/agriview/news/business/dutch-invent-cow-toilet/article_d16a86ad-f47b-56b9-aca9-c7c8b10effbe.html
 

For those who are geoblocked from watching the content, here's the source of this innovation:
https://www.hanskamp.nl/en/cowtoilet

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 28, 2019, 12:21:31 pm
If you have a bad lawn, hire some bitches. There is nothing like pooch urine to make your grass grow dark, thick and rich. I sometimes wonder if bottling it might make me a millionaire in the treatment of baldness.

Regarding the Everglades python: in a few years it will mutate to suit its surroundings, and so expect pythons with a venomous bite. As with Australia and rural India, it's nature's way of writing Keep Out notices. There was an interesting docu. on tv recently investigating the problem of snake bite deaths in India. It was horrific, and the programme suggested it was actually a massive underestimation due to such bites often not being reported. I can't recall the exact figure officially cited, but I remember it as around 36,000 a year or so. Apparently, and the film kinda proved it, the king cobra will hold its ground but try to avoid biting you, and then wander off if left in peace.

There was a high-speed sequence of a snake attacking a prosthetic foot used to replicate a person standing on it in the dark. The snake actually did a head/butt, and made its escape rather than bite. Perhaps the experiment was flawed, because by smell, the snake knew it was no foot, and could well break its teeth if bitten.

Apparently, the krait makes a habit of seeking out humans, such as folks asleep, climbing in beside them, biting, and pissing off unseen and unnoticed, the victim dying in his sleep.

I have problems with ants.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 01:01:35 pm
If you have a bad lawn, hire some bitches. There is nothing like pooch urine to make your grass grow dark, thick and rich. I sometimes wonder if bottling it might make me a millionaire in the treatment of baldness.

Regarding the Everglades python: in a few years it will mutate to suit its surroundings, and so expect pythons with a venomous bite. As with Australia and rural India, it's nature's way of writing Keep Out notices. There was an interesting docu. on tv recently investigating the problem of snake bite deaths in India. It was horrific, and the programme suggested it was actually a massive underestimation due to such bites often not being reported. I can't recall the exact figure officially cited, but I remember it as around 36,000 a year or so. Apparently, and the film kinda proved it, the king cobra will hold its ground but try to avoid biting you, and then wander off if left in peace.

There was a high-speed sequence of a snake attacking a prosthetic foot used to replicate a person standing on it in the dark. The snake actually did a head/butt, and made its escape rather than bite. Perhaps the experiment was flawed, because by smell, the snake knew it was no foot, and could well break its teeth if bitten.

Apparently, the krait makes a habit of seeking out humans, such as folks asleep, climbing in beside them, biting, and pissing off unseen and unnoticed, the victim dying in his sleep.

I have problems with ants.

:-)

According to my observation, canine urine and especially from the female burns the grass. I used to have two large Bouviers de Flanders (originally of Dutch descent), and after seeing the damage they inflicted to the grass, I kept them away from my lawn. Actually, the male as one would expect, preferred the trees and fences rather then the lawn.  Smaller dogs might not be so destructive, or maybe the grass killing strength / fertilizing effect depends also on the food they eat and type of grass. 

On the other hand, human urine is actually quite beneficial to the lawn and it keeps it green. Before the feminists jump into the frey, it must be said that when it comes to watering the lawn, male urine is more effective and highly desirable. Allegedly, the scent keeps also the cougars and coyotes away from your front yard.

Quote
The UK's National Trust, a national charity responsible for the upkeep of some of the country's most precious stately homes, gardens and parks, is wading into the discussion. And they're likely to upset the feminists as well as the pee-phobic, claiming male superiority when it comes to urine. Staff at the National Trust's Wimpole Hall property are being encouraged to pee on a compost bale, saving the organization water, creating a nutrient rich compost activator to feed the Estate's 400 acres of gardens and parkland, and providing a valuable educational tool for visitors.

https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/is-male-pee-better-than-female-pee-the-compost-conundrum.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 01:06:52 pm
Highlighting a single aspect of a complex system is an oversimplification. Most plants/trees have their specific CO2 optimum, so it's not one-size-fits-all, and also not more is 'better'. It not only benefits food-crops, but also weeds. Plants also need nutrients from the soil. More biomass may deplete soil nutrients. Without nutrients, no growth. More biomass extracts more moisture from the ground. Without sufficient water, no growth. Some leaf biomass can also lead to more runoff and erosion during rain, which can lead to loss of fertile soil and too many nutrients in the water, leading to Algae bloom, and fish starvation for a lack of oxygen.

That's just the Photosynthesis related part. The temperature rise caused by CO2 can lead to droughts and wildfires, or flooding and runoff, and exotic insects that could target the crops (and/or wildlife/humans) without natural enemies. It causes more frequent extreme weather events that could hurt crops but also humans.

Elevated levels of CO2 can be utilized in greenhouses, where all aspects can be controlled. But that already happens.

Excess CO2 also has drawbacks, and the current rate of CO2 growth causes more negative effects than positive ones.

The problem is the rate of change. It's too fast for nature to adapt smoothly, so it will lead to all sorts of disruptions and destruction. we need to reduce CO2 emissions to allow the earth to achieve a new equilibrium.

Cheers,
Bart

But I was reading that the earth has the equivalent of additional green area twice the size of the US due to CO2 and warming.  That's got to count for something.  It's not all negative.  Trees, grass and all the critters that are supported by it.  My gripe is none of the scientists talk about this. Only the negatives.  The news article and especially the nature programs keep repeating hot hot hot CO2 CO2 CO2 solar solar solar.  Never, nature is expanding in a lot of areas and helping a lot of different species including man.  My men's club invited an environmental scientist from nearby Princeton University to give a speech to our group about climate change and global warming.  He was so frustrating only showing charts that highlighted the negatives.  I thought I was sitting in a political rally.  He reeked from bias.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 01:12:42 pm
If you have a bad lawn, hire some bitches. There is nothing like pooch urine to make your grass grow dark, thick and rich. I sometimes wonder if bottling it might make me a millionaire in the treatment of baldness.

Regarding the Everglades python: in a few years it will mutate to suit its surroundings, and so expect pythons with a venomous bite. As with Australia and rural India, it's nature's way of writing Keep Out notices. There was an interesting docu. on tv recently investigating the problem of snake bite deaths in India. It was horrific, and the programme suggested it was actually a massive underestimation due to such bites often not being reported. I can't recall the exact figure officially cited, but I remember it as around 36,000 a year or so. Apparently, and the film kinda proved it, the king cobra will hold its ground but try to avoid biting you, and then wander off if left in peace.

There was a high-speed sequence of a snake attacking a prosthetic foot used to replicate a person standing on it in the dark. The snake actually did a head/butt, and made its escape rather than bite. Perhaps the experiment was flawed, because by smell, the snake knew it was no foot, and could well break its teeth if bitten.

Apparently, the krait makes a habit of seeking out humans, such as folks asleep, climbing in beside them, biting, and pissing off unseen and unnoticed, the victim dying in his sleep.

I have problems with ants.

:-)
I believe poisonous snakes tend to save their venom for prey that they want dead so they can then eat it.  They're not interested in killing enemies of theirs, just getting away from them is enough.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2019, 01:20:51 pm
Interesting angle on the subject. Most probably, all that substance has been transported onto the adjoining fields. I wonder how long that horse era in US cities lasted before the arrival of cars.
Compared with 200,000 horses then, today there are a million and half cars in New York, generating also a great quantity of undesirable waste, such as old oil, used tires, and all kinds of non-recyclable plastics.
The issue of horses vs. cars is an interesting one.  Horse manure spreads diseases and horses have their own unwanted problems for man.  That brings up the issue with fossil fuels.  Even if the argument about their negatives is absolutely true, we can't forget that fossil fuels have provided cheap, efficient, and readily available energy for heating and cooling and power for transportation and manufacturing.  This has allowed man to advance and be better off than before we had these fuels.  Think of all the forests that would have been ripped down for fuel had we not discovered coal and oil and natural gas?  Imagine the damage to man and beast? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 28, 2019, 04:28:29 pm
According to my observation, canine urine and especially from the female burns the grass. I used to have two large Bouviers de Flanders (originally of Dutch descent), and after seeing the damage they inflicted to the grass, I kept them away from my lawn. Actually, the male as one would expect, preferred the trees and fences rather then the lawn.  Smaller dogs might not be so destructive, or maybe the grass killing strength / fertilizing effect depends also on the food they eat and type of grass. 

On the other hand, human urine is actually quite beneficial to the lawn and it keeps it green. Before the feminists jump into the frey, it must be said that when it comes to watering the lawn, male urine is more effective and highly desirable. Allegedly, the scent keeps also the cougars and coyotes away from your front yard.

https://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/is-male-pee-better-than-female-pee-the-compost-conundrum.html

Our last two bitches were definitely untreated/unreconsctructed? bitches: the earlier one was about the size of a fox, the last one an alsabrador, which tells the tale (groan) of its own descent. They turned the lawn lushly dark and tough, even here in Spain, in the case of the big one. Being, apparently, creatures of habit, they both tended to favour the same location each time, and that concentrated devotion brough the colour into our lawn-lives. That there could well be a balance, a pH value that is critical, I know not. We never had male dogs and I wasn't, myself, much given to al fresco urinational urges - unless when we took the toboggan and kids to the local park, when the balance between pressure and possible frostbite kept me respectable.

Pee quality varies a lot, and I speak here not from a medical pov of which I know nothing, but from experience of life in a community where one of the rules is that no flushing, unless essential, take place between midnight and 8a.m. so as not to disturb light sleepers above or below one's own apartment.

What I discovered as I grew old, was that a couple of nocturnal visits to the can result in two possible morning greetings: benign lemonade or stingingly powerful beer, neither of which originate from the actual logical sources, as described, because I seldom touch them. Potent stuff, pee. Perhaps I should use a chamber pot for a while and empty it on the lawn to check the theories. However, that might result in a broken ankle, do perhaps not so clever for someone living alone, even if in the name of science.

We could perhaps start a new section on pee genres. Could prove of educational value.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 28, 2019, 05:36:33 pm
Pee quality varies a lot, and I speak here not from a medical pov of which I know nothing, but from experience of life in a community where one of the rules is that no flushing, unless essential, take place between midnight and 8a.m. so as not to disturb light sleepers above or below one's own apartment.
....
We could perhaps start a new section on pee genres. Could prove of educational value.

:-)

There is a wealth of information on fertilizing the lawns and vegetable gardens with human urine. The main rule is to dilute it - at least 1:2 or even 1:10 for young plants. A family of four creates enough urine to fertilize a third of an acre. Applicable if you live in a house, problematic if you live in an apartment. You save also hundreds of gallons of clean water which would be otherwise used for flushing.

Quote
A study out of Finland has found that plants fertilized with urine performed four times as well as nonfertilized plants and just as well as plants given commercial mineral fertilizer.

Urine is an excellent source of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and trace elements. All the right elements that are necessary in large quantities for plant growth. One litre of urine contains 11 gms of nitrogen, 1 gm of phosphorus and 2 gms of potassium. Nitrogen promotes leafy growth, phosphorus promotes root development and seed germination. Phosphorous and potassium promote fruit and flower development.

Diseases of the urinary tract contaminate urine so those with a urinary tract infection should not use their urine for fertilizer. Also, those taking antibiotics or meds should abstain, and those who consume a lot of salt should consider reducing their salt intake.

https://insteading.com/blog/human-urine-fertilizer/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 30, 2019, 09:10:53 am
In Florida, look what the Burmese python has done there in the Everglades?  98% of mammals there have been wiped out since they "escaped" into the wild.   All species change nature to some extent.  Then nature balances it off and life goes on.  Because of our short lifespan,  we can only see a very narrow window of time.  We assume what is now was always before.  So when the environment or climate changes, we immediately think negatively.  Something must be wrong.  But it's only natural processes that are evolving that we, as a member of nature, are part of too. 

The pythons made it now all the way to Toronto.

(https://images.twnmm.com/c55i45ef3o2a/3acpw4JUQS5v5jxprGgeUB/c891b467e0e64cc10052baf52a638f83/snake1.jpg?w=680&fm=jpg)

Quote
This likely wasn't a call police officials were expecting after an approximately four foot long python snake was spotted at an Esso gas station in Toronto early Tuesday.
Police and fire officials arrived at the Esso at Victoria Park and Danforth Avenue around midnight after receiving a call that the snake was coming up from the sewer grate at the drive through location there.

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/python-snake-found-at-toronto-esso-gas-station-victoria-park-avenue-danforth-avenue
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 30, 2019, 10:22:15 am
The pythons made it now all the way to Toronto.

(https://images.twnmm.com/c55i45ef3o2a/3acpw4JUQS5v5jxprGgeUB/c891b467e0e64cc10052baf52a638f83/snake1.jpg?w=680&fm=jpg)

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/python-snake-found-at-toronto-esso-gas-station-victoria-park-avenue-danforth-avenue

Just in time for the warm weather.  If they could vote, they'd be in favor of global warming and climate changes.  See.  I told you there were pluses. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 30, 2019, 12:18:56 pm
It could be worse. They could be cobras or banded kraits.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 30, 2019, 01:50:22 pm
It could be worse. They could be cobras or banded kraits.

Or more realistically, giant ticks (Hyalomma). A number of sightings have been reported in my country last month, coming in from Germany.

(https://images.e-vision.nl/naturetoday/images/optimized/2a5f1e50-773a-49e6-85d0-4845c46002f3.jpg&w=770)

Our common sheep tick or dog tick (Ixodes ricinus) passively waits for a passing host at an elevated location in the vegetation. Hyalomma actively searches for hosts. The adult hyaloma-tick has a preference for large animals. Adult Hyalomma hide on the ground and actively run for a host when they perceive certain signals, including vibrations, visual signals, carbon dioxide, ammonia or body temperature. They can visually recognize the host from three to nine meters. Adult ticks can follow the host for ten minutes or more and during that time they walk a distance of up to one hundred meters.

That's not extremely fast, but actively being hunted is a bit unsettling, especially due to the potential spreading of the terrible (ebola-like) deceases they can host. Better keep moving at a reasonable walking speed, no breaks allowed.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 30, 2019, 02:18:00 pm
The Germans are always attacking you guys.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 30, 2019, 02:28:50 pm
A friend of mine picked up a tick just walking in park (this was in central Germany, and they have many ticks indeed). The tick must have jumped at his shoe and then it travelled inside the pant on his leg all the way up, then it burrowed into the skin just millimeters from the warmest spot on his body. Removal by hand or with tweezers was impossible, he ended up in emergency where they removed the tick surgically.

Until recently, there were hardly any ticks in Ontario, but in the last years they moved in. And as I mentioned in another post, we have here now an invasion of Japanese beetles, yesterday during my walk to the nearby marsh I saw hundreds of them just on one vine plant. They are very destructive, not only eat they all the leaves, but by doing that, they effectively kill the plants.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 30, 2019, 02:38:26 pm
The Germans are always attacking you guys.

Well, these ticks do not carry permits, so they are not German citizens, and probably illegal ...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on July 30, 2019, 02:47:43 pm
Hey, Alan.  Wanna guess what the Apex Predator of humans is?  The organism of which we should be most afraid?  It's one of the species most likely to "benefit" (as you love to call it) from global warming?


Mosquitoes are our apex predator, the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. A swarming army of 100 trillion or more mosquitoes patrols nearly every inch of the globe, killing about 700,000 people annually. Researchers suggest that mosquitoes may have killed nearly half of the 108 billion humans who have ever lived across our 200,000-year or more existence.

Paywall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/opinion/sunday/mosquitoes-malaria-zika-history.html


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 30, 2019, 03:38:29 pm
Well, these ticks do not carry permits, so they are not German citizens, and probably illegal ...

Cheers,
Bart

Good luck with them, Bart. I hope they'll end up like the Nazis did.

By the way, the sister of my oldest son's wife is Lynn Buller, boss of The American Book Center in Amsterdam. We used to see Lynn and her husband occasionally when they'd visit Manitou Springs, Colorado. Can't do it any longer because we're in Florida for good now.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 30, 2019, 04:03:29 pm
Good luck with them, Bart. I hope they'll end up like the Nazis did.

You mean, fleeing to South America?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 30, 2019, 05:14:55 pm
Hey, Alan.  Wanna guess what the Apex Predator of humans is?  The organism of which we should be most afraid?  It's one of the species most likely to "benefit" (as you love to call it) from global warming?


Mosquitoes are our apex predator, the deadliest hunter of human beings on the planet. A swarming army of 100 trillion or more mosquitoes patrols nearly every inch of the globe, killing about 700,000 people annually. Researchers suggest that mosquitoes may have killed nearly half of the 108 billion humans who have ever lived across our 200,000-year or more existence.

Paywall:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/opinion/sunday/mosquitoes-malaria-zika-history.html




Good for DEET manufacturers. Buy their stock. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: BAB on July 30, 2019, 06:54:27 pm
While in Rome I’ve now come to understand Roman baths. They told me they most used the baths in the afternoon when the water was warm? These days it’s so hot here I would think the re enactment is in order. Heck two weeks ago I think it hit 107 !


As we say you can run but you can’t hide



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 30, 2019, 09:33:55 pm
Good luck with them, Bart. I hope they'll end up like the Nazis did.

By the way, the sister of my oldest son's wife is Lynn Buller, boss of The American Book Center in Amsterdam. We used to see Lynn and her husband occasionally when they'd visit Manitou Springs, Colorado. Can't do it any longer because we're in Florida for good now.

Russ, I sincerely hope you can keep your heads (and property) above the rising water levels.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on July 31, 2019, 07:17:53 am
I don't think the problem is the levels of the oceans. I think the problem may be that Florida is sinking under the weight of New Yorkers moving here to escape the tax situation up there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on July 31, 2019, 10:48:40 am
You mean, fleeing to South America?

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 31, 2019, 11:14:28 am
You know the sky is falling when the loony-left newspaper has to fact-check the loony left (and Bart)
(emphasis mine):

Quote
“Science tells us that we have 12 years before we reach the horizon of catastrophe when it comes to our climate.”

— South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg


“Scientists are very clear we don’t have more than 10 years to get this right.”

— Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Tex.)

The scientists, however:

Quote
“Slogan writers are vague on whether they mean climate chaos will happen after 12 years, or if we have 12 years to avert it. But both are misleading,” Myles Allen, one of the lead authors, wrote in April.
Please stop saying something globally bad is going to happen in 2030,” he wrote. “Bad stuff is already happening and every half a degree of warming matters, but the IPCC does not draw a ‘planetary boundary’ at 1.5°C beyond which lie climate dragons.”

The Washington Post
https://apple.news/Avr0i5n05TcqQIbxDkQ7Ymg
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 31, 2019, 10:58:36 pm
A new study suggests China’s shift from heavy industry to a high tech service economy will cause CO2 emissions to peak well before the 2030 goal. The small cities and old industries will be still polluting in the old way, but it would be a significant step in the right direction..

Quote
China appears on track to reach its carbon goals up to nine years earlier than planned under the Paris agreement, in a potential huge boost for efforts to tackle climate change.

The world’s biggest polluter accounts for a quarter of humanity’s emissions today, making the nation a crucial part of any efforts to avoid dangerous global warming.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211366-china-is-on-track-to-meet-its-climate-change-goals-nine-years-early/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on July 31, 2019, 11:04:05 pm
... China’s shift from heavy industry to a high tech service economy...

Which has absolutely nothing to do with the shrieks of the climate alarmists, but everything to do with a natural cycle in developing economies.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 31, 2019, 11:08:11 pm
A new study suggests China’s shift from heavy industry to a high tech service economy will cause CO2 emissions to peak well before the 2030 goal. The small cities and old industries will be still polluting in the old way, but it would be a significant step in the right direction..

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211366-china-is-on-track-to-meet-its-climate-change-goals-nine-years-early/ (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2211366-china-is-on-track-to-meet-its-climate-change-goals-nine-years-early/)
First, that's a lot of speculation.  Even the article states the following:"However, Haikun and colleagues admit they didn’t analyse many small cities, which have the potential to develop more, so the real emissions may end up higher."

Second, I wouldn't believe any information the Chinese give out.  They lie all the time.  The said they wouldn't militarize the South China Sea islands as they were constructing it.  Totally a lie. Today they're all major armed bases.

Third, they had planned to build 850 coal fired electric plants throughout the world over the next decade or so.  So they will be polluting and adding huge amounts of CO2 but in other countries.  The earth doesn;t care who produces the schmutz.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 31, 2019, 11:22:47 pm
Alan, I Agree with all your points.
However, it seems that they are moving into the right direction with reducing the pollution in China. After all, even for them wearing the breathing masks on the streets, reduction of pollution is the only way for survival.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 31, 2019, 11:39:27 pm
Alan, I Agree with all your points.
However, it seems that they are moving into the right direction with reducing the pollution in China. After all, even for them wearing the breathing masks on the streets, reduction of pollution is the only way for survival.

First off, CO2 isn't pollution.  So they could reduce pollution but still have no effect on CO2 production.

Second, what good is if they cut down CO2 in their country but shift the production to other countries with 850 coal fired plants that they plan on selling and building in those nations? 

Third, without a target, like countries were suppose to meet in the PAris Accord, you have to trust them to do something.  Frankly, they will do nothing to stop their economic machine, pollution and CO2 be damned.  Sure they'll cut schmutz in the cities because they have to breathe.  But they won't go beyond that and will do nothing to stop economic progress.  The basic problem with CO2 and pollution is population.  Especially people who want to enter the middle class.  China has another billion of those who are clamoring to match the 400 million that are in the middle class and better.  That means all those little cities they failed to include in their calculations that will grow and add to the increase in CO2.  Then when they don;t meet any standard in 2030, they just say they need an extension to 2035 or 2040.  You can't really believe anything they say. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 31, 2019, 11:58:05 pm
I do my own part in fighting the pollution:
Among other things, not flying to China and reusing the plastics bags.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 01, 2019, 12:49:57 am
The pythons made it now all the way to Toronto.

The story continues. For the benefit of the international readers, I felt compelled to report new developments in the python episode.

The python was found Tuesday early morning climbing out of the grate at a gas station. All papers, radio and TV stations had a good story for the whole day. Which was improved Tuesday night, as the python was reunited with his guardian, one happy looking lady who was showing off the curled snake and announcing that it will get a bath that night.
She kept her promise and washed the snake, and then she realized that it was not her snake. It was slightly larger, stronger and with different markings. So today, all papers, radio and TV stations rectified the story. Then a man called the lady that it could be his snake. Happy that the snake will be now reunited with the real owner, she requested a photo of his snake, and then after comparing his pictures with the snake in her terrarium she determined that it couldn't be his snake. In the meantime, 30 more people called her, so there must be now quite a few pythons roaming Toronto streets and sewers.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 01, 2019, 01:03:19 am
Damn Canadian snow birds! Why don’t you take, say, sea shells a a souvenir from Florida, instead of pythons?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 01, 2019, 10:00:14 am
The story continues. For the benefit of the international readers, I felt compelled to report new developments in the python episode.

The python was found Tuesday early morning climbing out of the grate at a gas station. All papers, radio and TV stations had a good story for the whole day. Which was improved Tuesday night, as the python was reunited with his guardian, one happy looking lady who was showing off the curled snake and announcing that it will get a bath that night.
She kept her promise and washed the snake, and then she realized that it was not her snake. It was slightly larger, stronger and with different markings. So today, all papers, radio and TV stations rectified the story. Then a man called the lady that it could be his snake. Happy that the snake will be now reunited with the real owner, she requested a photo of his snake, and then after comparing his pictures with the snake in her terrarium she determined that it couldn't be his snake. In the meantime, 30 more people called her, so there must be now quite a few pythons roaming Toronto streets and sewers.   

That's how the problem started in Florida.  As family pythons got big, people dumped them in the Everglades before they were attacked and eaten by their pets. Of course, it may be too cold for them to survive in the "wild" up there.  YOu could ship them down to my NYC where we could dump them in our warmer subways where they can eat our alligators.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 01, 2019, 10:04:01 am
On some Brooklyn street.


(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pxhYhdc2dpY/TmGxMKphzoI/AAAAAAAAMKg/agZOy8kWjxA/s1600/securedownload-6.jpeg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 01, 2019, 11:48:11 am
Alan, I Agree with all your points.
However, it seems that they are moving into the right direction with reducing the pollution in China. After all, even for them wearing the breathing masks on the streets, reduction of pollution is the only way for survival.

It indeed looks like it, and maybe even ahead of schedule:
China is on track to beat its peak-emissions pledge
https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/07/china-is-on-track-to-beat-its-peak-emissions-pledge/

Quote
A new study led by Haikun Wang, Xi Lu, and Yu Deng doesn't look directly at industry or the grid. Instead, it examines the relationship between economic growth and emissions to project that China's should peak in the early 2020s.

Quote
the researchers see evidence that these metropolises follow an economic relationship known as the environmental Kuznets curve—emissions per capita stops increasing once a certain GDP per capita is reached. The idea is basically that dirty growth eventually provides the resources to switch to cleaner options.

The environmental Kuznets curve (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuznets_curve#Environmental_Kuznets_curve) is an interesting way to analyze, but it will need backing up with actual emission observations.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 02, 2019, 03:42:56 am
Thousands of residents in the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge have been evacuated amid fears a dam could collapse after it was damaged by floodwaters.

Quote
There are concerns the village could be levelled if the dam, which dates to 1838, gives way.
"At this time the future of the dam wall remains in the balance and I would remind people of the very real danger posed to them should the wall collapse".

(https://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1454891-860_poster_16x9-mqgn-1454891.jpg)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/01/whaley-bridge-dam-collapse-latest-news-derbyshire-town-evacuated/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 02, 2019, 03:52:52 am
Hot Map

(https://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1453435-galleryV9-wnms-1453435.jpg)

Heatwave over Europe. The image as captured by Esa-Satelite "Sentinel-3s" shows the record air temperatures on July 25 2019.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 02, 2019, 08:56:24 am
Why is global warming being claimed as the cause of the heat wave? That doesn't seem correct. Didn't the heat come from Africa and was caused by a particular weather pattern?

"The heat wave was caused by a strong omega block,[5] consisting of hot, dry air from North Africa, trapped between cold storm systems. The high-pressure area of hot air, called Yvonne, stretched from the central Mediterranean to Scandinavia and was pinned between two low-pressure areas, one over western Russia and the other over the eastern Atlantic.[6]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 02, 2019, 09:45:00 am
Why is global warming being claimed as the cause of the heat wave? That doesn't seem correct. Didn't the heat come from Africa and was caused by a particular weather pattern?

"The heat wave was caused by a strong omega block,[5] consisting of hot, dry air from North Africa, trapped between cold storm systems. The high-pressure area of hot air, called Yvonne, stretched from the central Mediterranean to Scandinavia and was pinned between two low-pressure areas, one over western Russia and the other over the eastern Atlantic.[6]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave)

The run of unprecedented temperatures in July – which sent records tumbling in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany – would have been “extremely unlikely” without climate change.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-made-europes-2019-record-heatwave-up-to-hundred-times-more-likely
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 02, 2019, 09:50:40 am
Why is global warming being claimed as the cause of the heat wave? That doesn't seem correct. Didn't the heat come from Africa and was caused by a particular weather pattern?

"The heat wave was caused by a strong omega block,[5] consisting of hot, dry air from North Africa, trapped between cold storm systems. The high-pressure area of hot air, called Yvonne, stretched from the central Mediterranean to Scandinavia and was pinned between two low-pressure areas, one over western Russia and the other over the eastern Atlantic.[6]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_2019_European_heat_wave)


You join one step too late: it's the fact of the trappings and what caused them that is the point. It is the inevitable temp/pressure alterations that are happening outwith the natural rhythm of Earth's tilt and the relative seasonal closeness of its parts to the Sun.

You set in motion higher temps in one region and those can't just be restrained to that region: like an unfortunate fart in a restaurant, it can ruin everything from the starter to the final chocolate nibble with your coffee if the room is big enough to permit a slow dispersion. Especially if the place isn't busy and it lacks the critical number of lungs to neutralise the toxic gas.

In like manner to that gas in the restaurant, spreads the heat across the world's areas, and in directions where existing pressures at any given moment dictate.



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 02, 2019, 09:58:32 am
Hot Map..l

Clearly localized. Where is the “global” part?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 02, 2019, 10:06:38 am
Clearly localized. Where is the “global” part?

Another map, few hours later:
(https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Data-visualisation-of-air-temperatures-over-Europe-on-Thursday-25-July-2019-at-4pm-bst.jpg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 02, 2019, 10:25:56 am
You see what happened there, on that second map? Southern Europe and my little Balearic island; Sicily, the heartland of the Mafia vanished, along with Sardinia and the kidnap kings. Blame the forest fires and the steam arising from the Med: satellite blindness - old tech.

:-(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 02, 2019, 10:27:49 am
Clearly localized. Where is the “global” part?

Not really localized (there are maxima and minima until equilibrium is achieved, and there is a night/day cycle), when you realize that the temperature differences are constantly being redistributed around the world. It is also clear that the land mass warms up faster than the immense body of water, and that water, therefore, has a dampening effect on coastal temperatures.

Since most of the landmass is located in the northern hemisphere, this will contribute more to raising the world average, and the southern hemisphere lowers the world average. The global average is increasing, less fast in the southern hemisphere, faster in the northern hemisphere.

Part of the redistribution of heat is done by the air, and part by the ocean currents. For example, in my part of the European continent, by the warm North Atlantic Gulf Stream going from the equator to the northeast in the direction of the Arctic Circle (which also causes more moderate European temperatures in winter). But the multi-decadal trend is almost 2°C higher in my country, over a period of only about 70 years. The extremes are becoming more extreme.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 02, 2019, 10:38:45 am
The run of unprecedented temperatures in July – which sent records tumbling in the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany – would have been “extremely unlikely” without climate change.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-made-europes-2019-record-heatwave-up-to-hundred-times-more-likely (https://www.carbonbrief.org/climate-change-made-europes-2019-record-heatwave-up-to-hundred-times-more-likely)

I'm not sure it has to do with climate change.  Even the article notes some important differences between Climate Change and heatwaves.  Unfortunately, everyone reacts automatically jumping to conclusions. 


From the linked article.


"This is double the heatwave temperature increase expected by climate models – which are used to make projections about future climate change, van Oldernborgh says:

“The models only predict that heatwaves get warmer at about 1.5C per degree of global warming. So for every degree of global warming, they predict that heatwaves get 1.5C hotter – a little bit faster but not really exceptional.”

The world has seen around 1C of global warming so far – meaning that the models would expect heatwaves to be around 1.5C hotter today than in pre-industrial times. However, temperatures during this heatwave were actually around 3C warmer, he says:

“We really need to do a lot more serious research than we can do within one week to look at why there is such a big discrepancy between the observed trends and the modelled trends.

“But heatwaves are very special. A lot of things come together for a heatwave – heat from the Sahara, local heating due to sunshine, the reaction of vegetation due to very hot conditions – and all these things have to be modelled right. I’m just afraid that these models that have been designed to project the average climate correctly cannot handle these very extreme situations very well.”

The findings are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. However, the methods used in the analysis have been published in previous attribution studies."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 02, 2019, 10:44:11 am
Not really localized (there are maxima and minima until equilibrium is achieved, and there is a night/day cycle), when you realize that the temperature differences are constantly being redistributed around the world. It is also clear that the land mass warms up faster than the immense body of water, and that water, therefore, has a dampening effect on coastal temperatures.

Since most of the landmass is located in the northern hemisphere, this will contribute more to raising the world average, and the southern hemisphere lowers the world average. The global average is increasing, less fast in the southern hemisphere, faster in the northern hemisphere.

Part of the redistribution of heat is done by the air, and part by the ocean currents. For example, in my part of the European continent, by the warm North Atlantic Gulf Stream going from the equator to the northeast in the direction of the Arctic Circle (which also causes more moderate European temperatures in winter). But the multi-decadal trend is almost 2°C higher in my country, over a period of only about 70 years. The extremes are becoming more extreme.

Cheers,
Bart

I'm not sure the scientists in the article agree with your assessment.  Even if you took their 1 in 50-150 continental and 1 in 20 in Britain's odds, that only means that this happens every 20 to 50 or 150 years, a perturbation in the course of climate history.  It just mean wait another few years and you'll see it again, climate change or no climate change.  It's one of those things that just happens.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 02, 2019, 10:47:10 am
I'm not sure the scientists in the article agree with your assessment.  Even if you took their 1 in 50-150 continental and 1 in 20 in Britain's odds, that only means that this happens every 20 to 50 or 150 years, a perturbation in the course of climate history.  It just mean wait another few years and you'll see it again, climate change or no climate change.  It's one of those things that just happens.


Yeah, just one of those things that happen. Like getting killed by a bus. Because you were too busy to look where you were going.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 02, 2019, 11:51:12 am
Quote
... why there is such a big discrepancy between the observed trends and the modelled trends.

"Predictions are hard... especially about the future."

 ;D ;D ;D

Who would have thought that artificially constructed models should not be confused with reality!? Remember that the summer Arctic polar cap should have been melted already and Maldives underwater by now, according to "models."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 02, 2019, 12:05:26 pm
Quote
    ... why there is such a big discrepancy between the observed trends and the modelled trends.

Is there?

Quote
Remember that the summer Arctic polar cap should have been melted already and Maldives underwater by now, according to "models."

You should not confuse politicians or bloggers with scientists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41TCWEl-x_g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQqTFGxrmg

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 06, 2019, 09:28:00 am
Fascinating story in the Wall Street Journal this morning. "If You Want 'Renewable Energy,' Get Ready  to Dig." An extract from the beginning of the article: "Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic." It goes on to describe what it takes to build solar panels and goes into the problem caused by discarded solar panels. The article makes clear that an attempt to provide the world's power with what are called "renewable" sources would destroy the earth.

I couldn't provide a link to the article that'll let you read the whole thing without subscribing to WSJ online, but you can read the first paragraph and a half at https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-want-renewable-energy-get-ready-to-dig-11565045328.

Sorry, Bart, I couldn't dig up a chart.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 10:10:40 am
Be nice to Bart.  He's my friend.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 10:18:01 am
Fascinating story in the Wall Street Journal this morning. "If You Want 'Renewable Energy,' Get Ready  to Dig." An extract from the beginning of the article: "Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic." It goes on to describe what it takes to build solar panels and goes into the problem caused by discarded solar panels. The article makes clear that an attempt to provide the world's power with what are called "renewable" sources would destroy the earth.

I couldn't provide a link to the article that'll let you read the whole thing without subscribing to WSJ online, but you can read the first paragraph and a half at https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-want-renewable-energy-get-ready-to-dig-11565045328.

Sorry, Bart, I couldn't dig up a chart.

And let's not forget, all that for farms that only produce power 10% to, at most, 30% of the time. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 06, 2019, 10:19:46 am
Be nice to Bart.  He's my friend.  :)

Bart's a good guy, just deluded.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 11:04:38 am
Fascinating story in the Wall Street Journal this morning. "If You Want 'Renewable Energy,' Get Ready  to Dig." An extract from the beginning of the article: "Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic." It goes on to describe what it takes to build solar panels and goes into the problem caused by discarded solar panels. The article makes clear that an attempt to provide the world's power with what are called "renewable" sources would destroy the earth.

I couldn't provide a link to the article that'll let you read the whole thing without subscribing to WSJ online, but you can read the first paragraph and a half at https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-want-renewable-energy-get-ready-to-dig-11565045328 (https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-want-renewable-energy-get-ready-to-dig-11565045328).

Sorry, Bart, I couldn't dig up a chart.



[/size]
And let's not forget, all that for farms that only produce power 10% to, at most, 30% of the time. 
[/size]
It's part of the reason Germany has not reduced it's CO2 production even though 40% of it's electricity production comes from renewables.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 06, 2019, 12:34:47 pm
Fascinating story in the Wall Street Journal this morning. "If You Want 'Renewable Energy,' Get Ready  to Dig." An extract from the beginning of the article: "Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic." It goes on to describe what it takes to build solar panels and goes into the problem caused by discarded solar panels. The article makes clear that an attempt to provide the world's power with what are called "renewable" sources would destroy the earth.

I couldn't provide a link to the article that'll let you read the whole thing without subscribing to WSJ online, but you can read the first paragraph and a half at https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-you-want-renewable-energy-get-ready-to-dig-11565045328.

Sorry, Bart, I couldn't dig up a chart.

Assuming you even tried digging, that's a shame. It is also hard to judge (without getting a subscription) if the opinion piece only focuses on the resources required to build, maintain, and decommission traditional wind-driven power generators. Does it compare that cost to that of running traditional utilities plants?

It would have shown you that while the production of a regular windturbine does consume resources (and provides a lot of jobs), the net result over the lifespan of such a device is positive, and that's not only if you look at the cost/benefit ratio. If you then look at the amount of carbon (and other) emissions that was avoided by running it (producing clean energy) instead of burning fossil fuel, the balance tips even more in favor of wind energy.

Also, there are different types of windmill designs (VAWT), more easy to maintain, and more efficient at lower wind-speeds (and thus usable in urbanized environments), and can be packed much closer together to create wind parks.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 12:55:49 pm
Assuming you even tried digging, that's a shame. It is also hard to judge (without getting a subscription) if the opinion piece only focuses on the resources required to build, maintain, and decommission traditional wind-driven power generators. Does it compare that cost to that of running traditional utilities plants?

It would have shown you that while the production of a regular windturbine does consume resources (and provides a lot of jobs), the net result over the lifespan of such a device is positive, and that's not only if you look at the cost/benefit ratio. If you then look at the amount of carbon (and other) emissions that was avoided by running it (producing clean energy) instead of burning fossil fuel, the balance tips even more in favor of wind energy.

Also, there are different types of windmill designs (VAWT), more easy to maintain, and more efficient at lower wind-speeds (and thus usable in urbanized environments), and can be packed much closer together to create wind parks.

Cheers,
Bart

Every article that I have read that looks at real life data over the entire power supply chain (manufacturing, product of power, transportation of power, etc.) shows that the cost of wind/solar is considerably higher than other traditional power production. 

Even many environmentalist that are pro-wind/solar admit that neither will ever be a base load power source just due to the expense, massive amount of land required to produce the same amount of energy and, most importantly, that wind/solar are so intermittent. 

Additionally, all those extra jobs mean that more money will need to be allocated to payroll, which raises the price of power.  Having power that is too expensive will evetually weaken the overall economy. 

All of this, by the way, is being proven by Germany.  Their carbon emissions have not gone down and their energy prices have gone up.  "Energy poverty" is a new term coined in Germany as a result of power being so much higher then neighboring countries it is putting people into poverty. 

It's time for us to give up on wind/solar and go all in on nuclear, otherwise our climate crisis will never be solved. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 06, 2019, 01:51:18 pm
Every article that I have read that looks at real life data over the entire power supply chain (manufacturing, product of power, transportation of power, etc.) shows that the cost of wind/solar is considerably higher than other traditional power production.

Hi Joe,

Maybe this will answer part of your questions:
Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels By 2020, Report Claims
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/

The difficulty is that different countries offer different opportunities, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Countries that are closer to the equator than my country may have better opportunities for Solar based solutions, others will be able to use different kinds of hydropower generation, others (e.g. near the seashores) may have more opportunities for wind power generators. Lots of potential currently remains untapped, because fossil fuel is priced so low (not all cost to society is priced in). The moment Carbon taxes are introduced, things will change even more rapidly.

This entire field is changing rapidly, in favor of renewables.

Even Boone Pickens Is Falling Out of Love With Oil
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-30/boone-pickens-etf-change-to-renw-from-boon-says-it-all-about-oil
Quote
Venerable oil baron T. Boone Pickens is giving up on oil – sort of. Less than 18 months ago, his fund launched an ETF tracking stocks of companies expected to benefit from any increase in Brent crude oil prices. But soon, BOON – the ticker of the NYSE Pickens Oil Response ETF – will be no more. Instead, it will be relaunched as RENW, offering exposure to stocks benefiting from the transition to toward “a low-carbon economy.”

And there are more articles covering the switch to renewables, even by this oil dinosaur, e,g, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/t-boone-pickens-fund-to-replace-crude-oil-etf-with-renewables.

Quote
It's time for us to give up on wind/solar and go all in on nuclear, otherwise our climate crisis will never be solved.

I'd agree nuclear (especially thorium-based technology) is part of the way forward, but not the only one, and certainly not yet in the coming decades.

We will need a mix of all sorts of power generation, but also for power storage. I wouldn't be surprised if Hydrogen based Powercells gain more traction, and as we switch away from natural gas for heating, the same pipeline infrastructure, with more suitable pressure stations, can be used for the transportation of Hydrogen gas for heating. The cost for transforming from natural gas to hydrogen gas, will be relatively low because the transportation infrastructure is already there. I've been told that the cost to modify the home heating system for a different type of gas is not very high either.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 06, 2019, 02:19:03 pm
Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels By 2020, Report Claims[/b]
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/
[/quote]

 ;D ;D ;D :o :o :o 8) 8) 8) ;D ;D ;D ROTFL!

Bart, I wish I could simply type in the whole article, but if I did that I'd be violating the guy's copyright. He's right on the money. It simply ain't gonna happen. He didn't even mention the butchery of birds that results from windmills, and the frying that  results from solar panels. What he talked about was the requirement for materials, including rare earths necessary to put this junk together. It's a convincing article, and he makes clear why it won't happen.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 03:59:29 pm
Hi Joe,

Maybe this will answer part of your questions:
Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels By 2020, Report Claims
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/

The difficulty is that different countries offer different opportunities, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Countries that are closer to the equator than my country may have better opportunities for Solar based solutions, others will be able to use different kinds of hydropower generation, others (e.g. near the seashores) may have more opportunities for wind power generators. Lots of potential currently remains untapped, because fossil fuel is priced so low (not all cost to society is priced in). The moment Carbon taxes are introduced, things will change even more rapidly.

This entire field is changing rapidly, in favor of renewables.

Even Boone Pickens Is Falling Out of Love With Oil
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-30/boone-pickens-etf-change-to-renw-from-boon-says-it-all-about-oil
And there are more articles covering the switch to renewables, even by this oil dinosaur, e,g, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/t-boone-pickens-fund-to-replace-crude-oil-etf-with-renewables.

I'd agree nuclear (especially thorium-based technology) is part of the way forward, but not the only one, and certainly not yet in the coming decades.

We will need a mix of all sorts of power generation, but also for power storage. I wouldn't be surprised if Hydrogen based Powercells gain more traction, and as we switch away from natural gas for heating, the same pipeline infrastructure, with more suitable pressure stations, can be used for the transportation of Hydrogen gas for heating. The cost for transforming from natural gas to hydrogen gas, will be relatively low because the transportation infrastructure is already there. I've been told that the cost to modify the home heating system for a different type of gas is not very high either.

Cheers,
Bart

No real data is provided in this article, only referenced.

However, it seems that the numbers he is providing only take into account the actual cost to build the turbines and solar panels.  It does not go into the cost of land (of which 500 times more is required to produce the same amount of energy), the cost of developing that excessively larger amount of land (with all of the concrete, metal, glass, etc. needed), the fact that in order to make this cheap the land needs to be really far from where the energy will be used requiring expensive long distance power lines, and then the cost of maintaining all of these things. 

The article did also bring up having turbines (and other things) in the sea, which I guess would take away part of the cost of land, but did not go into the extra cost of building in a salt water and maintaining metal objects & parts in the significantly more corrosive saltwater environment. 

Once again, having a 3 acre one-gigawatt nuclear power plant operating 90% of the time located close to a city center is a much better option, by leaps and bounds, then a 1500 acre wind/solar farm only producing energy, at most, 30% of the time located miles outside that city center needing long range power lines.  We will eb much better off putting all of our effort into nuclear, and other clearly efficient energy solutions, then wasting our time on wind and solar. 

Insofar as your reference to power storage, you just seem to not be reading up on the deficiencies of batteries.  You always loose at least 20% of the power when you store it in a battery, but it could be as much as 40%.  It is a much better option to just have a modern grid with a power supply that can be ramped up or down as needed to supply the grid then storing electricity to use it later. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 04:10:29 pm
Hi Joe,

Maybe this will answer part of your questions:
Renewable Energy Will Be Consistently Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels By 2020, Report Claims
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/ (https://www.forbes.com/sites/dominicdudley/2018/01/13/renewable-energy-cost-effective-fossil-fuels-2020/)

The difficulty is that different countries offer different opportunities, so there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Countries that are closer to the equator than my country may have better opportunities for Solar based solutions, others will be able to use different kinds of hydropower generation, others (e.g. near the seashores) may have more opportunities for wind power generators. Lots of potential currently remains untapped, because fossil fuel is priced so low (not all cost to society is priced in). The moment Carbon taxes are introduced, things will change even more rapidly.

This entire field is changing rapidly, in favor of renewables.

Even Boone Pickens Is Falling Out of Love With Oil
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-30/boone-pickens-etf-change-to-renw-from-boon-says-it-all-about-oil (https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-30/boone-pickens-etf-change-to-renw-from-boon-says-it-all-about-oil)
And there are more articles covering the switch to renewables, even by this oil dinosaur, e,g, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/t-boone-pickens-fund-to-replace-crude-oil-etf-with-renewables (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/t-boone-pickens-fund-to-replace-crude-oil-etf-with-renewables).

I'd agree nuclear (especially thorium-based technology) is part of the way forward, but not the only one, and certainly not yet in the coming decades.

We will need a mix of all sorts of power generation, but also for power storage. I wouldn't be surprised if Hydrogen based Powercells gain more traction, and as we switch away from natural gas for heating, the same pipeline infrastructure, with more suitable pressure stations, can be used for the transportation of Hydrogen gas for heating. The cost for transforming from natural gas to hydrogen gas, will be relatively low because the transportation infrastructure is already there. I've been told that the cost to modify the home heating system for a different type of gas is not very high either.

Cheers,
Bart
To argue that renewables will get cheaper when the governments add a carbon tax has nothing to do with economics.  Of course, if I add special taxes or give credits and rebates for renewables, the cost seems to go down. But it doesn;t really because someone is paying for those credits and rebates and taxes.  Also, it's not a level playing field.  It doesn't take a genius to realize that government favoritism influences what people buy or produce when government puts their thumb on the scale.


It also stops a move to a better product possible like your suggested Hydrogen based.  But as long as the government plays favorites, picking one fuel over another, the free market cannot work which would select the best possible methods.  Companies go where the money is.  If government gives you credits, you're going to use that fuel.  Meanwhile a better fuel will be sidelined because it's more expensive relative to the government favoritism.  Keep the government out of it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 04:29:51 pm
No real data is provided in this article, only referenced.

However, it seems that the numbers he is providing only take into account the actual cost to build the turbines and solar panels.  It does not go into the cost of land (of which 500 times more is required to produce the same amount of energy), the cost of developing that excessively larger amount of land (with all of the concrete, metal, glass, etc. needed), the fact that in order to make this cheap the land needs to be really far from where the energy will be used requiring expensive long distance power lines, and then the cost of maintaining all of these things. 

The article did also bring up having turbines (and other things) in the sea, which I guess would take away part of the cost of land, but did not go into the extra cost of building in a salt water and maintaining metal objects & parts in the significantly more corrosive saltwater environment. 

Once again, having a 3 acre one-gigawatt nuclear power plant operating 90% of the time located close to a city center is a much better option, by leaps and bounds, then a 1500 acre wind/solar farm only producing energy, at most, 30% of the time located miles outside that city center needing long range power lines.  We will eb much better off putting all of our effort into nuclear, and other clearly efficient energy solutions, then wasting our time on wind and solar. 

Insofar as your reference to power storage, you just seem to not be reading up on the deficiencies of batteries.  You always loose at least 20% of the power when you store it in a battery, but it could be as much as 40%.  It is a much better option to just have a modern grid with a power supply that can be ramped up or down as needed to supply the grid then storing electricity to use it later. 
Joe, you're really hot to trot on nuclear.  I agree that it might be the best.  France seems to do well with them.  Problem is NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard.   How do we get past this at this point?  The rules and regulations are so oppressive, the political obstacles so intense, that most producers are not interested.  Or are they? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 06, 2019, 04:46:11 pm
The time will come, Alan -- when people need power and find out they can't get it from so-called "renewable" energy. Our current problem started with "The China Syndrome," and was exacerbated by the Russian fiasco.The politics will change somewhere down the line because nuclear is the only workable option, unless something equivalent to nuclear suddenly pops up. Any such popup is being retarded by the left's fanatical focus on (intermittent) wind and sun.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 06, 2019, 06:12:41 pm
You always loose at least 20% of the power when you store it in a battery, but it could be as much as 40%.  It is a much better option to just have a modern grid with a power supply that can be ramped up or down as needed to supply the grid then storing electricity to use it later.

You'll loose also a lot of electricity in the transmission lines and transformers.
A short transfer from the solar roof panel to a large battery in the garage and from there to the microwave is much more appealing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 06, 2019, 07:05:31 pm
You'll loose also a lot of electricity in the transmission lines and transformers.
A short transfer from the solar roof panel to a large battery in the garage and from there to the microwave is much more appealing.

Yes, and in addition, there will be a surplus of solar energy produced during the summertime, which is better used for storage than by switching-off the panels. And storage is not only possible in traditional batteries, but it can also be in hydro-pumped or compressed-air or kinetic energy, or as heat in a basin (e.g. salt, or basalt), or for electrolysis to produce hydrogen gas.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 07:24:26 pm
Both home installed roof solar and industrial produced solar or wind electricity require traditional fuels for backup.  So the utility has to maintain or build new fossil plants for backup.  All these costs will be passed on to consumers and businesses. 


NYS's democrat Governor Cuomo, who wants to be President someday,  is planning on spending $3.2 billion for offshore wind for 1 million homes or $3200 per home.  Of course, you know the final cost will be higher.  Even the design estimate doesn;t include the offset backup power plant costs.   This is why Germany with 40% of its electric coming from renewables spends 2 1/2 times more per KWH than in the US.  The NYS governor will have the utility subsidize much of this through higher electric costs to their users.  But the Governor directed that those costs will not be itemized by the utility on rate-payer bills.  So the public will never learn how much they're paying for all this "free" electricity.   


This is why people like me see the whole push for renewables as BS.  There's no trust we're being told the truth about anything.  How could there be?
https://nypost.com/2019/07/22/cuomos-incredible-wind-power-pander/ (https://nypost.com/2019/07/22/cuomos-incredible-wind-power-pander/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 06, 2019, 07:34:47 pm
Both home installed roof solar and industrial produced solar or wind electricity require traditional fuels for backup.  So the utility has to maintain or build new fossil plants for backup.  All these costs will be passed on to consumers and businesses.

Nothing new about that. And the fossil fuel industry has its own challenges:
U.S. Oil Companies Find Energy Independence Isn’t So Profitable
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-profit.html
Quote
HOUSTON — For decades, elected leaders and corporate executives have chased a dream of independence from unstable or unfriendly foreign oil producers. Mission accomplished: Oil companies are producing record amounts of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and have become major exporters.

Yet the companies themselves are finding little to love about this seeming bonanza. With a global glut driving down prices, many are losing money and are staying afloat by selling assets and taking on debt.

The value of oil and gas stocks as a proportion of the S&P 500 over the last six years has dropped to about 4.6 percent, from 8.7 percent.

In addition to that, the cost of shale oil production is much higher than suggested, and a lot of money is being lost. Guess who'll be paying for that ...

At least the devaluation of the Chinese currency, in reaction to Trump's Trade war, will reduce the cost of Chinese Solar panels even further...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 07:37:34 pm
Yes, and in addition, there will be a surplus of solar energy produced during the summertime, which is better used for storage than by switching-off the panels. And storage is not only possible in traditional batteries, but it can also be in hydro-pumped or compressed-air or kinetic energy, or as heat in a basin (e.g. salt, or basalt), or for electrolysis to produce hydrogen gas.

Cheers,
Bart

But at what cost?  When I got into energy management and conservation systems work in the 1970's after the first oil crisis, everyone was looking for ways to save energy and reduce utility costs.  One method that was tried was  using electricity furnished at night to air condition office buildings during the day.  Electric rates are lower at night.  So they would produce huge quantities of ice at night to be stored in a ice-storage building.  Then during the day, that ice would be use to provide air conditioning to the office building so no daytime electricity would be required.  It was a great idea.  But it turned out to be impractical and expensive.  First off, where do you store the ice?  NYC and most large cities don;t have spare land just lying around.  Plus the engineering and cost to build and maintain was prohibitive.  So the concept died.  You would have similar problems with traditional batteries, hydrogen storage, etc that you recommended.  Just like "free" solar and wind, the devil is in the details.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 07:48:34 pm
Joe, you're really hot to trot on nuclear.  I agree that it might be the best.  France seems to do well with them.  Problem is NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard.   How do we get past this at this point?  The rules and regulations are so oppressive, the political obstacles so intense, that most producers are not interested.  Or are they?

By getting young people to realize how much of a waste of time wind/solar is and how much misinformation has been spread around about nuclear.  When young people like me start to come to their senses that (1) the world is not going to lower their power usage and (2) wind and solar will never provide enough energy without completely destroying the enviroment and (3) nuclear is the safest cleanest power source, we will start to invest in nuclear. 

Until then, we are screwed. 

Plus, this just goes back to your whole point of government picking winners and losers. We need policies that will actually work, not ones that make use feel better and do nothing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 07:50:16 pm
Nothing new about that. And the fossil fuel industry has its own challenges:
U.S. Oil Companies Find Energy Independence Isn’t So Profitable
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-profit.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/business/energy-environment/oil-companies-profit.html)
In addition to that, the cost of shale oil production is much higher than suggested, and a lot of money is being lost. Guess who'll be paying for that ...

At least the devaluation of the Chinese currency, in reaction to Trump's Trade war, will reduce the cost of Chinese Solar panels even further...

Cheers,
Bart

Only the liberal, pro-renewables NY Times can take an advantage and make it into a disaster.  Obviously, the writer of that article never went to Economics 101.  The more of any product, the lower the cost to the consumer.  If there's a glut, so they make less profit.  Don;t we photographers benefit when competition among the camera manufacturers goes up.  Prices go down and we run out and buy another full frame camera that we didn't need. :) .  That's how it's supposed to work.  Do you worry about Nikon's profits? Or Kodaks' or Exxons' for that matter.  If a product loses its acceptance, the company can go out of business. That's how the world works?  Film, Polaroid, horse buggy manufacturers, etc.  Even oil.  All that happens is the money and industry goes elsewhere.  People still work.  People still eat.  That's how the world modernizes.  Don;t be nervous.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 07:54:18 pm
You'll loose also a lot of electricity in the transmission lines and transformers.
A short transfer from the solar roof panel to a large battery in the garage and from there to the microwave is much more appealing.

Sure, for residential usage, on sunny days of course in suburbia where single family homes flourish.  But how about in the cities, with apartment and condo buildings, or commercial and manufacturing where there is no where the amount of roof space to even come close to producing what is needed.  Guess what, your approach does not work here, not in the least, and this is the trend the majority of the world is moving towards. 

So, the fact of the matter is that if we want to power our world with wind and solar, we will need massive energy farms.  These massive farms will need to be built on cheap land, which will be many times further away then what your post implies converntual power plants would be.  Which mean even more energy will be lost in your use of wind/solar by transferring the energy on even longer power lines then my use of nuclear, since nuclear takes up considerably less amount of land and can be built economically a lot closer to cities. 

The problem with your post is that you are using a prior generations' wishes of a good housing (suburbia) and applying it to the current generations' wishes, but only the current generation wants to live in cities with considerably less roof sqf per capita. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 07:59:54 pm
Yes, and in addition, there will be a surplus of solar energy produced during the summertime, which is better used for storage than by switching-off the panels. And storage is not only possible in traditional batteries, but it can also be in hydro-pumped or compressed-air or kinetic energy, or as heat in a basin (e.g. salt, or basalt), or for electrolysis to produce hydrogen gas.

Cheers,
Bart

This has been proven to be futile as well. 

You need a damn like structure to take advantage of hydor-storage.  These are expensive to build and can only be built in limited areas, just like actual damns.  On top fo this, only 1% of all water is fresh water, and you can only use fresh water for hydro power since salt water is too corrosive.  The fact is that fresh water is much more important to society to just let sit in a giant damn unused until we need power.   At least with a normal damn, the water is still flowing, but with this idea, it would just be stagnent and stored, not being used.  At some point in time, a drought or famine would kill this idea.   

I have not even heard of any other feasible kinetic and air pressure storage solutions that look even promising in the lab let alone in reality. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 08:01:21 pm
By getting young people to realize how much of a waste of time wind/solar is and how much misinformation has been spread around about nuclear.  When young people like me start to come to their senses that (1) the world is not going to lower their power usage and (2) wind and solar will never provide enough energy without completely destroying the enviroment and (3) nuclear is the safest cleanest power source, we will start to invest in nuclear. 

Until then, we are screwed. 

Plus, this just goes back to your whole point of government picking winners and losers. We need policies that will actually work, not ones that make use feel better and do nothing.

Well, if the Democrats win the Presidency and Senate and keep the House in 2020, forget about anything BUT renewables.  It will be Obama on steroids.  The only hope is to convince America that nuclear IS like renewables.  Clean, no CO2, no burning, etc.  I think that's how it has to be sold.

On the other hand, if what happened to Germany happens to America, and the cost for electricity goes to 2 1/2 times what it is due to renewables, the public will demand government to fix the problem.  When people's pocketbooks are involved, people get real interested.  Nothing focuses a person's attention like the hangman's noose.  When Americans have to shut off their air conditioners to save money on utilities, something German don;t use nearly as much, they'll get more than hot under the collar.  Nuclear could then become popular.  Who knows?  It's going to be interesting. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 08:09:19 pm
Well, if the Democrats win the Presidency and Senate and keep the House in 2020, forget about anything BUT renewables.  It will be Obama on steroids.  The only hope is to convince America that nuclear IS like renewables.  Clean, no CO2, no burning, etc.  I think that's how it has to be sold.

On the other hand, if what happened to Germany happens to America, and the cost for electricity goes to 2 1/2 times what it is due to renewables, the public will demand government to fix the problem.  When people's pocketbooks are involved, people get real interested.  Nothing focuses a person's attention like the hangman's noose.  When Americans have to shut off their air conditioners to save money on utilities, something German don;t use nearly as much, they'll get more than hot under the collar.  Nuclear could then become popular.  Who knows?  It's going to be interesting.

The unfortunate thing is that I think, but hope not, that we will go down the German rabbit hole and end up increasing our electricity cost while also increasing our CO2 output, just like Germany, until we finally wake up. 

The silver lining is that our leftists always like to look to France, and, with electricity at least, France is doing it right.  They get 95% of their electricity from nuclear and have one of the lowest cost per KWH in Europe.  The caveat though is that nuclear takes a large investment, so large that only big companies can make it. 

So I fear, the left will cut off its nose to spite its face here, meaning their hatred for big companies will keep them from realizing how nuclear is the only option that works.  I hope I am wrong. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 08:15:50 pm
Sure, for residential usage, on sunny days of course in suburbia where single family homes flourish.  But how about in the cities, with apartment and condo buildings, or commercial and manufacturing where there is no where the amount of roof space to even come close to producing what is needed.  Guess what, your approach does not work here, not in the least, and this is the trend the majority of the world is moving towards. 

So, the fact of the matter is that if we want to power our world with wind and solar, we will need massive energy farms.  These massive farms will need to be built on cheap land, which will be many times further away then what your post implies converntual power plants would be.  Which mean even more energy will be lost in your use of wind/solar by transferring the energy on even longer power lines then my use of nuclear, since nuclear takes up considerably less amount of land and can be built economically a lot closer to cities. 

The problem with your post is that you are using a prior generations' wishes of a good housing (suburbia) and applying it to the current generations' wishes, but only the current generation wants to live in cities with considerably less roof sqf per capita. 
Never mind cheap land. The NYS project I mentioned above is going into the sea off of Long Island.  In order to appease Long Islanders so they don;t have to look at ugly wind generators, they'll be built 20-30 miles off shore so they can't be seen.  Can you imagine the cost of undersea power transmission?  What about the cost for boats, ships, and helicopters and their crews to transport workers and equipment not only for construction, but for maintenance that is required forever?  So beside the $3200 per family, the cost for backup conventional generation, you also have the hugely expensive cost to maintain the system.  What do offshore maintenance people earn compared to a guy who can drive to the site in a van?  Of course the politicians and supporters of energy are blind to these things so enamored they are with renewables.  So these issues will be ignored and the price will be paid by the luckless and ignorant public.  Hello Germany. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 08:19:00 pm
Never mind cheap land. The NYS project I mentioned above is going into the sea off of Long Island.  In order to appease Long Islanders so they don;t have to look at ugly wind generators, they'll be built 20-30 miles off shore so they can't be seen.  Can you imagine the cost of undersea power transmission?  What about the cost for boats, ships, and helicopters and their crews to transport workers and equipment not only for construction, but for maintenance that is required forever?  So beside the $3200 per family, the cost for backup conventional generation, you also have the hugely expensive cost to maintain the system.  What do offshore maintenance people earn compared to a guy who can drive to the site in a van?  Of course the politicians and supporters of energy are blind to these things so enamored they are with renewables.  So these issues will be ignored and the price will be paid by the luckless and ignorant public.  Hello Germany.

I know, Alan. 

And these are the real life operating costs all of the wind/solar fans completely ignore. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 06, 2019, 08:30:51 pm
I know, Alan. 

And these are the real life operating costs all of the wind/solar fans completely ignore. 
When I was in Home Depot, I got hit up by a salesman working for a local solar company.  Apparently they have a deal with the store.  So I investigated putting in solar.  Well, it just so happens, my house is extremely efficient energywise.  I think I mentioned it to you in an earlier post.  So the bottom line it didn;t pay for me to do it.  But I checked into it.  And the more I checked, the more I learned how may problems you are faced with.  For example, roof tiles have to be replaced after 15-20 years.  You have to uninstall the panels and re-install them.  That costs extra money.   
 How is that handled?  You might not own them depending on what arrangement you made with the original installer. Then you have the batteries.  They don;t last forever.  Their storage capacity goes down in time and you have to replace them.  Then there's maintenance.  Who's going to clean the panels?  More costs.  Then if you want to sell your house, you could have problems with the mortgage company.  If you bought the solar as a rental or leaseback or whatever, it could affect your mortgage or the new owner's mortgage holding up the sale until it's straightened out.  Frankly, I would never had thought of these issues.  And I guarantee most people who bought solar didn't either.  Regardless, the solar companies and the government don't talk about them either.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 06, 2019, 09:34:25 pm
My neighbour installed a solar array recently. It's about 30X50 feet.  It's currently pumping about 8kW directly into the grid all day long, for which he gets credit from the local utility.  He draws down that credit in winter when he heats his house with an electrically powered heat pump. He has effectively zero Canadian Winter heating costs for the foreseeable future.  Ten year payback on his capital investment. After that, it's all gravy.

Quote
At least with a normal damn, the water is still flowing, but with this idea, it would just be stagnent and stored, not being used.  At some point in time, a drought or famine would kill this idea.   

"Stagnent (sic) ?  Really? All water is ancient. It doesn't rot. It just is. "Not being used" is just silly. And what's a "normal damn" (sic)

British Columbia, where I live, has lots of falling water. It rains here. The mountain reservoirs store vast amounts of energy during the spring runoff and release that energy via hydro power all summer. About 50,000 gWh annually.  That is a LOT of energy. The interior of BC is effectively a colossal battery.  We profitably sell this energy to Arizona where they use it to cool their shopping malls because it's 35C down there.

I pay about 10c a kWh for electricity. (converted to USD) That's the going rate here.  Anybody wanna buy our "stagnent" water?

Before Alan chimes in with a few "whattabouts", yes, the reservoirs do flood some pristine valleys.  Fortunately, we have lots of them. The reservoirs can also impede fish reproduction.  We're working on it.  We have hatcheries.  In some cases, they flooded farm land, but many of them are in wilderness.  Sports fishermen and boaters love 'em.

In short, solar and hydro can be very efficient and clean sources of endlessly renewable power.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 10:18:22 pm
My neighbour installed a solar array recently. It's about 30X50 feet.  It's currently pumping about 8kW directly into the grid all day long, for which he gets credit from the local utility.  He draws down that credit in winter when he heats his house with an electrically powered heat pump. He has effectively zero Canadian Winter heating costs for the foreseeable future.  Ten year payback on his capital investment. After that, it's all gravy.

"Stagnent (sic) ?  Really? All water is ancient. It doesn't rot. It just is. "Not being used" is just silly. And what's a "normal damn" (sic)

British Columbia, where I live, has lots of falling water. It rains here. The mountain reservoirs store vast amounts of energy during the spring runoff and release that energy via hydro power all summer. About 50,000 gWh annually.  That is a LOT of energy. The interior of BC is effectively a colossal battery.  We profitably sell this energy to Arizona where they use it to cool their shopping malls because it's 35C down there.

I pay about 10c a kWh for electricity. (converted to USD) That's the going rate here.  Anybody wanna buy our "stagnent" water?

Before Alan chimes in with a few "whattabouts", yes, the reservoirs do flood some pristine valleys.  Fortunately, we have lots of them. The reservoirs can also impede fish reproduction.  We're working on it.  We have hatcheries.  In some cases, they flooded farm land, but many of them are in wilderness.  Sports fishermen and boaters love 'em.

In short, solar and hydro can be very efficient and clean sources of endlessly renewable power.

Do you realize the vast amount of fresh water that would need to be stored in order to get a decent amount of eletricty for usage during the off season.  It would be huge. 

Given the fact that fresh water is a valuable commodity, it would be absolutely foolish to let it sit not used for a long period of time.  Sure, water does not rot or go bad, but farm plants and animals do.  Fresh water is needed to keep us alive, to keep farm animals alive, to irrigate crops, etc.  Our whole civilization is based upon the quest to find potable water.  To choose not to use it just because we need it during the off season to generate power when there are plenty of other power sources that we could use is stupid to say the least. 

Plus, the idea that we could store water all over the world and not feel the negative effects of locking up a valuable resource is asinine, especially in places short of fresh water, which there are plenty of. 

Even in your British Columbia, the price of water is not comparable to the actual value.  Most of the developed world has set up systems that drastically undercharge for fresh water, which lead many to not even realize how limited a commodity it is. 

My point, it is a much more limited commodity then people realize and if we started to locking it up to use months down the road, the consequences would quickly present themselves in the form of drought and famine.  As soon as farms start dying from not having enough water, your hydro-storage idea will quickly evaporate.  And before you start talking about how we have current fresh water reservoirs, these are currently used throughout the year to mitigate drier periods.  What you are suggesting would not allow access to the water stored except during period of low electricity production, which would limit access in a fashion not in use with our reservoirs now. 

Additionally, your example of citing where you live really serves no purpose what so ever.  It rains a lot in British Columbia, good for you, that's great, but it really does not matter for the majority of the rest of world.  You citing your massive amount of rain as a reason to use this type of power storage would be like Iceland telling the rest of the world to just use geothermal because it works so well for them.  The only problem is that there are very limited locations in the world where this type of power is feasible. 

Insofar as you selling your power to AZ, that is just a fairy tale.  The fact is that you loose energy when you transport it, and transporting it from BC to AZ would really decrease the amount of energy.  This is not even something worth thinking about. 

Last, your statement that wind and solar are efficient sources of power is currently being completely negated by the real life fact that Germany has seen it energy prices rise 2.5 times since it started down the wind/solar rabbit whole, and I should add that their CO2 emissions have not decreased at all. 

So, once again, wind and solar are nothing but fairy tales, and the sooner we start putting all our efforts into nuclear, the better!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 10:41:12 pm
Why renewables can’t save the planet | Michael Shellenberger | TEDxDanubia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-yALPEpV4w)

Great Ted Talk on why wind and solar wont work by Michael Shellenberger, a leftist environmentalist who worked in the wind and solar industry.  There are many more leading environmentalists, physicists, scientists (all on the left) who have all come to the same conclusion. 

In the video, at about 8 minutes in, you see a rather interesting graph showing that nuclear produces more than twice as much energy then wind/solar at half the cost.  If that alone does not convince you wind/solar are wastes of time, you may be an ideologue. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 06, 2019, 10:55:46 pm
Let me state that I get the pleasing idea of living in tandem with nature using only solar and wind.  It is a comforting fairy tale, but at the end of the day, it is still just a fairy tale. 

The people at the beginning of industrial revolution knew how limited wind power was, which is why the adopted coal and oil and gas.  For us to regress backwards because of a false premise that we can live one with nature is misplaced. 

We need to get off of fossil fuels, period.  This does not mean adopting an energy source that forces us to still use fossil fuels as our base load to the point of not even diminishing our CO2 emissions while at the same time increases energy prices, which Germany has shown wind and solar being so good at doing.  But to completely replacing our base load power sources with a clean, reliable and consistent alternative, of which nuclear is the only option. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: David Sutton on August 06, 2019, 11:07:14 pm

The silver lining is that our leftists always like to look to France, and, with electricity at least, France is doing it right.  They get 95% of their electricity from nuclear and have one of the lowest cost per KWH in Europe.  The caveat though is that nuclear takes a large investment, so large that only big companies can make it. 


Big companies can do it if their government pays for it. Otherwise, no.
France lost 8% of their available power in the recent heatwave. Six reactors had their output curtailed. Nuclear is useless when the water temperature rises too far, and when flows become sluggish.
They had enough generation capacity to cover demand, but the last figures I saw stated that about a quarter of their reactors would be closed in the next 15 years. That probably deals to their spare capacity.
Unless your country is wealthy and you have rivers immune to climate change, nuclear is not an option.
Renewables are also not an option at a national level. Germany spent over 180 billion euros and failed.
Alas there is no substitute for the foreseeable future for fossil fuels and the many issues arising from that.
It's probably safe to say that within the next 20 years the belief in "progress" will be dead and the way we live will look quite different.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 06, 2019, 11:56:09 pm
Do you realize the vast amount of fresh water that would need to be stored in order to get a decent amount of eletricty for usage during the off season.
Yes. I do. I can see it. I cross it on a ferry. I swim in it.  I drink it.  I boat on it.  I eat fish from it. It's called a "natural resource".

 
Quote
Given the fact that fresh water is a valuable commodity, it would be absolutely foolish to let it sit not used for a long period of time. 
We are not foolish.  We use it quickly. It's stored for a few months.

 
Quote
Fresh water is needed to keep us alive, to keep farm animals alive, to irrigate crops, etc.  Our whole civilization is based upon the quest to find potable water.  To choose not to use it just because we need it during the off season to generate power when there are plenty of other power sources that we could use is stupid to say the least.   
So, you'd rather we just let it run into the ocean?

 
Quote
... not feel the negative effects of locking up a valuable resource is asinine, especially in places short of fresh water, which there are plenty of.   
It's not "locked up".  It's stored briefly, then used.  Managed, in other words.


 
Quote
  What you are suggesting would not allow access to the water stored except during period of low electricity production, which would limit access in a fashion not in use with our reservoirs now.   
I can't make sense of that statement, frankly.  The reservoir fills during spring runoff and is released throughout the year until it re-fills the next spring.  It's available for irrigation and other uses year round.

 
Quote
  The only problem is that there are very limited locations in the world where this type of power is feasible.
Not true. There are many locations that are under-utilizing hydro power.  There are many others that are using it wisely.  Bhutan, for example has but one major export.  Hydro power. To India.  Run-of-the-river power solutions don't even require a reservoir.

 
Quote
Insofar as you selling your power to AZ, that is just a fairy tale.  The fact is that you loose energy when you transport it, and transporting it from BC to AZ would really decrease the amount of energy.  This is not even something worth thinking about.   

So, I'm making up that "fairy tale?  That, in fact we don't sell power into the US?  Tell that to the residents of BC, Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland, all of whom earn substantial revenue from that "fairy tale". 

As for "loosing" energy in transport, line losses for high voltage AC power distribution average about 1%  Even less with HVDC.

 
Quote
Last, your statement that wind and solar are efficient sources of power is currently being completely negated by the real life fact that Germany has seen it energy prices rise 2.5 times since it started down the wind/solar rabbit whole, and I should add that their CO2 emissions have not decreased at all. 

So, once again, wind and solar are nothing but fairy tales, and the sooner we start putting all our efforts into nuclear, the better!

How many of your Nucs would be required to generate 50,000 gigawatt hours of power? BC alone does this continuously, silently and with zero emissions of any kind. And that's just from one little area. The eastern Canada hydro projects dwarf ours.

I said nothing about wind.  I referenced solar and hydro, since I'm familiar with those systems.  For wind-based fairy tales, I suggest you instruct the people of Washington State, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma et al on their stupidity.  They have invested hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in wind farms. There are hundreds of new wind turbines in Oregon alone, all of which appear to be working quite well, thank you.

And, again to short circuit the inevitable cheap shots: they no longer kill many birds.  The birds learned.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 04:25:29 am
Last, your statement that wind and solar are efficient sources of power is currently being completely negated by the real life fact that Germany has seen it energy prices rise 2.5 times since it started down the wind/solar rabbit whole, and I should add that their CO2 emissions have not decreased at all.

Sorry Joe,

But you cannot take the specific situation that Germany is in and proclaim that that is typical for all other situations.

From its history (the split between East and West Germany, and the reunification), Germany has been using vast amounts of coal. It takes time to close those plants and replace them with something cleaner. So the German CO2 emissions are not due to renewable energy, in fact, they are much lower than they would otherwise have been.

And one of the reasons that it takes time to replace them, is that Germany decided to quit Nuclear power generation quicker than originally planned (bringing write-offs forward in time). That meant that other power sources have to fill in the gap in a growing economy, a lot of which is heavy industry, e.g. making steel and building cars.

But all that is changing, and Germany will be ready for the next steps required. In the meantime, they've built quite an expertise and economy on the production of generators (e.g. Siemens is a world player). It's hard to beat the Chinese on producing low cost Photovoltaics, so that has not been as successful in Germany, but at least they can buy cheaper panels as the Chinese gain experience and improve quality. PVs are not without their own concerns, but they beat the alternatives like fossil fuel.

And it's not about a total replacement of all energy requirements with just PVs, or just wind, it's about a clever combination of multiple sources of energy combined with a smart grid.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 04:34:42 am
And, again to short circuit the inevitable cheap shots: they no longer kill many birds.  The birds learned.

Indeed, but then humans also learned not to build such wind power generators in the migratory path of birds ...

Nobody ever learns anything useful from sitting on their hands. Innovation takes effort and offers rewards.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 06:27:49 am

Last, your statement that wind and solar are efficient sources of power is currently being completely negated by the real life fact that Germany has seen it energy prices rise 2.5 times since it started down the wind/solar rabbit whole, and I should add that their CO2 emissions have not decreased at all. 



Can you provide a source to support the claim that Germany has not reduced its CO2 emissions? This claim has been made here many times but I don't recall seeing any evidence for it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 07, 2019, 06:45:55 am
Once again, having a 3 acre one-gigawatt nuclear power plant operating 90% of the time located close to a city center is a much better option, by leaps and bounds, then a 1500 acre wind/solar farm only producing energy, at most, 30% of the time located miles outside that city center needing long range power lines.  We will eb much better off putting all of our effort into nuclear, and other clearly efficient energy solutions, then wasting our time on wind and solar. 

1500 acre requirement for a solar farm is indeed a huge cost, but if we'll start using the idle roof spaces for solar panels, that wouldn't require buying land. Roof tiles with integral solar collectors could be longer lasting than asphalt shingles and possibly also more suitable in regions with heavy snowfall.
 

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 07:20:28 am
Bart, please show me one country, anywhere, that increased their solar and wind use while also decreasing CO2 and energy prices. 

It certainly isn't Germany, and so far as I can tell, no other country has done it either. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 07:23:25 am
1500 acre requirement for a solar farm is indeed a huge cost, but if we'll start using the idle roof spaces for solar panels, that wouldn't require buying land. Roof tiles with integral solar collectors could be longer lasting than asphalt shingles and possibly also more suitable in regions with heavy snowfall.

Once again this ignores that fact that the world wide trend is people moving to cities with significantly less roof sqf per person.  Also, manufacturing uses a lot more energy then residences of which there is no where near the amount of roof space to generate the energy they need from wind or solar. 

Last, it is twice as expensive to get electricity from roof panels then from solar farms. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 07:29:06 am

Can you provide a source to support the claim that Germany has not reduced its CO2 emissions? This claim has been made here many times but I don't recall seeing any evidence for it.

Why Aren't Renewables Decreasing Germany's Carbon Emissions? (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent-renewables-decreasing-germanys-carbon-emissions/#7612886068e1)

Looks like I have not been following the latest data though because:

German greenhouse gas emissions fall for first time in four years (https://www.dw.com/en/german-greenhouse-gas-emissions-fall-for-first-time-in-four-years/a-48167150)

Emissions decreased a whopping 4.2% from 2017 to 2018.  However most agree it had little to nothing to do with renewables and everything to do with warmer weather leading to less heating. 

But one year does not necessarily mean anything for the long term and their energy prices are still more than 2 times higher then France. 

Germany's Failed Climate Goals (https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-germany-emissions/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 07:35:36 am
Why Aren't Renewables Decreasing Germany's Carbon Emissions? (https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2017/10/10/why-arent-renewables-decreasing-germanys-carbon-emissions/#7612886068e1)

Looks like I have not been following the latest data though because:

German greenhouse gas emissions fall for first time in four years (https://www.dw.com/en/german-greenhouse-gas-emissions-fall-for-first-time-in-four-years/a-48167150)

But one year does not necessarily mean anything for the long term


Indeed - their CO2 emission has been falling generally since 1990, so, whatever the question of cost, it is not true to claim that Germany's CO2 emissions have not been cut, so I hope you and others will refrain from perpetuating this ... err .. terminological inexactitude.

(https://www.cleanenergywire.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/article/2018/10/20180326-uba-german-greenhousegasemissions1990-2017.png?itok=jzrPGXfH)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 07:50:39 am
Yes. I do. I can see it. I cross it on a ferry. I swim in it.  I drink it.  I boat on it.  I eat fish from it. It's called a "natural resource".

 We are not foolish.  We use it quickly. It's stored for a few months.

  So, you'd rather we just let it run into the ocean?

 It's not "locked up".  It's stored briefly, then used.  Managed, in other words.


 I can't make sense of that statement, frankly.  The reservoir fills during spring runoff and is released throughout the year until it re-fills the next spring.  It's available for irrigation and other uses year round.

 Not true. There are many locations that are under-utilizing hydro power.  There are many others that are using it wisely.  Bhutan, for example has but one major export.  Hydro power. To India.  Run-of-the-river power solutions don't even require a reservoir.

 
So, I'm making up that "fairy tale?  That, in fact we don't sell power into the US?  Tell that to the residents of BC, Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland, all of whom earn substantial revenue from that "fairy tale". 

As for "loosing" energy in transport, line losses for high voltage AC power distribution average about 1%  Even less with HVDC.

 
How many of your Nucs would be required to generate 50,000 gigawatt hours of power? BC alone does this continuously, silently and with zero emissions of any kind. And that's just from one little area. The eastern Canada hydro projects dwarf ours.

I said nothing about wind.  I referenced solar and hydro, since I'm familiar with those systems.  For wind-based fairy tales, I suggest you instruct the people of Washington State, Oregon, Texas, Oklahoma et al on their stupidity.  They have invested hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in wind farms. There are hundreds of new wind turbines in Oregon alone, all of which appear to be working quite well, thank you.

And, again to short circuit the inevitable cheap shots: they no longer kill many birds.  The birds learned.

Peter, your missing the whole point.  Storing water even for a couple of months would still have an effect on crops and farm animals.  Although it may rain a lot where you are, this is not the case in many other places of the world.  What is Mexico City going to do? 

Furthermore, your comment asking how many nuclear plants we would need to generate 50,000 GW while bring up a damn that you have ignores some pretty important items.  First, we are nearly maxed out in the developed world with locations to build damns.  Although there may be places in the 3rd world, we literally have no more places to build damns. 

So, in order to keep up with our energy production, we will need to build more plants, regardless of the type.  Now the international standard is to build plants that can produce 1 GW of electricity.  So, for your example of 50,000 GW, we would need 50,000 plants, either nuclear or wind/solar farms.  A typical 1 GW nuclear plants takes up 3 acres, so we would need 150,000 acres to fill the need.  Best case, from real life data, shows a 1 GW wind/solar farm takes up 1500 acres. 

So to fill the 50,000 GW need with wind/solar farms would require 75,000,000 acres.  To put that in perspective, that is 117187.5 square miles or a square that has sides of 342 miles.  That is more then double the size of NY state!   

Regardless of the type of power, the land needs to be clear cut.  Would you rather destroy 150K acres (about half of NYC) or 75M acres (two entire NY states)? 

Good luck getting the public to adopt the latter.  It always amazes me when so called environmentalists want to pick an energy source (wind/solar) that would completely destroy extremely large areas of natural habitats. 

Insofar as your comment on those states using wind/solar, all, with the exception of TX, have seen their energy prices rise along with emissions.  The only reason TX saw a decrease is because TX is the epicenter for natural gas fracking and natural gas is cheaper there then anywhere else.  So the extreme decrease in the price of gas offset the increases that would have been seen from wind/solar.

Finally, your comment on less birds dying because they smarter really gave me a good laugh.  These wind mills kill large birds, many of which are threatened species.  The reason we see less of them dying is not because they are getting smarter, but because there are less of them around due to being killed.  LOL  It would be like me saying that the Passenger Pigeon wasn't actually hunted to extinction, they just got better at hiding, and that is why we don't see them anymore. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 07:51:44 am
Indeed - their CO2 emission has been falling generally since 1990, so, whatever the question of cost, it is not true to claim that Germany's CO2 emissions have not been cut, so I hope you and others will refrain from perpetuating this ... err .. terminological inexactitude.

(https://www.cleanenergywire.org/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/images/article/2018/10/20180326-uba-german-greenhousegasemissions1990-2017.png?itok=jzrPGXfH)

Yes, but the green revolution has only be happening for the last 10 years.  Citing data going back to 1990 (30 years) does nothing to support the need for more wind/solar.  Only the data over the period of time during the wind/solar up tick is important, and over that time the emissions have not gone down. 

You also missed the part of the articles that stated in no uncertain terms that Germany will miss it's target.  So providing a graph that also shows targets as if they will happen is meaningless as well. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 07:56:39 am
Yes, but the green revolution has only be happening for the last 10 years.  Citing data going back to 1990 (30 years) does nothing to support the need for more wind/solar. 

You also missed the part of the articles that stated in no uncertain terms that Germany will miss it's target.  So providing a graph that also shows targets as if they will happen is meaningless as well.

No, I didn't "miss" anything. What I said is that the claim made here, by you and others, that Germany's CO2 emissions have not been falling is false, as this graph clearly shows. Hopefully we won't see it repeated.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 08:01:28 am
No, I didn't "miss" anything. What I said is that the claim made here, by you and others, that Germany's CO2 emissions have not been falling is false, as this graph clearly shows. Hopefully we won't see it repeated.

Are we going to go back the height of industrial revolution too? 

Over the period in time of Germany going full in on wind/solar, which has only been the last 10 years, the emissions have not decreased.  It makes no sense to go further back like you are doing if we are talking about decreases due to adoption of wind/solar.  This is especially true considering the majority of the graph you supplied is over a period of time where wind/solar was less of a concern.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 08:05:34 am
Over the period in time of Germany going full in on wind/solar, which has only been the last 10 years,

Another false claim

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/877deb6b597b942ad1f544d6de9fec54.png)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 08:26:28 am
Jeremyrh, JoeKitchen is asserting what we in the US refer to "alternate facts". Thank you Kellyanne Conway.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 08:29:00 am
Another false claim

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/timeline/877deb6b597b942ad1f544d6de9fec54.png)

You're new graph clearly shows that the increase in wind/solar did not start until 2004/2005, so lat 15 years.  Sorry for stating 10 instead of 15. 

However, the majority in the decrease of CO2 your first graph showed happened between 1990 and 2005, outside the time period of wind/solar being ramped up.  So, point in fact, the first 15 years in the CO2 decrease graph means nothing to this conversation. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 08:29:32 am
Jeremyrh, JoeKitchen is asserting "alternate facts".

Thanks for the well thought post showing absolutely no data whatsoever to back up your claims. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 08:42:02 am
You're new graph clearly shows that the increase in wind/solar did not start until 2004/2005, so lat 15 years.  Sorry for stating 10 instead of 15. 

However, the majority in the decrease of CO2 your first graph showed happened between 1990 and 2005, outside the time period of wind/solar being ramped up.  So, point in fact, the first 15 years in the CO2 decrease graph means nothing to this conversation.

The graph clearly shows that the increase began in 2002 (from 2.9% to 3.2%). If we are down to a situation where people are just making mistakes about figures that are right in from of their eyes, then there is no point in trying to have a more profound or nuanced discussion. (Bart - this illustrates why I am not bothering any more with this forum.)

In any case, whatever the overall CO2 emission figures, obviously they would have been higher if there had been no substitution of coal by renewables, so that is an irrelevance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 08:46:07 am
Lets, for the sake of argument assume that increasing wind/solar may decrease emissions.  In theory, I will agree this is the case, although in reality it has not been shown yet. 

Lets just think about the total land mass needed for Germany's power needs if produced from wind/solar.  Germany uses about 556,500 GWH of electricity per year.  Total electricity consumption in Germany largely stable in 2018 (https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/total-electricity-consumption-germany-largely-stable-2018)  The article gives it is KwH, which I converted to GWH, mainly because we are talking in GWH and the KWH figure is much too large. 

The best case calculation from real life data shows it takes 1500 acres of wind/solar to produce 1 GWH.  I know that some pro-renewable articles say ~ 2.9 acres per GW, but this assumes the best conditions 24/7.  Real life date is much less promising.  Areas of industrial wind facilities (http://www.aweo.org/windarea.html)  A quick glance of this data shows that in reality the average is 75 acres to produce one MW and there are 1000 MW in one GW.  So the 1500 acres per GW is still a pretty hopeful stat.  Even at the current best wind farm, the Braes of Doune, Scotland, only needing 14 acres to produce 1 MW, my 1500 acres per one GW is still pretty pie in the sky.  But this is the number many on the left use, so lets stick with it. 

Now if we multiple Germany's electricity usage by 1500, we get about 835M acres that would be needed for total electricity production from wind/solar.  That is a wicked amount of land.  Sure, much of these farms in Germany are in the sea, decreasing the actual land used, but this still adds in the extra cost of maintaining metal parts in a corrosive environment. 

Just due to the shear amount of land needed, there is no way to make wind/solar work without completely destroying the environment along the way. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 08:52:59 am
The graph clearly shows that the increase began in 2002 (from 2.9% to 3.2%). If we are down to a situation where people are just making mistakes about figures that are right in from of their eyes, then there is no point in trying to have a more profound or nuanced discussion. (Bart - this illustrates why I am not bothering any more with this forum.)

In any case, whatever the overall CO2 emission figures, obviously they would have been higher if there had been no substitution of coal by renewables, so that is an irrelevance.

Come on now, seriously, 2.9 to 3.3 is a minuscule increase.  No real progress starts until 2004/2005. 

Yes, I agree on the 2nd part of your statement.  I am not taking away from the positive of having less CO2 emitted.  It is just all of the real life data, not the projected data, simply shows wind/solar is a considerably more expensive type of energy that will never be a base load source due to the intermittency.  So, some type of base load power source will always be needed to supply energy the 70% to 90% of the time the farms do not produce energy. 

The data also shows nuclear is considerably less expensive, has even less CO2 emissions and is a base load power source. 

It is a waste of time and money to fool around with wind/solar when they will never be base line sources and we will eventually be utilizing nuclear after fossil fuels run out. 

I would much rather us adopt nuclear sooner to help with climate change then for us to fumble around with wind/solar, all the while using coal/gas for base line plants only to eventually adopt nuclear when we run out of coal/gas.  The former would be much better for the environment, especially since real life data shows that the latter is what we get when we invest in wind/solar. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 08:54:49 am
Lets, for the sake of argument assume that increasing wind/solar may decrease emissions.  In theory, I will agree this is the case, although in reality it has not been shown yet.

Think about what it would take to show that. What sort of controlled experiment would you ask for?

Quote
Lets just think about the total land mass needed for Germany's power needs if produced from wind/solar. 

I don't have any dog in that fight. Maybe there is no solution, maybe offshore wind, tides, whatever. My point here is just to ask that people stop inventing "facts" to support their case, and I'm sorry that you were the one that strolled into the propellers, as you are one of the more thoughtful forum participants.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 08:57:02 am
Come on now, seriously, 2.9 to 3.3 is a minuscule increase.  No real progress starts until 2004/2005. 

Take a look at the red bars on the first graph (energy industries) - there is a peak at 2004 and a 20% decline thereafter.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 09:00:27 am
Think about what it would take to show that. What sort of controlled experiment would you ask for?

I don't have any dog in that fight. Maybe there is no solution, maybe offshore wind, tides, whatever. My point here is just to ask that people stop inventing "facts" to support their case, and I'm sorry that you were the one that strolled into the propellers, as you are one of the more thoughtful forum participants.

I'll take that as a compliment and thank you for provide the data on wind/solar increase in Germany. 

Insofar as your first statement, I am not asking for a controlled experiment.  Just data that shows an actual decrease in CO2 over a period of time when wind/solar was increased by a decent amount that can not be clearly attributed to something else, like a very mild winter. 

A decrease in energy prices would be good too, since that is the only way you will get the overall public to adopt the technology (regardless of what it is).  Wind and solar sounds good, but people really vote with their wallets.  Even if wind and solar decrease CO2, if the price goes up too much it will never be adopted. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 09:02:09 am
Take a look at the red bars on the first graph (energy industries) - there is a peak at 2004 and a 20% decline thereafter.

I would assume the majority of that decrease is due to what caused the decreases from 1990 to 2008/2009.  More then likely this would be an increase in energy efficiencies of buildings, machinery and appliances. 

Remember, architecture started going big on LEED building design in the 90s, which really help on decreasing energy consumption.  The USGBC was created in 1993 and LEED certification was introduced in 1998 and formalized in 2007.  However, even prior to this, the trend was towards better building and appliance design. 

Certainly a good thing, but nothing to do with wind and solar.  The data that matters for this conversation are during the years of the largest increase in wind/solar production, which show a stagnation. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 09:17:06 am
I'll take that as a compliment and thank you for provide the data on wind/solar increase in Germany. 

Insofar as your first statement, I am not asking for a controlled experiment.  Just data that shows an actual decrease in CO2 over a period of time when wind/solar was increased by a decent amount that can not be clearly attributed to something else, like a very mild winter. 

A decrease in energy prices would be good too, since that is the only way you will get the overall public to adopt the technology (regardless of what it is).  Wind and solar sounds good, but people really vote with their wallets.  Even if wind and solar decrease CO2, if the price goes up too much it will never be adopted. 

We can all argue about the exact percentages.  I will agree that CO2 production goes down with wind/solar.  That makes sense.  What was surprising to the experts was that it didn't go down a lot more considering Germany uses renewables to produce 40% of their electricity.  And since the costs are now more than double what it costs for electricity in America and elsewhere in Europe, was it worth it?  What do Germans think subsidizing America, China, India, and others who don;t do anything or are not reaching their promised levels of reduction made in Paris?? 

A question about the charts.  CO2 has been going down even before renewables really kicked in.  Does anyone know why? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 09:27:11 am
I would assume the majority of that decrease is due to what caused the decreases from 1990 to 2008/2009.  More then likely this would be an increase in energy efficiencies of buildings, machinery and appliances. 

Remember, architecture started going big on LEED building design in the 90s, which really help on decreasing energy consumption.  The USGBC was created in 1993 and LEED certification was introduced in 1998 and formalized in 2007.  However, even prior to this, the trend was towards better building and appliance design. 

Certainly a good thing, but nothing to do with wind and solar.  The data that matters for this conversation are during the years of the largest increase in wind/solar production, which show a stagnation. 
You answered my question before I asked it.  I should have realized it since I was involved in energy conservation project years ago.  The switchover to more efficient HVAC and lighting systems, better energy standards for appliances, TV, and other electrical and electronic equipment, etc. The main thrust started after the 1973 oil crisis.  Also, cars became more efficient, less fuel required per mile.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 09:42:46 am
You answered my question before I asked it.  I should have realized it since I was involved in energy conservation project years ago.  The switchover to more efficient HVAC and lighting systems, better energy standards for appliances, TV, and other electrical and electronic equipment, etc. The main thrust started after the 1973 oil crisis.  Also, cars became more efficient, less fuel required per mile.

Forgot about cars, and certainly a huge part towards decrease in CO2 seen in the first half of the provide graph. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 09:45:44 am
What was surprising to the experts was that it didn't go down a lot more considering Germany uses renewables to produce 40% of their electricity.
The chart Jeremyrh posted shows renewables grew to 13.1% in 2017, not 40%, but don't let facts get in the way of a good story.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 09:52:01 am
The chart Jeremyrh posted shows renewables grew to 13.1% in 2017, not 40%, but don't let facts get in the way of a good story.

Ummmm .... ummmmm ....

Renewables in Germany close in on 40% of total generation (https://energytransition.org/2018/11/renewables-in-germany/)

I will admit though that this 40% figure I have been seeing in the news lately just seems false.  I have not yet been able to find exactly what went into determining this figure; if you know where I kind find a thorough explanation of how this was determined, please share.  (Notice I say thorough, so if you step up to the plate here, please show an article that has actual data and clearly shows the calculations used to determine it.)   

But, as they say, "figures lie and liars figure." 

I kind of feel like it is probably closer the 13% figure Jeremy supplied. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:08:36 am
Ummmm .... ummmmm ....

Renewables in Germany close in on 40% of total generation (https://energytransition.org/2018/11/renewables-in-germany/)
The article says that there are differing forces at work.  For example, although more production is from renewables, increasing population, the selling of that electricity to other countries, and industrial production would raise the CO2 numbers for Germany. On the other hand, higher costs for electricity and warmer weather reduces the amount of electricity used lowering CO2 production.  I think a better chart would be one the compares on the basis of percentage the CO2 produced vs total and carbon bases KWH production on an annual basis.  Shipment of electricity to foreign countries would have to be eliminated from those figures as they will distort the final percentages. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 10:10:42 am
Ummmm .... ummmmm ....
Renewables in Germany close in on 40% of total generation (https://energytransition.org/2018/11/renewables-in-germany/)
Isn't it tedious when you can find "facts" all over the map. Hard to know what to believe.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 10:15:13 am
Isn't it tedious when you can find "facts" all over the map. Hard to know what to believe.

Yes, yes. 

I added to this post, but I guess after you quoted me in your responce.  As I said there, I cant really figure out where they got this number.  All the articles using this figure are not supplying the data or showing the calculations that went into it. 

I really find it dubious, especially given the 13% figure Jeremy shared and just considering the shear amount of land that would need to be developed to get to 40%.  I was just merely posting this article to show where Alan got his number from.  Also, I wrote that post in a condescending manner and should not have; I apologize for that. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 10:17:03 am
Yes, yes. 

I added to this post, but I guess after you quoted me in your responce.  As I said there, I cant really figure out where they got this number.  All the articles using this figure are not supplying the data or showing the calculations that went into it. 

I really find it dubious, especially given the 13% figure Jeremy shared and just considering the shear amount of land that would need to be developed to get to 40%.  I was just merely posting this article to show where Alan got his number from.  Also, I wrote that post in a condescending manner and should not have; I apologize for that.
Yes, you really have to fact check every post. One of the benefits to Germany (and other Western European countries) of renewables is there is that much less oil and natural gas they have to import from Russia.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 10:27:42 am
The article says that there are differing forces at work.  For example, although more production is from renewables, increasing population, the selling of that electricity to other countries, and industrial production would raise the CO2 numbers for Germany. On the other hand, higher costs for electricity and warmer weather reduces the amount of electricity used lowering CO2 production.  I think a better chart would be one the compares on the basis of percentage the CO2 produced vs total and carbon bases KWH production on an annual basis.  Shipment of electricity to foreign countries would have to be eliminated from those figures as they will distort the final percentages.

A little off from what you posted, but still interesting. 

I forget where, but in the last day looking up more information on this, I found a rather interesting stat.

Since it is the case that typically when wind and solar produce energy the most is also when we need the least amount of electricity, creating a surplus, the market value of this extra electricity drops almost to zero since no one really needs it.  So trying to sell the surplus of energy becomes impossible without taking a loss. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:48:20 am
A little off from what you posted, but still interesting. 

I forget where, but in the last day looking up more information on this, I found a rather interesting stat.

Since it is the case that typically when wind and solar produce energy the most is also when we need the least amount of electricity, creating a surplus, the market value of this extra electricity drops almost to zero since no one really needs it.  So trying to sell the surplus of energy becomes impossible without taking a loss. 

I seem to recall there are places where the utilities are paying customers to use their electricity at cheap prices because they have to dump the extra KWH somewheres.  With carbon, they just turn down the generators.  Not sure why they can't shut off solar as well.

The other issue is that government forces utilities to buy extra solar electricity produced by homes and others.  So they have carbon fuel plants sitting idle.  Meanwhile, the costs to maintain and run those carbon based plants have to be paid by someone.  They'll be needed at night and when the wind doesn't blow.  So they pass the costs on to those people who don't have renewable ability and must buy from the grid at higher prices.  So homes with solar pay less and those without pay more, usually the poorer people who can't afford solar or live in the cities.   Renewables unfairly hit those least able to afford higher electricity costs. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 07, 2019, 10:55:25 am
If government were to get out of the "renewable" energy picture, the whole illusion would collapse overnight.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 11:00:53 am
If government were to get out of the "renewable" energy picture, the whole illusion would collapse overnight.

I think the left really has two options when it comes to fixing climate change. 

Adopt a process that clearly works while also bringing prices down.  As of now, all real life data shows nuclear being the only option.  If we went full in on nuclear, we would see real results in CO2 decreases and the majority of the world be for it, since it would not effect their pocket books all too much. 

The other option would be to force feeding us wind and solar.  All real life data shows it only minimally helps with CO2 while at the same time sky rocketing the price of electricity and destroying large swaths of land.  The outcome of this will be to create resentment towards trying to help with climate change and politicians who don't care about it at all (and some who even deny it) will be elected into office. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 11:15:32 am
I seem to recall there are places where the utilities are paying customers to use their electricity at cheap prices because they have to dump the extra KWH somewheres.  With carbon, they just turn down the generators.  Not sure why they can't shut off solar as well.

The other issue is that government forces utilities to buy extra solar electricity produced by homes and others.  So they have carbon fuel plants sitting idle.  Meanwhile, the costs to maintain and run those carbon based plants have to be paid by someone.  They'll be needed at night and when the wind doesn't blow.  So they pass the costs on to those people who don't have renewable ability and must buy from the grid at higher prices.  So homes with solar pay less and those without pay more, usually the poorer people who can't afford solar or live in the cities.   Renewables unfairly hit those least able to afford higher electricity costs.
Alan, You have complained that no one ever talks about the positives of climate change. Yet with renewable energy, all you seem to want to talk about is the negatives. It strikes me that you only want to take contrarian opinions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 11:25:08 am
Alan, You have complained that no one ever talks about the positives of climate change. Yet with renewable energy, all you seem to want to talk about is the negatives. Doesn't seem entirely consistent to me.

I agree that renewables are much better than "polluting" the air with CO2 and other schmutz.  Those are real positives.  I investigated solar for my house.  But decided against it because I didn't feel the payback made sense for me.  For other people, solar makes sense and they should do it and save money for themselves.   Frankly, if we can figure out how to use water to fuel my car, I would get that car in a NYC minute (if the price was right). I don;t owe Exxon anything.


However, subsidizing a product with our tax money and raising the price of necessities like electricity for little gain does not make sense.  The concept is great and I'm all in favor of breathing better.  But let's be honest about what it really costs and the how much it really contributes to a better environment.  Maybe we should put our money in nuclear?  Or something else.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 07, 2019, 11:25:39 am
It is what the LULA Debating Society is all about.
Open to all members of the public.
Maybe we should adopt the rules of conduct becoming of a gentleman.
Robert's Rules of Order are probably too tedious for this group.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 11:28:30 am
However, subsidizing a product with our tax money and raising the price of necessities like electricity for little gain does not make sense.  The concept is great and I'm all in favor of breathing better.  But let's be honest about what it really costs and the how much it really contributes to a better environment.  Maybe we should put our money in nuclear?  Or something else.
Are there no benefits in the Tax Code for the oil and gas industry? Should those be eliminated as well?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 11:28:35 am
It is what the LULA Debating Society is all about.
Open to all members of the public.
Maybe we should adopt the rules of conduct becoming of a gentleman.
Robert's Rules of Order are probably too tedious for this group.
We'd only fight over Robert's Rules. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 07, 2019, 11:30:50 am
at least there is a printed reference  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 11:35:10 am
Are there no benefits in the Tax Code for the oil and gas industry? Should those be eliminated as well?

This pretty much shows that the tax breaks oil and gas get are substantionally smaller then for wind and solar. 

Debunking Democrats' claims about fossil fuel tax breaks (https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/448794-debunking-democrats-claims-about-fossil-fuel-tax-breaks)

And even so, it is still more expensive directly to the consumer to get electricity from renewables. 

From the article,

"According to CRS, “In 2017, the value of federal tax-related support for the energy sector was estimated to be $17.8 billion. Of this, $4.6 billion (25.8%) can be attributed to tax incentives supporting fossil fuels. Tax-related support for renewables was an estimated $11.6 billion in 2017 (or 65.2% of total tax-related support for energy). The remaining tax-related support went toward nuclear energy, efficiency measures, and alternative technology vehicles.”

But there’s more to the story, because fossil fuels deliver vastly more energy return than renewables. “In 2017, fossil fuels accounted for 77.7% of U.S. primary energy production. The remaining primary energy production is attributable to renewable energy and nuclear electric resources, with shares of 12.8% and 9.5%, respectively,” according to CRS. Wind and solar power only accounted for 3.6 percentage points of total energy production.

So, 65.2% of all tax breaks in the energy sector are going towards wind/solar that only produces 12.8% of all electricity. 

You know what, percentages are so hard to think about for the normal person.  Lets restate this in fractions.  About 2/3s of all tax breaks for energy goes to a sector that only produces about an 1/8 of the total amount of electricity. 

So, sure taking away tax breaks for oil/gas would increase prices a bit, but not nearly as much as it would for wind/solar. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 11:35:15 am
Are there no benefits in the Tax Code for the oil and gas industry? Should those be eliminated as well?
Yes. The government should not play favorites,  Unfortunately it does it all the time.  Only in war or during special situations should we allow differing rules. Tax credits for renewables is another boondoggle as is encouraging corn farming to be sold for required methanol in gasoline, another boondoggle. .  Years ago, the was an Oil Depletion Allowance, that was stopped.  The concept was, that since oil from the ground which could not be replaced made that land less valuable, the oil companies could write off an allowance in their taxes for that depletion.  Nuts!  The oil industry should follow the same tax rules any other business gets. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 07, 2019, 11:38:52 am
i think you meant ethanol.
methanol would attack many of the softer components in the fuel system.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 11:41:31 am
i think you meant ethanol.
methanol would attack many of the softer components in the fuel system.
Yeah.  Methanol would attack the softer tissue of your body as well.  But I still wouldn't try to drink it even though the gas has ethanol. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 12:03:33 pm
Since it is the case that typically when wind and solar produce energy the most is also when we need the least amount of electricity, creating a surplus, the market value of this extra electricity drops almost to zero since no one really needs it.  So trying to sell the surplus of energy becomes impossible without taking a loss.

... or use the surplus during the summer, convert and store it as heat in the ground (which take a bit of room that's not readily available in urban regions), or produce Hydrogen gas from water by means of electrolysis.

Lots of initiatives are taking place that seek to optimize the luxury problem of having surplus free energy.

One such solution uses Salts to store heat:
https://www.tno.nl/en/focus-areas/buildings-infrastructure-maritime/roadmaps/buildings-infrastructure/energy-in-the-built-environment/heat-battery-a-breakthrough-in-the-storage-of-renewable-energy/

http://saltxtechnology.com/

Another initiative by a private person who created his own test unit based on 40 cubic meters of cheap Basalt gravel, that stores heat from solar collectors at some 500-600 °C. We'll have to see how long that lasts.
(https://www.beursbox.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/batterij-1.jpg)

Don't know about your part of the globe, but there's a lot of innovation happening here. People are not complaining about what cannot be done, but are instead doing the things that can be done. Every little bit helps, not every solution will work everywhere, but that knowledge translates to marketable value (as e.g. the Danes have found out selling their Windmill expertise).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:10:14 pm
Bart, I looked through the articles in vane trying to find real figures, like how much energy is stored per (some unit of) volume?  Also, what is the total amount of energy used for heating during a normal winter in the area this is being developed and how much volume of these materials would you need to make a noticeable impact on heating cost throughout the winter? 

On top of that, how much energy will need to be produced per (some unit of) volume to charge these things, and how much surplus of wind/solar will this take. 

Additionally, assuming we are using most of the electricity from the solar/wind panels that supply energy to these systems, how many more additional solar panels and wind turbines will need to be utilized for these system to be able to absorb the optimal amount of energy to be functional? 

Every sounds good if you don't supply any figures.  I want to see figures, and promising ones at that.  Until then, you ain't going to convince anyone except the ideologues, who will buy anything. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 07, 2019, 12:14:18 pm
There is a whole school of thought that goes, roughly, "we should ruthlessly shut down any attempts to science our way out of any problems, because that's just a waste of money and time. After all, mankind is resilient and clever, and we will science our way out of these problems eventually."

This argument always strikes me as bizarre.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 07, 2019, 12:17:03 pm
we engineers design systems based on facts. Otherwise it is a waste of  resources.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:17:58 pm
There is a whole school of thought that goes, roughly, "we should ruthlessly shut down any attempts to science our way out of any problems, because that's just a waste of money and time. After all, mankind is resilient and clever, and we will science our way out of these problems eventually."

This argument always strikes me as bizarre.

Nice try but this has absolutely no baring on this conversation.  This is about wind/solar vs nuclear. 

All real life data, and I mean of it, shows that wind/solar increases cost, uses up extremely large amounts of land (destroying environments) while not really decreasing CO2.  It is also excepted by everyone, on the left and right, that wind/solar will never be base line power sources and we will always need a base line power source. 

All real life data shows nuclear is the cleanest energy source of which nearly 100% of all waste in storable, and helps lower energy cost.  Nuclear is also a base line line power at 1/4 the cost of wind/solar. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:19:30 pm
we engineers design systems based on facts. Otherwise it is a waste of  resources.

I am not really sure who this is meant for, but I would say, yes this a good thing.

But when people show a product but dont show the data, I have to wonder why.  I want to see real figures; what does it really do. 

There is nothing wrong with asking questions and asking to be shown the numbers. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 12:20:06 pm
This pretty much shows that the tax breaks oil and gas get are substantionally smaller then for wind and solar. 

Debunking Democrats' claims about fossil fuel tax breaks (https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/448794-debunking-democrats-claims-about-fossil-fuel-tax-breaks)

And even so, it is still more expensive directly to the consumer to get electricity from renewables. 

From the article,

"According to CRS, “In 2017, the value of federal tax-related support for the energy sector was estimated to be $17.8 billion. Of this, $4.6 billion (25.8%) can be attributed to tax incentives supporting fossil fuels. Tax-related support for renewables was an estimated $11.6 billion in 2017 (or 65.2% of total tax-related support for energy). The remaining tax-related support went toward nuclear energy, efficiency measures, and alternative technology vehicles.”

But there’s more to the story, because fossil fuels deliver vastly more energy return than renewables. “In 2017, fossil fuels accounted for 77.7% of U.S. primary energy production. The remaining primary energy production is attributable to renewable energy and nuclear electric resources, with shares of 12.8% and 9.5%, respectively,” according to CRS. Wind and solar power only accounted for 3.6 percentage points of total energy production.

So, 65.2% of all tax breaks in the energy sector are going towards wind/solar that only produces 12.8% of all electricity. 

You know what, percentages are so hard to think about for the normal person.  Lets restate this in fractions.  About 2/3s of all tax breaks for energy goes to a sector that only produces about an 1/8 of the total amount of electricity. 

So, sure taking away tax breaks for oil/gas would increase prices a bit, but not nearly as much as it would for wind/solar.

This only touches on the direct subsidies. It doesn't take into account all the extra cost (both monetary and environmental/health) to cope with the negative effects of extraction and emissions.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:23:36 pm
This only touches on the direct subsidies. It doesn't take into account all the extra cost (both monetary and environmental/health) to cope with the negative effects of extraction and emissions.

Cheers,
Bart

Yes, true.  But I posted this in response to the left talking point that implies oil/gas get as much subsidies as renewables.  This is clearly false, which the numbers show. 

By the way, I am not for oil/gas.  I'd rather we get rid of it. 

I am of the opinion though that concentrating on wind and solar will not lead us down this path, which is clearly being shown by the real life data.  This is why I constantly ask for real life data, and many articles that are pro renewables gloss over it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 07, 2019, 12:24:14 pm
No, Joe, you're using exactly the argument I outlined.

Renewable energy sources, like all engineering solutions under active development, are a moving target. Energy storage systems are a moving target. You can't just say "well, current solutions are not a perfect answer, so we should just stop working on them" and expect anyone to pay much attention to the next things you say.

Making blanket statements like "All of real life, and I mean all of it" is remarkably unconvincing as well. Protesteth too much, and all that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 07, 2019, 12:24:47 pm
I am not really sure who this is meant for, but I would say, yes this a good thing.

But when people show a product but dont show the data, I have to wonder why.  I want to see real figures; what does it really do. 

There is nothing wrong with asking questions and asking to be shown the numbers.
exactly my point in support of what you and a few others have been saying.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:29:19 pm
No, Joe, you're using exactly the argument I outlined.

Renewable energy sources, like all engineering solutions under active development, are a moving target. Energy storage systems are a moving target. You can't just say "well, current solutions are not a perfect answer, so we should just stop working on them" and expect anyone to pay much attention to the next things you say.

Making blanket statements like "All of real life, and I mean all of it" is remarkably unconvincing as well. Protesteth too much, and all that.

Yes, although this is true, at some point you pass the inflection point of increased gains.  Meaning that the amount of gains you receive will start to be lower for the same amount of money/time invested. (This is a pretty common point to look for when developing new technologies, and also in marketing new products.  Even body builders look at inflection point data to adjust and change workouts.  We have inflection points in the seasons, namely on the two equinoxes, so ignoring the possibility of inflections points and trying to determine if we passed them is not smart.  You cant just say, well this will be fixed by future gains in efficiency since there is a possibility you may have already past the inflection.) 

After all, there is a physical limit to what an object can do, in any thing or purpose or system. 

All physicists who have been following wind and solar all agree we have past the inflection point years ago and any future gains will be minimal. 

To argue against this is the same fool heartiness that exist on the right when they say, well we will figure out some better way in the future to get more fossil fuels out of the ground. 

Additionally, your point of criticizing my insistence on real life data is very naive.  You don't keep on relying on lab results when actual results in the real world can be studied, especially when there is such a huge discrepancy between the two.  It's foolish. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 12:43:37 pm
Every sounds good if you don't supply any figures.  I want to see figures, and promising ones at that.  Until then, you ain't going to convince anyone except the ideologues, who will buy anything.

I agree Joe,

But one thing is clear, not trying will not solve a single issue.

Sofar, the more promising near term solutions are pointing in the direction of Hydrogen gas as an efficient way to transport stored energy. That energy can be created from (surplus) renewable energy. The conversion process is not very efficient yet, so surplus energy that would otherwise be wasted is the best candidate to supply the energy, but if the cost of generating energy drops further, then even the conversion losses become less expensive.

It is more efficient to store heat as heat, with little or no conversion losses, but when the costs keep falling then conversion for storage and reconversion to electricity becomes more viable. Technology constantly improves efficiency, so energy production and storage capacity both improve while cost keeps dropping. Once the fossil fuel alternatives become more expensive, and they are already, the free source of energy (solar/wind/hydro) cannot be supplied cheaper going forward. Improving efficiency will reduce the break-even period even further.

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but it will at least already buy us some time and save money that would be required to repair the damage that fossil fuel creates. We do not have the luxury of being able to 'wait' another 30 years for Thorium reactors to become the next step.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2019, 12:54:02 pm
while not really decreasing CO2. 

Can you suggest a way that this could be physically possible?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 12:54:27 pm
For those that don't understand inflection points, below is a basic graph. 

With any new technology you start at 0.  Additional, there is a physical limit to what anything can do.  (Arguing against this makes no sense and it would be physically impossible.  Everything has a limit.) 

So, of course, in the beginning of new research into technology, you are moving up pretty slowly up.  But you start gaining steam and the increases in gains progressively are more and more for the same amount of investment ... up to a point. 

Eventually the gains you receive from the same amount of investment go down.  Although you are still going up, the increases are just not as much as they were before for the same investment.  This is the inflection point, and where you start to approach the limit of what can be gained in total.

A real life example would be the change in the length of the days.  From December 21st to March 21st, the length of the day increases a little more then it did the day before.  Also, shortly after Dec. 21st, the increases are not very obvious, but since they are ever increasing, become more noticeable as you get closer to Mar. 21st.  After Mar. 21st though the increases become smaller and smaller, until June 21st.  Although you still notice the increases shortly after Mar. 21, the increase in the day become less noticeable as you approach June 21st even though the day is still getting longer.  Of course the opposite happens after June 21st to Sept. 21 and then back to Dec. 21st. 

Nearly everyone agrees that we are past the inflection of fossil fuel production.  To argue against this is foolish.  Many physicists also agree we have past the inflection of increases in efficiencies in wind/solar.  Although not nearly as many people are following this, arguing against this, maybe not foolish yet, but not advisable. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 07, 2019, 12:54:51 pm
There was a group of blacksmiths having a brew at a pub in 1905. They started to discuss those new-fangled automobiles. Have you seen one yet?, one guy said. They're noisy, smelly, go too slow, and need someone on board who knows how to repair one every hour or so. They can't travel on our muddy roads and the tires burst all the time. And they scare all the horses. And what's worse, they need gasoline. Where can you get gasoline? What do people think is going to happen, that we're going to dig up oil from deep holes all over the planet, refine it in huge factories and ship it to corner stores in every city for people to buy when they need it? That's going to cost a king's ransom, no one has the money to build all that. It's a joke, it'll never happen.

(This story may be apocryphal.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 01:04:52 pm
I agree Joe,

But one thing is clear, not trying will not solve a single issue.

Sofar, the more promising near term solutions are pointing in the direction of Hydrogen gas as an efficient way to transport stored energy. That energy can be created from (surplus) renewable energy. The conversion process is not very efficient yet, so surplus energy that would otherwise be wasted is the best candidate to supply the energy, but if the cost of generating energy drops further, then even the conversion losses become less expensive.

It is more efficient to store heat as heat, with little or no conversion losses, but when the costs keep falling then conversion for storage and reconversion to electricity becomes more viable. Technology constantly improves efficiency, so energy production and storage capacity both improve while cost keeps dropping. Once the fossil fuel alternatives become more expensive, and they are already, the free source of energy (solar/wind/hydro) cannot be supplied cheaper going forward. Improving efficiency will reduce the break-even period even further.

There is still a lot of room for improvement, but it will at least already buy us some time and save money that would be required to repair the damage that fossil fuel creates. We do not have the luxury of being able to 'wait' another 30 years for Thorium reactors to become the next step.

Cheers,
Bart

Sure, but at what point do you stop and start trying something else. 

I am all for trying new things, but I am also for looking at the results and the data to figure out if it is actually working.  Maybe work on it up to and little past the inflection point.  However, after you are far enough along to definitely determine the inflection point and you still cant make it work on a large scale, it's time to call it quits in my opinion. 

At the beginning of my career, I use to walk into photo shoots exceptionally well planned.  The issue though was I was so emotionally attached to my plans that if a better image presented itself, I would not even think to recognize it because of how emotionally attached I was to the plan. 

I feel this is what is happening with wind/solar.  It is an emotionally pleasing idea that we can live in tandem with nature when it comes to our energy needs.  But it just ignores all the data that is coming out.  We are just too emotionally attached to this idea to let it go. 

Insofar a hydrogen, I agree, it looks promising, so long as it can become efficient.  Remember, splitting water requires so much energy that we dont use it and nearly all commercial hydrogen comes from fossil fuels. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 01:16:41 pm
There was a group of blacksmiths having a brew at a pub in 1905. They started to discuss those new-fangled automobiles. Have you seen one yet?, one guy said. They're noisy, smelly, go too slow, and need someone on board who knows how to repair one every hour or so. They can't travel on our muddy roads and the tires burst all the time. And they scare all the horses. And what's worse, they need gasoline. Where can you get gasoline? What do people think is going to happen, that we're going to dig up oil from deep holes all over the planet, refine it in huge factories and ship it to corner stores in every city for people to buy when they need it? That's going to cost a king's ransom, no one has the money to build all that. It's a joke, it'll never happen.

(This story may be apocryphal.)
 

LOL, this apocryphal story is at the very beginning of the automobile industry, but with wind/solar ...

Arguably wind power production has been around since the Dark Ages, but insofar as producing electricity the first wind turbine was introduced in 1850.  Solar cells were first discovered in 1839 by French scientist Edmond Becquerel.  So, both industries have been around long enough where an objective historical view can be had. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 07, 2019, 01:26:29 pm
What is so delightful about all these questions is that all of us have beliefs, but none of us really know.

Belief, in general, precedes rationalization. But rationalization almost invariably supports the initial belief. Sure, our ideas change, and we like to think it's because we've carefully researched things and the facts have changed our minds, but this is a delusion. What happened was that the zeitgeist surrounding us changed. Either our social/family circle changed, or the set of things our family and friends actually believe has evolved and changed. Change in "what everyone knows" does occur, but it in general does not occur within a single person, as an event within that person.

It is a gestalt that emerges from the community. Well-positioned media can, with a delicate touch, introduce gradual change. From The Atlantic to Fox and Friends, media manipulates our ideas, and we think we're being rational.

Even an apparently simple question like "Is the carbon footprint of Wind Power positive, negative, or neutral?" is fractally complex in several dimensions, and admits nothing even slightly resembling a factual answer. Further, it isn't even a relevant question. The relevant question would be "If we reconfigured our society around wind and solar power, could such a society simultaneously resemble our current one, while being carbon-footprint-negative?" which is a vastly more complex and unknowable question than the first one.

Basically, we believe the things we believe because they fit in with the world view we hold because of stuff our Dad told us.

I certainly believe the things I believe, but I am not so foolish as to imagine they're factual. I think my after-the-fact rationalizations are pretty solid, but there's no denying that I almost never rationalize away a previously held belief. Either my Dad was eerily right about everything, or I've probably got some stuff wrong. I just don't know which stuff.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 01:28:23 pm
Can you suggest a way that this could be physically possible?

I can't, but ...

Here is Environmentalist Stewart Brand Touching On It Though (http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/02/06/nuclear-matinee-environmentalist-stewart-brand-on-nuclear-energy/#sthash.z7jMFawT.dpbs)

Note, he does say he is for wind and solar on roof tops and other areas that wont effect already existing natural habitats.  But he is still very grounded in that fact that the foot print and diluteness really make wind/solar an impossibility. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 01:33:27 pm
What is so delightful about all these questions is that all of us have beliefs, but none of us really know.

Belief, in general, precedes rationalization. But rationalization almost invariably supports the initial belief. Sure, our ideas change, and we like to think it's because we've carefully researched things and the facts have changed our minds, but this is a delusion. What happened was that the zeitgeist surrounding us changed. Either our social/family circle changed, or the set of things our family and friends actually believe has evolved and changed. Change in "what everyone knows" does occur, but it in general does not occur within a single person, as an event within that person.

It is a gestalt that emerges from the community. Well-positioned media can, with a delicate touch, introduce gradual change. From The Atlantic to Fox and Friends, media manipulates our ideas, and we think we're being rational.

Even an apparently simple question like "Is the carbon footprint of Wind Power positive, negative, or neutral?" is fractally complex in several dimensions, and admits nothing even slightly resembling a factual answer. Further, it isn't even a relevant question. The relevant question would be "If we reconfigured our society around wind and solar power, could such a society simultaneously resemble our current one, while being carbon-footprint-negative?" which is a vastly more complex and unknowable question than the first one.

Basically, we believe the things we believe because they fit in with the world view we hold because of stuff our Dad told us.

I certainly believe the things I believe, but I am not so foolish as to imagine they're factual. I think my after-the-fact rationalizations are pretty solid, but there's no denying that I almost never rationalize away a previously held belief. Either my Dad was eerily right about everything, or I've probably got some stuff wrong. I just don't know which stuff.


Nice deflection, but what should I expect.  I have never seen you ever actually argue a point with real data and evidence.  You always fall into the, I'm right, your wrong and don't dare ask me to prove myself. 

As the left like to say, "you're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts."  There are plenty of fact on what wind and solar can actually do.  We are not talking about some abstract subject here, or something that is so very complex it is hard to nail down anything, like macro economic theory. 

It's pretty simple.  This is how much solar and wind farms on average produce, this is how much land they take up, and you very easily figure out the shear amount of land needed to produce all the energy we need from wind/solar, which is an eye popping figure.  Compare that to nuclear, which is not so eye popping. 

You can also look at all of the admitted to work-arounds to get wind/solar to work, like the land needed and storage solutions, and compare that to the much smaller needs of other base line power productions.  Once again, the pluses are not on the wind/solar side. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 07, 2019, 01:42:57 pm
The point is that arguing any of this crap with "data and evidence" is a lost cause. It's not even hard to conduct an analysis based on hard facts and evidence that produces whatever result you like, because these questions are fractally complex. Vested interests on all sides of these issues have produced millions of words of such analysis, complete with charts and graphs, each study produces, to nobody's surprise at all, precisely the result most favorable to the relevant vested interest.

You'd think we'd have learned something from the extensive scientific research proving that cigarettes are harmless, but apparently not.

Neither you nor I truly has the capacity to thoroughly evaluate any of this material, and if we did we're use our skills and knowledge to produce yet another imperfect study which, to nobody's surprise at all, produced the result we wanted. So, it turns into a war of "well, there's THIS study that.." and "aha! That study foolishly assumed..." and so on. It does not end, and it does not make even a slight feint in the direction of truth. It's just masturbation.

I don't actually know what the way forward is, it is pretty disheartening to watch.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 07, 2019, 01:45:26 pm
 

LOL, this apocryphal story is at the very beginning of the automobile industry, but with wind/solar ...

Arguably wind power production has been around since the Dark Ages, but insofar as producing electricity the first wind turbine was introduced in 1850.  Solar cells were first discovered in 1839 by French scientist Edmond Becquerel.  So, both industries have been around long enough where an objective historical view can be had.

Maybe. But advances in materials science may produce great changes than we think now, and they're not easy to predict. Not that long ago, photographers in pubs were saying that we'd never have full-frame digital sensors at reasonable prices. :)

This discussion is taking place in an era where, for some reason, lots of people have convinced themselves that oil prices will remain low forever (or at least till we die), and that alternate technologies will not improve to any great extent in either generation or storage capacity. Continent-wide electricity generation will continue to comprise many modes of generation. Solar and wind will work where they work and will not work where they don't work. I am not sure I understand why we're having such a vehement debate, it's as if someone's ideology was at stake. We choose appropriate engineering solutions, that's what we always do, with some trials and errors along the way. If oil ever hits $200 per barrel, everything will change. When have things not changed?

It's not as if our governments are bankrupting themselves to force alternate sources down our throats while starving Big Oil. So far as I can tell, Big Oil is doing fine. As for the complaints that governments shouldn't be interfering in this, I tend to ignore that because people change their minds very easily on that when it suits their own wallet. (Just check out all the tax subsidies for pro sports. I bet if you took a survey, everyone of those team owners calls themselves free-market capitalists.) The suitability and scalability of alternate sources need to be investigated and government is best placed to do that kind of long-term research. No one else will. So a few jurisdictions implement solar and wind and in 25 years we'll look back and figure what went wrong and what went right.

And yes, you're probably right about nuclear energy. So let that industry do its own marketing, but my gut tells me that they're going to have a difficult uphill struggle. A culture has emerged that believes in magical thinking, where objective data and facts don't seem to exist anymore. We created this monster, now we have to lie in bed with it, to mangle a metaphor.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 01:49:38 pm
There was a group of blacksmiths having a brew at a pub in 1905. They started to discuss those new-fangled automobiles. Have you seen one yet?, one guy said. They're noisy, smelly, go too slow, and need someone on board who knows how to repair one every hour or so. They can't travel on our muddy roads and the tires burst all the time. And they scare all the horses. And what's worse, they need gasoline. Where can you get gasoline? What do people think is going to happen, that we're going to dig up oil from deep holes all over the planet, refine it in huge factories and ship it to corner stores in every city for people to buy when they need it? That's going to cost a king's ransom, no one has the money to build all that. It's a joke, it'll never happen.

(This story may be apocryphal.)

It was done by Private Industry not government.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 01:54:11 pm
The point is that arguing any of this crap with "data and evidence" is a lost cause. It's not even hard to conduct an analysis based on hard facts and evidence that produces whatever result you like, because these questions are fractally complex. Vested interests on all sides of these issues have produced millions of words of such analysis, complete with charts and graphs, each study produces, to nobody's surprise at all, precisely the result most favorable to the relevant vested interest.

You'd think we'd have learned something from the extensive scientific research proving that cigarettes are harmless, but apparently not.

Neither you nor I truly has the capacity to thoroughly evaluate any of this material, and if we did we're use our skills and knowledge to produce yet another imperfect study which, to nobody's surprise at all, produced the result we wanted. So, it turns into a war of "well, there's THIS study that.." and "aha! That study foolishly assumed..." and so on. It does not end, and it does not make even a slight feint in the direction of truth. It's just masturbation.

I don't actually know what the way forward is, it is pretty disheartening to watch.

Once again, apples to oranges.  You cant do a controlled experiment on smoking.  Well, actually you could, but it would be highly immoral.  Looking at raw data on wind solar is much more straight forward. 

Furthermore, to suggest we cant actually determine any hard truths completely negates modern science and the scientific method.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 07, 2019, 01:54:58 pm

It was done by Private Industry not government.

Like Enron? Or AIG? Leyman Brothers?  :)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2019, 01:55:51 pm
Sure, but at what point do you stop and start trying something else.

I agree, and a simple litmus test is when commercial companies start investing in production units (they may start investing during research already, but that doesn't guarantee success).

This is the current real time situation in the Netherlands regarding wind production:
https://windstats.nl/statistieken/

The cost of these installations is dropping, so newer installations have a reduced break-even period (and/or more output over its life), and the latest (sea-based) windpark consessions are totally without subsidies. That's a signal to me that the proposition is financially viable.

Another interesting practical statistic is that newer placements have an increasing tip height (higher windspeeds at higher altitude).

Quote
Insofar a hydrogen, I agree, it looks promising, so long as it can become efficient.  Remember, splitting water requires so much energy that we dont use it and nearly all commercial hydrogen comes from fossil fuels.

Well, nothing tried, is nothing learned.

In my town, a test is being prepared together with the Energy Agency in charge of the network to transform natural gas lines to deliver hydrogen gas instead in a part of the municipality. That will be an interesting learning curve. It's an interesting location, in a foresty area not suitable for wind power generation, and at our approx. 52-degree latitude solar energy is not an optimal solution. Solar is an excellent complementary source with a 10-year payback period, at current energy prices. During the summer period, individual homeowners are selling their electricity surplus back to the energy company.

City buses and an increasing number of transportation companies, are converting to (hydrogen fuel cell) electric vehicles to reduce city emissions, as diesel engines are banned. Things are moving in the right direction, and not just because it makes economic sense.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 07, 2019, 01:57:54 pm
The point about the cigarette studies was that you can make a study that proves whatever you like. You'd think people would be a lot less trusting. I guess people ARE less trusting, but they still tend to trust the studies that purport to prove whatever it is that they believe, and to deny the results of the others.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 02:02:13 pm
Maybe. But advances in materials science may produce great changes than we think now, and they're not easy to predict. Not that long ago, photographers in pubs were saying that we'd never have full-frame digital sensors at reasonable prices. :)

This discussion is taking place in an era where, for some reason, lots of people have convinced themselves that oil prices will remain low forever (or at least till we die), and that alternate technologies will not improve to any great extent in either generation or storage capacity. Continent-wide electricity generation will continue to comprise many modes of generation. Solar and wind will work where they work and will not work where they don't work. I am not sure I understand why we're having such a vehement debate, it's as if someone's ideology was at stake. We choose appropriate engineering solutions, that's what we always do, with some trials and errors along the way. If oil ever hits $200 per barrel, everything will change. When have things not changed?

It's not as if our governments are bankrupting themselves to force alternate sources down our throats while starving Big Oil. So far as I can tell, Big Oil is doing fine. As for the complaints that governments shouldn't be interfering in this, I tend to ignore that because people change their minds very easily on that when it suits their own wallet. (Just check out all the tax subsidies for pro sports. I bet if you took a survey, everyone of those team owners calls themselves free-market capitalists.) The suitability and scalability of alternate sources need to be investigated and government is best placed to do that kind of long-term research. No one else will. So a few jurisdictions implement solar and wind and in 25 years we'll look back and figure what went wrong and what went right.

And yes, you're probably right about nuclear energy. So let that industry do its own marketing, but my gut tells me that they're going to have a difficult uphill struggle. A culture has emerged that believes in magical thinking, where objective data and facts don't seem to exist anymore. We created this monster, now we have to lie in bed with it, to mangle a metaphor.

I just want to solve climate change as fast as possible, but also don't want to see the environment destroyed from clear cutting for wind/solar farms.  This is why I am so passionate about it. 

It is just all the data shows nuclear plants are better than energy farms at both, so why bother with wind/solar farms. 

Insofar as solar panels on roofs, sure, sounds good.  Until you figure out it is twice as expensive as producing electricity on solar farms which are 4 times as expensive to produce energy than nuclear, so solar panels are 8 time (3 stops) more expensive then nuclear.  I just feel it is a waste of money. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 02:04:28 pm
The point about the cigarette studies was that you can make a study that proves whatever you like. You'd think people would be a lot less trusting. I guess people ARE less trusting, but they still tend to trust the studies that purport to prove whatever it is that they believe, and to deny the results of the others.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Alright, alright, you got me. 

I'll agree some people, and, sometimes, many people, will choose to ignore the evidence that disagrees with their already determined "truths." 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 02:10:37 pm
I agree, and a simple litmus test is when commercial companies start investing in production units (they may start investing during research already, but that doesn't guarantee success).

This is the current real time situation in the Netherlands regarding wind production:
https://windstats.nl/statistieken/

The cost of these installations is dropping, so newer installations have a reduced break-even period (and/or more output over its life), and the latest (sea-based) windpark consessions are totally without subsidies. That's a signal to me that the proposition is financially viable.

Another interesting practical statistic is that newer placements have an increasing tip height (higher windspeeds at higher altitude).

Well, nothing tried, is nothing learned.

In my town, a test is being prepared together with the Energy Agency in charge of the network to transform natural gas lines to deliver hydrogen gas instead in a part of the municipality. That will be an interesting learning curve. It's an interesting location, in a foresty area not suitable for wind power generation, and at our approx. 52-degree latitude solar energy is not an optimal solution. Solar is an excellent complementary source with a 10-year payback period, at current energy prices. During the summer period, individual homeowners are selling their electricity surplus back to the energy company.

City buses and an increasing number of transportation companies, are converting to (hydrogen fuel cell) electric vehicles to reduce city emissions, as diesel engines are banned. Things are moving in the right direction, and not just because it makes economic sense.

Cheers,
Bart

Sure, but without any government incentives, or at least not any that are larger then competing technologies.  And anyway, you Dutchmen have always been pretty good with windmills. 

If the newer installations work so well, hopefully you will be able to show us the technology and not be like Belgian style beers brewed outside of Belgium, always seeming to lack something.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 07, 2019, 03:32:45 pm
I just want to solve climate change as fast as possible, but also don't want to see the environment destroyed from clear cutting for wind/solar farms.  This is why I am so passionate about it. 

It is just all the data shows nuclear plants are better than energy farms at both, so why bother with wind/solar farms. 

Insofar as solar panels on roofs, sure, sounds good.  Until you figure out it is twice as expensive as producing electricity on solar farms which are 4 times as expensive to produce energy than nuclear, so solar panels are 8 time (3 stops) more expensive then nuclear.  I just feel it is a waste of money.

I'm also for nuclear plants, but a few solar panels on an existing house won't harm the environment or kill the birds, so why to denigrate them? Every bit helps.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 03:42:02 pm
Like Enron? Or AIG? Leyman Brothers?  :)


No like Ford.  They helped create the auto industry and also created an effective assembly line.  And FOrd raised their employees salaries above what the rest of the country was paying without "minimum wage" laws.  Also, Ford did not take a dime from the government like General Motors and others did in 2009 because the latter's unions and the companies needed to be bailed out. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 03:58:20 pm
I agree, and a simple litmus test is when commercial companies start investing in production units (they may start investing during research already, but that doesn't guarantee success).

This is the current real time situation in the Netherlands regarding wind production:
https://windstats.nl/statistieken/ (https://windstats.nl/statistieken/)

The cost of these installations is dropping, so newer installations have a reduced break-even period (and/or more output over its life), and the latest (sea-based) windpark consessions are totally without subsidies. That's a signal to me that the proposition is financially viable.

Another interesting practical statistic is that newer placements have an increasing tip height (higher windspeeds at higher altitude).

Well, nothing tried, is nothing learned.

In my town, a test is being prepared together with the Energy Agency in charge of the network to transform natural gas lines to deliver hydrogen gas instead in a part of the municipality. That will be an interesting learning curve. It's an interesting location, in a foresty area not suitable for wind power generation, and at our approx. 52-degree latitude solar energy is not an optimal solution. Solar is an excellent complementary source with a 10-year payback period, at current energy prices. During the summer period, individual homeowners are selling their electricity surplus back to the energy company.

City buses and an increasing number of transportation companies, are converting to (hydrogen fuel cell) electric vehicles to reduce city emissions, as diesel engines are banned. Things are moving in the right direction, and not just because it makes economic sense.

Cheers,
Bart
NYC already has 800 of its 5800 buses operating on natural gas LNG.  Some of these 800 buses will be switched to renewable methane which comes from decomposing garbage New Yorkers throw out in our dumps.  As an aside, most of the latest standards for pollution in all the world's cars was imposed by the USA (mainly California).  Just to point out the even without Paris, America is at the leading edge of reducing pollution and making energy have less impact on the environment.  Frankly, if government got out the way and stopped picking favorites that they subsidize, private industry would help move us to the most efficient and practical saving the most money yet providing the best technology to reduce emission of CO2 and pollutants.

"Renewable natural gas (aka RNG or Biomethane) made from the biogases produced by decomposing organic waste can be used as a substitute for conventional CNG in any of the 800 CNG buses in the MTA’s 5,800 bus fleet. Better yet, the combination of this ultra-low-carbon fuel and new “near-zero” emission engine technology is a true climate and clean air winner, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% or more and reducing health-threatening particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions by 90% compared to the cleanest diesel engines."

https://energy-vision.org/city-council-letter-rng-for-nyc-buses/ (https://energy-vision.org/city-council-letter-rng-for-nyc-buses/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 04:04:39 pm
Alright, alright, you got me. 

I'll agree some people, and, sometimes, many people, will choose to ignore the evidence that disagrees with their already determined "truths." 
Even if we were able to release all the pertinent facts without tainting them with spin, you'd still be faced with "feelings" and "emotions".  For example, how much money should be spent on cancer research vs. reducing pollution?  How mush should we spend on each?  There are limited resources for everything we want to do.  WE all draw a line in these matters.  For example, should you install 3 smoke detector in your home or 6?  Well, 6 seems like it would protect your family more, and it will.  But the marginal percentage of safety let's say 5% is a decision you make in your gut.  You may want the extra money required for going out to dinner or buying a new pair of shoes for your kids.  These are all feeling type decisions that can't be quantified with statistics.  A government is faced with a similar situation.  Where should tax money be spent?  We fight about these things all the time.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 04:12:31 pm
I'm also for nuclear plants, but a few solar panels on an existing house won't harm the environment or kill the birds, so why to denigrate them? Every bit helps.

If there were no tax incentives and government rebates, this would not be that much of an issue for me.  If someone wanted to pay the full price for solar panels installed on their roof, even given the fact that it is 8 times more expensive then nuclear and fossil fuel power generation, that is on them. 

The problem I have is that a large part of the expense is being covered by the government, aka all of us.  All of the data points that this is a waste of money when nuclear is a clearly better option.  So that is the problem I have; why are we allowing them to waste money on technologies that don't work as well as others. 

Just goes back to Alan's point of the government picking winners and losers, and artificially inflating bad technologies. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 04:18:07 pm
I'm also for nuclear plants, but a few solar panels on an existing house won't harm the environment or kill the birds, so why to denigrate them? Every bit helps.
Solar helps the individual homeowner reduce their cost for energy.  But from a societal standpoint, the advantages are questionable.   

Subsidies and rebates the homeowner and solar companies get are paid by others that could be used elsewhere on other more important projects.  There are also upkeep costs of carbon based plants that require to be maintained and used when its dark.  Those costs are also passed on to others who use the grid. So basically, you're just transferring wealth from generally poorer people to the more wealthy who can afford to install solar or who live in stand-alone single-family homes.   Finally, if the overall reduction in CO2 is not enough to make a difference in climate change, then what's the point of spending all that money?  It would be better spent on cancer research. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 04:37:57 pm
I'm also for nuclear plants, but a few solar panels on an existing house won't harm the environment or kill the birds, so why to denigrate them? Every bit helps.
Les, before you consider solar, you should have your house surveyed to see where the energy deficiencies are.  You may find that upgrading insulation and installing double pane windows will save you more money on heating and cooling than adding solar.  Those things should make your house more valuable when you sell it.  My house is so efficient insulation wise (it's relatively new), that it doesn't pay to install solar, even with rebates and tax incentives.  Also, you have to look at things like: are you using electric to heat or natural gas?  It's a lot cheaper to heat with gas. So if you have electric heat and/or electric cooking, the value of solar goes up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 05:47:38 pm
It was done by Private Industry not government.

I suggest you investigate the history of government/military involvement in the fossil fuel industry more closely.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2019, 05:51:05 pm
As an aside, most of the latest standards for pollution in all the world's cars was imposed by the USA (mainly California).  Just to point out the even without Paris, America is at the leading edge of reducing pollution and making energy have less impact on the environment.
So, government intervention is good.

Quote
Frankly, if government got out the way and stopped picking favorites that they subsidize, private industry would help move us to the most efficient and practical saving the most money yet providing the best technology to reduce emission of CO2 and pollutants.
No, wait, government intervention is bad.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 06:28:18 pm
I suggest you investigate the history of government/military involvement in the fossil fuel industry more closely.
State your point about them if you have a point to make.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 06:38:42 pm
So, government intervention is good.
No, wait, government intervention is bad.
Yes some government rules help.  The can maintain level playing fields. They provide a court system that allow trust between businesses and customers and a place to resolve differences. They can provide standards like the aforementioned car pollution or building codes for construction.  But these things can become oppressive.  There has to be a balance. 

For the most part, free markets and private enterprise provide the best results with better products and lower costs.  The more government regulation, the higher the costs and the less innovation there is. For example, by giving credits for solar and wind, the government diminishes the incentive to try other things that might work better.  Business go where the money is.  If they are depending on credits and rebates to sell solar, then they'll sell solar rather then trying something more innovative. 

Like most things in life you need balance.  Often the government steps in too strongly when they should back off.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 08:33:15 pm
State your point about them if you have a point to make.

Really? Do I have to?

I refer to the support of (various) western governments on such subtleties as "regime change" or all-out war in places like, oh, I dunno, Iran?  Saudi Arabia?  Venezuela?  Iraq?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 08:35:00 pm
For the most part, free markets and private enterprise provide the best results with better products and lower costs.

Please identify these free markets.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 08:35:39 pm
Nobody denies that climate changes. It's been changing for billions of years.

But NEVER so fast.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 08:38:30 pm
I just want to solve climate change as fast as possible, but also don't want to see the environment destroyed from clear cutting for wind/solar farms.  This is why I am so passionate about it.

I can't imagine why you insist on pointing out the "clear cutting" for wind and solar.  Any of the wind or solar installations I've personally seen have required precisely zero clear cutting.

This image shows the estimated land area required in North Africa to generate enough power for the world, the EU or for Germany.  Zero clear cutting. 

It will require some transmission hardware, but we know how to do that already.  HVDC, remember?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertec



(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fb1Mqd_0W6Hposdz-fmmNJ9R5KACxmZBVdyZYbRCg46g47L62REM3Qn1cX05nfxg0DVEowmLAgX7t1ir0wv8hYzS4B9r_KOtHJs0mFR564DWpadwyJrlaQCW8hxFds4AOrfCI-MWUTDVrWiQesNK8upkh5KltBtAxh9MfUegF8edCwcAe1joMmDoxlVsdka4kaZ8vReZORXqopqOWAmKTmYxyY21M_MVriRwPbKosjtTDAL3-IF0TCCFDGimneJaqnwX_64bAVCXn_VPUNLKRx9IyqteaUMn6fyCaDMpiBCvaTLZ8i4f-Y809JCcWulNxUXKtS3vJqs12GsrASn5ZjPsJIBiYsLENcYkq6WwdHQIhRr_MDfTagWFcSHVwJZFbO6CTpI11HiW-bR3-FBMtFzCKhDq4a5b6FZGnqru5ZgEwi6qyKK_Do9ITbnrQX7Cbxz7eYlbg9N-e1UzGvNGNPrXR1zFJMGu86-vNZ8QUcC83F-bpxNdf9XYgD6w3xHiNSKrGP5jPaplFGTvQ4vw-yCzqf5IKGHpO1QfYbRFWWGxD_mDOukO3Un0vvoMvEeaW4Zqp8135yPp5UHmT_4vNEnvfZtCRhsDSBPTUFarj4e0axtfJ5WmrHRDyhSYN4dA36fTPRjFzcF4OhJJJdDx5s1PEiPwyOk=w934-h591-no)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 07, 2019, 09:29:45 pm
I can't imagine why you insist on pointing out the "clear cutting" for wind and solar.  Any of the wind or solar installations I've personally seen have required precisely zero clear cutting.

This image shows the estimated land area required in North Africa to generate enough power for the world, the EU or for Germany.  Zero clear cutting. 

It will require some transmission hardware, but we know how to do that already.  HVDC, remember?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertec



(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fb1Mqd_0W6Hposdz-fmmNJ9R5KACxmZBVdyZYbRCg46g47L62REM3Qn1cX05nfxg0DVEowmLAgX7t1ir0wv8hYzS4B9r_KOtHJs0mFR564DWpadwyJrlaQCW8hxFds4AOrfCI-MWUTDVrWiQesNK8upkh5KltBtAxh9MfUegF8edCwcAe1joMmDoxlVsdka4kaZ8vReZORXqopqOWAmKTmYxyY21M_MVriRwPbKosjtTDAL3-IF0TCCFDGimneJaqnwX_64bAVCXn_VPUNLKRx9IyqteaUMn6fyCaDMpiBCvaTLZ8i4f-Y809JCcWulNxUXKtS3vJqs12GsrASn5ZjPsJIBiYsLENcYkq6WwdHQIhRr_MDfTagWFcSHVwJZFbO6CTpI11HiW-bR3-FBMtFzCKhDq4a5b6FZGnqru5ZgEwi6qyKK_Do9ITbnrQX7Cbxz7eYlbg9N-e1UzGvNGNPrXR1zFJMGu86-vNZ8QUcC83F-bpxNdf9XYgD6w3xHiNSKrGP5jPaplFGTvQ4vw-yCzqf5IKGHpO1QfYbRFWWGxD_mDOukO3Un0vvoMvEeaW4Zqp8135yPp5UHmT_4vNEnvfZtCRhsDSBPTUFarj4e0axtfJ5WmrHRDyhSYN4dA36fTPRjFzcF4OhJJJdDx5s1PEiPwyOk=w934-h591-no)

Just as an aside, all environmentalist agree that wind and solar farms need to be clear cut and will destroy the environment, regardless of where they are built.  This includes desserts.  Anyway, ...

Aside from the extremely large geopolitical issues that would certainly arise and the history of instability of the region, at first glance it looks cautiously optimistic.  I also like the fact that the Sahara is not populated with that many animals, meaning less habitats will be destroyed along with plant life. 

However, I am very skeptical of those land masses you highlight being so small.  I have yet to see any calculations that show land masses even remotely as small as those by any physicists looking into wind/solar.  On top of this, you will still only get production 33% of the time, just like with other projects in other desserts, albeit maybe more concentrated.  Although the Wiki post does not directly say this, they do mention, indirectly, the sunlight is present only about 9 to 10 hours of the day, and that is about a 1/3 of the time. 

Additionally your Wki post does point out some pretty serious obstacles that would need to be overcome at the bottom. 

First, the cost of cabling over such large distances and maintaining them would be extremely expensive and could effectively offset any of the cost saving with building there. 

Second, Europe would just go from being political dependent on the Middle East to being so on North Africa.  This would not just be with the country that is producing the energy but as with every single country that the cables run through as well.  Anyone of them could hold Europe hostage by threatening to shut off the power.  This, obviously, would create a serious military issue as well.  On top of this, you would absolutely be dependent on these countries and could not easily change alliances since the cables would run through them and not be easily rerouted.  This is different then today since you can more easily change from which country you buy fuels from. 

Third, there is simply not enough water available in the region for construction, maintenance and cleaning, and cooling of the panels and turbines.  All of this water will need to be imported, adding the cost of the project.  Although there is some hope in developing cells where dirt and sand can not attached themselves to the surfaces, these are still in their infancy.  Additionally, dry cooling is an option but more expensive. 

Last, who will actually own the project?  Will Africans be okay with Europeans building this in their country and maintaining ownership and operation?  Or will Europeans be okay with footing the bill for a huge project like this only to let Africans to assume ownership and operations?  This would be quite the tricky treaty to work out.  Also, again due to the instability and frequent regime changes in that area, you would need to be ready to make unpredicted alterations to this treaty after it is in effect. 

I would also add, the instability of the region and the fact that, pretty much without warning, either the plant itself could be shut down or cables cut due to coups or wars would make this project very risky. 

This is not to say it cant work, just that there are a lot of issues to consider, many of which have nothing to due to energy production nor are inherently stable/reliable. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:30:06 pm
Really? Do I have to?

I refer to the support of (various) western governments on such subtleties as "regime change" or all-out war in places like, oh, I dunno, Iran?  Saudi Arabia?  Venezuela?  Iraq?
Based on the disasters America has faced by getting involved in these countries because of oil, it's a great argument for no government involvement in renewables.   Exactly my point as well as yours.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:36:06 pm
 
Please identify these free markets.
"The free market is an economic system based on supply and demand with little or no government control. It is a summary description of all voluntary exchanges that take place in a given economic environment. Free markets are characterized by a spontaneous and decentralized order of arrangements through which individuals make economic decisions. Based on its political and legal rules, a country’s free market economy may range between very large or entirely black market."
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/freemarket.asp (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/freemarket.asp)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 10:43:21 pm
You have described what constitutes a free market, but haven't identified any that are actually free.

Feel free to do so.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:44:20 pm
You have described what constitutes a free market, but haven't identified any that are actually free.

Feel free to do so.

America. The EU. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 10:47:52 pm
Just as an aside, all environmentalist agree that wind and solar farms need to be clear cut and will destroy the environment, regardless of where they are built.  This includes desserts.  Anyway, ....

"All environmentalists agree". Preposterous.  How do you clear cut a "dessert"? 

The wind farms in Oregon that I have seen have small roads that access the base of the wind towers, but there's no clear cutting.  There's nothing to cut.  They're in grasslands. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 10:48:50 pm
America. The EU.

You must be kidding.  Do you really think America is a free market?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:50:09 pm
You must be kidding.  Do you really think America is a free market?
Yes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 07, 2019, 10:54:53 pm
Yes.

Wow.  You really have been drinking the Kool Aid.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2019, 10:57:55 pm
Wow.  You really have been drinking the Kool Aid.
Another personal attack?  You could do better than that, I'm sure. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 06:21:35 am
"All environmentalists agree". Preposterous.  How do you clear cut a "dessert"? 

The wind farms in Oregon that I have seen have small roads that access the base of the wind towers, but there's no clear cutting.  There's nothing to cut.  They're in grasslands.

Believe it or not, animals do live in deserts.  When you build a solar farm in a desert, the land needs to be cleared of animals and their habitats in order to construct the thing.  Clear cut is a general term used by environmentalists for destroying large areas of natural habitat and is used even is there are no trees that get removed. 

If Renewables Are So Great for the Environment, Why Do They Keep Destroying It? (https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2018/05/17/if-renewables-are-so-great-for-the-environment-why-do-they-keep-destroying-it/#15cc2e473a1c)

"A single California solar farm, Ivanpah, required the killing of hundreds of desert tortoises, the state’s threatened reptile, and annually kills six thousand birds by lighting them on fire."  That's about 16 to 17 birds a day.

"... the birds that the wind turbines and solar farms kill are large, rare, and threatened, like the Golden Eagle, Red-Tailed Hawk, and American Kestrel ... any birder will remind you that large birds of prey like raptors are slower to reproduce, and so the death of breeding adults has a far more devastating impact ..."

"But aren’t such environmental impacts common to all forms of energy production?  They aren’t. Because water, sunlight, and wind are so energy dilute, renewable technologies require orders of magnitude more land and materials to produce the same amount of energy as nonrenewables." 

"Ivanpah solar farm, for instance, requires an astonishing 450 times more land, per unit of energy produced, than Diablo Canyon, California’s last nuclear plant, which has had no impact on its neighboring fish population, and whose tidal pools are some of the most pristine on the West Coast."

"'Ivanpah is a bird sink — and an cautionary tale unfolding on public lands,' a representative from Audubon Society told The Los Angeles Times. 'It continues to operate as though there's an endless supply of birds to burn.'"

"The big environmental organizations appear unmoved. After acknowledging that the expansion of off-shore wind turbines in Germany 'could be grave and even lead to the extinction of individual species,' including the Harbor Porpoise, Friends of the Earth-Germany (BUND) said, cheerily, 'But things could also not be that bad after all. We simply do not know yet.'  Can you think of another instance where Friends of the Earth (FOE) — an organization that has, since 1970, fought to kill hydro-electric dams, nuclear power plants, and fossil fuel plants — has shrugged its shoulders over the extinction of a whale at the hands of a big energy project?"

Ivanpah is a desert by the way.  And it appears oooh so much that those proponents of wind and solar are such great stewards of the environment, doesn't it.   ::)

I think this quote absolutely defines most wind and solar advocates!   

"It is hard to understand green groups’ double standard except as a manifestation of a religious faith in renewables."

Study Sees Ecological Risks as Solar Expands (https://www.climatecentral.org/news/solar-study-sees-ecological-risks-19568)

Solar Farms Encroach on the Environment (https://www.govtech.com/fs/Solar-Farms-Encroach-on-the-Environment.html)

Solar Power Expansion Could Pose Ecological Risks (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/solar-power-expansion-could-pose-ecological-risks/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2019, 11:01:59 am
Another personal attack?  You could do better than that, I'm sure.

Not a personal attack at all.  Sorry if you deemed it so. Merely a pragmatic observation.

ie, if you think markets are "free", then you aren't paying enough attention.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 08, 2019, 11:13:48 am
Another personal attack?  You could do better than that, I'm sure.

Alan, I have a similar observation as Peter.

To claim, in the middle of a Trade war with China, that the USA is a Free Market, seems is at odds with reality.
Blaming it on Kool Aid seems to offer a generous way out.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on August 08, 2019, 11:34:26 am
I don't know the situation at the moment, but the product  and clothes made of cotton for instance also was?is targeted by protectionism of the USA. To protect its cotton farmers from cheaper import.
If you wanted to import a cotton trouser, the extra duty was depending on the % of cotton in the trouser that came from outside the US, if it only was stitched with cotton from outside the US duties were lower.
It created a big bureaucratic institute to regulate all that with thousand of employees.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2019, 11:52:57 am
Not a personal attack at all.  Sorry if you deemed it so. Merely a pragmatic observation.

ie, if you think markets are "free", then you aren't paying enough attention.


Pete, Free markets have varying degrees of government involvement. But for the most part, individuals and business make decisions as to what they're going to buy and companies what they're going to produce.  Of course, whenever government gets involved, it distorts natural economic forces.  For example, solar is being sold more and more people decide to buy them because of government rebates and tax deductions.  This picking of favorites distort free natural market forces.  Forcing gasoline to have 10% ethanol, pushes farmers to plant more corn rather than other products that people eat.  This raises the prices of other food and hurts the poor especially.  The president bailing out farmers due to China tariffs is another major effect on the free market.  BY bailing out soy producers, maybe they would grow other food stuffs that would lower prices for American buyers.  HAving said that, for the main part, market forces generally are not interfered with by government.  Kodak's demise is a perfect example as is Amazon's success.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 12:00:03 pm
A few more current ones. 

The environmental impacts of solar and wind energy (http://www.earth.com/news/environmental-impacts-solar-wind-energy/)

Wind Farms Cause More Environmental Impact Than Previously Thought (https://scitechdaily.com/wind-farms-cause-more-environmental-impact-than-previously-thought/)

It seems with everything I read wind and solar look more and more like fairy tales, and nuclear looks to be the only real option. 

Going from fossil fuels to wind/solar to save the environment is like quitting crack by smoking cigarettes.  A little better, sure, but it will still kill you in the long run. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2019, 01:26:10 pm
Wind Farms Cause More Environmental Impact Than Previously Thought (https://scitechdaily.com/wind-farms-cause-more-environmental-impact-than-previously-thought/)

It seems with everything I read wind and solar look more and more like fairy tales, and nuclear looks to be the only real option. 
Going from fossil fuels to wind/solar to save the environment is like quitting crack by smoking cigarettes.  A little better, sure, but it will still kill you in the long run.

That's a wholly unsupportable statement. An opinion? Fine.  But truth? Nope. More like a fairy tale of its own.

Besides, I think you should either broaden your research or vet your references more carefully. I read the second link, and every single one of the comments debunked it.

To say that nuclear is the ONLY solution is to demonstrate extreme closed-mindedness.  Your crack/cigarettes argument is also unsupportable.  Excellent trolling, though.

And, yes, I know what a LFTR is, and I support research and development on this technology. 

Nuclear can be AN option, just not the ONLY option.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 03:18:34 pm
That's a wholly unsupportable statement. An opinion? Fine.  But truth? Nope. More like a fairy tale of its own.

Besides, I think you should either broaden your research or vet your references more carefully. I read the second link, and every single one of the comments debunked it.

To say that nuclear is the ONLY solution is to demonstrate extreme closed-mindedness.  Your crack/cigarettes argument is also unsupportable.  Excellent trolling, though.

And, yes, I know what a LFTR is, and I support research and development on this technology. 

Nuclear can be AN option, just not the ONLY option.

Thank you so much for providing your sources here.  Oh wait ....

That’s right, you have not provided anything to counter my argument, well aside from a very risky geopolitical project that is very ambitious to say the least. 

Additionally, the 2nd link is pretty dense and I find it hard to believe everything in it has been debunked.  If it really, please provide a source explaining why.  If you can’t back up your statements, your criticism is meaningless. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 03:20:48 pm
Thank you so much for providing your sources here.  Oh wait ....
Sometimes I wonder about the value of dueling sources. I'm pretty sure you can find source for the proposition that alien abductions are real, complete with live witness testimonials. Google is your friend.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 03:22:45 pm
Sometimes I wonder about the value of dueling sources. I'm pretty sure you can find a source for the proposition that alien abductions are real.

There not real?   ???
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 08, 2019, 03:26:14 pm
Sometimes I wonder about the value of dueling sources. I'm pretty sure you can find source for the proposition that alien abductions are real, complete with live witness testimonials. Google is your friend.

Right on, Fab. You can find "proof" for anything. It's called liars figuring. You even can find CHARTS to prove anything.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 03:30:56 pm
It's called liars figuring.
I don't think it is all liars. Sometimes it is just reasonable people looking at the same data and coming to different conclusions. Black and white thinking is a fallacy in formal logic.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 08, 2019, 03:37:05 pm
Depends. If what you're looking at is an opinion, you're right. If what you're looking at supposedly is a "scientific" fact, uh uh. The least dependable finding is called a "scientific consensus."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 03:40:43 pm
The least dependable finding is called a "scientific consensus."
There are plenty of things less dependable than a scientific consensus.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 03:41:50 pm
I don't think it is all liars. Sometimes it is just reasonable people looking at the same data and coming to different conclusions. Black and white thinking is a fallacy in formal logic.

This is such a cop out and BS.  Maybe the reason you say this because you don’t want to admit to yourself large scale solar/wind is a bad idea.   

We are not talking about macro economics here.  This is relatively easy data to look at.  How many birds does this farm kill per year?  It’s a pretty easy stat to measure.  Once again, we have these massive farms, let’s see how much power they actually produce.  Not hard to do and all meadurements shows they produce a lot less per acre then predicted, which was pretty low to begin with. 

I’ll admit it gets more complicated to corrolate lower then expected drops in CO2 to wind/solar, but the ecological effects of killing birds and other animals are pretty easy to measure.  You just count the corpses. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 03:52:48 pm
This is such a cop out and BS.  Maybe the reason you say this because you don’t want to admit to yourself large scale solar/wind is a bad idea.
You really should be yelling at someone else. I haven't made an argument for or against.  I really don't have a dog in the hunt.  I have only called into question some of the "facts" being tossed about.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2019, 03:52:54 pm
You can grow vegetables under and between solar panels, thus utilizing the land better.

Quote
A new model for solar farms that 'co-locates' crops and solar panels could result in a harvest of valuable biofuel plants along with solar energy. This co-location approach could prove especially useful in sunny, arid regions such as the southwestern United States

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140409143942.htm

https://www.laserfocusworld.com/detectors-imaging/article/16571646/new-solar-panels-harvest-energy-and-also-allow-crops-to-grow-underneath
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 08, 2019, 03:58:13 pm
There are plenty of things less dependable than a scientific consensus.

Name one.

Maybe a post in The Coffee Corner?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 04:01:41 pm
Name one.
How about an unsupported opinion of a layman? I'd take a scientific consensus over an unsupported opinion of a layman any day. Even the supported opinion of a layman. With all the cherry picking of sources, I'm dubious. As if Google is some arbiter of truth. But then I am pretty skeptical of certainty anyway. Even a cursory study of epistemology should do that for anyone.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2019, 04:52:10 pm
Pete, Free markets have varying degrees of government involvement. But for the most part, individuals and business make decisions as to what they're going to buy and companies what they're going to produce.  Of course, whenever government gets involved, it distorts natural economic forces.  For example, solar is being sold more and more people decide to buy them because of government rebates and tax deductions.  This picking of favorites distort free natural market forces.  Forcing gasoline to have 10% ethanol, pushes farmers to plant more corn rather than other products that people eat.  This raises the prices of other food and hurts the poor especially.  The president bailing out farmers due to China tariffs is another major effect on the free market.  BY bailing out soy producers, maybe they would grow other food stuffs that would lower prices for American buyers.  HAving said that, for the main part, market forces generally are not interfered with by government.  Kodak's demise is a perfect example as is Amazon's success.

There are no "natural economic forces".  Economics is an invention of human beings.  Nature has its own rules.
All economic markets are controlled to some extent, whether by government regulations (frequently necessary) or by cartels and trade associations (created solely by those with vested interests).  To say that markets are free is to ignore all evidence to the contrary.  Hence, my Kool Aid taunt.  (grape was my favourite flavour, back in the day)

Kodak failed due to ignorance and greed, IMO.  Amazon succeeded due to smarts and greed.  Whether either or both are a good thing is open to debate.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2019, 06:28:42 pm
There are no "natural economic forces".  Economics is an invention of human beings.  Nature has its own rules.
All economic markets are controlled to some extent, whether by government regulations (frequently necessary) or by cartels and trade associations (created solely by those with vested interests).  To say that markets are free is to ignore all evidence to the contrary.  Hence, my Kool Aid taunt.  (grape was my favourite flavour, back in the day)

Kodak failed due to ignorance and greed, IMO.  Amazon succeeded due to smarts and greed.  Whether either or both are a good thing is open to debate.
But government had basically nothing to do with their failure or success.  It was consumers buying and selling that affected the results.  Kodak who had a head start with digital failed to follow through.  They wanted to protect their lucrative film market.  Well, the consumers decided they wanted digital anyway and Kodak failed.  Consumers in the Amazon case felt that sitting at home at a computer was a great way to shop so now Bezos and his ex are very rich people.  The government had nothing to do with that either.  Billions of purchase decisions were made that caused both scenarios.  That is how free markets work.  Cartels and trade associations had nothing to do with it either although they can have an affect.  They, however, are part of the mix as they are freely associated by without government causation.  Those people are "free" too to do what they want.  Frankly, I don't know what point you're trying to make.  That government is in charge of markets?  Not here in the US and most countries.  Where they are (Cuba, North Korea, ) or were (Soviet Union), those economies become basket cases eventually. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 06:41:02 pm
Gosh, I wish things were that simple.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2019, 06:48:29 pm
Gosh, I wish things were that simple.
Yup.  That simple.  Don't complicate it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2019, 06:50:58 pm
Yup.  That simple.  Don't complicate it.
So just ignore the complicated stuff?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2019, 06:54:00 pm
So just ignore the complicated stuff?
Stop griping and make a point.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 08, 2019, 07:37:31 pm
Kodak's demise was considerably more complex than that, in particular. Mike over on ToP wrote a nice nuanced piece on the subject in 2016, so there's not a lot of excuse for the ongoing myth of "oh, they were just stupid and greedy" and yet, it continues.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 08, 2019, 07:48:56 pm
But then I am pretty skeptical of certainty anyway. Even a cursory study of epistemology should do that for anyone.

Exactly, Fab! Which is why there's no such thing as a "scientific consensus."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 08:56:40 pm
You really should be yelling at someone else. I haven't made an argument for or against.  I really don't have a dog in the hunt.  I have only called into question some of the "facts" being tossed about.

So which facts should be tossed out and why? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 08, 2019, 09:40:55 pm
Yep, science is always changing. One year it's global cooling, the next year it's global warming.

One year antibiotics work, the next they don't. I'm pretty sure there's a groundswell of vaccines not working. Pretty soon gravity is going to fade away, because those physics geeks can't find gravity waves and never will.

Might as well just ignore it all and crack another beer!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 08, 2019, 09:49:07 pm
Going back to the expense of green energy, here is another article. 

We Shouldn't Be Surprised Renewables Make Energy Expensive Since That's Always Been The Greens' Goal (https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/05/27/we-shouldnt-be-surprised-renewables-make-energy-expensive-since-thats-always-been-the-greens-goal/#28b9d0a04e6d)


"the output of solar panels declines one percent every year, for inherently physical reasons, and they as well as wind turbines are replaced roughly every two decades. "

"The underlying reason is physical. Solar and wind produce too much energy when we don’t need it and not enough when we do.  In 2013, a German economist predicted that the economic value of solar would drop by a whopping 50% when it became just 15% of electricity and that the value of wind would decline 40% once it rose to 30% of electricity.  Six years later, the evidence that solar and wind are increasing electricity prices in the real world, often without reducing emissions, is piling up."

"Some renewable energy advocates protest that more evidence is needed to prove that it is renewables and not some hidden factor that is making electricity expensive.  But there is a growing consensus among economists and independent analysts that solar and wind are indeed making electricity more expensive for two reasons: they are unreliable, thus requiring 100% back-up, and energy-dilute, thus requiring extensive land, transmission lines, and mining."

"the renewables-powered economy is circular, but not in a way that produces abundant energy for infinite recycling.  Rather, renewables-powered economies are circular in the sense of spiraling downward, as in a drain, or like a snake eating its tail until there is nothing left." 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 08, 2019, 11:04:19 pm
30 seconds on google demonstrates that Michael Shellenberger is known shill for the nuclear power industry, and is prone to, well, to lying a lot.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 09, 2019, 04:39:03 am
30 seconds on google demonstrates that Michael Shellenberger is known shill for the nuclear power industry, and is prone to, well, to lying a lot.

I think you need to spend a bit more than 30 seconds to get an understanding of his position. I am at least impressed by his capacity to change his mind as developments and new evidence emerge.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Shellenberger

"In 2017, Shellenberger told The Australian: "Like most people, I started out pretty anti-nuclear. I changed my mind as I realised you can't power a modern economy on solar and wind... All they do is make the electricity system chaotic and provide greenwash for fossil fuels."

The term 'greenwash' refers to a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organization's products, aims or policies are environmentally friendly.

Many years ago when 'climate change alarmism' became a major issue in the media, I didn't question the veracity of the claims by scientists such as James Lovelock, James Hansen, Michael Mann, and so on, as many people don't, or perhaps cannot because of their lack of a basic education in science.

However, when I began doing some serious searching on the internet, for more than 30 seconds  ;) , it gradually became clear that there was a political corruption of science taking place, which was attempting to  create a false degree of certainty about the harmful effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, whilst completely ignoring the beneficial effects of increased CO2 levels, such as increased plant growth.

I changed my mind as a result of new evidence that became available to me.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 07:50:03 am
30 seconds on google demonstrates that Michael Shellenberger is known shill for the nuclear power industry, and is prone to, well, to lying a lot.

I give you that, but it also shows that he started out in the solar and wind industry, leaving it after he realized it cant really work. 

But I think another important question is why does the left like to demonize nuclear so much and make it sound a lot worse then it actually is?  With the release of the HBO series Chernobyl, nearly every scientist who was there have become highly critical of the series, pretty much saying it is not a documentary at all.  It is a hyped-up drama just based on an actual event that misleads and just makes stuff up, even characters who never existed. 

And if you do a little more then 30 seconds of research, you'll see, for reasons that may not completely align with Shellenberger's opinions, that the left is spreading mis-information for both wind/solar, making it look considerably better then it is, and nuclear, making it look considerably worse then it is.  This is proven to me every time I see a positive article on wind and solar that leaves out all data from currently working wind/solar farms.  They read like fluff pieces without any actual evidence to back up the claims.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 08:33:50 am
America has been lagging in new construction of nuclear plants.  With low cost natural gas fueled, it's hard to compete today.  Wind gets subsidies. 
US nuclear article:
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/usa-nuclear-power.aspx

World nuclear - new plants, most in CHina, Russia, India and elsewhere.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 09:17:12 am
why does the left like to demonize nuclear so much and make it sound a lot worse then it actually is? 

the left is spreading mis-information for both wind/solar, making it look considerably better then it is, and nuclear, making it look considerably worse then it is. 

What does this have to do with "the left" ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 09:18:50 am

World nuclear - new plants, most in CHina, Russia, India and elsewhere.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx

Hang on - I thought "the left" are anti-nuclear?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 09:19:59 am
America has been lagging in new construction of nuclear plants.  With low cost natural gas fueled, it's hard to compete today.  Wind gets subsidies. 
US nuclear article:
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/usa-nuclear-power.aspx

World nuclear - new plants, most in CHina, Russia, India and elsewhere.
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide.aspx

It's a damn shame too.  The greenies in the country and selling us a bill of false goods, and they hooked the government (at least the Dems) hook, line and sinker.  All the while, other countries will be the ones making the advancements and innovating, reaping in the profits once this wind and solar fad fades away. 

Alright, I have to apologize here.  I made a miscalculation with my figures.  I just realized that capacity in MW and total amount of MWH produced are not the same.  Working on the resolution. 

Let's try this again. 

The World's 10 Largest Wind Farms (https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-10-largest-wind-farms.html)

The only wind farm where the actual size is given, is the Alta Wind Energy Centre in Kern County, California.  It is 3200 acres in size with a capacity (not actual production mind you, just what it could produce during best conditions) of 1547 MW, or 1.547 GW per acre.  (This is where I made my error forgetting that GW and GWH are not the same.  One is the capacity and the other is the actual volume of production.)  The actual production yearly is 3179 GWH per year. 

In 2018, CA used 285,488 GWH.  In order to generate all of their power by wind, they would need (285,488/3179) x 3200 acres, or 287,373 acres.  This is 450 square miles, or about .3% of the state. 

Wow, I really screwed up that one!   

This figure is not something I now consider daunting, but still a pretty large area, and larger that what we need to allocate to energy production IMHO. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 09:22:26 am
What does this have to do with "the left" ?

Many environmentalists have a knee-jerk reaction to nuclear power and have been fighting it for years. 

Doug Casey on Why the Left Hates Nuclear Power (https://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/doug-casey-on-why-the-left-hates-nuclear-power/)

From a website pushing green tech.  I should mention everything on the list has been debunked. 

10 Reasons to Oppose Nuclear Energy (https://www.greenamerica.org/fight-dirty-energy/amazon-build-cleaner-cloud/10-reasons-oppose-nuclear-energy)

The Progressive Nuclear Disconnect (https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/the-progressive-nuclear-disconnect/)

I can keep on going on and on and on; Google has an endless amount of responses on the left hating nuclear.  But I think this is enough. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 09:24:31 am
Many environmentalists have a knee-jerk reaction to nuclear power and have been fighting it for years. 

Doug Casey on Why the Left Hates Nuclear Power (https://www.caseyresearch.com/articles/doug-casey-on-why-the-left-hates-nuclear-power/)

From a website pushing green tech.  I should mention everything on the list has been debunked. 

10 Reasons to Oppose Nuclear Energy (https://www.greenamerica.org/fight-dirty-energy/amazon-build-cleaner-cloud/10-reasons-oppose-nuclear-energy)

How does that answer my question? How does a wish to avoid making the planet a very unpleasant place to live relate to "left" and "right" ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 09:31:04 am
How does that answer my question? How does a wish to avoid making the planet a very unpleasant place to live relate to "left" and "right" ?

That, specifically, does not.  I think both sides would like to see the planet better, although much to my chagrin of fellow right of center comrades, I'll admit it is more so on the left then the right. 

What I have an issue with is all of the mis-information the left constantly puts out there about nuclear.  Even the latest HBO "documentary" on Chernobyl has been debunked by nearly all of the experts who were on ground, many of who were not Russian and have no reason to try and make the situation look better then it was.  The "documentary" purposely dramatized the events by implying the deaths were from nuclear exposure when most were caused by the fire and explosions.  They also made up characters that never existed and events that never took place, and contradicted the World Health Organization stats on the event. 

But most who watch this will just assume it was only dramatized a bit with most of it being true, and not do any follow up research to see if that is the case.  It will become another China Syndrome in the minds of the public as yet another false reason to not have nuclear. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 09:36:50 am
That, specifically, does not.  I think both sides would like to see the planet better, although much to my chagrin of fellow right of center comrades, I'll admit it is more so on the left then the right. 

What I have an issue with is all of the mis-information the left constantly puts out there about nuclear.  Even the latest HBO "documentary" on Chernobyl has been debunked by nearly all of the experts who were on ground, many of who were not Russian and have no reason to try and make the situation look better then it was.  They purposely dramatized the event by implying the deaths on nuclear exposure when most were caused by the fire and explosions.  They also made up characters that never existed and events that never took place.

HBO="the left" ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 09:40:19 am
HBO="the left" ?

HBO, Your Liberal Id Is Showing (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/06/hbo-your-liberal-id-showing/326810/)

HBO, Showtime Are Most Polarizing Entertainment Brands Among Democrats, Republicans (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/democrats-republicans-hbo-showtime-animal-planet-336475)

I mean seriously, one of the networks biggest prime time stars is Bill Maher.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 09:43:14 am
That, specifically, does not.  I think both sides would like to see the planet better, although much to my chagrin of fellow right of center comrades, I'll admit it is more so on the left then the right. 

What I have an issue with is all of the mis-information the left constantly puts out there about nuclear.  Even the latest HBO "documentary" on Chernobyl has been debunked by nearly all of the experts who were on ground, many of who were not Russian and have no reason to try and make the situation look better then it was.  The "documentary" purposely dramatized the events by implying the deaths were from nuclear exposure when most were caused by the fire and explosions.  They also made up characters that never existed and events that never took place, and contradicted the World Health Organization stats on the event. 

But most who watch this will just assume it was only dramatized a bit with most of it being true, and not doing any follow up research to see if that is the case.  It will become another China Syndrome in the minds of the public as yet another false reason to not have nuclear. 
Apparently it has not scared other countries from installing nuclear plants.  OK, China is dictatorial, but India, France and others aren't.  They have to deal more with the public as we do.  While I agree that many Americans are afraid of nuclear because of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the costs for nuclear have prohibited their further installation here in the US.  Alternative energies like natural gas and coal are cheaper to build.  Government subsidies of wind and solar don't help either.  I think if the cost became really competitive, we'd get over the "fear" and start developing nuclear again.

Of course, if the Democrats take over the government in 2020, all bets are off.  They'll probably subsidize wind and solar more than now making nuclear and fossil fuels even more expensive comparatively.   Get ready to see higher electric costs like Germany.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 09:55:16 am
HBO, Your Liberal Id Is Showing (https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/06/hbo-your-liberal-id-showing/326810/)

HBO, Showtime Are Most Polarizing Entertainment Brands Among Democrats, Republicans (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/democrats-republicans-hbo-showtime-animal-planet-336475)

I mean seriously, one of the networks biggest prime time stars is Bill Maher.

I actually LOL'ed reading those links. Too funny.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 09:57:52 am
I actually LOL'ed reading those links. Too funny.

Okay, maybe those articles are a little more opinionated, but then again, which side of the isle you are on is a rather opinionated subject. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 09:59:58 am
To get back on topic:

Due to last month's heatwave, some 400 people are counted in my small country as excessive mortality (above the weekly summer average). There was also a clear pattern across the country, with increasingly more of that mortality in the provinces that were hotter than the others.

The number was higher than during last year's heatwave where mortality was 'only' increased by 100 per week.

Heatwaves like this one are happening 3x more frequently than in the last century, and going forward they are expected to occur every other year on average. According to meteorologists, the frequency of heatwaves would be about 100x less frequent without global warming.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 10:00:22 am
One more thing to add about wind farms. 

We are discovering that when you have a very large wind farm, the turbines in the front of the farm (receiving the wind first) will eventually create a wind shadow of lower air density causing the turbines in the rear not to spin as fast.  This is something no one predicted and makes wind farms even less practical. 

No mind you the wind farm needs to be fairly large and deep for this to occur, but considering the trend is to make them bigger and deeper, it is a problem that will be more of an issue. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 10:04:45 am
To get back on topic:

Due to last month's heatwave, some 400 people are counted in my small country as excessive mortality (above the weekly summer average). There was also a clear pattern across the country, with increasingly more of that mortality in the provinces that were hotter than the others.

The number was higher than during last year's heatwave where mortality was 'only' increased by 100 per week.

Heatwaves like this one are happening 3x more frequently than in the last century, and going forward they are expected to occur every other year on average. According to meteorologists, the frequency of heatwaves would be about 100x less frequent without global warming.

Cheers,
Bart

Sad news indeed. 

This is something I thought of the other day while driving.  Since climate science is not an easy to follow field and one that relies on a lot of different measurements, getting the climate deniers to actually believe this heat wave was due to man made climate change I think is fruitless. 

I think a much better approach to try and convince many on the right to abandon fossil fuels would be to focus on the deaths caused by air pollution.  This is much more cut and dry and can't be denied (as easily).  Cutting fossil fuels to save people from deaths caused by their pollution should be reason enough to start decreasing our fossil fuel use. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 10:19:01 am
Sad news indeed. 

This is something I thought of the other day while driving.  Since climate science is not an easy to follow field and one that relies on a lot of different measurements, getting the climate deniers to actually believe this heat wave was due to man made climate change I think is fruitless. 

I think a much better approach to try and convince many on the right to abandon fossil fuels would be to focus on the deaths caused by air pollution.  This is much more cut and dry and can't be denied (as easily).  Cutting fossil fuels to save people from deaths caused by their pollution should be reason enough to start decreasing our fossil fuel use.

Yes, but they will deny it regardless (e.g. by only cherry-picking some more plant biomass caused by elevated CO2 levels), because it's inconvenient. The number 3 cause (after #1 cancer and #2 cardiovascular causes) of premature death in my country is air-polution (mostly Particulate Matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 micron, and UFP (ultra-fine particles and black carbon smaller than 0.1 microns).

I've taken my measures to at least keep the PM levels low inside the house, and in particular in the bedroom (where almost of 1/3rd of the time is spent).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 10:30:47 am
So I feel the need to state that my post in the previous page had a major error in the calculation where I mixed up capacity with total volume of electricity produced.  Capacity is in GW and volume is in GWH, and they are not the same measurement.  I edited the post with the correct figures. 

In honesty, I really screwed the pooch on this one, and the actual amount of land required (assuming all wind farms are as efficient as the Alta Wind Energy Centre) is considerably less, about 0.3% of the state. 

As some who has studied physics in school, I should have realized the difference between these two measurements more readily.  I'm a little rusty I guess. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 10:41:38 am
Okay, maybe those articles are a little more opinionated, but then again, which side of the isle you are on is a rather opinionated subject. 
I think the issue is that every nature program has to have a statement of how man is destroying the environment and killing species.  It's like mandatory.  So regardless of where you watch it, HBO, PBS,CBS, etc. we get this constant drumbeat that "we're bad", we're screwing up the environment etc.  There's no balance.  It's all one-sided and very distorted.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 10:43:02 am
To get back on topic:

Due to last month's heatwave, some 400 people are counted in my small country as excessive mortality (above the weekly summer average). There was also a clear pattern across the country, with increasingly more of that mortality in the provinces that were hotter than the others.

The number was higher than during last year's heatwave where mortality was 'only' increased by 100 per week.

Heatwaves like this one are happening 3x more frequently than in the last century, and going forward they are expected to occur every other year on average. According to meteorologists, the frequency of heatwaves would be about 100x less frequent without global warming.

Cheers,
Bart
Sorry about the deaths.  But how many people will not die do to warmer winters? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 10:45:10 am
I think the issue is that every nature program has to have a statement of how man is destroying the environment and killing species.  It's like mandatory.  So regardless of where you watch it, HBO, PBS,CBS, etc. we get this constant drumbeat that "we're bad", we're screwing up the environment etc.  There's no balance.  It's all one-sided and very distorted.

Yeah - let's hear it for all the positives of killing coral, starving polar bears etc etc etc
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 10:46:18 am
It's getting hot on all continents, maybe relatively more in north.

Quote
July 2019 now stands as Alaska’s hottest month on record, the latest benchmark in a long-term warming trend with ominous repercussions ranging from rapidly vanishing summer sea ice and melting glaciers to raging wildfires and deadly chaos for marine life.

July’s statewide average temperature rose to 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit (14.5 degrees Celsius), a level that for denizens of the Lower 48 states might seem cool enough but is actually 5.4 degrees above normal and nearly a full degree higher than Alaska’s previous record-hot month. More significantly, July was the 12th consecutive month in which average temperatures were above normal nearly every day, said Brian Brettschneider, a scientist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy (ACCAP) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Of Alaska’s 10 warmest months on record, seven have now occurred since 2004.

“You can always have a random kind of warm month, season or even year,” Brettschneider said. “But when it happens year after year after year after year after year, then statistically it fails the test of randomness and it then becomes a trend.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaksa-warming/alaskas-hottest-month-portends-transformation-into-unfrozen-state-idUSKCN1UZ110
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 10:47:02 am
Yes, but they will deny it regardless (e.g. by only cherry-picking some more plant biomass caused by elevated CO2 levels), because it's inconvenient. The number 3 cause (after #1 cancer and #2 cardiovascular causes) of premature death in my country is air-polution (mostly Particulate Matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 micron, and UFP (ultra-fine particles and black carbon smaller than 0.1 microns).

I've taken my measures to at least keep the PM levels low inside the house, and in particular in the bedroom (where almost of 1/3rd of the time is spent).

Cheers,
Bart
People don't die from air pollution.  It's not a disease.  Can you elaborate?  What makes it number 3?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 10:57:04 am
Yeah - let's hear it for all the positives of killing coral, starving polar bears etc etc etc
I didn't say there weren't negatives.  It's just that they only present negatives. 

Why can't we hear that since warming, there is now an additional area of land that grows grass and trees equal to twice the size of the US?  What about all the expansion of species and populations into that new area including farming?  Regarding killing of corals, why don't we read about the truth that coral is just moving into other areas which were colder before but now can support coral because the seas there are getting warmer?  Why don;t we hear that since CO2 levels are higher,  more food is being grown in the same land area to feed poor and starving people throughout the world. That would show an honest representation of what's happening.  Tell the full, truth not just part of it.  Of course, that would go against the party line that we're killing everything and destroying the earth.  I want to know all the facts.   Not just the facts that are convenient to the film producer's preconceived beliefs. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 10:59:23 am
I’ll admit it gets more complicated to corrolate lower then expected drops in CO2 to wind/solar, but the ecological effects of killing birds and other animals are pretty easy to measure.  You just count the corpses.

Most likely, more birds get killed by pollution and changes in weather patterns than by the wind turbines.

Quote
Seabird carcasses are littering beaches in what has shaped up as the fifth consecutive year of large bird die-offs in Alaska.

High numbers of salmon, apparently overcome by the heat before getting the chance to spawn, have been found floating dead in rivers and streams around western Alaska.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaksa-warming/alaskas-hottest-month-portends-transformation-into-unfrozen-state-idUSKCN1UZ110
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 11:03:34 am
Most likely, more birds get killed by pollution and changes in weather patterns than by the wind turbines.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaksa-warming/alaskas-hottest-month-portends-transformation-into-unfrozen-state-idUSKCN1UZ110

I never said that I am not against fixing climate change, only that I don't think Wind/Solar will do it. 

Now I will admit that my egregious error in conflating capacity and volume produced a huge misconception in my mind of how many acres we would need of these things, I still feel that nuclear is a better alternative when it comes to protecting wild life. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 09, 2019, 11:08:00 am
I didn't say there weren't negatives.  It's just that they only present negatives. 

Why can't we hear that since warming, there is now an additional area of land that grows grass and trees equal to twice the size of the US?  What about all the expansion of species and populations into that new area including farming?  Regarding killing of corals, why don't we read about the truth that coral is just moving into other areas which were colder before but now can support coral because the seas there are getting warmer?  Why don;t we hear that since CO2 levels are higher,  more food is being grown in the same land area to feed poor and starving people throughout the world. That would show an honest representation of what's happening.  Tell the full, truth not just part of it.  Of course, that would go against the party line that we're killing everything and destroying the earth.  I want to know all the facts.   Not just the facts that are convenient to the film producer's preconceived beliefs.

You're going to have to provide some support for all those claims if you want to be taken seriously - they look like you just invented a bunch of "facts" to support your ideological position.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 11:12:36 am
Sorry about the deaths.  But how many people will not die do to warmer winters?

Hard to say, the numbers are far too low for reliable statistics to begin with.

Most excess mortality in the winter periods, like in 2017/2018, is caused by influenza.
In 2017/2018 some 9444 more people died than expected in the 18 weeks during the epidemic of that winter.
(https://www.rivm.nl/sites/default/files/2019-08/sterfte_lag1_2pis_tm_20190731.jpeg)

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 11:18:53 am
Most likely, more birds get killed by pollution and changes in weather patterns than by the wind turbines.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaksa-warming/alaskas-hottest-month-portends-transformation-into-unfrozen-state-idUSKCN1UZ110 (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alaksa-warming/alaskas-hottest-month-portends-transformation-into-unfrozen-state-idUSKCN1UZ110)


Changes in population shifts with climate change as they have since time immemorial.  While some species might be affected negatively, others are positively affected. 

Also, warmer weather has increased species diversity and population.  Just compare the warmer Amazon region and to colder Alaska.  Even Canadians do better when it's warmer.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 11:28:59 am
You're going to have to provide some support for all those claims if you want to be taken seriously - they look like you just invented a bunch of "facts" to support your ideological position.

Here's one from NASA and Nature.  A clarification correction.  The area of two times the US that I mention in an earlier post  is not in physical land area but equal to that much more greenery if there was that much more land area.  So imagine that many more trees in the world that could grow on two USA's.  That's what the additional CO2 hs done.  Why don;t we read about this in popular culture?  God forbid if the public gets the wrong impression and thinks we're not such a bad species after all. 

"A quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.

An international team of 32 authors from 24 institutions in eight countries led the effort, which involved using satellite data from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments to help determine the leaf area index, or amount of leaf cover, over the planet’s vegetated regions. The greening represents an increase in leaves on plants and trees equivalent in area to two times the continental United States."

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2436/co2-is-making-earth-greenerfor-now/ (https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2436/co2-is-making-earth-greenerfor-now/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 11:33:10 am
Yes, but they will deny it regardless (e.g. by only cherry-picking some more plant biomass caused by elevated CO2 levels), because it's inconvenient. The number 3 cause (after #1 cancer and #2 cardiovascular causes) of premature death in my country is air-polution (mostly Particulate Matter (PM) smaller than 2.5 micron, and UFP (ultra-fine particles and black carbon smaller than 0.1 microns).

I've taken my measures to at least keep the PM levels low inside the house, and in particular in the bedroom (where almost of 1/3rd of the time is spent).

Cheers,
Bart

I am seeing what you mean. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 11:39:42 am
People don't die from air pollution.  It's not a disease.  Can you elaborate?  What makes it number 3?

It's not a decease, but a direct cause of a slew of (additional pulmonary, additional cardiovascular) deceases, and is seen as one of the causes (besides food patterns and old age) of diabetes type II. This is based on solid epidemiologic studies, in which variables like food patterns, healthy lifestyle, genetic disposition, etc., etc., are all accounted for. People on one side of my town, have an average life expectancy that's 3-5 months lower than on the other side (guess on which side a highway is situated). On the national level, average life expectancy in my country is reduced by some 8 months due to Particulate Matter, and another 3 months by NOx (Nitric oxides).

One of the mechanisms behind it, besides direct irritation of the pulmonary tract, has to do with with the constant elevation of Cortisol levels which constantly increases the level of blood-sugar above required levels. Other organ failures are caused by Particulate Matter small enough to enter our bloodstream directly through our lungs. Elevated levels of soot can be found in the kidneys of children who go to school nearby busy streets. There are American studies that directly link certain kidney failures to elevated levels of particulate matter.

There is too much evidence to ignore, that's why we can reliably rank it as the 3rd cause of premature death in my country.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 11:44:00 am
Hard to say, the numbers are far too low for reliable statistics to begin with.

Most excess mortality in the winter periods, like in 2017/2018, is caused by influenza.
In 2017/2018 some 9444 more people died than expected in the 18 weeks during the epidemic of that winter.
(https://www.rivm.nl/sites/default/files/2019-08/sterfte_lag1_2pis_tm_20190731.jpeg)


Cheers,
Bart
Thanks for presenting that statistic.  Why don't I ever hear from politicians and popular media how warmer winters are saving people from dying.  They only seem to die when it's warmer. :)  
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 11:45:27 am
Changes in population shifts with climate change as they have since time immemorial.  While some species might be affected negatively, others are positively affected.

Humans are negatively affected, cockroaches less so.

Quote
Also, warmer weather has increased species diversity and population.


Biodiversity has decreased significantly (not only due to Global temperature), almost worldwide. If you have reliable sources (pulling it out of thin air doesn't count) stating otherwise, I'm interested ...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 11:52:47 am
It's not a decease, but a direct cause of a slew of (additional pulmonary, additional cardiovascular) deceases, and is seen as one of the causes (besides food patterns and old age) of diabetes type II. This is based on solid epidemiologic studies, in which variables like food patterns, healthy lifestyle, genetic disposition, etc., etc., are all accounted for. People on one side of my town, have an average life expectancy that's 3-5 months lower than on the other side (guess on which side a highway is situated). On the national level, average life expectancy in my country is reduced by some 8 months due to Particulate Matter, and another 3 months by NOx (Nitric oxides).

One of the mechanisms behind it, besides direct irritation of the pulmonary tract, has to do with with the constant elevation of Cortisol levels which constantly increases the level of blood-sugar above required levels. Other organ failures are caused by Particulate Matter small enough to enter our bloodstream directly through our lungs. Elevated levels of soot can be found in the kidneys of children who go to school nearby busy streets. There are American studies that directly link certain kidney failures to elevated levels of particulate matter.

There is too much evidence to ignore, that's why we can reliably rank it as the 3rd cause of premature death in my country.

Cheers,
Bart
Very confusing.  You stated originally that cardiovascular and cancer are 1 and 2.  So now air pollution also causes people to die from those same diseases making it #3.  How can you differentiate that a person died from heart disease due to pollution or from heart disease from natural causes?  Also, a 4 months difference in longevity is a perturbation.   SO your side of the street they live to 80 years 4 months and the other side they live to only 80 years, 4 months less? To assign it to pollution caused by the highway traffic between the two sides is a political guess.  I'm not saying pollution is good for you.  But the deaths you assign have no basis in fact or research.  It's just a guess.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 12:01:03 pm
Humans are negatively affected, cockroaches less so.
 

Biodiversity has decreased significantly (not only due to Global temperature), almost worldwide. If you have reliable sources (pulling it out of thin air doesn't count) stating otherwise, I'm interested ...

Cheers,
Bart

Why are humans effected less so by climate change?  Man has always done better as it warmed up.  Just look at where we are now compared to 12000 years ago during the last Ice Age.  Our population is higher than ever and we are living in more parts of the earth.  Both measurements are standard ones used for success of a species.  So we're doing great.  As more CO2 causes more food to be produced, people will do even better as we can feed more of us. 

Other species have also done better since the ice age although some species like the mammoth and saber tooth tiger have disappeared because of the warming.  If we have another ice age, we'll all do worse again.  Even Les in Canada will have to permanently  move to Florida. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 09, 2019, 12:07:08 pm
Why are humans effected less so by climate change?  Man has always done better as it warmed up.  Just look at where we are now compared to 12000 years ago during the last Ice Age.  Our population is higher than ever and we are living in more parts of the earth.  Both measurements are standard ones used for success of a species.  So we're doing great.  As more CO2 causes more food to be produced, people will do even better as we can feed more of us.
Why don't you turn off your air conditioning for a week and report back.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 12:14:14 pm
"Global Warming? An Israeli Astrophysicist Provides Alternative View That Is Not Easy To Reject"
https://www.forbes.com/sites/doronlevin/2019/08/09/global-warming-an-israeli-astrophysicist-provides-alternative-view-that-is-not-easy-to-reject/#2fa236b96945
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 12:16:52 pm
Very confusing. You stated originally that cardiovascular and cancer are 1 and 2.

It may come as a shock to you, but most people do die from Cancer, and cardiovascular decease, that is not related to Particulate matter or NOx. The causes may be genetic or caused by foodrelated issues, to name just two.

IN ADDITION there are those where the cause is primarily particulate matter and NOx.

Quote
So now air pollution also causes people to die from those same diseases making it #3.  How can you differentiate that a person died from heart disease due to pollution or from heart disease from natural causes?  Also, a 4 months difference in longevity is a perturbation.   SO your side of the street they live to 80 years 4 months and the other side they live to only 80 years, 4 months less? To assign it to pollution caused by the highway traffic between the two sides is a political guess.  I'm not saying pollution is good for you.  But the deaths you assign have no basis in fact or research.  It's just a guess.

HOLD ON. I'm trying to dislodge the needle from my Troll-o-meter.

Ah, now you're running the I don't believe Scientists spiel again.

Friendly advice, try educating yourself first, then attempt to engage in a meaningful discussion.
Flatout denying without disproving is plain silly.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 12:17:53 pm
Why don't you turn off your air conditioning for a week and report back.
I live in America where we can afford electricity.  Not like in "let's go renewable" Germany where no one can afford air conditioning they're 2 1/2 times more expensive to run. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 12:20:13 pm
It may come as a shock to you, but most people do die from Cancer, and cardiovascular decease, that is not related to Particulate matter or NOx. The causes may be genetic or caused by foodrelated issues, to name just two.

IN ADDITION there are those where the cause is primarily particulate matter and NOx.

HOLD ON. I'm trying to dislodge the needle from my Troll-o-meter.

Ah, now you're running the I don't believe Scientists spiel again.

Friendly advice, try educating yourself first, then attempt to engage in a meaningful discussion.
Flatout denying without disproving is plain silly.

Cheers,
Bart


You  made the claim.  You prove it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 12:25:35 pm

You  made the claim.  You prove it.

So you are admitting that your denial is baseless?

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2019, 12:28:08 pm
I live in America where we can afford electricity.  Not like in "let's go renewable" Germany where no one can afford air conditioning they're 2 1/2 times more expensive to run.

It makes one wonder if only the water in Flint is affected...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 01:06:05 pm
So you are admitting that your denial is baseless?

Cheers,
Bart
No I can't prove a negative.  If you have statistics showing air pollution in your country is 3rd for deaths, OK, I believe you.  You ought to clean up your atmosphere.  In the USA, our deaths from pollution don't even show up on the charts.
The number of deaths related to air pollution in the United States shrank by 47 percent between 1990 and 2010, dropping from 135,000 per year to 71,000. 
https://e360.yale.edu/digest/us-air-pollution-deaths-nearly-halved-over-two-decades
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282929.php
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 01:07:07 pm
Changes in population shifts with climate change as they have since time immemorial.  While some species might be affected negatively, others are positively affected.

Also, warmer weather has increased species diversity and population.  Just compare the warmer Amazon region and to colder Alaska.  Even Canadians do better when it's warmer.  :)

Positively affected were mainly the pests - mosquitoes, ticks, japanese beetles, locusts, vegetable-eating moths/caterpillars. And Florida pythons.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 01:10:49 pm
Positively affected were mainly the pests - mosquitoes, ticks, japanese beetles, locusts, vegetable-eating moths/caterpillars. And Florida pythons.
No. Florida pet Pythons were released in the Everglades by Canadians when they returned home after their winter vacationing season. If it was warmer still, you could have taken them home to release up there.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 01:24:56 pm
No. Florida pet Pythons were released in the Everglades by Canadians when they returned home after their winter vacationing season. If it was warmer still, you could have taken them home to release up there.  :)

This is what is the world coming to. At one time the Canadians were bring to Florida their pet polar bear cubs and moose calves, but these days it's primarily the Canada geese.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 01:50:54 pm
This is what is the world coming to. At one time the Canadians were bring to Florida their pet polar bear cubs and moose calves, but these days it's primarily the Canada geese.
We've got enough geese already.  I'm always stepping in their poop.  Do they add to global warming too like cows? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 01:52:04 pm
Positively affected were mainly the pests - mosquitoes, ticks, japanese beetles, locusts, vegetable-eating moths/caterpillars. And Florida pythons.

When the wind drops and the endless summer sun bakes the ponds that dot the frozen tundra, some of the Arctic’s most ferocious predators emerge and form menacing blizzards that darken the horizon – and everyone’s mood.

“It is the talk of the town when the Arctic mosquitoes are out,” says Lauren Culler, a postdoctoral researcher who studies insects in Greenland for Dartmouth College’s Institute of Arctic Studies. “There aren’t a lot of animals for them to eat in the Arctic, so when they finally find one, they are ferocious. They are relentless. They do not stop. They just keep going after you.”

Climate change, it turns out, may make that even worse.

Quote
Large, blood-sucking mosquitoes already are the bane of people, caribou, reindeer, and other mammals eking out a living in the frozen north. But as temperatures warm, mosquitoes above the Arctic Circle emerge earlier, grow faster, and survive as winged pests even longer, according to Culler’s new research, which was published Tuesday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

There aren’t a lot of animals for them (mosquitoes) to eat in the Arctic, so when they finally find one, they are ferocious. They are relentless. They do not stop.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/09/150915-Arctic-mosquito-warming-caribou-Greenland-climate-CO2/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 03:02:00 pm
Mosquitoes don't seem as bad as they use to be when I was a kid.  At least in NY and NJ.  I was always getting bitten and had loads of itchy bites all season.  Maybe my chemistry has changed and they just don't like me anymore. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2019, 03:09:11 pm
Mosquitoes don't seem as bad as they use to be when I was a kid.  At least in NY and NJ.  I was always getting bitten and had loads of itchy bites all season.  Maybe my chemistry has changed and they just don't like me anymore.

The air quality in NYC must be too bad even for mosquitoes.  :(
Last month, I took my canoe about 150km north of Toronto, and mosquitoes seemed more numerous and more blood-thirsty than just a few years ago.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 03:09:53 pm
This is an interesting infographic. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 03:18:27 pm
This is an interesting infographic. 
How many people die with malaria every year because we stopped using DDT?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 03:21:32 pm
How many people die with malaria every year because we stopped using DDT?

Not sure, but banning it did save the Bald Eagle from extinction. 

It's always nice to be able to say that the national bird is still alive and well. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 03:52:12 pm
Not sure, but banning it did save the Bald Eagle from extinction. 

It's always nice to be able to say that the national bird is still alive and well. 
But malaria is not in the US.  They could have continued using it in Africa and elsewhere. No?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 09, 2019, 03:56:57 pm
But malaria is not in the US.  They could have continued using it in Africa and elsewhere. No?

It's not like DDT was only bad for one bird, the Bald Eagle.  It thinned the egg walls of several different bird species.  It would have done just as much damage to different predator birds in Africa too. 

On top of that, DDT was never intended for human use either.  It was dangerous for us too. 

Should we bring back Agent Orange as a weed killer too? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: amolitor on August 09, 2019, 04:02:55 pm
The DDT/malaria thing is a favorite anti-science talking point, but it's absolute B.S.

The trouble with DDT and malaria is not, to first order, because DDT is bad for the environment, it's because it doesn't work. Mosquitos develop DDT resistance very fast, especially if you're spraying the stuff around indiscriminately. The more localized the use of DDT (or other insecticides) the slower the targets develop resistance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2019, 07:49:43 pm
It's not like DDT was only bad for one bird, the Bald Eagle.  It thinned the egg walls of several different bird species.  It would have done just as much damage to different predator birds in Africa too. 

On top of that, DDT was never intended for human use either.  It was dangerous for us too. 

Should we bring back Agent Orange as a weed killer too? 

Weeds don't kill people, malaria does, about 400,000 people per year and many more sick from the disease.   In 2015 alone, there were an estimated 214 million new cases of malaria.  It sounds like DDT was good and bad.  It eliminated malaria from many countries and regions including North America, Europe and the Soviet Union.  India still uses it but for spraying on walls of homes.  The article points out a lot of negatives too.  But it did save a lot of people.  Of course since it wiped out malaria where we lived, who cares about what it's still doing in other parts of the world.  As long as we save a few birds, that's what's important. 

"In 1945, DDT was made available to farmers as an agricultural insecticide[5] and played a role in the final (for a time) elimination of malaria in Europe and North America.[9][31][32]

In 1955, the World Health Organization commenced a program to eradicate malaria in countries with low to moderate transmission rates worldwide, relying largely on DDT for mosquito control and rapid diagnosis and treatment to reduce transmission.[33] The program eliminated the disease in "North America, Europe, the former Soviet Union",[34] and in "Taiwan, much of the Caribbean, the Balkans, parts of northern Africa, the northern region of Australia, and a large swath of the South Pacific"[35] and dramatically reduced mortality in Sri Lanka and India.[36]

However, failure to sustain the program, increasing mosquito tolerance to DDT, and increasing parasite tolerance led to a resurgence. In many areas early successes partially or completely reversed, and in some cases rates of transmission increased.[37] The program succeeded in eliminating malaria only in areas with "high socio-economic status, well-organized healthcare systems, and relatively less intensive or seasonal malaria transmission".[34]"

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDT)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/India-3rd-in-no-of-malaria-deaths-WHO/articleshow/49017287.cms?from=mdr (https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/India-3rd-in-no-of-malaria-deaths-WHO/articleshow/49017287.cms?from=mdr)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 10, 2019, 07:08:42 am

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2436/co2-is-making-earth-greenerfor-now/ (https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2436/co2-is-making-earth-greenerfor-now/)


That paper doesn't say what you try to make it say.

The beneficial impacts of carbon dioxide on plants may be limited, said co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais, associate director of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-suv-Yvette, France. “Studies have shown that plants acclimatize, or adjust, to rising carbon dioxide concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 07:24:15 am
Changes in population shifts with climate change as they have since time immemorial.  While some species might be affected negatively, others are positively affected. 

Also, warmer weather has increased species diversity and population.  Just compare the warmer Amazon region and to colder Alaska.  Even Canadians do better when it's warmer.  :)

Unfortunately, the warm weather and air pollution has caused an explosion of bark beetles, among other pests.
In Germany, in the Harz Mountains 100 Million of pine trees have been killed by the bark beetles.

(http://live.stormypictures.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/IMG_1065-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 07:44:36 am
That paper doesn't say what you try to make it say.

The beneficial impacts of carbon dioxide on plants may be limited, said co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais, associate director of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-suv-Yvette, France. “Studies have shown that plants acclimatize, or adjust, to rising carbon dioxide concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time.”
That's a fair comment.  I"m glad you brought it up.  However, that's one "may happen" from an article that concluded from actual NASA satellite data the additional greening has occurred over the last 35 years.   This one guy said that maybe it will be reversed if plants adapt.  But there is NO data in their report and study that it has adapted. There's still more green as of the 2016 date of the report.

What's also interesting in the article is the following :"“While the detection of greening is based on data, the attribution to various drivers is based on models,” ".  So, while the extra greening is factual based on satellite data, the driver, CO2, is an assumption based on models.  In effect the extra greeing may be caused by something else. Interesting that we don't similarly hear that CO2 is a driver of warming based on models.  In warming case, it's assumed as fact.  The scientists in the greening case are being more honest.  It would be nice if we got that same honesty about warming and climate change.  That'[size=78%]s all I've been asking for.  [/size]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 08:07:14 am
That's a fair comment.  I"m glad you brought it up.  However, that's one "may happen" from an article that concluded from actual NASA satellite data the additional greening has occurred over the last 35 years.   This one guy said that maybe it will be reversed if plants adapt.  But there is NO data in their report and study that it has adapted. There's still more green as of the 2016 date of the report.

What's also interesting in the article is the following :"“While the detection of greening is based on data, the attribution to various drivers is based on models,” ".  So, while the extra greening is factual based on satellite data, the driver, CO2, is an assumption based on models.  In effect the extra greeing may be caused by something else. Interesting that we don't similarly hear that CO2 is a driver of warming based on models.  In warming case, it's assumed as fact.  The scientists in the greening case are being more honest.  It would be nice if we got that same honesty about warming and climate change.  That'[size=78%]s all I've been asking for.  [/size]

Here's an update.  I did some checking and found this article. It seems a lot of assumed increase due to CO2 was actually due to more planting in India and China. "Overall, much of the greening in China and India comes from the "intensive" cultivation of crops, NASA found. This accounts for 32 percent of the greening in China and 82 percent in India."

It  also adds, ""Production of grains, vegetables, fruits and more have increased by 35 to 40 percent since 2000," NASA said."

...and "Zooming out, about one-third Earth's vegetated lands experienced greening, including a conspicuous portion of North America stretching from southern Mexico to high into the boreal forests of Canada.

Vast swaths of the Arctic tundra are greening too as the Arctic continues its historically unprecedented warming trend — which is also thawing the carbon-saturated ground (permafrost) and melting massive ice sheets. "

So the original report of 2016 was somewhat wrong assigning all the growth to CO2.  It would be refreshing if climatologist would be so open and honest as well.  When they put their thumb on the scale, it encourages disbelief and is counter productive. 

https://mashable.com/article/greening-china-india-nasa/ (https://mashable.com/article/greening-china-india-nasa/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 08:11:46 am
Unfortunately, the warm weather and air pollution has caused an explosion of bark beetles, among other pests.
In Germany, in the Harz Mountains 100 Million of pine trees have been killed by the bark beetles.

(http://live.stormypictures.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/IMG_1065-1.jpg)

That's a terrible situation.  But like weather, it's a local situation in the Harz Mountains of Germany.  What's happening across the world with the amount of trees and other greenery?  From the studies above, the world is overall a lot more greener due to warming and CO2. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 08:21:01 am
Interesting that we don't similarly hear that CO2 is a driver of warming based on models.

The physical property of CO2 acting as a greenhouse gas has been known since 1896 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svante_Arrhenius) and those measurable properties have not changed.

(https://scripps.ucsd.edu/programs/keelingcurve/wp-content/plugins/sio-bluemoon/graphs/mlo_full_record.png)

Historical records (obviously) agree with physics. Most of the modeling required, is focusing on assumptions of how slow Humans will reduce their emissions, or destroy forrests, or change the way they grow enough food to feed the world ...

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 08:22:53 am
That's a terrible situation.  But like weather, it's a local situation in the Harz Mountains of Germany.  What's happening across the world with the amount of trees and other greenery?  From the studies above, the world is overall a lot more greener due to warming and CO2.

Not only in Germany. Also in Canada.

Quote
the beetle has migrated well beyond its historic range into northern British Columbia and eastward into the boreal forest of north-central Alberta.
Beetle populations grow when summers are warm/dry and winters are mild.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-forestry/wildland-fires-insects-disturban/top-forest-insects-diseases-cana/mountain-pine-beetle/13381
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 08:28:59 am
BArt, we've seen that same chart about 6 times already.   What's new about it?  It doesn't provide proof.  The increase in CO2 could be coincidental with warming and not causal.    Or, like the article about greening, only part has to do with CO2 and the rest due to some other reasons.  The Israeli scientist thinks it has to do with change in sun's output, something I always favored. 

Things in nature are either increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.  So it's easy to point to two things going the same way and say one causes the other.  But that's just coincidence.  It happens all the time. It never proves causality.  It's not proof.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 08:30:40 am
That's a terrible situation.  But like weather, it's a local situation in the Harz Mountains of Germany.  What's happening across the world with the amount of trees and other greenery?  From the studies above, the world is overall a lot more greener due to warming and CO2.

Your own linked article says something else:
Quote
Earth's greening — meaning the increase in areas covered by green leaves — has made the greatest gains in China and India since the mid-1990s. "The effect comes mostly from ambitious tree-planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries," NASA wrote on Tuesday as it released maps of the planet-wide changes.
[...]
Previous NASA research found that Earth's increased greenery is largely due to skyrocketing levels of carbon-dioxide saturating the air — which plants use to grow. But this new research argues that tree and crop planting plays a bigger, outsized role.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 08:43:41 am
BArt, we've seen that same chart about 6 times already.   What's new about it?  It doesn't provide proof.  The increase in CO2 could be coincidental with warming and not causal.

Besides that it's updated, apparently you have not seen it often enough for it to register, including this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PrrTk6DqzE&t=13s

The origin of the CO2 can be pretty well pinpointed on Human activity (even the US government agrees on that), i.e. burning of fossil fuel. The Carbon emissions bookkeeping and the atmospherical composition of Carbon isotopes and the inverse fluctuation of Oxygen are all consistent with, and cannot be explained by other actors, "It's US".

Nature reacts in several ways, acidification of water, increasing temperatures, expanding water volumes, global changes in temperature distribution, local droughts and downpours, more Extreme Weather.

And it threatens food-production if we do not mend our ways of landuse:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 08:45:50 am
Not only in Germany. Also in Canada.

https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-forestry/wildland-fires-insects-disturban/top-forest-insects-diseases-cana/mountain-pine-beetle/13381 (https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/our-natural-resources/forests-forestry/wildland-fires-insects-disturban/top-forest-insects-diseases-cana/mountain-pine-beetle/13381)
But isn't Canada greener overall?  As it warms up, former regions up north that couldn't support trees, shrubs, and grass, are now doing so and more than making up for losses due to a beetle.  Nature isn't static.  Unfortunately, we all tend to cherry pick certain data to prove our point.  We have to look at the full picture.  For example, leaving aside the extra mosquitos when you go on your canoe trip up north, has the warmer weather given you more time to going canoeing?  Earlier thaws, and more heat is conducive to that.  BRinging it back to photography, you have more opportunity to capture that once-in-a-lifetime shot.  :)

Here's a couple of shots I tool in the Adirondacks in New York State in Lake Algonquin in Wells, NY.  The canoeing and kayaking were great.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/6177/6176454171_a692ae2219_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/apMWDa)Dock (https://flic.kr/p/apMWDa) by Alan Klein (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/6179/6176454521_1691dc659d_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/apMWKc)Canoe View (https://flic.kr/p/apMWKc) by Alan Klein (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/), on Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/6176981704/in/album-72157627614472967/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/6176981704/in/album-72157627614472967/)


[url=https://flic.kr/p/apQDsy](https://live.staticflickr.com/6162/6176981704_972fd34494_b.jpg) (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/6176981704/in/album-72157627614472967/)Lake Algonquin, NY (https://flic.kr/p/apQDsy) by Alan Klein (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/), on Flickr[/url]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 08:49:09 am
Your own linked article says something else:
Cheers,
Bart

Planting plays a bigger role in China and India, not the rest of the world where extra greening is occurring naturally. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 08:56:32 am
But isn't Canada greener overall?  As it warms up, former regions up north that couldn't support trees, shrubs, and grass, are now doing so and more than making up for losses due to a beetle.  Nature isn't static.  Unfortunately, we all tend to cherry pick certain data to prove our point.  We have to look at the full picture.  For example, leaving aside the extra mosquitos when you go on your canoe trip up north, has the warmer weather given you more time to going canoeing?  Earlier thaws, and more heat is conducive to that.  BRinging it back to photography, you have more opportunity to capture that once-in-a-lifetime shot.  :)

Nice and tranquil pictures, Alan

Actually, I haven't had too many chances to go canoeing in recent years. We've been having heat waves and also many windy days. Not much fun paddling under such conditions.
And when the mosquitoes start buzzing, photography is the last thing on my mind. I leave the camera in the bag, and run for the car or jump into the lake.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:01:55 am
Besides that it's updated, apparently you have not seen it often enough for it to register, including this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PrrTk6DqzE&t=13s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PrrTk6DqzE&t=13s)

The origin of the CO2 can be pretty well pinpointed on Human activity (even the US government agrees on that), i.e. burning of fossil fuel. The Carbon emissions bookkeeping and the atmospherical composition of Carbon isotopes and the inverse fluctuation of Oxygen are all consistent with, and cannot be explained by other actors, "It's US".

Nature reacts in several ways, acidification of water, increasing temperatures, expanding water volumes, global changes in temperature distribution, local droughts and downpours, more Extreme Weather.

And it threatens food-production if we do not mend our ways of landuse:
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/ (https://www.ipcc.ch/report/srccl/)

Cheers,
Bart
The IPCC is biased.  By now that's obvious.  They're trying to justify their continued existence.  A lot of people are making a lot of money from "climate change".  The fact is, food production increases with more CO2.  It's the same reason more natural greening is taking place in the world.  God and nature doesn't distinguish between food plants and naturally growing other plants like green trees. If CO2 causes more growth of the latter, it causes more growth of the former. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 09:16:13 am
The IPCC is biased.  By now that's obvious.

How? Any proof for that fake 'news'?

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:17:23 am
Nice and tranquil pictures, Alan

Actually, I haven't had too many chances to go canoeing in recent years. We've been having heat waves and also many windy days. Not much fun paddling under such conditions.
And when the mosquitoes start buzzing, photography is the last thing on my mind. I leave the camera in the bag, and run for the car or jump into the lake.

I'm not much of a canoe person.  But my wife and I rented that house that had both a canoe and a kayak as well as paddle boats.  I also canoed when it was very windy.  And that heavy aluminum canoe pictured above was almost impossible to handle.  I kept getting blown off course.  I couldn't change its direction easily. It really need another person beside myself to handle it.  The one-man kayak was easier.  But it's lightness tends to cause the boat to go left than right too much with each oar stroke.  A lot of wasted energy.  The canoe, in no wind, tends to keep going straight with less effort which is more relaxing.  They're entirely different experiences.  Do you have any shots while canoeing we can see?

Here's another shot taken while on that canoe.  You can see the lilies to the right of the canoe in the 2nd color shot above. All these shots were taken with a little 4mb Canon Powershot S410 P&S.  We forget how great those little cameras were back them. 
(https://live.staticflickr.com/6179/6151923142_3143698288_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/anCdqo)Water Lilies (https://flic.kr/p/anCdqo) by Alan Klein (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/), on Flickr
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:19:24 am
How? Any proof for that fake 'news'?

Cheers,
Bart
They have an agenda.    That's obvious to any discerning person. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2019, 09:20:19 am
They have an agenda.    That's obvious to any discerning person.
You have an agenda. That's obvious to any discerning person.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:22:42 am
You have an agenda. That's obvious to any discerning person.
Everyone here has an agenda. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 09:38:15 am
You have an agenda. That's obvious to any discerning person.

It's obvious, even to an undiscerning person.  :(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:40:51 am
Well, discerning people know that Nikon is better than Canon.
Oh wait.  That's another thread. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 10, 2019, 11:13:54 am
i discern that it is lunch / dinner time.  :D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 11:16:05 am
I'm not much of a canoe person.  But my wife and I rented that house that had both a canoe and a kayak as well as paddle boats.  I also canoed when it was very windy.  And that heavy aluminum canoe pictured above was almost impossible to handle.  I kept getting blown off course.  I couldn't change its direction easily. It really need another person beside myself to handle it.  The one-man kayak was easier.  But it's lightness tends to cause the boat to go left than right too much with each oar stroke.  A lot of wasted energy.  The canoe, in no wind, tends to keep going straight with less effort which is more relaxing.  They're entirely different experiences.  Do you have any shots while canoeing we can see?


A lot depends on a canoe. The typical recreational canoes are relatively short and are more difficult to paddle in a straight line. Whitewater canoes are more maneuverable in rapids and can handle also large waves. Longer lakewater canoes hold their course better. My flatwater canoe is a 17'6'' long Kevlar Swift Winisk which is a wonderful touring canoe. It's light, stable, easy to paddle, and due to its asymmetric design, it's also faster than most other canoes.

I have lots of pictures from my canoeing trips. Here are some shots with and without the canoe in the lake country a few hours north of Toronto. And one with two hot chicks on a whitewater river.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 11:25:37 am
Nice shots.  Nice boat.  What do you mean asymmetric?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 11:45:02 am
Thank you Alan.
Most canoes have symmetric hull, the only diference is the position of the seats (bow seat has more room between the seat and the end of the canoe).
In practical terms, depending on the load in the canoe, a solo paddler could sit on either seat and the boat would behave in a similar manner.
Swift Winisk has a sleeker bow than stern and because of that for the optimal performance it has to be loaded evenly in order to have a straight waterline.
In the picture below, the bow is on the right side, and the painted waterline assists the paddlers to keep the boat absolutely level.

(https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f1b4eb_3b8f2567051d403bb2567804362b9755.jpg/v1/fill/w_699,h_216,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/f1b4eb_3b8f2567051d403bb2567804362b9755.webp)

https://www.swiftcanoe.com/winisk
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 10, 2019, 01:17:55 pm
The IPCC is biased.  By now that's obvious.

To support that claim you'd have to identify mistakes in the scientific evidence they publish. No need to type rhetoric on the internet - just get your slide rule out and prove them wrong in a scientific paper. Thus does knowledge advance.

Quote
They're trying to justify their continued existence.  A lot of people are making a lot of money from "climate change".  The fact is, food production increases with more CO2.  It's the same reason more natural greening is taking place in the world.  God and nature doesn't distinguish between food plants and naturally growing other plants like green trees. If CO2 causes more growth of the latter, it causes more growth of the former.

As per your previous posting, this is likely a temporary effect.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 10, 2019, 01:34:28 pm
We really ought to rename "The Coffee Corner" to "The Silly Corner."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 01:39:18 pm
To support that claim you'd have to identify mistakes in the scientific evidence they publish. No need to type rhetoric on the internet - just get your slide rule out and prove them wrong in a scientific paper. Thus does knowledge advance....
Sorry but I've lived too long to believe everything every so- called expert claims who think they have a handle on the "truth"..
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 10, 2019, 01:59:50 pm
Sorry but I've lived too long to believe everything every so- called expert claims who think they have a handle on the "truth"..

"So-called"? Have you checked their credentials, and the process to produce such a report ???

About the IPCC special report, that I linked to:
"107 experts from 52 countries were selected as Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors – who are working on  each individual chapter – and Review Editors, who ensured that comments by experts and governments were given appropriate consideration as the report developed."
and
"A call for nomination of authors was sent to governments, observer organizations and IPCC Bureau Members on 5 April 2017. Graphics that provide background information about the nominees are available here"

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 02:15:24 pm
"So-called"? Have you checked their credentials, and the process to produce such a report ???

About the IPCC special report, that I linked to:
"107 experts from 52 countries were selected as Coordinating Lead Authors and Lead Authors – who are working on  each individual chapter – and Review Editors, who ensured that comments by experts and governments were given appropriate consideration as the report developed."
and
"A call for nomination of authors was sent to governments, observer organizations and IPCC Bureau Members on 5 April 2017. Graphics that provide background information about the nominees are available here"

Cheers,
Bart
They're all in  the same choir.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 02:18:36 pm
Thank you Alan.
Most canoes have symmetric hull, the only diference is the position of the seats (bow seat has more room between the seat and the end of the canoe).
In practical terms, depending on the load in the canoe, a solo paddler could sit on either seat and the boat would behave in a similar manner.
Swift Winisk has a sleeker bow than stern and because of that for the optimal performance it has to be loaded evenly in order to have a straight waterline.
In the picture below, the bow is on the right side, and the painted waterline assists the paddlers to keep the boat absolutely level.

(https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f1b4eb_3b8f2567051d403bb2567804362b9755.jpg/v1/fill/w_699,h_216,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01/f1b4eb_3b8f2567051d403bb2567804362b9755.webp)

https://www.swiftcanoe.com/winisk
Les, if you look at the canoe picture at the dock that I posted, the seat for it is way in the back where I sat.  Without another canoeist up front, the whole canoe tilts up making it that more difficult to control.  A little wind and the canoe starts to spin.  I can see why yours controls better.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2019, 03:02:49 pm
Les, if you look at the canoe picture at the dock that I posted, the seat for it is way in the back where I sat.  Without another canoeist up front, the whole canoe tilts up making it that more difficult to control.  A little wind and the canoe starts to spin.  I can see why yours controls better.
Paddling a canoe around a lake is not rocket science.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 10, 2019, 03:35:57 pm
They're all in  the same choir.

Same choir that faked the Moon landings, I suppose. Really - if you imagine that 97% of the world's climate scientists are all in on a conspiracy, you need to check your meds.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 04:50:19 pm
Les, if you look at the canoe picture at the dock that I posted, the seat for it is way in the back where I sat.  Without another canoeist up front, the whole canoe tilts up making it that more difficult to control.  A little wind and the canoe starts to spin.  I can see why yours controls better.

Right! That's why if you paddle solo a tandem canoe, it's better to switch the seats, and sit in the bow seat facing the middle of the canoe. Even so, the now new bow would ride higher, but not quite as high as if you were sitting on the stern seat. Even better is to kneel in the middle, or slightly behind the middle. That's in no wind or with just a slight wind.
To paddle solo in windy conditions, it's best to put your weight slightly forward, so that the bow rides lower than the stern. This way the wind hits the back half of the canoe which makes it easier to keep the boat on its course.
 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 10, 2019, 05:01:44 pm
Paddling a canoe around a lake is not rocket science.

That's what one would think.
But I've seen quite a few furiously paddling canoeists on a zig zag course and some not so funny upsets in even relatively small waves or when pinned in wind against a rock. 
Once at Algonquin Park canoe rental dock, I saw a pair who boarded the canoe in the opposite direction, and the man sitting in the stern seat facing his end of the canoe couldn't figure out where to put his feet. Fortunately, the were straightened out before paddling out into the lake.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2019, 05:04:12 pm
That's what one would think.
But I've seen quite a few furiously paddling canoeists on a zig zag course and some not so funny upsets in even relatively small waves or when pinned in wind against a rock. 
Once at Algonquin Park canoe rental dock, I saw a pair who boarded the canoe in the opposite direction, and the man sitting in the stern seat facing his end of the canoe couldn't figure out where to put his feet. Fortunately, the were straightened out before paddling out into the lake.
I recognize that there is a bell curve in intelligence.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 05:33:04 pm
Right! That's why if you paddle solo a tandem canoe, it's better to switch the seats, and sit in the bow seat facing the middle of the canoe. Even so, the now new bow would ride higher, but not quite as high as if you were sitting on the stern seat. Even better is to kneel in the middle, or slightly behind the middle. That's in no wind or with just a slight wind.
To paddle solo in windy conditions, it's best to put your weight slightly forward, so that the bow rides lower than the stern. This way the wind hits the back half of the canoe which makes it easier to keep the boat on its course.
 
Next time i'l make my wife join me and have her row. 😀
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 05:48:34 pm
Same choir that faked the Moon landings, I suppose. Really - if you imagine that 97% of the world's climate scientists are all in on a conspiracy, you need to check your meds.
When the environment becomes religious, it's amazing how many zealots you could find.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2019, 09:38:06 pm
Here's an article to help people put their money where their mouth is. :)
https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/08/10/how-to-invest-in-renewable-energy-stocks.aspx (https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/08/10/how-to-invest-in-renewable-energy-stocks.aspx)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 12, 2019, 02:59:04 am
Same choir that faked the Moon landings, I suppose. Really - if you imagine that 97% of the world's climate scientists are all in on a conspiracy, you need to check your meds.

Good point!  ;)

I suspect that less than 50% of them are engaged in a conspiracy with the media and politics. Most climate scientists probably understand that climate changes are too complex to attribute a single cause to such changes, such as an increase in CO2 levels, although they will tend to remain silent on such points in order to avoid emotional confrontation with the 'conspiracists' who believe that the truth should be sacrificed in order to promote political action.

The 97% consensus refers only to that (less than 50%) proportion of climate scientists who are prepared to categorically state that CO2 rises are the main driver of the current warming, and that such warming will be generally bad for the environment and humanity. The other 3% (of the 50% or less) are prepared to categorically state that current CO2 levels have a negligible effect on climate change.

Professor Stephen Schneider explained the process very well, as I mentioned in reply # 222 of this thread.

The great tragedy of this 'misrepresentation' of the evidence in the media is that many people will be duped into thinking that the severity of the latest flood, drought or hurricane which destroyed their homes and possibly caused some loss of life, is mainly the result of human emissions of CO2.

Instead of demanding that the government build more dams to reduce the effects of flooding and droughts, and introduce stricter building codes for homes subject to periodic cyclones or hurricanes, they jump on the bandwagon of renewable energy and kid themselves that their government is tackling the problem by introducing more expensive, subsidized, renewable energy.

The more expensive the energy, the less less likely it will be that the real solution to property damage and loss of life will be addressed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 12, 2019, 08:32:19 am
Good point!  ;)

I suspect that less than 50% of them are engaged in a conspiracy with the media and politics. Most climate scientists probably understand that climate changes are too complex to attribute a single cause to such changes, such as an increase in CO2 levels, although they will tend to remain silent on such points in order to avoid emotional confrontation with the 'conspiracists' who believe that the truth should be sacrificed in order to promote political action.

The 97% consensus refers only to that (less than 50%) proportion of climate scientists who are prepared to categorically state that CO2 rises are the main driver of the current warming, and that such warming will be generally bad for the environment and humanity. The other 3% (of the 50% or less) are prepared to categorically state that current CO2 levels have a negligible effect on climate change.

Professor Stephen Schneider explained the process very well, as I mentioned in reply # 222 of this thread.

The great tragedy of this 'misrepresentation' of the evidence in the media is that many people will be duped into thinking that the severity of the latest flood, drought or hurricane which destroyed their homes and possibly caused some loss of life, is mainly the result of human emissions of CO2.

Instead of demanding that the government build more dams to reduce the effects of flooding and droughts, and introduce stricter building codes for homes subject to periodic cyclones or hurricanes, they jump on the bandwagon of renewable energy and kid themselves that their government is tackling the problem by introducing more expensive, subsidized, renewable energy.

The more expensive the energy, the less less likely it will be that the real solution to property damage and loss of life will be addressed.
Even though I'm not in a flood zone, I just bought flood insurance for $500 a year. The morons who run the HOA (Homeowner's Association) in my 55+ community sold the rights to the builder next door to allow them dump their storm water runoffs for a new building site into our system's storm drain system.  The topography shows their area on the other side of the hill.  So the water there naturally runs off on the other side from us.  So now we're going to get more water that is not part of the government documents that show the new situation.  However, they had to get building;s department approval for the new design by PE's.  But what concerns me is that the odds of the 50 or 100 or 500 year "flood" has just gone down so it could create a problem for us in the future.    Already, two weeks ago, the drain outside the back of my house overfilled - it couldn't handle the heavy rains.  Fortunately, our house is on a slight decline so, any extra water should flow into the street bypassing us.  But who knows what will happen if it really gets bad. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 12, 2019, 09:03:46 am
Even though I'm not in a flood zone, I just bought flood insurance for $500 a year. The morons who run the HOA (Homeowner's Association) in my 55+ community sold the rights to the builder next door to allow them dump their storm water runoffs for a new building site into our system's storm drain system.  The topography shows their area on the other side of the hill.  So the water there naturally runs off on the other side from us.  So now we're going to get more water that is not part of the government documents that show the new situation.  However, they had to get building;s department approval for the new design by PE's.  But what concerns me is that the odds of the 50 or 100 or 500 year "flood" has just gone down so it could create a problem for us in the future.    Already, two weeks ago, the drain outside the back of my house overfilled - it couldn't handle the heavy rains.  Fortunately, our house is on a slight decline so, any extra water should flow into the street bypassing us.  But who knows what will happen if it really gets bad.

A prudent choice on your part. It indeed looks like a strange decision, unless it's a purely financially motivated short term decision to sell those rights (which would explain it, but it remains dubiuous).

It's a pity that it cost you (and others) $500 a year while others benefit. I assume that the insurance also covers natural disasters.

In my country, we have had a collective system of water-management (organized in local Waterboards with a legal task, and elections for its boardmembers) for centuries already. The low lying parts of the country are surrounded by a network of levees/dikes. Windmill powered pump stations, later replaced by steam engines (nowadays with electric pumps and diesel backup) are used to keep the groundwater levels in check by pumping the excess water out into surrounding canals, which in their turn pump the water into rivers which carry the water off to sea.

The oldest (1845) steam-engine powered pumping station, "De Leeghwater", is still in occasional (600 hours a year) use today, as a backup station. In 1912 the steam engine was replaced by diesel engines. The D.F. Wouda pumping station near Lemmer (1920), with a flow of 4 million litres of water per minute, is the largest working steam pumping station in the world and is on the Unesco World Heritage List, and is still in (occasional) use.

When there is excess water it becomes harder to pump it into the rivers that have to fight higher seawater levels, and in periods of prolonged drought, due to a lack of counter-pressure, the seawater causes evermore salination of the agricultural lands further inland.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 12, 2019, 09:39:28 am
A prudent choice on your part. It indeed looks like a strange decision, unless it's a purely financially motivated short term decision to sell those rights (which would explain it, but it remains dubiuous).

It's a pity that it cost you (and others) $500 a year while others benefit. I assume that the insurance also covers natural disasters.

In my country, we have had a collective system of water-management (organised in local Waterboards with a legal task, and elections for its boardmembers) for centuries already. The low lying parts of the country are surrounded by a network of levees/dikes. Windmill powered pump stations (nowadays with electric pumps and diesel backup) are used to keep the groundwater levels in check by pumping the excess water out into surrounding canals, which in their turn pump the water into rivers which carry the water off to sea.

When there is excess water it becomes harder to pump it into the rivers that have to fight higher seawater levels, and in periods of prolonged drought, due to a lack of counter-pressure, the seawater causes evermore salination of the agricultural lands further inland.

Cheers,
Bart
Fortunately, I'm not in the dubious situation you all face in the Netherlands.  I only have two thumbs and would never be able to survive there. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 12, 2019, 10:02:30 am
Even though I'm not in a flood zone, I just bought flood insurance for $500 a year. The morons who run the HOA (Homeowner's Association) in my 55+ community sold the rights to the builder next door to allow them dump their storm water runoffs for a new building site into our system's storm drain system.  The topography shows their area on the other side of the hill.  So the water there naturally runs off on the other side from us.  So now we're going to get more water that is not part of the government documents that show the new situation.  However, they had to get building;s department approval for the new design by PE's.  But what concerns me is that the odds of the 50 or 100 or 500 year "flood" has just gone down so it could create a problem for us in the future.    Already, two weeks ago, the drain outside the back of my house overfilled - it couldn't handle the heavy rains.  Fortunately, our house is on a slight decline so, any extra water should flow into the street bypassing us.  But who knows what will happen if it really gets bad.

In Australia the insurance companies make a distinction between 'riverine' flooding, and 'flash flooding' which results from the poor contouring or shaping of the urban landscape to deal with any unusually heavy downpour of rain.

Riverine flooding is never unprecedented, so the history of past flooding events in the specific region is taken into consideration when the insurance companies calculate the price of 'riverine' flood insurance, which is very high.

However, it seems in the past that many people who lived close to a river hadn't read the fine print of their insurance policy and had assumed that their flood insurance covered all types of floods. When their house was washed away by a flooding river, they were devastated to find that they were not insured.

Fortunately, the government does come to their aid, but they probably don't get recompensed for the full value of their property, and certainly not for any loss of life.

I'm rather troubled, even alarmed, that Australian governments are not sufficiently addressing the problems, within the historical context of regular floods, droughts and cyclones that can be expected to reoccur regardless of current CO2 levels.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 12, 2019, 11:22:10 am
In Australia the insurance companies make a distinction between 'riverine' flooding, and 'flash flooding' which results from the poor contouring or shaping of the urban landscape to deal with any unusually heavy downpour of rain.

Riverine flooding is never unprecedented, so the history of past flooding events in the specific region is taken into consideration when the insurance companies calculate the price of 'riverine' flood insurance, which is very high.

However, it seems in the past that many people who lived close to a river hadn't read the fine print of their insurance policy and had assumed that their flood insurance covered all types of floods. When their house was washed away by a flooding river, they were devastated to find that they were not insured.

Fortunately, the government does come to their aid, but they probably don't get recompensed for the full value of their property, and certainly not for any loss of life.

I'm rather troubled, even alarmed, that Australian governments are not sufficiently addressing the problems, within the historical context of regular floods, droughts and cyclones that can be expected to reoccur regardless of current CO2 levels.

The US government through FEMA has flood charts for the entire country.  When you buy a house, the mortgage company checks to see if you're in a flood zone.  They require you buy flood insurance if you are. 

I'm not in a flood zone, considered X zone for "everywhere else".  The insurance is about the same price for everyone ($500/annually roughly) with minor differences depending on the size/type house.  There are also limit for flood damage. I think is $100K for contents and $250K for the home.  Not very much.  Of course if your home floats away and it costs more to replace, you're out of luck.  These are the max limits with government insurance.  I suppose you could find independent insurance companies that provide more insurance for more expensive homes. 

I haven't read through all the caveats yet.  One that was interesting is that they don't consider it a flood unless at least two homes flooded.  So I guess if none of my neighbors suffered damage, then I'm out of luck.  Who knows what other escape clauses the insurance companies write for themselves.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 12, 2019, 01:25:48 pm
That's a terrible situation.  But like weather, it's a local situation in the Harz Mountains of Germany.  What's happening across the world with the amount of trees and other greenery? 

Alan, try this link:  Especially the maps therein.  The Mountain Pine Beetle and the Spruce Budworm have in the last two decades devastated central British Columbia forests.  The cause?  Warm winters.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&biw=2313&bih=1225&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=Up9RXaXjM4uJ0wL2pJeAAw&q=forest+insect+damage+british+columbia&oq=forest+insect+damage+british+columbia&gs_l=img.12...0.0..105752...0.0..0.0.0.......0......gws-wiz-img.iKJCSsnmUgg&ved=0ahUKEwil1Neq6_3jAhWLxFQKHXbSBTAQ4dUDCAY


Also, this.  Carbon dioxide-enhanced crops lose nutritional value

https://www.forbes.com/sites/fionamcmillan/2018/05/27/rising-co2-is-reducing-the-nutritional-value-of-our-food/#3dee05b75133

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 13, 2019, 12:55:40 am

Also, this.  Carbon dioxide-enhanced crops lose nutritional value

https://www.forbes.com/sites/fionamcmillan/2018/05/27/rising-co2-is-reducing-the-nutritional-value-of-our-food/#3dee05b75133

Interesting article, but puzzling. It's been known for years that modern agricultural practices tend to reduce the nutrient and vitamin content of food crops in general, compared with preindustrial times when farming was more natural and organic with less use of growth-enhancing fertilizers such as Nitrogen.

CO2 is like a hidden fertilizer. It's always there, but increases so slowly from year to year that its effect would be impossible to detect in a single growing season, outside of an artificial environment of significantly enhanced CO2 levels, such as in a greenhouse or a FACE experiment.

However, the nutritional content of any particular type of food crop can vary enormously depending on the location where it was grown, the farming practices used, the type of fertilizers used, the biodiversity and health of the soils, the mineral content of the soils, and so on.

Being concerned about a possible lack of Selenium in my diet a few years ago, I did some research into the Selenium content of Brazil nuts. I came across recommendations that as little as one Brazil nut per day could meet the recommended daily dosage of 55 mcg. Other sites recommended as many as 5 or 6 Brazil nuts per day, which seemed rather odd, so I did some more searching.

I came across some scientific research that rigorously examined the Selenium content of Brazil nuts grown in many different locations around the world. I was amazed that the Selenium content varied by a factor of 10. In other words, if just one Brazil nut grown in ideal conditions could meet my daily needs for Selenium, it could take as many as 10 Brazil nuts grown in less ideal conditions to meet the same daily requirements for Selenium.

One major issue I have with experiments that show that enhanced CO2 levels reduce the protein, mineral and vitamin content of major food crops such as rice, is that these foods are already being stripped of much of their nutritional value through processing, particularly the processing of brown whole grain rice into nice, clean and attractive white rice, which most people eat, even in desperately poor countries.

From the following site http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=128

"The complete milling and polishing that converts brown rice into white rice destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids. Fully milled and polished white rice is required (by law in the US) to be "enriched" with vitamins B1, B3 and iron."

In other words, poor people who are undernourished should be encouraged to change their diet from white rice to whole-grain brown rice. The solution is education, not reducing CO2 levels.

A doubling of CO2 levels results in approximately a 1/3rd increase in rice yields, all else remaining the same. If you were living in a poverty stricken community where people were starving and undernourished, and someone offered you a choice of 90 Kg of polished white rice grown in preindustrial CO2 levels of 280 ppm, or 133 Kg of brown rice grown in twice the levels of CO2 (560 ppm), which would you choose? (I've used the figure 90 instead of 100, for the white rice, on the assumption that about 10% of the mass is thrown away during polishing).

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 13, 2019, 01:13:42 am
However, the nutritional content of any particular type of food crop can vary enormously depending on the location where it was grown, the farming practices used, the type of fertilizers used, the biodiversity and health of the soils, the mineral content of the soils, and so on.
...
Being concerned about a possible lack of Selenium in my diet a few years ago, I did some research into the Selenium content of Brazil nuts. I came across recommendations that as little as one Brazil nut per day could meet the recommended daily dosage of 55 mcg. Other sites recommended as many as 5 or 6 Brazil nuts per day, which seemed rather odd, so I did some more searching.
...
I came across some scientific research that rigorously examined the Selenium content of Brazil nuts grown in many different locations around the world. I was amazed that the Selenium content varied by a factor of 10. In other words, if just one Brazil nut grown in ideal conditions could meet my daily needs for Selenium, it could take as many as 10 Brazil nuts grown in less ideal conditions to meet the same daily requirements for Selenium.

Ray, you raise a very valid point about the nutritional values of the same crop grown under different conditions.

I always wanted to know the nutritional breakdown of the common vegetables, such as tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers and such. The store bought variety vs home grown or purchased from a local farmer. Even tomatoes grown in a greenhouse vs field tomatoes.

I suspect that also most books stating the typical nutritional values are now drastically outdated, quoting the 20-year old test results while the produce in the stores today is much lower in most nutrients. While I can tell with closed eyes the difference between my own tomatoes and the store bought variety, it's close to impossible to get the actual results and compare these differences.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on August 13, 2019, 08:06:47 am
Ray and I had a long debate about the impact on CO2 and crop yield on the old climate change thread and anyone interested can go back and read the discussion.  I will only reiterate the key issue here.  With regard to the nutritional quality of seeds, one wants varieties that spend more energy into creating seed rather than biomass growth.  Biomass is pretty much non-nutritional other than for ruminants who can metabolize cellulose.  Plant breeders seek to optimize genetic factors that maximize seed production.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 13, 2019, 11:13:20 am
Bananas disappearing due to a killer fungus! Maybe not due to the warming climate, but nevertheless a big problem.
First identified in Taiwan thirty years ago,then found in the Middle East and Africa in 2013, and now it has arrived to South America.

Quote
A fungus that has wreaked havoc on banana plantations in the Eastern Hemisphere has, despite years of preventative efforts, arrived in the Americas. ICA, the Colombian agriculture and livestock authority, confirmed on Thursday that laboratory tests have positively identified the presence of so-called Panama disease Tropical Race 4 on banana farms in the Caribbean coastal region. The announcement was accompanied by a declaration of a national state of emergency.

The discovery of the fungus represents a potential impending disaster for bananas as both a food source and an export commodity. Panama disease Tropical Race 4—or TR4—is an infection of the banana plant by a fungus of the genus Fusarium. Although bananas produced in infected soil are not unsafe for humans, infected plants eventually stop bearing fruit.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/banana-fungus-latin-america-threatening-future/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 13, 2019, 11:15:33 am
Oh dear. We'll all have to switch to watermelon.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 13, 2019, 11:25:42 am
Oh dear. We'll all have to switch to watermelon.

America is a free country. You can eat anything you like.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 13, 2019, 11:40:21 am
Careful, Les. If you say things like that the "me too"ers will be on your case.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 13, 2019, 11:48:41 am
Careful, Les. If you say things like that the "me too"ers will be on your case.

Good point, Russ.
I'd better stick to regular news. All stations here are now reporting about the recently announced Jimmy Kimmel's candidacy to run for mayor's office in Dildo, Newfoundland.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/jimmy-kimmel-responds-to-premier-ball-s-official-invite-to-dildo-n-l-1.4545936
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 13, 2019, 11:59:08 am
Well, I certainly hope Jimmy does a good job in Dildo. Their women will appreciate it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 14, 2019, 09:27:35 pm
A new study finds that microplastics are being carried around the planet in atmospheric winds, and that we’re breathing them in.

Quote
Microplastics, those pervasive relics of modern times, have invaded seemingly every part of the planet today, including the most remote reaches of the Arctic. Scientists have been puzzling over how this flood of pollution makes its way to such distant locations far from the urban centers where it’s generated. A new study finds a surprising route for the tiny particles—they’re ferried aloft to fall in the Arctic as snow.

“Basically microplastic is everywhere,” says Bergmann. “Aerial transport is the pathway to transport microplastic to the remotest parts of our planet.” And this means the atmosphere may be a key source of exposure for humans and animals. “Microplastic is in the air, and it's not unlikely that we also inhale some of it,” says Bergmann.” And part of this may actually make it into our lungs."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/microplastics-found-in-arctic-snow/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 19, 2019, 04:12:17 am
Heavy storm with a tornado in Hessen in central Germany caused serious problems in the rush hour. Many persons were injured, trees uprooted, highways closed for days.

Quote
Update, 19 August, 8:53am:
After the heavy storm over Hessen there are numerous injured. According to information from the Hessenschau at least 23 people were injured. Particularly affected was the district of Offenbach and above all Dietzenbach and Langen. According to the police, 17 people were slightly injured and four seriously injured in the Offenbach district, including one child. There was also an injured man in the Main-Kinzig district.

I used to live in that area and visited it just  a few months ago. AFAIK, this is the first time that they experienced a tornado.

https://www.fr.de/rhein-main/sturm-ueber-hessen-schwere-schaeden-verletzte-tornado-zr-12924225.html?fbclid=IwAR3C3RjAt5pnqrudiANdoaLn-yNZ5wb6VuNXG0ugo1GBxwrPGoDJw95fLeE  (in German)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2019, 01:50:06 pm
They're picking on the royals again.  So what if their carbon emissions doubled in the last year.  They say they are interested in climate change.  And they make such a nice couple. Don't they realize they're grandchildren will suffer 50 years from now?  Anyway, my (American)wife thinks they're adorable. :)

"Elton John tries and fails to defend Prince Harry on climate change"
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/elton-john-tries-and-fails-to-defend-prince-harry-on-climate-change (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/elton-john-tries-and-fails-to-defend-prince-harry-on-climate-change)


"The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are being criticized in the British media for their extensive use of private jets for vacations, including flying on Elton John's private jet to Nice, France, despite their support for environmental charities."[/font][/size]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WOKac4ZBoY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WOKac4ZBoY)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2019, 01:56:13 pm
A new study finds that microplastics are being carried around the planet in atmospheric winds, and that we’re breathing them in.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/microplastics-found-in-arctic-snow/

A new thing to worry about.  Maybe we can start another thread. :)  PS I don;t know why they don't know if we're breathing these things in for sure or not.  All they would have to do is have some "breather" device sucking in the air against a filter.  It would be nice to know what's up?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 20, 2019, 02:00:27 pm
... this is the first time that they experienced a tornado...

What did they think all those wind turbines would do?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 20, 2019, 02:05:51 pm
A new thing to worry about.  Maybe we can start another thread. :)  PS I don;t know why they don't know if we're breathing these things in for sure or not.  All they would have to do is have some "breather" device sucking in the air against a filter.  It would be nice to know what's up?
You wouldn't believe the scientific research anyway, so what's the point?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 20, 2019, 02:17:41 pm
What did they think all those wind turbines would do?

Actually, the construction of wind turbines there slowed down, but the summer temperatures and the Greens are on the rise.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jul/28/europe-greens-on-fire-and-not-just-because-of-sweltering-heat
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2019, 02:20:46 pm
You wouldn't believe the scientific research anyway, so what's the point?
Well, the first thing that would happen is that some zealot would have a bill before Congress banning plastics.  Then I wouldn't be able to use straws or plastic shopping bags.  Wait, I think those are already banned.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 20, 2019, 03:17:01 pm
Well, the first thing that would happen is that some zealot would have a bill before Congress banning plastics.  Then I wouldn't be able to use straws or plastic shopping bags.  Wait, I think those are already banned.  :)
You could change your behavior without the necessity of passing any law or regulation. Your behavior is up to you. If you like your plastic straws and plastic bags, you could save and re-use them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2019, 05:12:19 pm
You could change your behavior without the necessity of passing any law or regulation. Your behavior is up to you. If you like your plastic straws and plastic bags, you could save and re-use them.
Thanks for the tip. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2019, 09:44:21 am
Wrong thread.  Sorry.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 23, 2019, 02:00:32 am
At least four people died and more than 100 were injured in lightning strikes during a sudden thunderstorm in Tatra Mountains in Poland. A fifth person was killed in neighbouring Slovakia.

Quote
A lightning bolt is thought to have struck the 15m structure at a time when a large number of hikers were at the summit, and the current then travelled along a metal railing.
"We heard that after (the) lightning struck, people fell. The current then continued along the chains securing the ascent, striking everyone along the way."

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49439619
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 27, 2019, 06:14:18 am
A doubling of CO2 levels results in approximately a 1/3rd increase in rice yields, all else remaining the same. If you were living in a poverty stricken community where people were starving and undernourished, and someone offered you a choice of 90 Kg of polished white rice grown in preindustrial CO2 levels of 280 ppm, or 133 Kg of brown rice grown in twice the levels of CO2 (560 ppm), which would you choose? (I've used the figure 90 instead of 100, for the white rice, on the assumption that about 10% of the mass is thrown away during polishing).

Ray, doubling of CO2 levels causes not only 30% increase of rice yields, but potentially also a 300% increase of air turbulence for airplanes. Warming temperatures create larger storms and as the jet stream shifts northward, we get more frequent and stronger instances of air turbulence which affect air traffic.

Quote
“The best scientific evidence is that there is a strong link between climate change and clear air turbulence,” said Paul Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading in the U.K. “When someone says global warming, we think about the fact that it’s getting warmer,” he said. “And that’s true, it is, but the climate is changing in the upper atmosphere as well.”

According to research conducted by Williams, the type of “severe clear air turbulence” experienced by passengers aboard Air Canada flight AC33 in July 2019 – which resulted in an emergency landing at Honolulu’s international airport and sent 37 people to hospital – could double or even triple as carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere rise. That’s because more C02 means warmer temperatures, which means shifting wind patterns with stronger and less predictable airflow, Williams said. This also means occurrences of severe clear air turbulence will become more common.

https://globalnews.ca/news/5489393/frequency-of-severe-air-turbulence-could-triple-due-to-climate-change/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 27, 2019, 07:15:10 am
Ray, doubling of CO2 levels causes not only 30% increase of rice yields, but potentially also a 300% increase of air turbulence for airplanes. Warming temperatures create larger storms and as the jet stream shifts northward, we get more frequent and stronger instances of air turbulence which affect air traffic.

And not only that. In order for more biomass to grow due to the increased CO2 levels, the soil must provide nutrients and there must be the right amount of water. Both are not guaranteed as a result of climate change (droughts vs increased precipitation). In addition, harmful (sometimes exotic) insects usually thrive at higher temperatures and weeds can also compete with the more desirable plant growth. This may also increase the need to use herbicides, insecticides and additional fertilizer, and if a runoff is caused by heavy rainfall, the aquatic life may also suffer from algae blooms in a competition for oxygen.

Climate change deniers usually cherry-pick one specific benefit, but deliberately ignore the (more) negative effects that are almost inevitable in a closed-loop ecosystem. We do not live in a controlled laboratory, sheltered from the outside world, but we live as part of a large system that struggles to adapt to the unprecedented pace of change.

BTW, talking about extreme weather, we are experiencing our third heatwave in 3 months time this year, temperatures have never been this high in the respective months since they were first formally recorded more than 100 years ago. The numbers of excess deaths for this run are not known yet (we have another day and a half to go before normal temperatures set in), but the National Heatplan is in effect again.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on August 27, 2019, 07:21:28 am
And not only that. In order for more biomass to grow, the soil must provide nutrients and there must be the right amount of water. Both are not guaranteed as a result of climate change (droughts vs increased precipitation). In addition, harmful (sometimes exotic) insects usually thrive at higher temperatures and weeds can also compete with the more desirable plant growth. This may also increase the need to use herbicides and insecticides, and if runoff is caused by heavy rainfall, the aquatic life may also suffer from algae blooms in a competition for oxygen.

Cheers,
Bart
I've tried making this point to some of Ray's previous comments as well.  Plant breeders will have to change their approach.  The big problem with higher levels of CO2 is biomass production which is what weeds do really well.  We don't know if the dwarf wheat varieties that revolutionized that crop will be best adapted to higher CO2 levels or not.  The system is complex and arguments that enhanced CO2 will lead to increased crop yields may not be accurate.  there are also environmental and energy impacts (the latter reflected in the energy needed for fertilizer production) that are likely to increase.  TNSTAAFL!!!  (There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 08:29:50 am
As I've been saying, climate change has negative and positive consequences. I think there are more positive consequences as it gets warmer and as most species have done much better in the warming up since the Ice Age. So another couple of degrees will just be better for us. I'm glad we're talking about both sides of the equation now. We've only been hearing the negative side.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 27, 2019, 09:59:39 am
As I've been saying, climate change has negative and positive consequences. I think there are more positive consequences as it gets warmer and as most species have done much better in the warming up since the Ice Age. So another couple of degrees will just be better for us. I'm glad we're talking about both sides of the equation now. We've only been hearing the negative side.

Or in other words, one man's problems are another man's opportunities. Although the pest exterminators will definitely benefit from the onslaught of harmful insects and rodents which thrive at hot temperatures, I am witnessing more negative effects than positive consequences. Now, if you get all heavily sprayed produce from the supermarket, you wouldn't be aware of all the harmful insects which proliferate in the hot weather. 

But because I like my home grown tomatoes and kale better than the ones from the store, I have been fighting those pests all summer long, and that impacts not only my stress levels but also my free time. And while the CO2 may hypothetically increase the rice yield in some faraway country, those bugs and caterpillars are reducing significantly my own garden harvest. If those leaf eating pests are not kept in check, they would effectively destroy the entire plants and even mature berry bushes which require several years to get to a proper and fruit-bearing size. In addition, the higher temperatures and drier weather have increased also the need for water consumption to keep my little farm operation alive. So, I vote for two degrees cooler summers.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 10:15:52 am
Or in other words, one man's problems are another man's opportunities. Although the pest exterminators will definitely benefit from the onslaught of harmful insects and rodents which thrive at hot temperatures, I am witnessing more negative effects than positive consequences. Now, if you get all heavily sprayed produce from the supermarket, you wouldn't be aware of all the harmful insects which proliferate in the hot weather. 

But because I like my home grown tomatoes and kale better than the ones from the store, I have been fighting those pests all summer long, and that impacts not only my stress levels but also my free time. And while the CO2 may hypothetically increase the rice yield in some faraway country, those bugs and caterpillars are reducing significantly my own garden harvest. If those leaf eating pests are not kept in check, they would effectively destroy the entire plants and even mature berry bushes which require several years to get to a proper and fruit-bearing size. In addition, the higher temperatures and drier weather have increased also the need for water consumption to keep my little farm operation alive. So, I vote for two degrees cooler summers.
I'm sorry you have to deal with all those bugs.  But realistically, two degrees warmer in summer means that your location in "colder" Canada brings you equivalently down in latitude of the earth, what, a couple of hundred miles south.  You would then experience the same weather conditions currently experienced in let's say Albany, New York and the Hudson Valley, still way above from where most of the US dwells.  What people forget about, is that our mean temperature varies a lot due to where we live on the earth.  We're all not at the same latitude and average temperature.   I think that for regular Canadian farmers, they would appreciate a longer growing season they would get due to higher temperatures year around despite the additional bugs.  It would improve their crop yields and make them richer. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 27, 2019, 10:48:55 am
Here's another point of view from the Farmers' Almanac: https://wtop.com/weather-news/2019/08/what-the-farmers-almanac-is-predicting-for-the-d-c-metro-area-this-winter/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 11:31:35 am
Here's another point of view from the Farmers' Almanac: https://wtop.com/weather-news/2019/08/what-the-farmers-almanac-is-predicting-for-the-d-c-metro-area-this-winter/ (https://wtop.com/weather-news/2019/08/what-the-farmers-almanac-is-predicting-for-the-d-c-metro-area-this-winter/)
The last paragraph in that article has something that Les may be interested in. :) Does anyone farm bugs? 

"Beyond weather, the 2020 Farmers’ Almanac includes articles on natural remedies, what bugs are safe and tasty to eat, how animals survive extreme weather, ways to melt ice more naturally, life hacks and gardening tips."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 27, 2019, 01:12:02 pm
The last paragraph in that article has something that Les may be interested in. :) Does anyone farm bugs? 

"Beyond weather, the 2020 Farmers’ Almanac includes articles on natural remedies, what bugs are safe and tasty to eat, how animals survive extreme weather, ways to melt ice more naturally, life hacks and gardening tips."

I am allergic to bugs. I can't stand when they bite me, and I won't eat them either.
In addition to the bugs, I have to deal also with other wildlife. Had to erect a fence around my vegetable patch to keep out several wild bunnies running around my backyard. I don't use any herbicide in my backyard, and they seem to like that. They seem to be getting bolder and plumper every day, by now they will let me shoot them from only about 4 feet distance. Below is an intimate portrait of one trespasser right in the clover patch beside my deck, so as you can see they are eating healthy organic food. I already found an old-fashioned recipe for a piquant Hungarian paprikash.
   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on August 27, 2019, 02:25:26 pm
Does anyone farm bugs? 

Yes. And just today, we hear that pet-owners are being urged to feed insect-based food to their animals: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49450935.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 03:57:22 pm
I am allergic to bugs. I can't stand when they bite me, and I won't eat them either.
In addition to the bugs, I have to deal also with other wildlife. Had to erect a fence around my vegetable patch to keep out several wild bunnies running around my backyard. I don't use any herbicide in my backyard, and they seem to like that. They seem to be getting bolder and plumper every day, by now they will let me shoot them from only about 4 feet distance. Below is an intimate portrait of one trespasser right in the clover patch beside my deck, so as you can see they are eating healthy organic food. I already found an old-fashioned recipe for a piquant Hungarian paprikash.
   
You just reminded me that for the last two years, two of my flowering  plants have been eaten by something, probably bunnies.  My wife didn't like the plants anyway. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 04:00:47 pm
Yes. And just today, we hear that pet-owners are being urged to feed insect-based food to their animals: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49450935 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49450935).

Jeremy
Our mini-poodle, since passed away, ate the best steaks that I ate.   We tried dog food, but he turned his nose up to everything we tried.  My wife would have poisoned me had I tried bug food.  :o
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 27, 2019, 04:22:52 pm
Our mini-poodle, since passed away, ate the best steaks that I ate.   We tried dog food, but he turned his nose up to everything we tried.  My wife would have poisoned me had I tried bug food.  :o

What did he die of? High cholesterol?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 27, 2019, 04:39:10 pm
What did he die of? High cholesterol?

No, he did have diabetes after gaining a lot of weight after he started to have seizures and we put him on medicine to stop the seizures.  Unfortunately, it also made him hungry all the time and he gained a lot of weight.   That;s probably how he got diabetes.  Once he choked on a spare rib.  Stopped breathing. I had to give him mouth to snout resuscitation to bring him back to life.  Really!   I'm sure we didn't do him any favors.  He did live to 14 1/2 so I guess that's about normal for a poodle.  He was a great dog and we loved him a lot.  We buried him in a pet sematary with a headstone, etc.  Forget the cost.  :o
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 28, 2019, 02:07:46 am
And not only that. In order for more biomass to grow due to the increased CO2 levels, the soil must provide nutrients and there must be the right amount of water.

I think you've misunderstood the research. Increased CO2 levels result in increased growth, in the same type of soil with the same quantities of nutrients and the same amount of water.

Under water-stressed conditions, the increased plant growth due to elevated CO2 levels, is even greater, because of the lower evaporation that takes place as a result of the smaller stomata (pores) on the plants' leaves.

However, it is true that growing crops without returning to the soil all the crop residue and nutrients that are removed when the crop is harvested, will gradually result in less nutritious food.

This is one of the failings of modern agriculture where the soils are constantly tilled and the crop residue removed and used for other purposes. The soils are being gradually depleted of their carbon content, biodiversity and micro-nutrients. The farmers will tend to add only the particular fertilizers that enhance growth, which are mainly Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. The increased CO2 has no noticeable effect in the open field, because it's increasing at a rate of only one or two parts per million, per year. It's out of sight and out of mind, but its effect on increasing plant growth, although subtle on an annual basis, is continuous and adds up over the years.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/crop-residues

"Crop residues are valuable assets for sustainable management in cropping systems. Residues offer the following: (1) a physical barrier against soil erosion (wind or water), (2) a way to manage GHG emissions, (3) retention of soil moisture at the soil surface; (4) prevention of germination of weeds, (5) snow catchment, and (6) a source of photosynthesized carbon and SOM (soil organic matter). Therefore, effective distribution of crop residues and correct incorporation of them can greatly benefit not only soil biological activities but also can improve soil structure, water infiltration, and workability of the soil and protect it from soil erosion and compaction."

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Both are not guaranteed as a result of climate change (droughts vs increased precipitation).

Climate is always changing. Didn't you know that, Bart?  ;) There are no guarantees regarding climate or weather. A modestly warming climate, in conjunction with a modest increase in precipitation and a modest increase in CO2 levels sounds fine to me. Whether or not we have the practical commonsense to exploit such benefits, is another issue.

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Climate change deniers usually cherry-pick one specific benefit, but deliberately ignore the (more) negative effects that are almost inevitable in a closed-loop ecosystem.

There's an element of truth there; just as climate change alarmists cherry-pick the negative effects and deliberately ignore or downplay the more positive effects.

However, to be precise with our terminology, I've never met an actual 'Climate Change Denier', but I have met many 'Climate Change Alarmists', and it does seem a very obvious fact that the process of creating alarm about CO2 emissions will be much more successful if the positive effects are ignored or downplayed.

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We do not live in a controlled laboratory, sheltered from the outside world, but we live as part of a large system that struggles to adapt to the unprecedented pace of change.

I get a sense that many of the scientists expressing alarm about climate change, such as Michael Mann, actually do live in controlled laboratories or offices, working on their computer models, trying to predict the future climate, and really are sheltered from the outside world. I suspect many of them also tend to suffer from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder).   :(

People who are less sheltered from the outside world, such as farmers, tend to be far more skeptical about the effect of human emissions of greenhouse gases on the climate. Also, the scientists in disciplines which involve more connection to the outside world, such as Meteorology and Geology, tend to express more skepticism about the significance of CO2 in the current warming, presumably because the Meteorologists are more aware of the chaotic and unpredictable nature of weather and climate, and the Geologists are more aware of the history of the planet, its continually changing climate, and previous warm periods that appear to have preceded rises in atmospheric CO2 levels.

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BTW, talking about extreme weather, we are experiencing our third heatwave in 3 months time this year, temperatures have never been this high in the respective months since they were first formally recorded more than 100 years ago. The numbers of excess deaths for this run are not known yet (we have another day and a half to go before normal temperatures set in), but the National Heatplan is in effect again.

If new research were to discover that 200 years ago, or 500 or 1,000 years ago, when CO2 levels were much lower, there had been an even hotter heatwave in your part of the world, would you then change your position on the role of CO2 in the current warm period?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 28, 2019, 03:07:44 am
I've tried making this point to some of Ray's previous comments as well.  Plant breeders will have to change their approach.  The big problem with higher levels of CO2 is biomass production which is what weeds do really well.  We don't know if the dwarf wheat varieties that revolutionized that crop will be best adapted to higher CO2 levels or not. 

Excellent example of 'downplaying the positives and exaggerating the negatives', Alan.  ;D

The type of plants that benefit from elevated levels of CO2 are known as C3, which are the vast majority of plants. The C4 plants can use CO2 more efficiently in the photosynthesis process, so they don't respond to elevated CO2 levels as much as the C3 plants.

However, as the following article explains, whilst the total number of C4 plant species, globally, is very small, compared with C3 plants, the proportion of C4 weeds is much higher. Some of the worst weeds are of the C4 type.

Therefore, as CO2 levels rise, the C3 crops should become more competitive than the C4 weeds, even excluding the continuing technological progress in addressing weed control.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/weed-science/article/composite-list-of-c4-weeds/0028B100C8534460E75A9F0340AFE304

"C4 plants account for a small fraction of the total number of plant species (fewer than 1000 out of 250 000). A larger proportion of the world's weed species possess C4 physiology. There are 2000 species in 500 genera and 125 families of flowering plants listed in the WSSA composite list of weeds. of that number, 146 species in 53 genera and 10 families exhibit the C4 syndrome. This, as a percentage, is 17-fold greater than the percentage of C4 plants in the total world plant population. In this report, we have listed the C4 -weed species and provide specific information concerning various aspects of their Kranz anatomy and C4 physiology."

Quote
The system is complex and arguments that enhanced CO2 will lead to increased crop yields may not be accurate.  there are also environmental and energy impacts (the latter reflected in the energy needed for fertilizer production) that are likely to increase.  TNSTAAFL!!!  (There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch)

The argument that increased CO2 levels will lead to increased plant growth is far more scientifically sound than the argument that increased CO2 levels will have a harmful effect on the climate and the biodiversity of the planet.

Crop yield can be affected by many issues which are not necessarily related to any changes in CO2 levels. If it were true that the rise in CO2 levels that has already taken place in recent decades, had increased the frequency and intensity of storms, floods and droughts, then that would have a counteractive effect on the increased crop yield. However, there is no reliable evidence that such extreme weather events have increased, on a global scale, since 1950. The IPCC uses the term 'low confidence' due to lack of evidence, to describe any increase in such events, globally. In other words, they don't know.

Heat waves have been increasing because the climate is warming, and that could certainly affect crop yield. On the other hand, the net effect of a slightly warmer climate in most regions, in conjunction with higher precipitation, could more than offset the reduced crop yield due to the occasional heat wave.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 28, 2019, 09:51:54 am
Ray, I need you to take a look at my lawn and shrubs.    :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 28, 2019, 11:28:45 am
Ray, I need you to take a look at my lawn and shrubs.    :)

I'm sure it's nicer than my garden.  ;)

Many parts of Australia are currently experiencing drought conditions. When the rains eventually come, I expect there will be flooding in many places due to an insufficient number of flood-mitigation dams, which is an ongoing problem that certainly isn't going to be fixed by reducing CO2 emissions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 28, 2019, 06:13:03 pm
Interesting article on CO2 and O2 and the burning of the Amazon.   The lungs of the world apparently are safe.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amazon-fire-earth-has-plenty-oxygen/596923/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 29, 2019, 12:48:22 am
Interesting article on CO2 and O2 and the burning of the Amazon.   The lungs of the world apparently are safe.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/08/amazon-fire-earth-has-plenty-oxygen/596923/

The 'lungs of the world' analogy is another example of the tendency to exaggerate in order to create alarm for the purpose of getting political action.

My understanding is that both plants and animals need oxygen, but plants also need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis whereas animals and humans exhale CO2 as a waste product. The air we breathe in contains about 0.04% CO2, when we're outside in the natural environment, but the air we breathe out contains about 4% CO2 which is about 100 times as much as we breathed in, or 40,000 parts per million.

However, plants do release more oxygen than they take in, and also convert into oxygen all the CO2 that they take in.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on August 29, 2019, 07:45:17 am
However, plants do release more oxygen than they take in, and also convert into oxygen all the CO2 that they take in.
The oxygen released by plants comes not from CO2 but split water molecules during photosynthesis.  the oxygen of the CO2 is fixed into sugars during the Calvin Cycle.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 08:12:40 am
The Balearic/Pitiusa islands yesterday, heights of summer:

https://www.thelocal.es/20190828/balaeric-islands-battered-in-violent-storms-majorca

The tv showed much more detail, including waterspout (here, in the Med!) and destructive hail, with shutters and roofs smashed. Vinyards wiped out, a source of highly priced local wines.

Mr T, you are as wilfully blind as our - unfortunately - Mr J.

Rob

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 10:07:24 am
I'm sorry about the damage and injuries and deaths.   We're about ready to get hit by another hurricane ourselves.   But these are both weather events you can read about in the ancient bible.    It's not right to blame two people for them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 29, 2019, 10:25:22 am
The Balearic/Pitiusa islands yesterday, heights of summer:

https://www.thelocal.es/20190828/balaeric-islands-battered-in-violent-storms-majorca

The tv showed much more detail, including waterspout (here, in the Med!) and destructive hail, with shutters and roofs smashed. Vinyards wiped out, a source of highly priced local wines.

Mr T, you are as wilfully blind as our - unfortunately - Mr J.

Rob

This year, hurricanes J and T will be womanly - Ms Jenny and Ms Tanya. Hopefully, they won't become as nasty and unpredictable as Mr. T and Mr. J.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 10:28:30 am
I'm sorry about the damage and injuries and deaths.   We're about ready to get hit by another hurricane ourselves.   But these are both weather events you can read about in the ancient bible.    It's not right to blame two people for them.

The Bible.

Alan, philosophical beliefs aside, if you take it as your guide, then tell me when next the Red Sea gets parted and it rains for forty days and nights in a row, and who has the plans for a wooden boat that both floats, maintains its shape without collapsing of its own weight and cargo, and is big enough to carry one pair of each of everything that breaths, eats, copulates and lives on this planet at the same period of time, plus the food to feed 'em and the pails to "bucket and chuck it" whilst afloat.

Weather events. Nothing at all to do with civilized man. Hell, you might as well blame your personal version of God then, right? Your insurance company would have no difficulty trying that!

Of course you are about to get hit: for your neck of the woods, it's normal. Which is the bloody point: for us, it is not normal, never has been!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 10:54:09 am
The Bible.

Alan, philosophical beliefs aside, if you take it as your guide, then tell me when next the Red Sea gets parted and it rains for forty days and nights in a row, and who has the plans for a wooden boat that both floats, maintains its shape without collapsing of its own weight and cargo, and is big enough to carry one pair of each of everything that breaths, eats, copulates and lives on this planet at the same period of time, plus the food to feed 'em and the pails to "bucket and chuck it" whilst afloat.

Weather events. Nothing at all to do with civilized man. Hell, you might as well blame your personal version of God then, right? Your insurance company would have no difficulty trying that!

Of course you are about to get hit: for your neck of the woods, it's normal. Which is the bloody point: for us, it is not normal, never has been!

You unfortunately got hit similarly last year and 10 people died.  It seems it's more normal than you believe.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 29, 2019, 10:56:38 am
The oxygen released by plants comes not from CO2 but split water molecules during photosynthesis.  the oxygen of the CO2 is fixed into sugars during the Calvin Cycle.

That's interesting. How do you determine that an oxygen molecule emitted by a plant comes from the water it has absorbed and not the CO2 it has absorbed? Molecules of the same elements don't have individual name tags do they?  ;)

The following article explains the process.

https://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=2860

"Plants use energy from the sun to turn CO2 (carbon dioxide) and H2O (water) into sugar (C6H12O6) with oxygen (O2) left over. This is photosynthesis.

6CO2 + 6H2O gives C6H12O6 + 6O2

Count up the number of carbon atoms on each side of the arrow. If you have six on one side, you need six on the other. Now count the hydrogen atoms. (6 X 2) on one side and 12 on the other. How many oxygen atoms are on the left side?
(6 X 2) + (6 X 1) = ___. Now how many oxygen atoms are in the glucose? 6.

So you have oxygen atoms left over. That is where the O2 comes from. It is the left over material from making sugar. Just like when you make something, the scraps you cut off do not disappear. The plant breathes out the oxygen, which is good for all of us animals because we need oxygen, as you know."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 29, 2019, 11:08:41 am
That's interesting. How do you determine that an oxygen molecule emitted by a plant comes from the water it has absorbed and not the CO2 it has absorbed? Molecules of the same elements don't have individual name tags do they?  ;)

I do not have the answer to that, but I could imagine that an experiment with Oxygen isotopes (the 18-O / 16-O ratio) could give a clue.
So in a way, they can have "name tags".


Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 12:43:47 pm
You unfortunately got hit similarly last year and 10 people died.  It seems it's more normal than you believe.

I was here. I have been here for almost thirty-eight years. I know what is normal. Neither event was normal.

That's the entire point we are trying to illustrate for you and other doubting persons.

During that period described above, I have seen winters change from regular, dramatic thunder and lightning-filled events, to not much of anything seasons. Temperatures have risen in winter, with the annual snow-topped mountains display lasting no more than a week at most. I also know it personally from the distinct relief from the pain in my hands that my Raynauds brings about in very cold weather. I used to sit here and type wearing gloves without fingertip; no need for that now. Even my electricity bills have dropped noticeably.

On the other side of the coin, regular winter rainfall has largely disappeared, in a land that relies heavily on two large reservoirs in the mountains. In its place we have witnessed these freak conditions where the clouds burst and overpower all the natural and man-made clearance systems.

The island is criss-crossed with torrentes, naturally carved gullies that drain rainfall away from the mountains and hills, down to the flatlands and the sea. These are dry all summer, fill with weeds, shrubs and even trees that seldom get removed, and then when the rain hits hard, the floods arrive to everyone in the local townhall's surprise! Locally, those in power at the sharp end have developed the blind eye that, as you know, has killed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 29, 2019, 02:05:50 pm
In a country (with a large part of it below sea-level) that has been used to getting the water (rain and Alpine meltwater flowing through the rivers) out of the country as quickly as possible for centuries, we are now redesigning the way we manage water by buffering it in local storage facilities. This is can be put to good use in periods of prolonged drought, during which dikes shrink and become unstable and the pressure of the seawater salinates the inlands. It also allows reducing the risk of overstressing the dikes during extreme downpours. There are now town squares that are designed to be flooded to store excess water, and give it more time to sink in the soil or be transported out by the sewer system at a slower pace.

The local weather extremes have begun causing all sorts of new issues.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 02:55:23 pm
In a country (with a large part of it below sea-level) that has been used to getting the water (rain and Alpine meltwater flowing through the rivers) out of the country as quickly as possible for centuries, we are now redesigning the way we manage water by buffering it in local storage facilities. This is can be put to good use in periods of prolonged drought, during which dikes shrink and become unstable and the pressure of the seawater salinates the inlands. It also allows reducing the risk of overstressing the dikes during extreme downpours. There are now town squares that are designed to be flooded to store excess water, and give it more time to sink in the soil or be transported out by the sewer system at a slower pace.

The local weather extremes have begun causing all sorts of new issues.

Cheers,
Bart

Yours is a relatively wealthy country. The challenges are also very obviously existential, which focusses minds a lot! See that happening now in the last few days pre-Brexit! Probably too little too late. How I pray I am mistaken.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 29, 2019, 03:29:54 pm
Yours is a relatively wealthy country. The challenges are also very obviously existential, which focusses minds a lot! See that happening now in the last few days pre-Brexit! Probably too little too late. How I pray I am mistaken.

I hope that everything will go as well as possible, given the circumstances. But oh, the circumstances (in both situations).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 04:42:23 pm
I was here. I have been here for almost thirty-eight years. I know what is normal. Neither event was normal.

That's the entire point we are trying to illustrate for you and other doubting persons.

During that period described above, I have seen winters change from regular, dramatic thunder and lightning-filled events, to not much of anything seasons. Temperatures have risen in winter, with the annual snow-topped mountains display lasting no more than a week at most. I also know it personally from the distinct relief from the pain in my hands that my Raynauds brings about in very cold weather. I used to sit here and type wearing gloves without fingertip; no need for that now. Even my electricity bills have dropped noticeably.

On the other side of the coin, regular winter rainfall has largely disappeared, in a land that relies heavily on two large reservoirs in the mountains. In its place we have witnessed these freak conditions where the clouds burst and overpower all the natural and man-made clearance systems.

The island is criss-crossed with torrentes, naturally carved gullies that drain rainfall away from the mountains and hills, down to the flatlands and the sea. These are dry all summer, fill with weeds, shrubs and even trees that seldom get removed, and then when the rain hits hard, the floods arrive to everyone in the local townhall's surprise! Locally, those in power at the sharp end have developed the blind eye that, as you know, has killed.

Apparently the 2018 and 2019 storms weren't the whole storm history you speak of.  In 2015 there were tornadoes there.  They also had major flooding.  And in 2010 as well as 2013, there were hailstones in the nearby mainland that killed a lot of flamingos, the poor things.  Of course, hail isn't part of warming, so it's all very confusing.  Maybe your memory isn;t so good any more? 
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3220946/The-terrifying-moment-TORNADOES-struck-coast-Ibiza-storm-sent-boats-crashing-rocks-uprooted-trees-damaged-houses.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 29, 2019, 04:46:09 pm
Apparently the 2018 and 2019 storms weren't the whole storm history you speak of.  In 2015 there were tornadoes there.  They also had major flooding.  And in 2010 as well as 2013...

Alan, this is really a recent history, doesn't add anything to your argument. Something like 100 or 500 years back might work.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 05:13:23 pm
Alan, this is really a recent history, doesn't add anything to your argument. Something like 100 or 500 years back might work.
Google doesn;t seem to go back that far. :)  It's the best I can find so far.  Any help would be appreciated. :)

In any case, Rob's complained it only happened once, this year.  I was just pointing out that memories fade, even recent memories.   ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 05:17:48 pm
Apparently the 2018 and 2019 storms weren't the whole storm history you speak of.  In 2015 there were tornadoes there.  They also had major flooding.  And in 2010 as well as 2013, there were hailstones in the nearby mainland that killed a lot of flamingos, the poor things.  Of course, hail isn't part of warming, so it's all very confusing.  Maybe your memory isn;t so good any more? 
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3220946/The-terrifying-moment-TORNADOES-struck-coast-Ibiza-storm-sent-boats-crashing-rocks-uprooted-trees-damaged-houses.html

Hail has damaged every car I have owned in Spain; it's nothing new and it's not the problem: the problem is the change in the timetable of these events. Can't you understand the difference that signifies?

Local flooding: our block was flooded to a depth of 62 cms, twice, back in the 80s. Fortunately, the architects understood that possibility, and the property is built higher than ground level, and so we were not troubled inside. But guess what: the flooding had nothing to do with the usual, expected winter rains: it had everything to do with the local, 100 yards away, torrente that had been neglected by the town hall and allowed to fill up with rubbish, thus defeating the thing's natural function as historical drain down to the sea.

And hail is a part of cooling and warming; that's what forms it in the first place. Warming sends it up into the sky as vapour and cooling converts it into ice. Did you imagine that polar warming would only affect the poles? That change in temperature affects everything that water and air circulation reaches.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 29, 2019, 05:22:32 pm
Google doesn;t seem to go back that far. :)  It's the best I can find so far.  Any help would be appreciated. :)

In any case, Rob's complained it only happened once, this year.  I was just pointing out that memories fade, even recent memories.   ;)

Alan, congratulations on being given your own, personal edition of LuLa. I have to make do with the standard issue which obviously is far different to the one you receive.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 05:53:10 pm
Apparently, storms have been occurring for a long time by Ibiza in the Balearic Sea., at least before 1980 the date of this mariner's forecasting aid.  Maybe Rob wasn't there to witness them so assumes the weather has always been pleasant there.  I'm still looking for the mariner's aid that Odysseus used as that goes back more than 500 years long before the industrial revolution.  Unfortunately, Google hasn't come up with anything so far.

Handbook for Forecasters in the Mediterranean, Part 2
REGIONAL FORECASTING AIDS
FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN
= __
L. R. Brody and LCDR M. J. R. Nestor, RN
Naval Environmental Prediction Research Facility
r'-'",-,
DECEMBER 1980

(from page I-20)

CYCLONIC ACTIVITY, BALEARIC SEA, RULE 27
27. Surface cyclones generally weaken while traversing the Iberian
Peninsula. These lows deepen rapidly, however, when they reach the east coast
of Spain.
CYCLONIC ACTIVITY, MISCELLANEOUS, RULES 2,. 29
28. In the Mediterranean region it is important to track the remnants of
old cold fronts closely. Several cases have been documented in which cyclogenesis originated along one of these fronts -- even after the cloudiness
associated with these fronts had disappeared -- when an upper-level, short-wave
trough (SD minimum) has approached from the west.
29. Periods of gale force norLheasterly winds (speeds up to 40 kt) occur
off the east coast of Spain as far as Ibiza when a migrating low moves over
souther.1 Spain into the area west of the Greenwich Meridian.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 29, 2019, 05:53:36 pm
Here's the link
https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a102635.pdf
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 29, 2019, 09:31:27 pm
I do not have the answer to that, but I could imagine that an experiment with Oxygen isotopes (the 18-O / 16-O ratio) could give a clue.
So in a way, they can have "name tags".


Maybe so, but look at the number of oxygen atoms in the sugar formula: 6CO2 + 6H2O = C6 H12 O6 (sugar) + 6O2 (waste)

The sugar molecule 'numerically' contains all the hydrogen atoms and all the oxygen atoms that comprise the six water molecules used, plus all the carbon in the six CO2 molecules used. The amount of surplus oxygen exactly matches the number of oxygen molecules in the six CO2 molecules, that is, six O2.

Also, the number of oxygen atoms that are emitted as waste, exceeds the number of oxygen atoms in the water used to make a sugar molecule, so therefore, regardless of isotope measurements, at least half of the waste oxygen must come from the CO2.

In other words, the total amount of waste oxygen that is released in this process, amounts to twice the amount of oxygen atoms in the water molecules that comprise the sugar molecule.

Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see an isotope study which showed that the waste oxygen released was all of the oxygen in the water, plus only half of the oxygen in the Carbon dioxide.

Have I successfully debunked Alan Goldhammer's claim?  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 29, 2019, 10:27:32 pm
I was here. I have been here for almost thirty-eight years. I know what is normal. Neither event was normal.

That's the entire point we are trying to illustrate for you and other doubting persons.

You are missing the most fundamental point about climate, Rob. It's always changing and always has, for reasons that are very complex and not fully understood.

Over any period, in any particular region, the average of weather events (climate) will change to some degree. Some regions will get hotter and drier, other regions will get hotter and wetter. Some regions will get colder and some regions will experience more frequent storms. Some regions will experience devastating droughts that have never been as bad in the past 40 years, and other regions will experience fairly benign and consistent weather.

However, if you look at the historical records, if you can find them, you will discover that most of the extreme weather events that have occurred in recent decades are not unprecedented, although it's to be expected that sometimes an extreme weather event in a particular region might be the worst since reasonably accurate measurements were taken, say the past 150 years.

If you go back further than 150 years, you have to rely upon proxy records and media reports which show that devastating changes in weather patterns, such as long periods of droughts, excessive heat waves, and extremely cold periods which caused the river Thames to freeze over in winter, have occurred in the past.

Why should anyone expect that we now live in an era where no severe and devastating weather events should occur, and if they do, it must be our fault for emitting CO2?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 29, 2019, 11:34:07 pm
Global warming or warming in certain geographical areas causes also more allergies. CBC reported tonight on the increased pollen levels which is a new problem not limited only to Canada.

Quote
The number of allergy sufferers has grown, research shows. One in 10 Americans struggled with hay fever in 1970, and 3 in 10 did by 2000. Asthma, which can be made worse by exposure to pollen, has become more common too, with higher rates among kids, low-income households and African Americans. Experts think climate change shares some of the blame for this. Warmer temperatures increase the level of airborne pollen because, scientists say, the growing season has, well, grown.

Between 1995 and 2011, fewer freeze-free days meant 11 to 27 days added to pollen season for most of the United States, research shows. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which does an annual survey of allergy season, noticed that it's been growing each year. With warmer temperatures, parts of the country are going to get even worse for allergies because plants like ragweed will start migrating north, studies show. New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine will probably see a lot more pollen in the future.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/12/health/climate-change-allergies/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 02:00:45 am

Why should anyone expect that we now live in an era where no severe and devastating weather events should occur, and if they do, it must be our fault for emitting CO2?

Bart and I have posted dozens of links to material which shows why this is so. Just saying "oh well, everything changes all the time" is not anything that resembles a sensible argument.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 30, 2019, 04:40:58 am
Bart and I have posted dozens of links to material which shows why this is so. Just saying "oh well, everything changes all the time" is not anything that resembles a sensible argument.

Yes indeed, but it becomes a fixed idea that there are no penalties to pay for altering the chemical balance of our atmosphere. I only studied Physics and Chemistry up to Highers level (Scottish), but learned enough to understand that there is no such thing as a one-sided alteration to the status quo: every action brings about a reaction.

That pumping zillions of tons of car exhaust (just one source of pollutant) into the air is not going to have a reaction on that air/atmosphere is cloud cuckoo land. It surprises me that otherwise brilliant people can force themselves to believe that the world can continue doing this without it having any effect. Because nature has given us volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters is not a valid reason to continue happily on our dangerous way; if anything, those events should be seen as what they are: natural disasters, not as some sort of benign contribution to the finer quality of life. We have seen only too clearly what recent eruptions have done to the world. Those eruptions subside, and after a while the solids come back down to Earth, but what about the lighter than air particles and gasses? Imagining that our own contributions to the mess, on a daily basis and with little appetite to desist, can do anything but increase the damage beggars belief. Yet, it's what they argue.

I, for one, could not make that up.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 30, 2019, 05:04:08 am
Yes indeed, but it becomes a fixed idea that there are no penalties to pay for altering the chemical balance of our atmosphere. I only studied Physics and Chemistry up to Highers level (Scottish), but learned enough to understand that there is no such thing as a one-sided alteration to the status quo: every action brings about a reaction.

That pumping zillions of tons of car exhaust (just one source of pollutant) into the air is not going to have a reaction on that air/atmosphere is cloud cuckoo land. It surprises me that otherwise brilliant people can force themselves to believe that the world can continue doing this without it having any effect. Because nature has given us volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters is not a valid reason to continue happily on our dangerous way; if anything, those events should be seen as what they are: natural disasters, not as some sort of benign contribution to the finer quality of life. We have seen only too clearly what recent eruptions have done to the world. Those eruptions subside, and after a while the solids come back down to Earth, but what about the lighter than air particles and gasses? Imagining that our own contributions to the mess, on a daily basis and with little appetite to desist, can do anything but increase the damage beggars belief. Yet, it's what they argue.

I, for one, could not make that up.

Rob

+1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 30, 2019, 08:16:44 am
Yes indeed, but it becomes a fixed idea that there are no penalties to pay for altering the chemical balance of our atmosphere. I only studied Physics and Chemistry up to Highers level (Scottish), but learned enough to understand that there is no such thing as a one-sided alteration to the status quo: every action brings about a reaction.

That pumping zillions of tons of car exhaust (just one source of pollutant) into the air is not going to have a reaction on that air/atmosphere is cloud cuckoo land. It surprises me that otherwise brilliant people can force themselves to believe that the world can continue doing this without it having any effect. Because nature has given us volcanic eruptions and other natural disasters is not a valid reason to continue happily on our dangerous way; if anything, those events should be seen as what they are: natural disasters, not as some sort of benign contribution to the finer quality of life. We have seen only too clearly what recent eruptions have done to the world. Those eruptions subside, and after a while the solids come back down to Earth, but what about the lighter than air particles and gasses? Imagining that our own contributions to the mess, on a daily basis and with little appetite to desist, can do anything but increase the damage beggars belief. Yet, it's what they argue.

I, for one, could not make that up.


Rob

You certainly have made it up, Rob. Either that, or you're very confused about the whole issue.

I've never had a conversation with anyone who believes that it's okay to pump zillions of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere. Toxic waste from industrial activities, plastic waste and general rubbish discarded randomly into the landscape, smog in the atmosphere consisting of particulate carbon from coal-fired power plants and vehicles with inadequate emission controls, and other pollutants from cars, such as Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbons, and various Nitrogen Oxides, need to be controlled and significantly reduced. No sensible person would argue against that.

The latest 'state-of-the-art' emission controls reduce these pollutants from coal-fired power plants and vehicles to insignificant levels, especially when the 'state-of-the-art' emission controls are combined with the more efficient Ultra-Supercritical coal power plants.

Unfortunately, some of the Ultra-Supercritical plants are not combined with the latest emission controls, because of the additional construction and maintenance costs.

From the United States Environmental Protection Agency:
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health#cars 

"Compared to 1970 vehicle models, new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks are roughly 99 percent cleaner for common pollutants (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particle emissions), while Annual Vehicle Miles Traveled has dramatically increased." Refer attached graph.

The confusion lies in the misrepresentation of CO2 as a pollutant. I bought a new car last year which I'm very pleased with. However, I wish it had been an electric car at a similar price because they are potentially more efficient, and no matter how effective the emission controls are in the latest petrol-driven vehicles, they still produce noise pollution.

Unfortunately, the electric vehicle has been rather slow in development partly because of the conflict between their perceived benefit in reducing all CO2 emissions and the necessity of having a reliable electricity supply for recharging, which requires a continuation and even a growth of fossil fuel power plants which emit the non-polluting CO2.

Imagine a million people in a large city attempting to recharge their electric vehicles at the same time, after returning from the day's work. Solar and Wind power, even with back-up gasoline generators, wouldn't be able to handle it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on August 30, 2019, 09:25:45 am
You certainly have made it up, Rob. Either that, or you're very confused about the whole issue.

I've never had a conversation with anyone who believes that it's okay to pump zillions of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere. Toxic waste from industrial activities, plastic waste and general rubbish discarded randomly into the landscape, smog in the atmosphere consisting of particulate carbon from coal-fired power plants and vehicles with inadequate emission controls, and other pollutants from cars, such as Carbon Monoxide, Hydrocarbons, and various Nitrogen Oxides, need to be controlled and significantly reduced. No sensible person would argue against that.

The latest 'state-of-the-art' emission controls reduce these pollutants from coal-fired power plants and vehicles to insignificant levels, especially when the 'state-of-the-art' emission controls are combined with the more efficient Ultra-Supercritical coal power plants.

Unfortunately, some of the Ultra-Supercritical plants are not combined with the latest emission controls, because of the additional construction and maintenance costs.

From the United States Environmental Protection Agency:
https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health#cars 

"Compared to 1970 vehicle models, new cars, SUVs and pickup trucks are roughly 99 percent cleaner for common pollutants (hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and particle emissions), while Annual Vehicle Miles Traveled has dramatically increased." Refer attached graph.

The confusion lies in the misrepresentation of CO2 as a pollutant. I bought a new car last year which I'm very pleased with. However, I wish it had been an electric car at a similar price because they are potentially more efficient, and no matter how effective the emission controls are in the latest petrol-driven vehicles, they still produce noise pollution.

Unfortunately, the electric vehicle has been rather slow in development partly because of the conflict between their perceived benefit in reducing all CO2 emissions and the necessity of having a reliable electricity supply for recharging, which requires a continuation and even a growth of fossil fuel power plants which emit the non-polluting CO2.

Imagine a million people in a large city attempting to recharge their electric vehicles at the same time, after returning from the day's work. Solar and Wind power, even with back-up gasoline generators, wouldn't be able to handle it.

Fair enough, perhaps not face-to-face, but here on this foum they are present all the time, telling us that things were ever thus, and global warming but a myth.

You can do your own research here for that one - it's easy to find them.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 30, 2019, 09:40:18 am
...and global warming but a myth.

I don't think anyone's said that, Rob. What the people with some actual understanding of the situation have said is that the earth warms and the earth cools. It's been doing that as far back as we can track things with paleogeology and paleontology. The real problem is the sun, and windmills and solar panels aren't going to help us control the sun. But the prospect of a new ice age that was all the rage fifty years ago, and the current fashion of an earth getting unbearably hot make it possible for people to come up with scary charts, and in panicky voices "debate" the situation. This will go on as long as there are people. It's all politics, and as long as you have even two people left on the earth you'll have politics.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 30, 2019, 10:02:59 am
Here's an interesting article from a very qualified contrarian on the climatic significance of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the huge inaccuracies of climate models.

The author, Dr J.R. Christy is so qualified, I suspect Bart will call him a 'crackpot', attacking the person rather than the evidence.  ;D

About the author

"Dr John R. Christy is the director of the Earth System Science Center, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and Alabama State Climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he has been employed for over 30 years. His responsibilities include managing a science centre with over 80 employees, working on several research projects ranging from developing and launching space-based instruments to studying impacts of significant weather events in developing countries, to high-resolution studies of air pollution (air-chemistry and meteorology). His own research concerns developing, constructing and refining global and regional climate data records that can be used to test claims of climate variability and change and to understand the climate’s sensitivity to various forcing factors. This work has resulted in almost 100 peer-reviewed publications.
This paper is based a talk given by Dr Christy at the Palace of Westminster on 8 May 2019."


https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2019/05/JohnChristy-Parliament.pdf

"If an engineer built an airplane and said it could fly 600 miles and the thing ran out of fuel at 200 and crashed, he wouldn’t say ‘Hey, I was only off by a factor of three’. We don’t do that in engineering and real science. A factor of three is huge in the energy balance system. Yet that’s what we see in the climate models."

Below is an interesting cartoon representing the balance that our planet naturally creates.

By the way, in order to understand this article you need at least the capacity to understand the DXOMark graphs comparing camera sensor performance.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 10:04:19 am
It's all politics, and as long as you have even two people left on the earth you'll have politics.

Nope. It’s all actually science. And if you have a better theory then there are effective ways for you to present it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 10:07:12 am
Here's an interesting article from a very qualified contrarian on the climatic significance of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the huge inaccuracies of climate models.

The author, Dr J.R. Christy is so qualified, I suspect Bart will call him a 'crackpot', attacking the person rather than the evidence.  ;D

Since you don’t present any evidence that will be tricky.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 30, 2019, 10:24:05 am
Since you don’t present any evidence that will be tricky.

I've given you a summary of his view which also mentions the existence of a 100 peer-reviewed publications, which you can find if you're interested. If I were to present the actual evidence, it would be several hundred pages or more. This is not the site for that. Try to be more rational.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 30, 2019, 10:31:33 am
Try to be more rational.

Good luck with that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 10:36:43 am
I've given you a summary of his view which also mentions the existence of a 100 peer-reviewed publications, which you can find if you're interested. If I were to present the actual evidence, it would be several hundred pages or more. This is not the site for that. Try to be more rational.

Not really - you quoted some trivial analogy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 10:37:49 am
Good luck with that.

Careful with the personal attacks, Russ - you don’t want Roussak banning you, do you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 30, 2019, 10:45:55 am
Not really - you quoted some trivial analogy.

So you didn't bother reading the article. Right?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 30, 2019, 11:37:23 am
Here's an interesting article from a very qualified contrarian on the climatic significance of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and the huge inaccuracies of climate models.

The author, Dr J.R. Christy is so qualified, I suspect Bart will call him a 'crackpot', attacking the person rather than the evidence.  ;D

About the author

"Dr John R. Christy is the director of the Earth System Science Center, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science and Alabama State Climatologist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he has been employed for over 30 years. His responsibilities include managing a science centre with over 80 employees, working on several research projects ranging from developing and launching space-based instruments to studying impacts of significant weather events in developing countries, to high-resolution studies of air pollution (air-chemistry and meteorology). His own research concerns developing, constructing and refining global and regional climate data records that can be used to test claims of climate variability and change and to understand the climate’s sensitivity to various forcing factors. This work has resulted in almost 100 peer-reviewed publications.
This paper is based a talk given by Dr Christy at the Palace of Westminster on 8 May 2019."


https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2019/05/JohnChristy-Parliament.pdf (https://www.thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2019/05/JohnChristy-Parliament.pdf)

"If an engineer built an airplane and said it could fly 600 miles and the thing ran out of fuel at 200 and crashed, he wouldn’t say ‘Hey, I was only off by a factor of three’. We don’t do that in engineering and real science. A factor of three is huge in the energy balance system. Yet that’s what we see in the climate models."

Below is an interesting cartoon representing the balance that our planet naturally creates.

By the way, in order to understand this article you need at least the capacity to understand the DXOMark graphs comparing camera sensor performance.  ;D

Ray, In fairness to my own theories, and yours I believe,  that it's not enough time to "test" global warming theories, isn;t it also not enough time to prove this researcher's theories either?  15 years to "re-prove" his theory and other short term collection by questionable means raises issues regardless of which theory may be proposed.  There could well be other factors neither side has considered that may add weight one way or the other.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 30, 2019, 12:49:48 pm
So you didn't bother reading the article. Right?

I did read the article and concluded that it is not a peer reviewed scientific paper but (I assume a summary of) a talk held for a thinktank that has a somewhat dubious reputation. That doesn't say much about Dr. Christy but his conclusions seem to be proven wrong by the recent record of actual temperature rise. Others who have spent a bit more time on looking at his claims in that presentation, seem to object to the so-called evidence he produces:
https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php?p=23&t=1141&&a=15#132190

And although I have not read enough of his work to have an opinion about his work, there are others who have commented on a number of his statements:
https://skepticalscience.com/skeptic_John_Christy.htm

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 30, 2019, 01:46:29 pm
I did read the article and concluded that it is not a peer reviewed scientific paper but (I assume a summary of) a talk held for a thinktank that has a somewhat dubious reputation.

No need to assume. It was stated clearly in the article that "This paper is based on a talk given by Dr Christy at the Palace of Westminster on 8 May 2019".

Quote
That doesn't say much about Dr. Christy but his conclusions seem to be proven wrong by the recent record of actual temperature rise. Others who have spent a bit more time on looking at his claims in that presentation, seem to object to the so-called evidence he produces:

It's difficult to prove anything relating to the causes of climate change. But one can prove that climate-model predictions made 30 to 40 years ago were drastically wrong and exaggerated, which is Dr Christy's main point in this article.

In other words, the claimed sensitivity of the climate to anthropogenic emissions of CO2, has been grossly exaggerated, so far.

Quote
And although I have not read enough of his work to have an opinion about his work, there are others who have commented on a number of his statements:
https://skepticalscience.com/skeptic_John_Christy.htm

Dr John Christy is a very qualified climate scientist with over 100 peer-reviewed papers to his credit. Skepticalscience.com is a biased, climate alarmist site which doesn't tolerate any serious differences of opinion. I know because I've commented on the site, politely and rationally, and have been banned twice, using different names. On that site, any unqualified person can waffle on with their subjective views, as long as they support the alarmist position. That's not science. I strive to be objective.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 30, 2019, 03:36:52 pm
So you didn't bother reading the article. Right?

Correct. I deduced from the forum and from the quote you provided that it was rhetoric not science.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 30, 2019, 09:20:40 pm
The problem with destruction is not that the climate is changing.  Rather it's because people are moving to where the destruction happens such as mid-Florida where Hurricane Dorian is likely to hit.

"How We Create Our Own Hurricane Catastrophes"
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/florida-hurricane.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/florida-hurricane.html)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 31, 2019, 09:40:02 am
Correct. I deduced from the forum and from the quote you provided that it was rhetoric not science.

How about giving us an idea of what you think is "science," Jeremy?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 11:51:23 am
How about giving us an idea of what you think is "science," Jeremy?

Not Jeremy, but I'll help you with one of many definitions.

Science
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science
Quote
Science (from the Latin word scientia, meaning "knowledge") is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 31, 2019, 11:55:15 am
Okay, Bart, give me an example of a "testable explanation" associated with climate change: something other than the "testable explanation" that the earth gets warmer and it gets cooler and it has done those things off and on as far back in time as we can find evidence to support our findings.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 12:37:42 pm
Okay, Bart, give me an example of a "testable explanation" associated with climate change: something other than the "testable explanation" that the earth gets warmer and it gets cooler and it has done those things off and on as far back in time as we can find evidence to support our findings.

Why something other?

We can measure the temperature (the conditions are standardized by the WMO), air-temperature on land, water-temperature at sea, air-temperature in the troposphere, and do that systematically in many places for a long period of time. That shows that they are generally rising globally, more so in the Northern hemisphere (relatively more land-mass) than the Southern hemisphere (relatively more water-mass).

We can measure the Sun's energy as it reaches the earth's surface, and we can measure the reflected energy back into space. The reflected energy has longer wavelengths than the incoming energy.

This longer wavelength of reflected energy is partly absorbed by the CO2 molecules in the air which was more transparent for the shorter wavelengths that allowed them to reach the earth's surface in the first place.

By colliding with other molecules in the air, the atmosphere heats up. Usually more at lower altitudes and less at higher altitudes on average.

The warmer atmosphere can contain more water-vapor which also traps reflected energy but more at different wavelengths than CO2 does. They kind of complement each other.

I could go on with more examples of individually testable phenomena that add to the body of Scientific knowledge.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 31, 2019, 01:06:10 pm
Why something other?

We can measure the temperature (the conditions are standardized by the WMO), air-temperature on land, water-temperature at sea, air-temperature in the troposphere, and do that systematically in many places for a long period of time. That shows that they are generally rising globally, more so in the Northern hemisphere (relatively more land-mass) than the Southern hemisphere (relatively more water-mass).

We can measure the Sun's energy as it reaches the earth's surface, and we can measure the reflected energy back into space. The reflected energy has longer wavelengths than the incoming energy.

This longer wavelength of reflected energy is partly absorbed by the CO2 molecules in the air which was more transparent for the shorter wavelengths that allowed them to reach the earth's surface in the first place.

By colliding with other molecules in the air, the atmosphere heats up. Usually more at lower altitudes and less at higher altitudes on average.

The warmer atmosphere can contain more water-vapor which also traps reflected energy but more at different wavelengths than CO2 does. They kind of complement each other.

I could go on with more examples of individually testable phenomena that add to the body of Scientific knowledge.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Bart
The only true test is did the climate change?  Did it get warmer?  Since we won;t know that for decades maybe centuries or millennia, you're only describing short term inconclusive data.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 31, 2019, 01:32:17 pm
Why something other?

We can measure the temperature (the conditions are standardized by the WMO), air-temperature on land, water-temperature at sea, air-temperature in the troposphere, and do that systematically in many places for a long period of time. That shows that they are generally rising globally, more so in the Northern hemisphere (relatively more land-mass) than the Southern hemisphere (relatively more water-mass).

We can measure the Sun's energy as it reaches the earth's surface, and we can measure the reflected energy back into space. The reflected energy has longer wavelengths than the incoming energy.

This longer wavelength of reflected energy is partly absorbed by the CO2 molecules in the air which was more transparent for the shorter wavelengths that allowed them to reach the earth's surface in the first place.

By colliding with other molecules in the air, the atmosphere heats up. Usually more at lower altitudes and less at higher altitudes on average.

The warmer atmosphere can contain more water-vapor which also traps reflected energy but more at different wavelengths than CO2 does. They kind of complement each other.

I could go on with more examples of individually testable phenomena that add to the body of Scientific knowledge.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Bart

Absolutely, Bart. And the sun rises in the morning and sets  at night. That's another testable phenomenon, added to "the body of scientific knowledge." So what? What we're after is cause and effect, and in climate "science" there are no testable phenomena that can conclusively make a connection between CO2 emissions and climate.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 31, 2019, 01:43:50 pm
Absolutely, Bart. And the sun rises in the morning and sets  at night. That's another testable phenomenon, added to "the body of scientific knowledge." So what? What we're after is cause and effect, and in climate "science" there are no testable phenomena that can conclusively make a connection between CO2 emissions and climate.

NASA disagree. Hmm...  who seems more reliable ... ?

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/climate.nasa.gov/evidence.amp
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 02:06:06 pm
Absolutely, Bart. And the sun rises in the morning and sets  at night.

Only if you do not travel at the same angular speed in the same direction as the sun appears 1) to travel.

1) Science tells us that it's the rotation of the earth that's causing it, not the rotation of the sun around the earth.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 02:51:14 pm
And, with hurricane Dorian developing, here is some info about the connection between Hurricanes and Global Warming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pa8duiMiS0

It is a video posted 9 years ago, but I think that not much has changed in the Scientific consensus that existed then. If it has, I'm all ears.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on August 31, 2019, 02:57:49 pm
Ah yes, a "scientific consensus." Well, we can be sure it's true then if there's a "scientific consensus." The term "scientific consensus" is an oxymoron.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 31, 2019, 05:30:49 pm
And, with hurricane Dorian developing, here is some info about the connection between Hurricanes and Global Warming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pa8duiMiS0

It is a video posted 9 years ago, but I think that not much has changed in the Scientific consensus that existed then. If it has, I'm all ears.

Cheers,
Bart

Bart The video link you posted gives a lecture on how hurricanes ARE NOT increasing.  I think you cherry picked the wrong video that supports my side.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 05:56:28 pm
Bart The video link you posted gives a lecture on how hurricanes ARE NOT increasing.  I think you cherry picked the wrong video that supports my side.  :)

Apparently it's not the quantity, it's the 'quality'. Unless of course Science got it all wrong.

As I said, it also depends on the water temperature how much energy and watervapor these beasts contain, and how slow they move when dumping the precipitation. In the case of Florida, it also matters how high the tide is if/when it makes landfall. If it makes landfall in Florida, it could be at high tide.

I sympathize with the people of the Bahama's, Florida, and the Carolina's. It's not a joke to lose your home, or worse still.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 31, 2019, 06:16:10 pm
... I sympathize with the people of the Bahama's, Florida, and the Carolina's...

I just cancelled our evacuation tickets, as the path has changed in the last 24 hours. You guys can't predict a hurricane path one day in advance, and yet want us to believe you are capable of predicting a much more complex system, like climate, 50 years from now!?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 31, 2019, 07:35:06 pm
I just cancelled our evacuation tickets, as the path has changed in the last 24 hours. You guys can't predict a hurricane path one day in advance, and yet want us to believe you are capable of predicting a much more complex system, like climate, 50 years from now!?

I have never seen an evacuation ticket. What does that buy you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 31, 2019, 07:37:02 pm
I have never seen an evacuation ticket. What does that buy you?

A trip to Dominican Republic ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 31, 2019, 07:48:20 pm
Stay safe wherever you are.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 31, 2019, 10:38:13 pm
I just cancelled our evacuation tickets, as the path has changed in the last 24 hours. You guys can't predict a hurricane path one day in advance, and yet want us to believe you are capable of predicting a much more complex system, like climate, 50 years from now!?

You're acting silly (I sincerely hope you do not mean what you just said). Because it has already been explained before.

In another thread that you participated in, Bernard Languillier worded it already more concisely than I could:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=131708.msg1125812#msg1125812

It's so simple that it's amazing that you don't get it (I hope you're not serious, as usual, even without a smiley).

I feel a bit embarrassed that I need to explain such simple concepts in more detail to you, but here it goes.
BTW, I also hope you don't think that other forum members are too stupid to notice.

Attached, I've added a chart (Russ, eat your heart out ;D) that shows the actual average daily temperature (!, daily fluctuations can be approx. +/- 10°C larger than the average during summertime, less at wintertime) as measured by a number of Air Quality measuring stations that I've installed at different locations with several other citizens across my home town. We're actually measuring Particulate Matter levels to complement and validate the models based on the official National Reference Stations, but as a by-product of calibrating those sensors, we also acquire Temperatures.

It should be obvious, also (even?) to you, that winter temperatures are lower than summer temperatures. However, they do fluctuate around a mean value (the mean value depends on the time period one chooses, duh). And in this case, although for a climate trend we'd need a much longer (11 year or multi-decadal) period than 1 year, the temperature at the same day in the year went from 17.6 -> 21.5°C (yes we experienced another relatively hot summer).

So yes, it can be easier and more accurate to predict/model a long term trend accurately than a short term exact value, duh.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on August 31, 2019, 11:43:49 pm
Both you and Bernard are playing with historic, actual data. Where is the predictive part?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 01, 2019, 12:02:08 am
Both, the weather and stock market forecasting gurus use historic data for modeling and prediction of future trends.
Neither camp gets it quite right.

Greenland's Massive Ice Melt Wasn't Supposed To Happen Until 2070

Quote
Last week, the world received yet another stark reminder of what's yet to come as temperatures at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet rose above freezing and melted the snow there for the first time since July 2012 and perhaps only the third time in the last 700 years. The glacier-covered island lost 12.5 billion tons of ice in one day.

As climate scientist Martin Stendel points out, that's enough to cover all of Florida with almost five inches of water. Or, in metric units, enough to cover Germany with almost 7cm of water. Or Denmark with half a meter of water.

The ice sheet that covers Greenland is about the same size as the state of Alaska and contains enough ice to raise sea level across the globe by more than 20 feet. Every year, Greenland gains ice during the winter from the accumulation of compacted snow and then during the summer months, it loses ice from melt water and icebergs that calve into the ocean.

A particularly warm, dry spring this year left only a thin covering of snow over exposed glacial ice. The planet has just had it's warmest June on record, followed by the warmest July on record, consequently ice everywhere has been melting, from the glaciers of Greenland to the Himalayas.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottsnowden/2019/08/16/greenlands-massive-ice-melt-wasnt-supposed-to-happen-until-2070/#7f9e68e64894

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Martin Kristiansen on September 01, 2019, 02:20:41 am
Good to see Florida will  be spared the worst of the hurricanes destructive power. I have an ex girlfriend living on Hilton Head and I hope she is going to be OK. Seems that’s where Dorian is now headed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 01, 2019, 07:19:28 am
Both you and Bernard are playing with historic, actual data. Where is the predictive part?

Do you really not get it?

We can forecast that in the summer it will be warmer than during the winter, and we can give a range of probability around the modeled temperature. The expected temperature and range differ by location, so a generic forecast for a larger region will be less specific for random locations.

Trying to forecast it months ahead for a specific day comes with a wider range of uncertainty because e.g. daily variations in cloud-cover create a different temperature range around the average both during the day and the night. A week ahead it becomes more likely that we use the correct amount and type of cloud-cover in our models, so the forecast is likely to be closer to the actual temperature, but probably still somewhere in the range that was given months ago.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 01, 2019, 11:28:03 am
Both you and Bernard are playing with historic, actual data. Where is the predictive part?
+1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 01, 2019, 12:44:12 pm
Both, the weather and stock market forecasting gurus use historic data for modeling and prediction of future trends.
Neither camp gets it quite right.

Greenland's Massive Ice Melt Wasn't Supposed To Happen Until 2070

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottsnowden/2019/08/16/greenlands-massive-ice-melt-wasnt-supposed-to-happen-until-2070/#7f9e68e64894



Three or four weeks ago I hit an 18-1 long shot at the race track.  It paid $96 back to me on my $5 bet.  Of course, the odds of the horse winning was not 18-1.  It was whatever they were and no one really knows that.  Maybe only the horses knew. :)  The only thing the 18 - 1 represents, is what the pari mutuel tote system arrived at based on actual bets.  The final payoff odds are based on actual bets made on each of the horses.  Had people bet more money on the winning horse, the "winning" odds would have gone down.  But the odds of the horse winning would have remained the same.  So why mention all this?

The odds that the earth is warming up and whether it will happen never change.  It is what it is; we don;t really know those odds anymore than we know what the odds are on each horse winning in that race.  What changes are people's beliefs as to the odds.  So if 97% of the people think it's going to get hot, the odds seem more likely. But in truth, it doesn;t matter what people believe.  It will be based on what actually is and those factors are often unknown or cannot be allocated correctly in the algorithms being used.  That's why economist predictions are wrong, as are climatologists, and horse betters.

Anyway, this is my new theory just developed this morning. It's open for adjustments and fine tuning.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 01, 2019, 01:43:41 pm

The odds that the earth is warming up and whether it will happen never change.  It is what it is; we don;t really know those odds anymore than we know what the odds are on each horse winning in that race.  What changes are people's beliefs as to the odds.  So if 97% of the people think it's going to get hot, the odds seem more likely. But in truth, it doesn;t matter what people believe.  It will be based on what actually is and those factors are often unknown or cannot be allocated correctly in the algorithms being used.  That's why economist predictions are wrong, as are climatologists, and horse betters.

Anyway, this is my new theory just developed this morning. It's open for adjustments and fine tuning.  :)

Weird use of probabilities. The chance of global warming in the case we do nothing is why it is. What changes is the chance that we accurately assess that probability and also the chance that we can influence the chance of global warming if we take action. The 97% (or whatever yuur favourite number is) is kit the chance of GW, it's the likelihood that we currently correctly assess the likelihood of GW.

I recommend you think of another theory :-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 01, 2019, 09:16:46 pm
Weird use of probabilities. The chance of global warming in the case we do nothing is why it is. What changes is the chance that we accurately assess that probability and also the chance that we can influence the chance of global warming if we take action. The 97% (or whatever yuur favourite number is) is kit the chance of GW, it's the likelihood that we currently correctly assess the likelihood of GW.

I recommend you think of another theory :-)
In 2008, 97% of economists thought the economy was just fine.  They weren't looking at the data that showed housing was way overpriced.  There was a huge bubble that either wasn't seen or ignored by the 97%.  But there it was.  A few people saw it and made loads of money selling mortgage instruments short.  But the collapse was going to happen even though 97% said it wouldn;t. 

If 97% of climatologists think that CO2 is going to raise the earth's temperature let;s say 3 degrees, but they missed an important criteria just as the economists did, the earth isn't going up the three degrees.  In effect, it is what it is.  Errors made in calculation, whether by  race handicappers, economists or climatologists will not change the actual odds and final results.  Belief does not affect outcomes; even beliefs at 97% confidence.   

Actually, the handicappers and economists can predict better than the climatologists.  The first two have some past results they can compare too to draw some confidence in their formulas.  The climatologist does not have any man made experiences they're drawing their conclusions with.  It's never been tested.  It's all based on hope and faith they're right.  Sounds like a religious experience.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 02, 2019, 12:50:03 am
Screw global warming 70 years from now.  I hope the climatologists are accurate that Hurricane Dorian is going to turn north before it slams into West Palm Beach area and north of there.  They're running out of time and I have family and friends who live down there in FLorida where the storm is currently aiming.  Watching the news right now that the turn north will happen is losing confidence.  They're recommending that people get up early to check the news to see if the predictions are wrong!!! Now they're talking that residents should think about moving out and going further west just in case.  Are they serious?  A million people to leave now right before the storm arrives?    There's maybe two roads that go east to west in that area.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 02, 2019, 03:37:24 am
Belief does not affect outcomes; even beliefs at 97% confidence.   

Correct. And nobody suggested that it does. Another straw man.

Quote
Actually, the handicappers and economists can predict better than the climatologists.  The first two have some past results they can compare too to draw some confidence in their formulas.  The climatologist does not have any man made experiences they're drawing their conclusions with.  It's never been tested.
The origin of the co2 does not have any bearing on the prediction so this is a weird thing to say,

Quote
It's all based on hope and faith they're right.  Sounds like a religious experience.
It may sound like that to you but that's only because you don't understand it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on September 02, 2019, 09:20:08 am
There are two kinds of people who claim to understand long-term climate change and how to control, or at least modify it. There are those silly enough to believe what they’re saying. These people are earnest and in a hurry to convince you that their analyses are correct and their solutions effective. Then there are the politicians, distrustful of the panic prosecuted by the earnest believers, but unwilling to let a crisis – even a synthetic one -- go to waste. These are the ones who will try to convince you that government can solve the problem; that government can solve any problem, especially if the government follows their plan.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 02, 2019, 10:02:42 am
Correct. And nobody suggested that it does. Another straw man.
The origin of the co2 does not have any bearing on the prediction so this is a weird thing to say,
It may sound like that to you but that's only because you don't understand it.
Your point is in conflict with your sides argument about climate change.  The whole prediction for global warming is that it is due to man-made increase of CO2 caused by our burning of fossil fuels.  Are you now denying this is the prediction?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 02, 2019, 10:12:52 am
Your point is in conflict with your sides argument about climate change.  The whole prediction for global warming is that it is due to man-made increase of CO2 caused by our burning of fossil fuels.  Are you now denying this is the prediction?

No. It just means that you didn't read what I wrote carefully enough.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 02, 2019, 10:44:39 am
No. It just means that you didn't read what I wrote carefully enough.

OK.  So I didn't understand.  Please clarify what you meant.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 02, 2019, 10:58:20 am
OK.  So I didn't understand.  Please clarify what you meant.

I was responding to your statement The climatologist does not have any man made experiences they're drawing their conclusions with. 

The link between climate and CO2 exists (or doesn't) regardless of whether the experience is man made or not (for example if a huge volcano had piped out the same CO2 as man, and the climate did or didn't warm, that would be a test).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 02, 2019, 11:17:07 am
I was responding to your statement The climatologist does not have any man made experiences they're drawing their conclusions with. 

The link between climate and CO2 exists (or doesn't) regardless of whether the experience is man made or not (for example if a huge volcano had piped out the same CO2 as man, and the climate did or didn't warm, that would be a test).
There are different things going on between volcanoes and man producing CO2. Other elements, methane, etc.  They may or may not be similar or causal in the same ways.  Knowing what volcanoes in the past did would be a good predictor of what volcanoes would do in the future.  But since we never had man produce CO2 before as we are now, there are no predictors regarding the current situation.  We would have to wait 50-100 years or more to test the theories. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 02, 2019, 12:28:26 pm
No. It just means that you didn't read what I wrote carefully enough.

Or that you didn't write it carefully enough (i.e., less open to misunderstanding) ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 02, 2019, 12:31:24 pm
There are different things going on between volcanoes and man producing CO2. Other elements, methane, etc.  They may or may not be similar or causal in the same ways.  Knowing what volcanoes in the past did would be a good predictor of what volcanoes would do in the future.  But since we never had man produce CO2 before as we are now, there are no predictors regarding the current situation.  We would have to wait 50-100 years or more to test the theories.

CO2 is CO2
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 02, 2019, 01:56:54 pm
CO2 is CO2

Correct, and its (Greenhouse Gas) properties have never changed.

Alan K. may be misinterpreting the fact that it is possible to differentiate between the origins of the CO2 by looking at its Carbon isotopes. But those Carbon isotopes do not materially change the (greenhouse) properties of the CO2 gas.

It remains a greenhouse gas that is relatively transparent for visible light wavelengths coming from the sun, but relatively opaque for reflected sunlight coming from the earth that has longer wavelengths. So the direct sunlight enters the atmosphere and the reflected sunlight is blocked, warming up the atmosphere.

Methane (CH4) is another Greenhouse gas, much more effective at blocking the reflected energy than CO2, but it breaks down in the atmosphere faster.

Hydrogen (H) gas is another Greenhouse gas, much more of it is present compared to CO2, but it is relatively short-lived as a Greenhouse gas because it will come down as precipitation when it condensates.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 02, 2019, 02:55:10 pm
You both totallyand deliberately ignored my points.   
I need to get on with my life. Have a nice day.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 02, 2019, 05:13:57 pm
I need to get on with my life.

Let's see how long that lasts, eh?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 03, 2019, 04:50:07 am
The link between climate and CO2 exists (or doesn't) regardless of whether the experience is man made or not (for example if a huge volcano had piped out the same CO2 as man, and the climate did or didn't warm, that would be a test).

That seems a rather flawed example because volcanoes do not emit only CO2. Volcanic ash or dust released into the atmosphere during an eruption will shade sunlight and cause a temporary cooling in the region. The sulphur dioxide emitted by volcanoes produces an even more significant cooling, and its effect lasts longer and is more wide-spread. The sulphur dioxide moves into the upper atmosphere where it combines with water to produce sulphuric acid which forms into a haze of tiny droplets reflecting incoming solar radiation.

If the volcanic activity is massive enough, this cooling effect could continue for a several years causing an expansion of the ice cover at the poles which results in a greater 'albedo' area, which reflects yet more incoming solar radiation, and prolongs the cool period.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011GL050168

"Here we present precisely dated records of ice‐cap growth from Arctic Canada and Iceland showing that LIA summer cold and ice growth began abruptly between 1275 and 1300 AD, followed by a substantial intensification 1430–1455 AD. Intervals of sudden ice growth coincide with two of the most volcanically perturbed half centuries of the past millennium."

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/89813/satellite-catalogs-volcanic-sulfur-emissions

“Many people may not realize that volcanoes are continuously releasing quite large amounts of gas, and may do so for decades or even centuries,” said Michigan Technological University volcanologist Simon Carn, the lead author of the study. “Because the daily emissions are smaller than a big eruption, the effect of a single plume may not seem noticeable. But the cumulative effect of all volcanoes can be significant. In fact, on average, volcanoes release most of their gas when they are not erupting.”

Apparently natural volcanic and man-made CO2 emissions have the same carbon isotopic fingerprint. This makes it impossible to determine how much of the current, elevated CO2 levels are due to the burning of fossil fuels, and how much are due to volcanic activity.

Alarmist will of course claim that the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere due to volcanoes is relatively small, despite the obvious fact that it is not known how many volcanoes on land and sea are continuously emitting CO2, whether the volcanoes are erupting or not. How scientific of them!  ;D ;D  One has to admit these alarmists have a firm grasp on the methodology of science.  ;D ;D

Here's an article linking recent research on volcanic CO2 emissions. However, if you are an alarmist, you must not read this scientific research because it must be junk science. Any research that casts doubt on the validity of the 97% consensus, cannot be true because 'the science is settled'. You've been warned!  ;D ;D

http://www.plateclimatology.com/discovery-of-massive-volcanic-co2-emissions-puts-damper-on-global-warming-theory



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 03, 2019, 06:16:25 am
That seems a rather flawed example because volcanoes do not emit only CO2.

Yes you are right. It was the first example of a non man-made co2 source that came into my head. Thanks for the links anyway.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 03, 2019, 06:20:52 am
Again, folks determinedly miss the point: whether it's Mama Nature farting in her sleep or a few zillion cows imitating her in their fields or sheds, volcanoes demonstrating their temper tantrums, the fact remains that mankind itself must do its bit to help keep down such emissions.

That is the simple fact of the matter. Measure until you grow old and feeble, but that fact remains: you, the general broader you, as a responsible - and perhaps sensible human - must also do your bit. Maths tells you so: the less you add, the lower the total; the more you subtract, the lower the total; and guess what: the more you add the higher the total.

What's to dispute, unless you do so for the helluva it, in which case you are contributing to more wasted energy and rising temperatures.

;-(

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 03, 2019, 07:55:56 am
Again, folks determinedly miss the point: whether it's Mama Nature farting in her sleep or a few zillion cows imitating her in their fields or sheds, volcanoes demonstrating their temper tantrums, the fact remains that mankind itself must do its bit to help keep down such emissions.

That is the simple fact of the matter. Measure until you grow old and feeble, but that fact remains: you, the general broader you, as a responsible - and perhaps sensible human - must also do your bit. Maths tells you so: the less you add, the lower the total; the more you subtract, the lower the total; and guess what: the more you add the higher the total.

What's to dispute, unless you do so for the helluva it, in which case you are contributing to more wasted energy and rising temperatures.

Well said, that's common sense. Who would argue with that?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 03, 2019, 08:02:29 am
Apparently natural volcanic and man-made CO2 emissions have the same carbon isotopic fingerprint.

No they don't, and it's not the only way we know that.

In short, 12-C is more common in plant material, 13-C is the most common variant overall (including in volcano emissions), and 14-C has a relatively (in geological terms) short halftime, so it won't be found in really old sources. The fingerprint of the rising CO2 levels points to a balance that increases the 12-C more than the other isotopes of carbon, and is very low in 14-C. Hence the source is predominantly old plant-based materials, and not molten or weathering rock. The isotope ratios do provide a 'fingerprint'.

Quote
This makes it impossible to determine how much of the current, elevated CO2 levels are due to the burning of fossil fuels, and how much are due to volcanic activity.

Not true, as explained above.

I'm sorry that I apparently have to repost this link, a concise explanation by Prof. Richard Alley:
The chemistry of the added CO2 reveals its source: it's humans burning fossil fuels, and not volcanoes or the ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PrrTk6DqzE&feature=youtu.be
It's the simplest explanation I could find. Too bad that the manmade origin of the excess CO2 emission levels is still denied.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 03, 2019, 08:19:35 am
And here is a more detailed explanation (10 main lines of evidence to be considered) of the same process of determining the man-made origin, i.e. from burning fossil fuel:
Climate change cluedo: Anthropogenic CO2
https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html

And here's more evidence of the CO2 isotope ratios telling us a clear tale:
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/outreach/isotopes/mixing.html

A falling amount of 13-C, and an absence of  14-C, is caused by a net increase of 12-C (coming from very old plantbased material).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 03, 2019, 08:37:58 am
Here's an article linking recent research on volcanic CO2 emissions.

Sadly, that article was written by a guy (James E. Kamis) who also writes on the about page of his website:
Quote
He is proud to have worked for mining and oil companies that practiced responsible harvesting of materials necessary to sustain human life; Becker Industries, ARCO, Cross Timbers, Texaco, Fina, Union 76, and BTA Oil Producers LLC. He is currently retired.

Really Ray, Really? That's the best you can do?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 03, 2019, 09:19:40 am
And here is a more detailed explanation (10 main lines of evidence to be considered) of the same process of determining the man-made origin, i.e. from burning fossil fuel:
Climate change cluedo: Anthropogenic CO2
https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html

And here's more evidence of the CO2 isotope ratios telling us a clear tale:
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/outreach/isotopes/mixing.html

A falling amount of 13-C, and an absence of  14-C, is caused by a net increase of 12-C (coming from very old plantbased material).

Cheers,
Bart

I also linked to a similar article from, as I recall, Technology Review.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 03, 2019, 09:24:47 am
And here is a more detailed explanation (10 main lines of evidence to be considered) of the same process of determining the man-made origin, i.e. from burning fossil fuel:
Climate change cluedo: Anthropogenic CO2
https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html

And here's more evidence of the CO2 isotope ratios telling us a clear tale:
https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/outreach/isotopes/mixing.html

A falling amount of 13-C, and an absence of  14-C, is caused by a net increase of 12-C (coming from very old plantbased material).

Cheers,
Bart

Well, thanks for at least attempting to explain the difference, Bart, but I'm not convinced. Can you provide a link to some real scientific research which makes this clear? I don't automatically accept statements made on Youtube videos without references to reliable scientific studies. I want to see the scientific evidence.

I don't care who provides the link to the scientific evidence. It is the quality of the evidence that counts, not your subjective impression of the person who provided the link.

The following link that I provided earlier, makes a clear statement on the issue, with a link to a Skepticalscience.com article in support of their statement.

http://www.plateclimatology.com/discovery-of-massive-volcanic-co2-emissions-puts-damper-on-global-warming-theory

"Natural volcanic and man-made CO2 emissions have the exact same and very distinctive carbon isotopic fingerprint.  It is therefore scientifically impossible to distinguish the difference between volcanic CO2 and human-induced CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels (see here). https://skepticalscience.com/anthrocarbon-brief.html

"Declining C14 ratio indicates the source is very old, hence fossil fuel or volcanic (ie, not oceanic outgassing or a recent biological source);
4) Declining C14 ratio
Carbon 14 is formed in the atmosphere by collisions between cosmic rays and Nitrogen.  It has a very short half life (5,730 years), but atmospheric C14 is continuously replenished, maintaining a near constant concentration.  Buried C14 is not replenished, however.  As a result, whether from volcanoes or fossil fuels, CO2 from long-buried sources has effectively no C14.  The addition of large quantities of CO2 from a long-buried source to the atmosphere will result in a significant decline in C14 concentration in the atmosphere, which is what we see.  More recent, high precision measurements show the decline in C14 continued after the end of atmospheric nuclear testing.This is strong evidence that the source of the increased concentration of CO2 is fossil carbon, either from volcanoes or from fossil fuels."


I've searched Google Scholar for studies that specifically address this issue, how to distinguish between volcanic CO2 and CO2 from fossil fuel, and cannot find anything definite relating to differences in isotopic fingerprints. It seem there might be something very uncertain here.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 03, 2019, 09:50:35 am
I'm back. :)   I surprised I haven't heard any arguments or read any articles that Hurricane Dorian's severe and unusual tracking is due to global warming.  So many have argued recently that we're having more severe storms because of global warming.   Have these people changed their minds?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 03, 2019, 10:04:31 am
I'm back. :)   I surprised I haven't heard any arguments or read any articles that Hurricane Dorian's severe and unusual tracking is due to global warming.  So many have argued recently that we're having more severe storms because of global warming.   Have these people changed their minds?

The hurricane changed its Florida-bound trajectory, but I don't think people have changed their minds about the effect of climate change on hurricanes.
It's well known fact that hurricanes form over the warm ocean water of the tropics. The warm water heats the air, the hot air rises, cold air replaces it, then it warms up again and the cycle continues creating large storm clouds. The warmer the ocean, the stronger and more frequent the hurricanes.

Lately, there was also a lot of turbulence in the stock market. A lot of damage and strong swings due to hot air. The season is not over yet.

Quote
Three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the mainland U.S. or U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, since Trump was inaugurated: Irma and Maria in 2017, and Michael in 2018. Between them, the storms caused about $165 billion in damage.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/trump-helicopters-into-golf-course-after-staying-back-for-storm?srnd=premium-canada
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 03, 2019, 10:26:03 am
The hurricane changed its Florida-bound trajectory, but I don't think people have changed their minds about the effect of climate change on hurricanes.
It's well known fact that hurricanes form over the warm ocean water of the tropics. The warm water heats the air, the hot air rises, cold air replaces it, then it warms up again and the cycle continues creating large storm clouds. The warmer the ocean, the stronger and more frequent the hurricanes.

Lately, there was also a lot of turbulence in the stock market. A lot of damage and strong swings due to hot air. The season is not over yet.

Quote
Three Category 5 hurricanes have hit the mainland U.S. or U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico, since Trump was inaugurated: Irma and Maria in 2017, and Michael in 2018. Between them, the storms caused about $165 billion in damage.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/trump-helicopters-into-golf-course-after-staying-back-for-storm?srnd=premium-canada (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/trump-helicopters-into-golf-course-after-staying-back-for-storm?srnd=premium-canada)

I was reading that the Bahamas got hit with a similar severe storm in 1935 before the industrial revolution and Trump was born.   I wonder what caused it? :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 03, 2019, 10:43:20 am
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/trump-helicopters-into-golf-course-after-staying-back-for-storm?srnd=premium-canada (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/trump-helicopters-into-golf-course-after-staying-back-for-storm?srnd=premium-canada)


I was reading that the Bahamas got hit with a similar severe storm in 1935 before the industrial revolution and Trump was born.   I wonder what caused it? :)


Les has just explained it to you.

If you are an impatient lad, wait a little while, and a new #6 category will have to be factored into the scale. You read it first here.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 03, 2019, 10:44:49 am
Some lads have no sense of humor.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on September 03, 2019, 11:03:08 am
"severe storm in 1935 before the industrial revolution "

Whose industrial revolution ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 03, 2019, 11:04:32 am
"severe storm in 1935 before the industrial revolution "

Whose industrial revolution ?
Pick one.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 03, 2019, 11:23:08 am
Well said, that's common sense. Who would argue with that?

Moi.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 03, 2019, 11:24:41 am
Some lads have no sense of humor.

Dorian is no laughing matter.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 03, 2019, 11:29:32 am
Dorian is no laughing matter.

When you let climate alarmists narrate hurricanes:

https://twitter.com/_hanya_m/status/1167157777518735360?s=12
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on September 03, 2019, 12:35:29 pm
When you let climate alarmists narrate hurricanes:

https://twitter.com/_hanya_m/status/1167157777518735360?s=12

Scroll down the feed and you'll see someone stating that it's a Fox News report.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 03, 2019, 02:10:15 pm
Moi.

That's OK, Slobodan. Nobody is perfect.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 03, 2019, 09:53:23 pm
Life's a beach.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 05, 2019, 11:22:05 pm
Life's a beach.

Extreme weather ain't all bad.  Look what's washed up on the beach.

"Hurricane Dorian washes bricks of cocaine onto Florida beaches"
https://fox59.com/2019/09/04/hurricane-dorian-washes-bricks-of-cocaine-onto-florida-beaches/ (https://fox59.com/2019/09/04/hurricane-dorian-washes-bricks-of-cocaine-onto-florida-beaches/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 10, 2019, 01:53:27 am
Interesting and insightful report on forest fires with possible connection to climate change. Report was done by CBC's Passionate Eye team, about the forest fires in California.

Quote
Look at the rise of massive wildfires across the globe. From testing inside an active fire, to studying a blaze in a lab, scientists search for ways to reduce the dangers these infernos pose.

Duration 45 minutes. Viewable in Canada, maybe also in other countries.

https://gem.cbc.ca/media/media/the-passionate-eye/episode-7/38e815a-0119be921c4
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 10, 2019, 09:18:17 am
Video not available in the USA.  In any case, forest fires are a natural occurrence. They're required to clear away the brush that lets the trees propagate and grow.  Often, we put out fires to protect homes and people that naturally would have burned.  That creates a lot more brush than should be there.  So then when a fire start, we can't control it.  It really gets out of hand and destroys the trees as well. 

When I visited Grand Canyon last year, I noticed piles and piles of brush that had been gathered for pickup later and removal.  The government was clearing away the brush that fires use to eliminate  naturally. 

If it gets warmer, with more storms, there probably will be more forest fires started.  On the other hand, warmer climate has made more land open for forests to grow.  Up where you live in Canada, the tree line is moving north as well as up mountains because of higher temperatures.  More trees, more birds, more insects, more deer, more wolves, more bears, more people who can live there.  It's a good thing. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 11, 2019, 06:00:52 pm
Looks like the fight against global warming is over when the liberal New Yorker Magazine comes out against it.  The world must be coming to an end, for sure.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 11, 2019, 06:47:06 pm
Looks like the fight against global warming is over when the liberal New Yorker Magazine comes out against it.  The world must be coming to an end, for sure.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending

Quite the opposite, Alan. They are clamoring for draconian measures in order to minimize the effects of global warming, as I posted in the other climate thread:


(Emphasis mine)

Quote
The first condition is that every one of the world’s major polluting countries institute draconian conservation measures, shut down much of its energy and transportation infrastructure, and completely retool its economy...

... Finally, overwhelming numbers of human beings, including millions of government-hating Americans, need to accept high taxes and severe curtailment of their familiar life styles without revolting. They must accept the reality of climate change and have faith in the extreme measures taken to combat it. They can’t dismiss news they dislike as fake. They have to set aside nationalism and class and racial resentments. They have to make sacrifices for distant threatened nations and distant future generations. They have to be permanently terrified by hotter summers and more frequent natural disasters, rather than just getting used to them. Every day, instead of thinking about breakfast, they have to think about death....

... any movement toward a more just and civil society can now be considered a meaningful climate action. Securing fair elections is a climate action. Combating extreme wealth inequality is a climate action. Shutting down the hate machines on social media is a climate action. Instituting humane immigration policy, advocating for racial and gender equality, promoting respect for laws and their enforcement, supporting a free and independent press, ridding the country of assault weapons—these are all meaningful climate actions.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 11, 2019, 06:52:56 pm
The Demoncrats are recommending that.  Not the New Yorker Magazine.  Its article says we should spend our money elsewhere such as on relief and other related help caused by the warning and only a little on getting to change the climate as that's impossible to do.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 11, 2019, 09:15:23 pm
Looks like the fight against global warming is over when the liberal New Yorker Magazine comes out against it.  The world must be coming to an end, for sure.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-if-we-stopped-pretending

Not to an end, but to not so nice scenario. Below are some quotations from the mentioned article. Thanks for the link, Alan.

Quote
If you’re younger than sixty, you have a good chance of witnessing the radical destabilization of life on earth—massive crop failures, apocalyptic fires, imploding economies, epic flooding, hundreds of millions of refugees fleeing regions made uninhabitable by extreme heat or permanent drought. If you’re under thirty, you’re all but guaranteed to witness it.

We’ve emitted as much atmospheric carbon in the past thirty years as we did in the previous two centuries of industrialization.

Our atmosphere and oceans can absorb only so much heat before climate change, intensified by various feedback loops, spins completely out of control. The consensus among scientists and policy-makers is that we’ll pass this point of no return if the global mean temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius (maybe a little more, but also maybe a little less). The I.P.C.C.—the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—tells us that, to limit the rise to less than two degrees, we not only need to reverse the trend of the past three decades. We need to approach zero net emissions, globally, in the next three decades.

When a scientist predicts a rise of two degrees Celsius, she’s merely naming a number about which she’s very confident: the rise will be at least two degrees. The rise might, in fact, be far higher. (the author refers to a female scientist, but it could well be also a man).

First of all, even if we can no longer hope to be saved from two degrees of warming, there’s still a strong practical and ethical case for reducing carbon emissions. In the long run, it probably makes no difference how badly we overshoot two degrees; once the point of no return is passed, the world will become self-transforming. In the shorter term, however, half measures are better than no measures. Halfway cutting our emissions would make the immediate effects of warming somewhat less severe, and it would somewhat postpone the point of no return. The most terrifying thing about climate change is the speed at which it’s advancing, the almost monthly shattering of temperature records. If collective action resulted in just one fewer devastating hurricane, just a few extra years of relative stability, it would be a goal worth pursuing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 11, 2019, 10:52:15 pm
The point of the article though is  "At what cost?"  Toi spend so much money trying to change the climate may be more hurtful than setting aside that money to compensate for the change in climate.  Remediation of damage, building of nuclear power plants, etc.  Also, what isn't mentioned in the article is that money spent on either reducing carbon or remediation won;t be spent for other things, like feeding people, research to reduce diseases, housing the homeless, etc.  These too should have been included in the article.  It would have made an even stronger case for not spending money on carbon reduction. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 04:07:53 am
The point of the article though is  "At what cost?"  Toi spend so much money trying to change the climate may be more hurtful than setting aside that money to compensate for the change in climate.

It is 'cheaper' to prevent than attempting to cure when the damage has been done.

I put quotes around 'cheaper' because we are also talking about the loss of health and life for many people, not only economic turmoil or loss of property.

Quote
Remediation of damage, building of nuclear power plants, etc.  Also, what isn't mentioned in the article is that money spent on either reducing carbon or remediation won;t be spent for other things, like feeding people, research to reduce diseases, housing the homeless, etc.

There will be even less money for that if it is needed to repair the avoidable disruption of society, and loss of property/livelihoods.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 08:37:29 am
It is 'cheaper' to prevent than attempting to cure when the damage has been done.

I put quotes around 'cheaper' because we are also talking about the loss of health and life for many people, not only economic turmoil or loss of property.

There will be even less money for that if it is needed to repair the avoidable disruption of society, and loss of property/livelihoods.

Cheers,
Bart
The thrust of the article is that it is too late to make much of a difference trying to reduce carbon.  There's too many people, growing even larger, needing more and more carbon to live.   That it's better to spend the money on other things. You have a different analysis, but maybe an incorrect view.  So that's the debate.  How should the limited resources be allocated?   It's not something that you hear people discussing much and it should be.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on September 12, 2019, 08:42:51 am
The thrust of the article is that it is too late to make much of a difference trying to reduce carbon.  There's too many people, growing even larger, needing more and more carbon to live.   That it's better to spend the money on other things. You have a different analysis, but maybe an incorrect view.  So that's the debate.  How should the limited resources be allocated?   It's not something that you hear people discussing much and it should be.
it is amazing to me that you could read that article and come away with that conclusion. No point even debating it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 09:10:54 am
it is amazing to me that you could read that article and come away with that conclusion. No point even debating it.
Forget the article.  Debate me.  I've been saying in this whole thread, over and over, that we have to consider where to spend limited resources.  How much can be allocated without hurting other important things we have to take care of.   We can't do everything. 

It's like running your household.  Your kids need new clothes, health care, solid food, and you have to save money for college.  So you and your wife sit down to figure out how much to allocate to each area.  You don;t say let's take all the money and put it away for college and leave little for everything else.  Well, that's what I'm saying.  How are we going to divvy up resources to pay for all these things.  You don't pull an amount out of your hat like the Democrat candidates for president are doing.  There won't be anything left for anything else. No one's talking about these things.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 12, 2019, 11:45:27 am
it is amazing to me that you could read that article and come away with that conclusion. No point even debating it.

Then what's the point of your post? If you think the conclusion is erroneous, state your case. Righteous indignation is not a valid argument.

The article is long, and covers a lot. But the central premise, even in the title, is that it might already be too late to stop and reverse climate change and better to concentrate on tackling its consequences. You may disagree with it, but that's what the gist of the article is.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on September 12, 2019, 11:55:07 am
Then what's the point of your post? If you think the conclusion is erroneous, state your case. Righteous indignation is not a valid argument.

The article is long, and covers a lot. But the central premise, even in the title, is that it might already be too late to stop and reverse climate change and better to concentrate on tackling its consequences. You may disagree with it, but that's what the gist of the article is.
As I indicated, it is not worth it to go down that rabbit hole with Alan, or you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 12, 2019, 11:56:40 am
As I indicated, it is not worth it to go down that rabbit hole with Alan, or you.

Fantastic contribution to the discussion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 12:21:09 pm
Unfortunately the left debates that way. If you don't believe what they have to say you don't have a right for a different viewpoint. They want to shut down all debate, all discussion. Just believe what they believe. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 12:28:11 pm
Then what's the point of your post? If you think the conclusion is erroneous, state your case. Righteous indignation is not a valid argument.

The article is long, and covers a lot. But the central premise, even in the title, is that it might already be too late to stop and reverse climate change and better to concentrate on tackling its consequences. You may disagree with it, but that's what the gist of the article is.

The article in the NewYorker starts with:
Quote
[...] The goal has been clear for thirty years, and despite earnest efforts we’ve made essentially no progress toward reaching it. Today, the scientific evidence verges on irrefutable.

Some are beginning to make earnest efforts, others not:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-09-06/trump-warns-california-violating-law-auto-emissions
Quote
Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board, who negotiated the agreement with the four automakers, chided the administration for seeking to overturn the deal.

“The U.S. Department of Justice brings its weight to bear against auto companies in an attempt to frighten them out of voluntarily making cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks than EPA wants. Consumers might ask, who is Andy Wheeler protecting?” she said in a statement, referring to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler.

Is one of many examples.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 12:33:23 pm
Bart,  what's that got to do with Slobodan's point or mine?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 01:14:26 pm
Bart,  what's that got to do with Slobodan's point or mine?

To spell it out, the article seems to say contradictory/untrue things. So your conclusion is based on that?

To spell it out even clearer, it's not a scientific paper about Extreme Weather (the topic of this thread).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 01:56:12 pm
I've been recommending that we spend money on other things long before this article recommended the same thing. Maybe he's been reading my posts here. 🤨 

Recommending what to do about extreme weather is exactly on off the things what this topic is all about.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 01:58:15 pm
I've been recommending that we spend money on other things long before this article recommended the same thing. Maybe he's been reading my posts here. 🤨 

Recommending what to do about extreme weather is exactly on off the things what this topic is all about.

Recommending to do nothing is ill-advised.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 02:03:18 pm
Recommending to do nothing is ill-advised.
How much should be spent of the budget on preventing climate change? How much of the budget should be spent on remediation of Damages due to climate change? How much of the budget should be sent on cancer research? How much of the budget should be used to develop new cars? How much should the economy change based upon climate change? Should we eliminate carbon producing cars? Should we build more levees to prevent flooding is you do when your country? These things are not being discussed. All we're arguing about is it whether it's real or not? Can't we change the subject?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 02:52:07 pm
How much should be spent of the budget on preventing climate change?

Wrong question. Slowing down anthropogenic climate change is hard enough.

Not spending/investing now will cost more in the end.

It's about changing behavior, perhaps even more than spending money.
Stopping the denial is a start. Getting off one's butt is a start.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 04:15:05 pm
You're still stuck. Oh well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 12, 2019, 04:20:21 pm
It's about changing behavior, perhaps even more than spending money.
Stopping the denial is a start. Getting off one's butt is a start.

+1
It seems to be harder for the deniers, but there are many small ways to do something about it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 12, 2019, 06:06:48 pm
You're still stuck. Oh well.

It seems to be you who's stuck.
It's not about cost, it's about action.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 12, 2019, 09:49:14 pm
It seems to be you who's stuck.
It's not about cost, it's about action.

It's always about cost.  If you want to understand stuff, follow the money.  There's only so much to go around.  If you spend it here, than there's not enough for there.  So everyone fights over where the budget money goes.  If it's about action, why are the Chinese refusing to set goals before 2030? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2019, 12:35:06 am
It's always about cost.  If you want to understand stuff, follow the money.  There's only so much to go around.  If you spend it here, than there's not enough for there.  So everyone fights over where the budget money goes.  If it's about action, why are the Chinese refusing to set goals before 2030?

Indeed it is. However, money can become nearly worthless if the economy is seriously mismanaged. In my view, there are things that are more fundamental than money, and which underpin all economies. Those are;
(1) A reliable supply of energy.
(2) The actual, true cost of that energy, in terms of labor, machinery and the infrastructure required to produce it.
(3) The innovative, productive and efficient ways in which we use that energy, for the benefit of societies.

Low cost energy combined with the innovative and efficient use of that energy is the basis of China's rapid and extraordinary economic development.

However, China's rapid economic development through the use of cheap energy from fossil fuels (as well as cheap labor), did have an uncalculated hidden cost, which is the health costs of the 'real' pollution from vehicles and coal-fired power stations with inadequate emission controls.

China has been tackling that problem for a number of years by decommissioning the older, polluting power stations, and replacing them with the modern Ultra-Supercritical type, as well as renewable energy. Here's an interesting news item about the current construction of such a plant in Poland. The 1,000 megawatt plant will be operational in 2023.
https://www.ge.com/reports/ultra-super-critical-thinking-high-tech-turbines-giving-coal-new-lease-life/

The main problem with these Ultra-Supercritical coal plants is that CO2 has been mischaracterized as a 'pollutant', therefore most alarmist laypersons do not see them as 'pollution free' because CO2 is still emitted, although in lower quantities per unit of energy produced.

Carbon capture and storage is too expensive, but how about a synergistic option which capitalizes on the undeniable benefits of CO2. Farmers have been pumping CO2 into their Greenhouses for decades because they know that it increases crop growth substantially, although the amount of increased growth can vary according to plant type and other conditions. Here's an article that addresses the benefits of various Greenhouse techniques.
https://www.edaphic.com.au/5-reasons-why-co2-levels-are-controlled-at-night/

My proposal, which I think is very sensible and practical, is that all new coal-fired power stations should be of the Ultra-supercritical variety, which should also include state-of-the-art emission controls of chemicals which are harmful to human health, and that such coal-fired plants should be surrounded by large Greenhouses.

All the CO2 emissions from the coal power-plants should be funneled into the Greenhouses. Nominate me for a Nobel Prize if you wish.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 14, 2019, 04:03:24 am
Indeed it is. However, money can become nearly worthless if the economy is seriously mismanaged. In my view, there are things that are more fundamental than money, and which underpin all economies. Those are;
(1) A reliable supply of energy.
(2) The actual, true cost of that energy, in terms of labor, machinery and the infrastructure required to produce it.
(3) The innovative, productive and efficient ways in which we use that energy, for the benefit of societies.

Low cost energy combined with the innovative and efficient use of that energy is the basis of China's rapid and extraordinary economic development.

However, China's rapid economic development through the use of cheap energy from fossil fuels (as well as cheap labor), did have an uncalculated hidden cost, which is the health costs of the 'real' pollution from vehicles and coal-fired power stations with inadequate emission controls.

China has been tackling that problem for a number of years by decommissioning the older, polluting power stations, and replacing them with the modern Ultra-Supercritical type, as well as renewable energy. Here's an interesting news item about the current construction of such a plant in Poland. The 1,000 megawatt plant will be operational in 2023.
https://www.ge.com/reports/ultra-super-critical-thinking-high-tech-turbines-giving-coal-new-lease-life/

The main problem with these Ultra-Supercritical coal plants is that CO2 has been mischaracterized as a 'pollutant', therefore most alarmist laypersons do not see them as 'pollution free' because CO2 is still emitted, although in lower quantities per unit of energy produced.

Carbon capture and storage is too expensive, but how about a synergistic option which capitalizes on the undeniable benefits of CO2. Farmers have been pumping CO2 into their Greenhouses for decades because they know that it increases crop growth substantially, although the amount of increased growth can vary according to plant type and other conditions. Here's an article that addresses the benefits of various Greenhouse techniques.
https://www.edaphic.com.au/5-reasons-why-co2-levels-are-controlled-at-night/

My proposal, which I think is very sensible and practical, is that all new coal-fired power stations should be of the Ultra-supercritical variety, which should also include state-of-the-art emission controls of chemicals which are harmful to human health, and that such coal-fired plants should be surrounded by large Greenhouses.

All the CO2 emissions from the coal power-plants should be funneled into the Greenhouses. Nominate me for a Nobel Prize if you wish.  ;D

Instead, how about just keeping well away from stones?

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2019, 04:54:17 am
Instead, how about just keeping well away from stones?

;-)

Thankfully, I'm anonymous.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2019, 05:05:06 am
The recent hurricane Dorian which devastated the Bahamas, is very tragic, and my sympathies go out to everyone affected.

However, after such an extreme weather event occurs I often do some research on the internet to find out if it really was an unprecedented event and possibly the worst on record. What I find is that it is very rarely the worst on record, in terms of storm intensity, but it might be the worst in terms of the economic cost of destroyed property, due to increased populations and urbanization.

The following Wikipedia article lists all the hurricanes since 1804 that have affected the Bahamas. I was amazed that the number is 56. That works out to one hurricane every 3.8 years, on average. Sometimes there's a gap of several years with no hurricanes, and sometimes there are 2 consecutive hurricanes in 2 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hurricanes_in_the_Bahamas

The number of Category 5 hurricanes to hit the Bahamas during the 20th and 21st centuries is 4. Two of them were between 1932 and 1933, so I don't think one can surmise that hurricanes in this area have been increasing due to CO2 emissions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Bahamas_hurricane

"To date, it is one of four Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the Bahamas at that intensity, the others having occurred in 1933, 1992, and 2019."

Here are some other links to intense hurricanes of the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadliest_Atlantic_hurricanes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780

What I find truly disturbing, and far more disturbing than the very uncertain and unpredictable risk of 'runaway, catastrophic climate change', is the idiocy of building homes and infrastructure in areas that have a history of frequent floods and hurricanes, without ensuring that such homes can withstand the force of  such previous, known events.

This is crazy. 'Hey! folks. We have the ability to control the climate, because of the marvelous advances in science and technology, but we don't have the ability to protect you from the normal, extreme weather events that we know have occurred regularly throughout history. All we can do is reduce CO2 emissions in the hope that it will stop any increases in such extreme weather events.

In the meantime, you'll just have to accept the destruction and loss of life from natural, extreme weather events, because the priority is to tackle the uncertain risk that such extreme events will become worse, even though the IPCC has not been able to provide any sound evidence that extreme weather events have increased, globally, since 1950.'


Crikey! We're doomed; not from climate change, but from idiocy.  :(

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 14, 2019, 06:55:42 am
Were it only limited to the obvious risk islands, but we know it's not. Britain has its generous share of flood plane buildings too, and only when insurance companies stop offering cover does the gigantic penny drop.

That said, with the islands, what's the solution? Can they ask Donald to make them American so that they can up sticks and, along with Florida, Louisiana, Texas etc., move into Arizona? Considering many Bahamians went there precisely to get out of America, taking their workers with them, that might be an alternative less attractive to holding their breath and going under for a while. The banks would veto that, anyway.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2019, 07:44:26 am
That said, with the islands, what's the solution?

Here's one solution.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-27/village-built-for-fijis-poor-survives-cyclone-winston-unscathed/7204826

"Cheap, sturdy houses designed by an Australian man have survived Fiji's devastating cyclone with barely a scratch and provide a potential blueprint for reconstruction efforts.
The houses could be built in five days for $13,000 each, Mr Drysdale says."


For those interested in more luxurious and esthetically pleasing houses, here's another solution.
https://www.force10global.com.au/testimonials/

“The Category 5 cyclone was an absolute doozy. Very scary 8 hours and I honestly thought that the Force 10 units would sustain much damage in the morning when we came out to check. However, we were very happy to see only some minor damage.
All in all, I would say a very satisfying result. There were properties that were near us that lost complete roofs. We heard some horror stories about people that were in beautiful, solid cement block construction housing that lost their complete roofs very early in the cyclone. But our Force 10 units were in great condition given the size of the cyclone. As you may know we faced the teeth of the cyclone for 7 hours. One gust at the airport was registered at 382 Kms/hr. So you can imagine some of the gusts that we faced.”   
 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 14, 2019, 08:50:23 am
The recent hurricane Dorian which devastated the Bahamas, is very tragic, and my sympathies go out to everyone affected.

However, after such an extreme weather event occurs I often do some research on the internet to find out if it really was an unprecedented event and possibly the worst on record. What I find is that it is very rarely the worst on record, in terms of storm intensity, but it might be the worst in terms of the economic cost of destroyed property, due to increased populations and urbanization.

The following Wikipedia article lists all the hurricanes since 1804 that have affected the Bahamas. I was amazed that the number is 56. That works out to one hurricane every 3.8 years, on average. Sometimes there's a gap of several years with no hurricanes, and sometimes there are 2 consecutive hurricanes in 2 years.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hurricanes_in_the_Bahamas

The number of Category 5 hurricanes to hit the Bahamas during the 20th and 21st centuries is 4. Two of them were between 1932 and 1933, so I don't think one can surmise that hurricanes in this area have been increasing due to CO2 emissions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1932_Bahamas_hurricane

"To date, it is one of four Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall in the Bahamas at that intensity, the others having occurred in 1933, 1992, and 2019."

Here are some other links to intense hurricanes of the past.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deadliest_Atlantic_hurricanes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780

What I find truly disturbing, and far more disturbing than the very uncertain and unpredictable risk of 'runaway, catastrophic climate change', is the idiocy of building homes and infrastructure in areas that have a history of frequent floods and hurricanes, without ensuring that such homes can withstand the force of  such previous, known events.

This is crazy. 'Hey! folks. We have the ability to control the climate, because of the marvelous advances in science and technology, but we don't have the ability to protect you from the normal, extreme weather events that we know have occurred regularly throughout history. All we can do is reduce CO2 emissions in the hope that it will stop any increases in such extreme weather events.

In the meantime, you'll just have to accept the destruction and loss of life from natural, extreme weather events, because the priority is to tackle the uncertain risk that such extreme events will become worse, even though the IPCC has not been able to provide any sound evidence that extreme weather events have increased, globally, since 1950.'


Crikey! We're doomed; not from climate change, but from idiocy.  :(


For the heck of it, I picked one of the early storms to see how much info your link had. 1806 Great Coastal Hurricane. It hit the Bahamas and went up the US coast to Massachusetts then Nova Scotia.   21 people drown in a ship off New Jersey where I live and 36" (91cm) of rain fell in Mass.  OF course, being 1806, this was long before there were any substantial CO2 due to the industrial revolution.  SO the whole argument Dorian was casued by global warming is just hysteria and fake news. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_Great_Coastal_hurricane
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 14, 2019, 09:10:36 am
Were it only limited to the obvious risk islands, but we know it's not. Britain has its generous share of flood plane buildings too, and only when insurance companies stop offering cover does the gigantic penny drop.

That said, with the islands, what's the solution? Can they ask Donald to make them American so that they can up sticks and, along with Florida, Louisiana, Texas etc., move into Arizona? Considering many Bahamians went there precisely to get out of America, taking their workers with them, that might be an alternative less attractive to holding their breath and going under for a while. The banks would veto that, anyway.

Rob
May I remind you that the Bahamas was owned by Great Britain, not America.   Maybe the Bahamians should request GB to make them British again.  America provided at least $10 million in governmental aid plus much rescue and recovery and medical and food help after Dorian.  I don;t know how much private charity was given by individual Americans. But it too was substantial. In any case, just dumping on America and our president isn't appreciated.  It's become a knee-jerk reaction from many here.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2019, 09:34:50 am
For the heck of it, I picked one of the early storms to see how much info your link had. 1806 Great Coastal Hurricane. It hit the Bahamas and went up the US coast to Massachusetts then Nova Scotia.   21 people drown in a ship off New Jersey where I live and 36" (91cm) of rain fell in Mass.  OF course, being 1806, this was long before there were any substantial CO2 due to the industrial revolution.  SO the whole argument Dorian was casued by global warming is just hysteria and fake news. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1806_Great_Coastal_hurricane

But wasn't that only a category 2 hurricane, Alan? Go back further to 1780 and there was a devastating category 5 hurricane in the approximate region.

"The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster, is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 22,000 and 27,501 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through them from October 10–16.

The hurricane struck Barbados likely as a Category 5 hurricane, with at least one estimate of wind speeds as high as 200 mph"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 14, 2019, 10:24:16 am
But wasn't that only a category 2 hurricane, Alan? Go back further to 1780 and there was a devastating category 5 hurricane in the approximate region.

"The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster, is the deadliest Atlantic hurricane on record. Between 22,000 and 27,501 people died throughout the Lesser Antilles when the storm passed through them from October 10–16.

The hurricane struck Barbados likely as a Category 5 hurricane, with at least one estimate of wind speeds as high as 200 mph"


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780

Yes there were worse storms than the one I randomly picked. What's interesting, it seems that property damage has gone up while deaths have gone down over the centuries.  I suppose weather forecasting has helped people prepare or leave for safer areas.  Of course, the homes and other property are stuck to ride out the storm.   If I recall correctly, even the IPCC says that storms haven't been affected by "warming".  Maybe you have more current info on this. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 14, 2019, 10:39:45 am
... I suppose weather forecasting has helped people prepare or leave for safer areas...

Indeed. The whole Alabama evacuated at a mere hint from the Meteorologist-In-Chief  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 14, 2019, 10:44:17 am
Indeed. The whole Alabama evacuated at a mere hint from the Meteorologist-In-Chief  ;)

He needs some Alabamians to move further west into high electoral vote Texas before the next election to assure he wins the Lone Star state. :). 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 15, 2019, 01:30:49 am
If I recall correctly, even the IPCC says that storms haven't been affected by "warming".  Maybe you have more current info on this.

Not quite, Alan. There's great uncertainty about the issue, due to a lack of evidence and due to the great complexity of numerous influencing factors.

The 6th IPCC assessment report is still a work in process, but the following link, dealing with climate extremes, is dated 2018, so I presume the information is reasonably up to date.
https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/SREX-Chap3_FINAL-1.pdf

The following quote, from page 111, addresses one of my main concerns.

"Many weather and climate extremes are the result of natural climate variability (including phenomena such as El Niño), and natural decadal or multi-decadal variations in the climate provide the backdrop for anthropogenic climate changes. Even if there were no anthropogenic changes in climate, a wide variety of natural weather and climate extremes would still occur.

This should be very obvious, from the historical record, so why aren't governments addressing this issue which is more certain than the possibility that increased CO2 levels will result in more frequent and/or more intense floods and storms?

Another quote from the summary addresses the type of tropical cyclone that recently landed on the Bahamas.

"The uncertainties in the historical tropical cyclone records, the incomplete understanding of the physical mechanisms linking tropical cyclone metrics to climate change, and the degree of tropical cyclone variability provide only low confidence for the attribution of any detectable changes in tropical cyclone activity to anthropogenic influences. Attribution of single extreme events to anthropogenic climate change is challenging."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 09:19:24 am
Ray, Many hurricanes form off of the east coast of Africa.  SInce surface temperatures affect their formation, haven't there been studies that try to see of there's a relationship between the two.  Are surface temps changing?  Also, studies of similar areas in the Pacific for typhoons?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 15, 2019, 10:06:08 am
Ray, Many hurricanes form off of the east coast of Africa.  SInce surface temperatures affect their formation, haven't there been studies that try to see of there's a relationship between the two.  Are surface temps changing?  Also, studies of similar areas in the Pacific for typhoons?

Alan,
Read the IPCC summary that I posted. There are dozens of studies listed at the end of the report. I haven't got the time to read them. It's the IPCC's job to do that.  ;D

I think it's generally accepted that we're in a warming phase and that surface temperatures, on average, are slowly rising, but not rising equally across the planet. There will be some regions that are actually cooling.

Likewise with extreme weather events, there will be some regions where droughts are increasing and other regions where precipitation is increasing; some regions where storms and hurricanes are increasing and other regions where storms are decreasing, and so on.

The greatest degree of certainty in the recent IPCC reports is that heat waves are increasing globally, precipitation is increasing globally, and sea levels are very slowly rising, globally. Everything else seems to be mostly 'low confidence' or 'medium confidence'.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 10:48:34 am
Ray, what the variability and low confidence tells me is that there are many factors affecting climate.  I think focusing on one - CO2 - is a mistake.  It may tern out to be more coincidental that tempos are rising at the same time CO2 levels are increasing.

What's also interesting is that more CO2, more precipitation, and more heat generally increases the amount of land that vegetation, man and other creatures could use to expand their populations.  That's the main indicator of successful species.  While higher levels of sea water will cause long-term problems for coastal areas, countries will have to just spend more for ameliorating those areas as they have in the past.  We may be forced to move out from those areas, something that has very often happened in history due to environmental changes. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 15, 2019, 12:06:01 pm
Ray, what the variability and low confidence tells me is that there are many factors affecting climate.  I think focusing on one - CO2 - is a mistake.  It may tern out to be more coincidental that tempos are rising at the same time CO2 levels are increasing.

What's also interesting is that more CO2, more precipitation, and more heat generally increases the amount of land that vegetation, man and other creatures could use to expand their populations.  That's the main indicator of successful species.  While higher levels of sea water will cause long-term problems for coastal areas, countries will have to just spend more for ameliorating those areas as they have in the past.  We may be forced to move out from those areas, something that has very often happened in history due to environmental changes.

Plastics and Methane pollution may turn out to be a greater problem than the CO2.  And they are not the such great indicators of successful species.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 15, 2019, 12:53:34 pm
While higher levels of sea water will cause long-term problems for coastal areas, countries will have to just spend more for ameliorating those areas as they have in the past.  We may be forced to move out from those areas, something that has very often happened in history due to environmental changes.

Alan,
We already have a solution to rising sea levels. It's the same solution that would protect everyone from the devastating effects of floods, and provide additional water resources for agriculture.

You might have heard of the Millennium Drought in Australia. It commenced around the beginning of the century, or a bit before, and lasted to 2010. Dam levels were extremely low and many desalination plants were built on the basis that such droughts would become more common as a result of climate change.

Then, towards the end of 2010, and into 2011, a massive La Nina event struck. Dams overflowed, causing significant damage to property, and a very large inland lake called Lake Eyre, which is around 9,500 square kilometres in area and is often dry, completely filled.

The consequence of so much rainfall being sequestered in dams and this huge inland lake, was that sea levels stopped rising globally for 18 months. Initially they fell slightly, but didn't rise above previous levels for 18 months.
If we'd had the sense to build more dams during the millennium drought, in anticipation of future heavy rain, instead of taking the advice of climate alarmists and building desalination plants, I think sea level rise would have halted for at least 2 years.

Of course, Australia by itself is not the solution. At the moment we are experiencing another drought, but other countries, such as Thailand, are experiencing damaging floods with lots of excess water flowing back to sea.
Retaining that excess water in all countries that experience periods of heavy rainfall, will definitely stop sea levels rising, as well as reducing flood damage and loss of life.

ps. I should have mentioned that the excess water was contained not only in Australia, but also in northern South America.

https://podaac.jpl.nasa.gov/OceanEvents/GRACE_2010-11_GMSL_ENSO_Oct2012

"Comparing the 2010-11 drop in GMSL to the change in ocean mass measured by GRACE indicates that the temporary decrease was related to freshwater transport from the ocean to the continents. The GRACE satellites also provide estimates of terrestrial water storage. This information is used to determine to what region of the world the freshwater was transported. The satellite observations show that more water than normal occurred in Australia and northern South America."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 15, 2019, 09:15:37 pm
Alan,

this alert is for you. The warm weather is causing the Lone Star ticks to travel north, and this tick is causing a meat allergy in humans.
So, the meat eaters will have two choices - either stop the global warming or switch to vegan diet.

Quote
A veterinary clinic in southern Ontario is sounding the alarm after discovering a rare tick known to cause a meat allergy in humans. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/tick-that-makes-people-allergic-to-red-meat-spotted-in-ontario-1.4486154?fbclid=IwAR2A_AOsja9JiDx1IwrgW2ApGy4_BWsEPGjUS3zDBzz7amBz4BmeM659LrM
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 10:14:15 pm
Alan,

this alert is for you. The warm weather is causing the Lone Star ticks to travel north, and this tick is causing a meat allergy in humans.
So, the meat eaters will have two choices - either stop the global warming or switch to vegan diet.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/tick-that-makes-people-allergic-to-red-meat-spotted-in-ontario-1.4486154?fbclid=IwAR2A_AOsja9JiDx1IwrgW2ApGy4_BWsEPGjUS3zDBzz7amBz4BmeM659LrM

OK.  You've convinced me.  We have to stop CO2 immediately!!!!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 15, 2019, 10:23:17 pm
OK.  You've convinced me.  We have to stop CO2 immediately!!!!

So, you're anti-wildlife as well .., why not give those ticks a chance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 10:30:02 pm
Les, All kidding aside, I've used Permethrin impregnated clothing.  I never had a tick found on me. Good for other insects so they say. But I can;t personally confirm that.  Manufacturer impregnated clothes are good for the life of the garment or 70 washings (don;t clean at a cleaners).  I had Permethrin socks, pants, shirts, and hat.  I would tuck my pants legs into my socks and shirt into my pants.  Looks goofy, but really works.  Clothes are pricey, but that just what it is.  Check with Insect Shield, Ex Officio, Bean, and other sporting sites.  Here's one.
https://www.insectshield.com/What-Is-Insect-Shield.aspx (https://www.insectshield.com/What-Is-Insect-Shield.aspx)
The alternative is to buy Permethrin from Sawyer or one of the other insect repellent companies.  (Note:  DEET is an insect repellent.  Permethrin is an insecticide.  It kills them.  You spray it on clothes you want to protect the night before you leave for camping.  It's only good for about two weeks and two washing.  But handy for just going away for a week or so. If you're getting in and out of the woods to just shoot pictures throughout the year, it's more convenient to buy the manufacturer's already impregnated type.  Ticks are really bad.  Nothing to play around with.  Protect yourself. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 10:40:08 pm
So, you're anti-wildlife as well .., why not give those ticks a chance.
I really hate them.  My dog almost died from Lyme disease or some other tick borne illness.  I got bit by a Lyme carrying tick.  Took antibiotics to kill the disease before it really got started.  There are diseases now they have no cure for.  Where I live now in New Jersey and before in New York, it's really the worst.  I've stop hiking and won;t go deep into the woods to shoot picture.  I won;t go at all if I'm wearing regular clothes, which reminds me I need to buy some Permethrin clothes. 

Lyme disease has hit Europe.  (Revised)  Don;t play games with these things, Bart.  They're killers and maimers and are even spreading to back yards and front lawns. 

It looks very serious in The Netherlands.  Check the map at the bottom.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30514310 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30514310)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 15, 2019, 11:44:14 pm
I really hate them.  My dog almost died from Lyme disease or some other tick borne illness.  I got bit by a Lyme carrying tick.  Took antibiotics to kill the disease before it really got started.  There are diseases now they have no cure for.  Where I live now in New Jersey and before in New York, it's really the worst.  I've stop hiking and won;t go deep into the woods to shoot picture.  I won;t go at all if I'm wearing regular clothes, which reminds me I need to buy some Permethrin clothes. 

Lyme disease has hit Europe.  (Revised)  Don;t play games with these things, Bart.  They're killers and maimers and are even spreading to back yards and front lawns. 

It looks very serious in The Netherlands.  Check the map at the bottom.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30514310 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30514310)

Thanks for the tip about Permethrin, Alan. The problem is that the ticks can be now anywhere, even in backyards or falling down from the trees lining the sidewalks.
So far, I was lucky not see any ticks around my house (but the Japanese beetles were very numerous this summer). I don't want to get into the protective clothing when just mowing the lawn, watering the garden, or picking up parsley for my soup. Maybe we should build some kind of wall on our southern border to prevent them from coming.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 15, 2019, 11:49:56 pm
Thanks for the tip about Permethrin, Alan. The problem is that the ticks can be now anywhere, even in backyards or falling down from the trees lining the sidewalks.
So far, I was lucky not see any ticks around my house (but the Japanese beetles were very numerous this summer). I don't want to get into the protective clothing when just mowing the lawn, watering the garden, or picking up parsley for my soup. Maybe we should build some kind of wall on our southern border to prevent them from coming.

Get an AR-15 and shoot the deer.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 16, 2019, 12:08:38 am
Just learned that Insect SHield will treat your own clothes with Permethrin. 
https://www.insectshield.com/IS-Your-Own-Clothes-P338.aspx
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 16, 2019, 12:13:34 am
Les, when doing your garden work, here's a coverall with permethrin you could use.
https://www.insectshield.com/Mens-Cotton-Coverall-P61.aspx

PS.  I always use light colored clothes so you can see the ticks better as well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 16, 2019, 08:03:22 pm
Now I understand why there is not a world-wide movement to control potential flooding, protect people's homes and lives, and reduce sea level rise. There are more important issues that need to be addressed, such as protecting people from ticks.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 16, 2019, 09:31:48 pm
The attack on Saudi oil fields and the reduction in oil has shown how important fracking is especially to the US.  Will it gain more acceptance. Also, the decrease in the availability of oil and the raising of oil and natural gas prices will have an affect on the thinking about how to move forward regarding climate change.  It might remind people of the importance of fossil fuels. Others may find that it will encourage getting off fossil fuels that much sooner, climate change or not.  Others may only be concerned about the possibility of a wide war.  What affect to you think?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 16, 2019, 11:42:33 pm
The attack on Saudi oil fields and the reduction in oil has shown how important fracking is especially to the US.  Will it gain more acceptance. Also, the decrease in the availability of oil and the raising of oil and natural gas prices will have an affect on the thinking about how to move forward regarding climate change.  It might remind people of the importance of fossil fuels. Others may find that it will encourage getting off fossil fuels that much sooner, climate change or not.  Others may only be concerned about the possibility of a wide war.  What affect to you think?

There are usually both positive and negative effects to consider when motivating action or progress in a particular direction.

Nuclear power plants potentially have the tremendously positive effects of cheap and reliable power, but potential negative effects if there's an earthquake, a terrorist attack, or general mismanagement of the system, and/or inadequate maintenance due to cost-cutting measures or a lack of adequate training of the staff.

There is also the problem that a wide-spread supply of Uranium makes it easier for countries to develop their own atomic weapons.

In view of the negatives, I can appreciate why the  atomic power option is not popular. Australia has a huge quantity of Uranium. We also have large remote areas in arid regions where atomic waste can safely be buried, yet we have rejected the use of atomic power. We have chosen to have among the most expensive electricity in the world instead of the cheapest. Dear me!  :(

Fossil fuels also have their negatives, such as the occasional oil spills which contaminate the oceans, the contamination of the underground water systems during fracking, the destruction of the environment during open-cut mining of coal, and of course the 'real' harmful emissions when fossil fuels are burned to supply energy without adequate emission controls of chemicals such as SO2, CO, particulate carbon, and so on.

The main problem, as I see it, is that whilst it's true that all these negatives can be overcome through an application of competence, using the latest technology, the history of mankind implies that we are not up to the job. Corruption, incompetence, self-interest, and so on, tends to prevail too often.

This is one of the main arguments in favour of renewable energy. Another is that fossil fuel supplies are limited, and will eventually become scarce. The sun, however, will probably last for a very long time. Developing solar energy and electric vehicles is very sensible, and it's better to do it before fossil fuels become scarce.

Unfortunately, the transition to renewables will be far more expensive than it needs to be, because of the necessity of lying about the harmful effects of CO2 in order to get action.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2019, 12:35:02 am
Ford Motor Company will invest $11.5 billion electrifying its F150 pickup trucks by 2022, including adding 16 fully electric models, all of which will be profitable.  GM  will be developing electric Silverado Pickup trucks.  They'll be competing with Tesla.  Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , has no current plans for an all-electric Ram, while Toyota Motor Corp is betting more heavily on a hybrid Tundra pickup. Paris Compact?  What's that?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-electric-pickups-focus/ford-gm-rev-up-electric-pickup-trucks-to-head-off-tesla-idUSKCN1VY0YE
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 17, 2019, 01:25:35 am
Ford Motor Company will invest $11.5 billion electrifying its F150 pickup trucks by 2022, including adding 16 fully electric models, all of which will be profitable.  GM  will be developing electric Silverado Pickup trucks.  They'll be competing with Tesla.  Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , has no current plans for an all-electric Ram, while Toyota Motor Corp is betting more heavily on a hybrid Tundra pickup. Paris Compact?  What's that?
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-electric-pickups-focus/ford-gm-rev-up-electric-pickup-trucks-to-head-off-tesla-idUSKCN1VY0YE

Alan,
In the article you linked, there's no mention of the cost of these electric vehicles being developed. Why would anyone, except the rich for whom money is not a concern, pay triple the price for an electric vehicle of the same size and comfort as the petrol or diesel equivalent?

If the price becomes just 50% more, and the reduced cost of maintenance and energy required to recharge the batteries, including possible replacement the batteries over the life of the vehicle, compared with the alternative cost of petrol for the same mileage, offsets that initial additional cost, then buying the electric vehicle would make economic sense.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 17, 2019, 01:48:19 am
Alan,
In the article you linked, there's no mention of the cost of these electric vehicles being developed. Why would anyone, except the rich for whom money is not a concern, pay triple the price for an electric vehicle of the same size and comfort as the petrol or diesel equivalent?

If the price becomes just 50% more, and the reduced cost of maintenance and energy required to recharge the batteries, including possible replacement the batteries over the life of the vehicle, compared with the alternative cost of petrol for the same mileage, offsets that initial additional cost, then buying the electric vehicle would make economic sense.

Another point is that very few people really need such heavy trucks and vehicles.
There are quite a few such trucks on US and Canadian roads, usually carrying just one person and empty truck bed. In contrast, on European highways you hardly ever see this category of trucks, although one third of vehicles on the road now are SUVs. Last week, in Berlin a heavy Porsche SUV drove on a sidewalk in downtown area killing four pedestrians, including a three-year-old boy, and injured five others. There is a lot of deadly energy in such a heavy SUV. The vehicle bent a traffic light mast and several bollards, broke through a construction fence and only stopped when it hit a building.

After the accident, German politicians are demanding regulations to keep large SUVs out of inner cities. You don't need a tank-like SUV to drive to work, movie or opera.

https://www.thelocal.de/20190909/deadly-berlin-accident-spurs-debate-on-banning-suvs-from-city-centres
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2019, 08:17:45 am
The article said they might only sell 30,000 electric pickups which seems not worth it.  I suspect they'll keep the cost competitive.  But they're planning for the future, if the Democrats win, California imposes new standards, etc.  As far as who needs a pickup, well that's a great question.  I wouldn't buy one.  I don;t think I could convince my wife to sit on a chair back there.  But many people like them.  If you're into farming, construction contracting etc.  and need a small truck with an open flatbed.  For others, it's  an American cultural thing.  Why would anyone drink warm beer?  :)

AS far as SUV's, I have one but  I also have a sedan.  The SUV is nice.  It's only 4 cylinders (turbocharged). It's high sitting up there for better visibility.  4 wheel drive.  It's a smaller SUV, my wife likes it and feels safer to drive.  The room on larger autos and SUV's are nice.  It's comfortable and smoother driving especially on long trips which Americans do more than Europeans.  My wife and I drive 18000 miles a year combined.  WHo wants to be cramped in a little VW?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2019, 09:54:17 am
Apparently green energy will not create more jobs but rather Less jobs. 25000 green energy jobs in the car industry in Germany will be created, 75000 traditional jobs will be lost. The same issue in the United States as .
General Motors employees are striking because of it.

https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiPmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LndpcmVkLmNvbS9zdG9yeS9zaGlmdC1lbGVjdHJpYy12ZWhpY2xlcy1zdHJpa2UtZ20v0gFBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud2lyZWQuY29tL3N0b3J5L3NoaWZ0LWVsZWN0cmljLXZlaGljbGVzLXN0cmlrZS1nbS9hbXA?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 10:04:09 am
... in Berlin a heavy Porsche SUV drove on a sidewalk in downtown area killing four pedestrians...

Les, you sound like the New York Times: “Airplanes took aim at the World Trade Center.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 17, 2019, 10:53:21 am
Les, you sound like the New York Times: “Airplanes took aim at the World Trade Center.”

It's probably the music that's putting me off, but I miss the sense of that cryptic one!

Regarding the SUV syndrome: yes, it's a pain in the ass to others. They are too high and block your view, and do nothing to keep the owners safe: the damned things are top heavy, as with the original Mercedes A Class. If you actually look at the undercarriage of some of these SUVs, they are not really that much higher up than cars, so you don't get much extra clearance if you live in the sticks and think they are your answer to broken sumps.

If folks want big engines, well, that's a choice, and if they can afford it, fair enough. Grunt can save your life. I once had a basic Fiesta Festival - around 1000cc - and it scared the hell out of us all - no acceleration. Never again. Whether you really use all that more gas driving a large engine or a small one at the same speed - who knows? A little engine is always revving its heart out. A big one just ticks over.

But then, when did cars last have good looks? Maybe the BMW 3 Coupe of some years ago... the Mercedes 300SL gullwing doors; an Alfa or three; perhaps the Pagoda Roof... Mostly, they became blobs on wheels. The new MX5 looks hot in cherry red.

;-(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2019, 11:15:30 am
Ray, my 2019 Lincoln MKC Ruby Red metallic is sharp.  Here's some photos although these aren't mine.   I get a paltry 19.2 mpg, but regular gas is about $2.50 a gallon.   Not sure what that works or to in other currency and in liters.  But we have cheap gasoline here in the USA.  Gasoline to Americans is like blood to most other people. 😀
https://www.google.com/search?q=2019+lincoln+mkc+ruby+red&tbm=isch&hl=en&chips=q:2019+lincoln+mkc+ruby+red,online_chips:mkc+reserve&client=ms-android-verizon&prmd=isvn&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwjU6MXrkNjkAhWNPN8KHdV2A-sQ4lZ6BAgBEBc&biw=360&bih=560
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 11:25:00 am
...  miss the sense of that cryptic one!...

Rob, on 9/11 anniversary last week, the NYT tweeted that “Airplanes took aim at the World Trade Center.” Then deleted the tweet after outrage. Similar to a Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar describing (earlier) 9/11 as "some people did something." In other words, to go back to Les and the NYT, it isn't that "airplanes took aim..." or that "SUV drove on sidewalk" but people who flew or drove them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 12:20:43 pm
Similar to a Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar describing (earlier) 9/11 as "some people did something."

Wrong, fake news. She didn't describe 9/11 that way, you are deliberately taking her comment out of context. She made a statement about that a larger group of people were starting to lose access to their civil liberties when only "some people did something".

Republicans are taking Ilhan Omar’s comments on 9/11 out of context to smear her
https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans
Quote
This week, leading Republicans and their allies in the media have been using an out-of-context quote from a recent speech by Rep. Ilham Omar (D-MN) to paint her as an anti-American radical indifferent to those killed during the 9/11 attacks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on September 17, 2019, 12:25:09 pm
And how is that out of context, Bart? Because Vox says so? Put your critical-thinking-hat on, for crying out loud!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 12:38:59 pm
... when only "some people did something"....

Seriously, Bart... "when only"!?

9/11 was "only some people did something"!? How is that changing the context? On which planet that can be interpreted as "out of context"?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 12:49:42 pm
And how is that out of context, Bart? Because Vox says so? Put your critical-thinking-hat on, for crying out loud!

Frans, one just has to listen to (or read) the actual speech, and look at the venue / situation where it was given. Have you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 12:53:17 pm
Seriously, Bart... "when only"!?

9/11 was "only some people did something"!? How is that changing the context? On which planet that can be interpreted as "out of context"?

Wrong again. You shouldn't listen to Fox propaganda so much but start thinking for yourself.

It's about a speech that Omar had given at a Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) meeting. In the speech Omar said, "CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us [Muslims in the U.S.] were starting to lose access to our civil liberties." (CAIR was founded in 1994, but many new members joined after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 12:54:25 pm
Frans, one just has to listen to (or read) the actual speech, and look at the venue / situation where it was given. Have you?

Oh, for God's sake, Bart, yes I did listen to the speech. Please provide a context in which it wasn't a reference to 9/11.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 12:55:56 pm
It's about a speech that Omar had given at a Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) meeting. In the speech Omar said, "CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us [Muslims in the U.S.] were starting to lose access to our civil liberties." (CAIR was founded in 1994, but many new members joined after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.)

Fantastic, Bart!

And now does that change anything? What was "some people did something" referring to if not 9/11?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 01:00:15 pm
Fantastic, Bart!

And now does that change anything? What was "some people did something" referring to if not 9/11?

The subject was Islamophobia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWFnkNX9m2E

https://www.newsweek.com/ilhan-omar-9-11-controversy-some-people-did-something-defense-1459327
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 01:07:23 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWFnkNX9m2E

https://www.newsweek.com/ilhan-omar-9-11-controversy-some-people-did-something-defense-1459327

Nah, Bart, I asked you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 01:10:21 pm
Nah, Bart, I asked you.

The subject was Islamophobia. The venue was CAIR, which saw a growing number of members after 9/11. And your Islamophobic slurs are getting tiring.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 17, 2019, 01:12:21 pm
Les, you sound like the New York Times: “Airplanes took aim at the World Trade Center.”
You are right, Slobodan, the car in question wasn't engaged in autonomous driving mode. By the way, at least a dozen publications reported it that way and I just copied it. Maybe because the police didn't release initially the details about the driver and the actual cause, and later there were unconfirmed reports on Monday that the 42 year old driver may have suffered an epileptic fit which caused him to lose control, so technically it was the car which continued driving and caused the carnage.

What we do know is that the car was a high performance Porsche Macan which according to Porsche is the first compact sport-ute “that is also a sports car.” The Porsche hit a traffic light mast before ploughing into pedestrians, and there has been speculation that the first impact may have been enough to stop a lighter vehicle. To get past the traffic light mast and continue through several bollards and a construction fence you need a heavy and powerful rocket.

Quote
Based on the Audi Q5 platform, the Macan is available as the S and Turbo, with twin-turbo V6s, standard active all-wheel drive and the Porsche PDK double-clutch transmission. The S is powered by a 340-horsepower 3.0-litre engine, accelerating to 100 km/h in 5.4 seconds (5.2 seconds with the Sport Chrono package). The larger 3.6-litre V6 engine in the Turbo pumps out a formidable 400 horsepower and accelerates the SUV to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds (4.6 seconds with Sport Chrono). The standard equipment list is extensive and includes a multi-function sport steering wheel with paddle shifters, 19-inch wheels, a high-performance audio system and an electrically operated tailgate.
Just the right cruiser for the city streets.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 01:22:17 pm
The subject was Islamophobia. The venue was CAIR, which saw a growing number of members after 9/11. And your Islamophobic slurs are getting tiring.

Please quote where I used a slur in this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 01:32:16 pm
Please quote where I used a slur in this thread.

Slur: "an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation"
Too much work to quote all the threads where you slur Muslims. This thread is yet another one where you use out of context fake news about a Muslim, to slur a group of people based on, in this case, their religion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 01:43:56 pm
Slur: "an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation"
Too much work to quote all the threads where you slur Muslims. This thread is yet another one where you use out of context fake news about a Muslim, to slur a group of people based on, in this case, their religion.

You got to be kidding!? Both in terms of “slur” and “fake news.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 01:56:31 pm
You got to be kidding!? Both in terms of “slur” and “fake news.”

Image distorts Rep. Omar’s 9/11 remarks
https://www.apnews.com/afs:Content:7354840002

Quote
CLAIM: Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said “My people did something,” in reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False.

False, and thus fake news.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on September 17, 2019, 02:12:56 pm
You got to be kidding!? Both in terms of “slur” and “fake news.”

Extreme weather indeed...

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 02:17:48 pm
Image distorts Rep. Omar’s 9/11 remarks
https://www.apnews.com/afs:Content:7354840002

False, fake news.

If ever there was a straw man, this is it (note the bold, where the actual thing was changed or refers to a different image than the one I posted from the NY Post):

Quote
CLAIM: Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said “My people did something,” in reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. An image circulating on Facebook that shows the burning World Trade Center’s twin towers with photos of Omar laughing, wrongly asserts that the Democratic congresswoman said, “My people did something.”

THE FACTS: Omar, the first Muslim refugee elected to Congress, did not say “my people did something” in reference to the terrorist attacks.

1. So, yes, it is technically false that she said "My people did something" because she actually said "some people did something"

2. The AP "fact checking" refers to a different image, the one with a laughing Ilhan superimposed, not the one NY Post used.

So, the "false" verdict is based on false premises.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 02:35:59 pm
If ever there was a straw man, this is it (note the bold, where the actual thing was changed or refers to a different image than the one I posted from the NY Post):

The image you posted was also a fake representation of what was said and the partial quote was taken out of context.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 02:40:21 pm
The image you posted was also a fake representation of what was said and the partial quote was taken out of context.

Again, please provide the context in which the quote would have a different meaning.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 17, 2019, 02:47:13 pm
Again, please provide the context in which the quote would have a different meaning.

Already provided in the links I posted.

BTW, care to explain why the reference to Ilhan Omar was brought into this thread?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on September 17, 2019, 04:31:38 pm
OK Bart, let me use an analogy. It's late May 1940. Earlier that month, on the 14th, the Germans bombed the Dutch city of Rotterdam, killing 900 people and making 90,000 homeless. A German complains that many Dutch people hate Germans because of what happened on May 14 and refers to the senseless slaughter as "some airplanes did something". Is this close enough to home for you? It is for me as I was born and raised in the Netherlands. Can you take that statement out of context as well? I like to see you do it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2019, 04:49:08 pm
The image you posted was also a fake representation of what was said and the partial quote was taken out of context.
It's interesting that when Trump says something, you and most of the left media always look for the worst interpretation of what he said.  But in this case, you support the most generous interpretation.  It would be nice if you gave our President the same courtesy. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on September 17, 2019, 05:14:36 pm
... BTW, care to explain why the reference to Ilhan Omar was brought into this thread?

Blame it on Les, he started it ;)

Les seemed to blame a car* for pedestrians' death (sorry, Les, I know you didn't mean it that way).

Which, in turn, reminded me of the similar attempt just a few days ago by the NYT to blame airplanes for 9/11. Which is done in the same spirit as Omar's quote - to minimize, trivialize, obfuscate, and obscure the real perpetrators behind 9/11: not cars, not planes, not "some people," but radical Islamists.

* SUV, the link to the Extreme weather thread
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 18, 2019, 01:55:21 am
Dear me! Some of you people do have a tendency to so easily get off topic, don't you?.   ;D  :(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 18, 2019, 02:17:59 am
Dear me! Some of you people do have a tendency to so easily get off topic, don't you?.   ;D  :(

That's what makes these discussions so irresistible and valuable.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 18, 2019, 02:49:29 am
Okay! To keep you all entertained whilst remaining on topic, here's a video of some recent flooding in Pattaya, Thailand.

All this water would very soon have flowed back to the sea, contributing to sea level rise. Stopping or just delaying its return to the ocean, would have reduced the rate of sea level rise, globally.

When there are regularly probably a hundred or more similar events every year, globally, many of which are much worse, sensible water management policy could stop sea level rise dead in its tracks, so all you wealthy people with homes by the beach could relax.  ;D

https://www.newsflare.com/video/258235/weather-nature/cars-drive-through-flooded-streets-of-pattaya-thailand-as-rainstorm-hits
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 18, 2019, 05:07:34 am
Blame it on Les, he started it ;)

Les seemed to blame a car* for pedestrians' death (sorry, Les, I know you didn't mean it that way).

Which, in turn, reminded me of the similar attempt just a few days ago by the NYT to blame airplanes for 9/11. Which is done in the same spirit as Omar's quote - to minimize, trivialize, obfuscate, and obscure the real perpetrators behind 9/11: not cars, not planes, not "some people," but radical Islamists.

* SUV, the link to the Extreme weather thread

Isn't that interesting?

It's exactly the technique employed by the gun lobby: it's not guns, it's people kill people.

And it's people who should be banned from owning guns; they (guns) serve no purpose but to kill, whereas vehicles of all types, land, sea and air are what our civilization today depends upon: mobility.

Funnily enough, that's exactly what the Brexiteers are trying to achieve: immobilise Parliament; prevent discussion, restrict mobility of the people; obfuscate about the entire lie that was sold to the poor old ignorant (if only of the facts) voting public; misrepresent the European standpoint at every turn by demonising its negotiators in true, Brit red top manner.

In other words, build up as much national hatred and misunderstanding about the other "side" as you can stoke in order to divert from the facts of the case, and cover it in multiple folds of a cloak of confusion until the public screams out for it all to stop! Then, when the public's on its spiritual knees, bully through your original intent. Democracy at its best, no doubt.

And until people are educated enough to think for themselves, it will ever be so.

Everything, it seems, is connected with everything else.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on September 18, 2019, 05:10:25 am
That's what makes these discussions so irresistible and valuable.

Absolutely, and often the drift is into more interesting waters.

Just like real conversation.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 18, 2019, 05:23:40 am
[...]
In other words, build up as much national hatred and misunderstanding about the other "side" as you can stoke in order to divert from the facts of the case, and cover it in multiple folds of a cloak of confusion until the public screams out for it all to stop! Then, when the public's on its spiritual knees, bully through your original intent. Democracy at its best, no doubt.

And until people are educated enough to think for themselves, it will ever be so.

Everything, it seems, is connected with everything else.

Hear, hear.

The MO is obvious. If you can't convince them, confuse them (and distract them, by creating an outside enemy).

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on September 18, 2019, 03:24:34 pm
Any comments on my previous post, Bart?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 18, 2019, 05:35:28 pm
Any comments on my previous post, Bart?

If you insist, the analogy doesn't make sense, on several fronts.

Ilhan Omar had given a speech in March 2019 at a banquet hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in which she talked about the rise of Islamophobia and the erosion of the Muslim community’s civil liberties after 9/11, stating that the community as a whole was being punished for the actions of a few.

I have trouble seeing the analogies with the start of WWII, where our neighbor country invaded our country on May 10th, 1940, and tried to break the resistance against that invasion by flattening the center of a major city on May 14th to achieve a general capitulation.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Rotterdam%2C_Laurenskerk%2C_na_bombardement_van_mei_1940.jpg/952px-Rotterdam%2C_Laurenskerk%2C_na_bombardement_van_mei_1940.jpg)

I also fail to see the connection to Extreme Weather, unless one tries to make a misplaced cynical joke about it raining bombs.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 18, 2019, 06:41:43 pm
If you insist, the analogy doesn't make sense, on several fronts.

Ilhan Omar had given a speech in March 2019 at a banquet hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in which she talked about the rise of Islamophobia and the erosion of the Muslim community’s civil liberties after 9/11, stating that the community as a whole was being punished for the actions of a few.

I have trouble seeing the analogies with the start of WWII, where our neighbor country invaded our country on May 10th, 1940, and tried to break the resistance against that invasion by flattening the center of a major city on May 14th to achieve a general capitulation.
...

I also fail to see the connection to Extreme Weather, unless one tries to make a misplaced cynical joke about it raining bombs.
The American Muslim community is not being punished nor are their civil liberties being diminished in the USA.  Of course there are bigoted people who have done things to them and other minorities as well.  But these criminals are prosecuted to the full extents of our laws.   I'd compare Muslim freedoms and rights here any day to the way Muslims are being treated in European countries where they can;t even wear their hijab in many places.  Most Muslims are not treated as full citizens of the countries they live in Europe and are marginalized. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on September 18, 2019, 06:46:10 pm
If you insist, the analogy doesn't make sense, on several fronts.

Ilhan Omar had given a speech in March 2019 at a banquet hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in which she talked about the rise of Islamophobia and the erosion of the Muslim community’s civil liberties after 9/11, stating that the community as a whole was being punished for the actions of a few.

I have trouble seeing the analogies with the start of WWII, where our neighbor country invaded our country on May 10th, 1940, and tried to break the resistance against that invasion by flattening the center of a major city on May 14th to achieve a general capitulation.

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Rotterdam%2C_Laurenskerk%2C_na_bombardement_van_mei_1940.jpg/952px-Rotterdam%2C_Laurenskerk%2C_na_bombardement_van_mei_1940.jpg)

I also fail to see the connection to Extreme Weather, unless one tries to make a misplaced cynical joke about it raining bombs.

You don't understand the analogy between "some people did something" and "some airplanes did something"? Come on now, get a grip.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on September 18, 2019, 06:58:32 pm
Recent posts to this thread have had what only those blessed with a vivid imagination could consider even a tenuous connection with extreme weather. As I've indicated before, I'm not against topic drift, but this is excessive. If you want to bicker about what a junior congresswoman has said about terrorism, that's fine: but start a new thread.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on September 18, 2019, 07:01:35 pm
You don't understand the analogy between "some people did something" and "some airplanes did something"? Come on now, get a grip.


let me see 

The analogy between
"some     people     did something"     and
"some   airplanes   did something"

10, 9 , 8, 7 ,6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, RING RING

extreme Weather?

10 points!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 19, 2019, 08:55:42 am
I suspect the complexities of the climate are too great for serious discussion, so the off-topic discussions are so much easier.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 19, 2019, 01:24:56 pm
It's all a lot of hot air.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 19, 2019, 01:46:52 pm
It's all a lot of hot air.
Not only that, the extremes can range now from super hot to super cold, super wet and super windy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 19, 2019, 10:22:31 pm
I just found Bart's favorite Mauna Loa Hawaii CO2 chart in an article about CO2.
https://www.inverse.com/article/59351-earth-atmosphere-carbon-dioxide-global-warming

What I'm curious though is something that hit me while reading it and what casues the earth to get warmer.  (CO2, methane, etc. says the article)> 

But how about something else.  I live in mid-New Jersey.  40 years ago it was practically all farm land.  Today, while there are still lots of ground and tree, there has been a lot of building going on.  Sidewalks, homes, asphalts, etc.  These things heat up from the sun a lot more than grass and trees.  Have the scientists calculated just how much the earth is warming up due to increasing population changing the landscape?  If so, what percentage do they claim?  (Ray?)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 20, 2019, 10:17:01 am
I just found Bart's favorite Mauna Loa Hawaii CO2 chart in an article about CO2.
https://www.inverse.com/article/59351-earth-atmosphere-carbon-dioxide-global-warming

What I'm curious though is something that hit me while reading it and what casues the earth to get warmer.  (CO2, methane, etc. says the article)> 

But how about something else.  I live in mid-New Jersey.  40 years ago it was practically all farm land.  Today, while there are still lots of ground and tree, there has been a lot of building going on.  Sidewalks, homes, asphalts, etc.  These things heat up from the sun a lot more than grass and trees.  Have the scientists calculated just how much the earth is warming up due to increasing population changing the landscape?  If so, what percentage do they claim?  (Ray?)

Alan, virtually all of Earth's heat comes from the sun (and a minuscule part from volcanic activity, and we create some heat by burning stuff). Part of the sun's heat is temporarily absorbed, and part is reflected as longer wavelengths of light/heat. If we would not have an atmosphere and a similar Albedo, we would have a similar average temperature (-23 Celsius, ) and day/night swings (-173 C to +127 degrees Celsius, -280 F to +260 degrees Fahrenheit) as our moon which is at the same distance from the sun. The atmosphere traps some of the reflected and re-emitted heat so our Earth's surface temperature is roughly an average of +15 degrees Celsius instead of -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit). The temperature on earth is constantly being redistributed by the atmosphere and water, but it tries to escape into space unless it is blocked by Greenhouse gasses.

The amount of heat collected during daytime, depends on how of it much reaches the surface, and how dark that surface is. So part doesn't reach the surface because it is reflected by aerosols and clouds, back into space before it heats up stuff. The other/transmitted part reaches the ground/oceans and its Albedo determines how much is absorbed and how much is reflected. Darker surfaces, like soil or clear oceans, absorb more heat during daytime, but they re-emit some of it at night. It attempts to reach an equilibrium at absolute zero Kelvin (-273.15 Celsius, -459.67 Fahrenheit). Brighter surface areas, like snow and Ice, reflect most of the light/heat that reaches the surface.

You are correct in assuming that built areas like cities and dark roads, absorb more heat during daytime. Moist ground cools a bit due to evaporation, and biomass has a cooling effect caused by evapotranspiration. Cities, in general, become several degrees Celsius (2-5 C, depending on how many darker surfaces/roofs/roads there are) warmer on average than the areas with vegetation that surround them.
Even parks in a city can be several degrees Celsius cooler than the city itself from the combined effects of higher reflection, shadow, and evapotranspiration.

But at night, that heat tries to escape into space. Cloudy nights show less cooling than clear nights. Greenhouse gasses prevent all the heat from excaping.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2019, 10:44:24 am
Bart,  Thanks for statistics. But is doesn;t answer my specific question.  How much of the increase in earth's overall temperature (so-called "climate warming") is caused by the change in land use from vegetation to human material like asphalt, concrete sidewalks, exterior building walls, etc.?  Do you know?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 20, 2019, 10:50:06 am
I just found Bart's favorite Mauna Loa Hawaii CO2 chart in an article about CO2.
https://www.inverse.com/article/59351-earth-atmosphere-carbon-dioxide-global-warming

What I'm curious though is something that hit me while reading it and what casues the earth to get warmer.  (CO2, methane, etc. says the article)> 

But how about something else.  I live in mid-New Jersey.  40 years ago it was practically all farm land.  Today, while there are still lots of ground and tree, there has been a lot of building going on.  Sidewalks, homes, asphalts, etc.  These things heat up from the sun a lot more than grass and trees.  Have the scientists calculated just how much the earth is warming up due to increasing population changing the landscape?  If so, what percentage do they claim?  (Ray?)

Alan, this is my take on it.

I think it's too complex to calculate accurately what the percentage influence is of the many factors which affect climate. The IPCC can't even be confident that floods, droughts and hurricanes have been increasing globally since 1950, despite the plethora of modern instrumentation and news reports of every major disaster that tends to be broadcast.

However, the IPCC is confident that we are currently in a warming phase, following the Little Ice Age, and that heat waves and precipitation have been increasing in intensity since 1950, which is what one would expect in a warming climate.

The degree to which heat waves are exaggerated by the Urban Heat Island effect (buildings, sidewalks, asphalt roads, heat from vehicles burning fuel, and so on) is also difficult to accurately calculate. I've seen reports that temperatures in big cities can be 2 or 3 degrees C hotter, or even more, than the surrounding countryside, which is a greater increase than the claimed global average increase in temperature during the past 150 years.

My impression, from my research and inquiries, is that there are broadly 5 major areas of contribution to the current change in climate.

1. Deforestation for the purpose of agriculture.

2. The Urban Heat Island effect resulting from population growth, increased urbanization, growth of cities and black asphalt roads, and so on.

3. Natural forcings due to changes in the activity of the sun, volcanic eruptions, changing ocean cycles, changes in the Earth's orbit or tilt, changes in the amount of cosmic rays from outer space reaching the Earth, and no doubt many more natural influences which are not understood.

4. Greenhouse gas emissions from mankind's activities, such as CO2 and Methane, and pollutants such as aerosols and smog which can actually have a cooling effect on climate, counteracting to some degree the slight warming effects of CO2 and Methane.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/aerosol

5. The great variability of water vapor, which is by far the most significant greenhouse gas. Water vapor doesn't just absorb infrared like CO2, it also transports heat from the water which has been evaporated (evaporation causes a cooling effect), and carries that heat higher into the atmosphere where it is released when it forms clouds and rains. Some of the released heat, or latent heat' tends to rise further, eventually into the upper troposphere from where it is radiated back into space.

I would suggest that Bart's final sentence in his post, "Greenhouse gasses prevent all the heat from escaping", is simply not true.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2019, 11:05:39 am
Ray, let me ask a loaded question.  If they can't calculate how much asphalt and other changes to land use effects an increase in temperature, how come they blame CO2 and fossil fuels entirely?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on September 20, 2019, 11:58:04 am
Ray, let me ask a loaded question.  If they can't calculate how much asphalt and other changes to land use effects an increase in temperature, how come they blame CO2 and fossil fuels entirely?

"They" don't, as Ray said - he gave list of other factors.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 20, 2019, 12:23:32 pm
Ray, let me ask a loaded question.  If they can't calculate how much asphalt and other changes to land use effects an increase in temperature, how come they blame CO2 and fossil fuels entirely?

Alan,
I can think of a couple of major reasons, but it would be too difficult to calculate the percentage significance of each reason.  ;)

(1) There is a major health concern about uncontrolled pollution from the burning of fossil fuels without adequate emissions controls. Whilst such 'real' pollutants can be controlled with 'state-of-the-art' technology, one can't enforce such controls on other less developed countries that are struggling to get enough energy in order to develop. Pollution and smog from forest clearing and fossil fuel burning can travel long distances by wind. Singapore and Malaysia experience regular haze every year from Indonesia, as a result of their burn-off practices, and Japan receives a lot of pollution blown in from China.

Since CO2 is the most abundant emission from the burning of fossil fuels, and the most expensive to eliminate, demonizing it and putting it in the same category as the harmful pollutants that affect human health, tends to increase the political motivation to make the transition to renewables which are cleaner than most existing coal plants, but unfortunately have their own problems of unreliability.

2. We've had major oil supply crises before, and there is the concept of 'peak oil'. Fossil fuels are a limited resource. As undeveloped countries strive to reach an American standard of living, the use of fossil fuels would increase dramatically, and at some point in the future there would be a major economic crisis as oil, coal and gas become scarce and expensive. Being prepared before this happens is sensible, and creating a scare about the bad effects of CO2 for everyone, will ensure that we will not have an economic collapse in the future due to a scarcity of fossil fuels, although we might have a major economic collapse for other reasons, and a major recycling problem as huge quantities of solar panels come to the end of their life. We might also experience an eventual scarcity of lithium and heavy metals used in batteries and solar panels, which could have serious economic consequences unless we developed alternative technology that uses other materials that are not scarce.

As you can see, I'm not opposed to the development of alternative energy supplies.  ;)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 20, 2019, 01:46:42 pm
[...]
3. Natural forcings due to changes in the activity of the sun, volcanic eruptions, changing ocean cycles, changes in the Earth's orbit or tilt, changes in the amount of cosmic rays from outer space reaching the Earth, and no doubt many more natural influences which are not understood.

Solar activity, besides the approx. 11-year sunspot cycles, is rather stable over multiple decades and centuries, temperatures are not and they are rising faster than ever before. Earth's orbit and tilt are also pretty stable. It takes many centuries to create a measurable change. So those are not the cause.

Quote
I would suggest that Bart's final sentence in his post, "Greenhouse gasses prevent all the heat from escaping", is simply not true.

I agree, 'all' the heat is a bit much. However, without the buffering and distribution by oceans and the thin layer of atmosphere, night temperatures would drop towards -173 Celsius (-459.67 Fahrenheit). The buffering/trapping/redistribution effect is pretty significant.

Ray, let me ask a loaded question.  If they can't calculate how much asphalt and other changes to land use effects an increase in temperature, how come they blame CO2 and fossil fuels entirely?

One can measure it. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) properties of e.g. Methane, CO2, and water-vapor are known. The concentration of those elements in the atmosphere can be measured, and hence the effect on the energy transfer is pretty well known.

One can measure incoming solar energy above the atmosphere, and how much of that reaches the ground in the lower atmosphere.
One can measure how much surface energy in the lower atmosphere is reflected and emitted, and how much of that escapes the atmosphere.

I don't have the time to do your homework, but I assume that the IPCC reports or links to their sources can shed some more light on that difference between urbanized areas and various other surfaces.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 20, 2019, 10:29:17 pm
Solar activity, besides the approx. 11-year sunspot cycles, is rather stable over multiple decades and centuries, temperatures are not and they are rising faster than ever before. Earth's orbit and tilt are also pretty stable. It takes many centuries to create a measurable change. So those are not the cause.

All these influences combined are having some net effect continuously, including influences from varying degrees of cosmic radiation, and likely other influences we haven't yet discovered or cannot measure. All this contributes to uncertainty.

Quote
I agree, 'all' the heat is a bit much. However, without the buffering and distribution by oceans and the thin layer of atmosphere, night temperatures would drop towards -173 Celsius (-459.67 Fahrenheit). The buffering/trapping/redistribution effect is pretty significant.

Of course it's significant. We absolutely need greenhouse gases. But the significance of that 'heat trapping effect' as applied to each single CO2 molecule surrounded by close to 2,500 nitrogen and oxygen molecules, is likely very low.

Whilst it's true that CO2, like water vapor, has the characteristic of absorbing infrared frequencies associated with heat, it is also constantly emitting that radiation in all directions. That emitted radiation (or heat) is constantly being absorbed and re-emitted by other greenhouse gases, water vapor being the main one. But some of that heat (or energy) is also transferred to the non-greenhouse gases such as Nitrogen and Oxygen through conduction. All the gas molecules in the atmosphere are constantly colliding with each other as they vibrate with energy, and they transfer some of that energy or heat to non-greenhouse gases. The convection of rising warm air and strong winds distributes that absorbed heat from the Earth's surface throughout the atmosphere, and into the upper atmosphere where most of it is radiated back to space.

Quote
One can measure it. The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) properties of e.g. Methane, CO2, and water-vapor are known. The concentration of those elements in the atmosphere can be measured, and hence the effect on the energy transfer is pretty well known.

In a laboratory, yes, or a theoretical computer model. But the climate is a complex, non-linear, chaotic system with so many interacting variables that measuring the effect of each of the many variables is largely guesswork. The effects of the major greenhouse gas, water vapor, is often excluded from computer models because its variability in concentration is too great and because of the difficulty in quantifying the albedo effect from clouds, which might counteract any warming effect from CO2.

How many times have you seen a round chart which appears to show the percentages of all the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but completely excludes the main greenhouse gas, which is water vapor? Ridiculous!  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 21, 2019, 07:26:11 am
...

How many times have you seen a round chart which appears to show the percentages of all the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but completely excludes the main greenhouse gas, which is water vapor? Ridiculous!  ;D
Ray, So if there are many gases and water vapor affecting a rise in earth's temperature, what percent is attributable to CO2 and to each of the others?  Is the rise claimed by science of let's say 2 degrees only due to CO2 or a combination of all the influences? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 21, 2019, 09:31:33 am
Ray, So if there are many gases and water vapor affecting a rise in earth's temperature, what percent is attributable to CO2 and to each of the others?  Is the rise claimed by science of let's say 2 degrees only due to CO2 or a combination of all the influences?

Alan, the water vapor has both positive and negative effects on temperature, which tends to result in a balance.

Any slight warming, whatever the cause of the warming, will result in more water vapor rising into the atmosphere, due to increased evaporation.

The 'alarmists' claim that because water vapor is a greenhouse gas, any increase will cause further warming, and that further warming will result in yet more evaporation which will also cause yet more warming, possibly resulting in a runaway warming effect. Very alarming! This known as positive feedback.

Fortunately, water vapor also has a cooling effect as the liquid water is converted to a gas. When the water vapor condenses into clouds, the clouds reflect the incoming solar radiation, known as the albedo effect.

The positive feedback is thus counteracted by the negative feedback.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 21, 2019, 09:47:32 am
Ray, to get back to my question, how much of the temperature rise is attributable to CO2? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 22, 2019, 12:48:15 am
Ray, to get back to my question, how much of the temperature rise is attributable to CO2?

Alan,
In my humble opinion it is not known, due to the enormous complexity, chaos, and non-linearity of climate, and due to the multitude of interacting forces that affect climate, with varying degrees of positive and negative feed backs.

If it was known, we could then truly claim, 'the science is settled', and as a consequence the money (or energy) used to support Climate Research Centres could more sensibly be directed towards research into improving the technology of renewable energy, and retraining some of the climate scientists for more productive jobs.  ;D

However, my impression is, that great authority on climate, the IPCC, is of the view that about 70% of the current warming is due to human emissions of greenhouse gases. The other human activities such as deforestation and urbanization would increase that effect to greater than 100% if it were not for the cooling effect of aerosols and the cooling effect of the natural influences on climate.

In other words, we would still be in the Little Ice Age, were it not for the effects of industrialization.

Below is an interesting chart from the latest IPCC report, the AR5. However, it doesn't separate the effect of CO2 from the other greenhouse gases such as Methane and Nitrous oxides.

The black bar represents the HadCRUT4 observed warming from 1951 to 2010, which is shown to be about 0.65 degrees C.

The Green bar represents the amount of warming caused by human greenhouse gas emissions during the same 59 year period, which is significantly greater, at 0.9 degrees, than the observed warming at 0.65 degrees C.

The orange bar represents the combined human effect of GHG emissions plus all other human activities, including the emission of aerosols which have a cooling effect. Despite the cooling effect from human emitted aerosols, the warming effect shown in the orange bar is still slightly greater than the observed warming shown in the black bar. This indicates that the 'natural effects' on climate must also contribute some cooling.

The yellow bar represents the cooling effects due to human activities such as aerosols.

Below the yellow bar are shown the variability of the natural forcings from the sun and volcanoes, etc, and the natural internal variability due to changing ocean cycles, and so on.

Oops! Have I just promoted 'climate change alarmism'?  ;D  ;D

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 04, 2019, 03:59:46 pm
The recent hot weather, over 93 degrees, here in New Jersey cause my bush outside to grow new flowers after the season was over.  Compare the old colored out ones with the newly grown white ones.  Isn't warm weather great?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 05, 2019, 08:36:02 am
The recent hot weather, over 93 degrees, here in New Jersey cause my bush outside to grow new flowers after the season was over.  Compare the old colored out ones with the newly grown white ones.  Isn't warm weather great?

A moderate degree of warming, plus a moderate degree of increased rainfall, plus a moderate degree of increased CO2 levels, should, on average, be very good for the environment.

The claimed average increase in global temperature, of 0.8 to 1 degree Centigrade since the end of the Little Ice Age, about 170 years ago, seems very moderate to me.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 05, 2019, 10:03:38 am
A moderate degree of warming, plus a moderate degree of increased rainfall, plus a moderate degree of increased CO2 levels, should, on average, be very good for the environment.

The claimed average increase in global temperature, of 0.8 to 1 degree Centigrade since the end of the Little Ice Age, about 170 years ago, seems very moderate to me.  ;)

You've be claiming that and I've been supporting that viewpoint agreeing that the world now has much more arable land because of warmer weather and higher CO2.    We've also been getting a lot of rain here, the highest amounts ever. I've thought my bushes and plants were thicker this year.  But I figured that was just an illusion; wishful thinking on my part.  But now with the new flowers in October, I can see the proof.  Warmer and wetter are better.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 05, 2019, 10:13:21 am
Warmer and wetter are better.

That's what I've been telling my lady friends.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 05, 2019, 10:19:39 am
A new benefit from climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on October 05, 2019, 04:03:45 pm
That's what I've been telling my lady friends.

You can expect a thermos flask for Christmas.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on October 05, 2019, 09:34:27 pm
Or a K-Y brand warmer. ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 11, 2019, 06:22:20 am
According to a study presented by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona on Thursday, temperatures in the Mediterranean region have so far risen by 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. The global temperature increase averaged 1.1 degrees over the same period. More than 600 scientists from 35 countries have analyzed data on the climate in the Mediterranean for the study. The project is under the umbrella of the UfM and the United Nations Environment Program UNEP. The rise in temperature is currently advancing there 20 percent faster than the global average.

Quote
Over the past 25 years the rate of increase in sea surface temperature in all European seas has been about 10 times faster than the average rate of increase during the past century. In five European seas the warming occurs even more rapidly. In the North and Baltic Seas temperature rose five to six times faster than the global average over the past 25 years, and three times faster in the Black and Mediterranean Seas.

https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/coast_sea/sea-surface-temperature/rising-temp
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 11, 2019, 07:56:02 am
According to a study presented by the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona on Thursday, temperatures in the Mediterranean region have so far risen by 1.5 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era. The global temperature increase averaged 1.1 degrees over the same period. More than 600 scientists from 35 countries have analyzed data on the climate in the Mediterranean for the study. The project is under the umbrella of the UfM and the United Nations Environment Program UNEP. The rise in temperature is currently advancing there 20 percent faster than the global average.

https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/coast_sea/sea-surface-temperature/rising-temp

Les,
You should know by now that global warming is not uniform. Some areas are warming greater than average, and other areas are warming less than average. Some areas are actually cooling. Check out the following article. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140504133207.htm

"New research by a team of Florida State University scientists shows the first detailed look at global land surface warming trends over the last 100 years, illustrating precisely when and where different areas of the world started to warm up or cool down.

For example, from about 1910 to 1980, while the rest of the world was warming up, some areas south of the equator -- near the Andes -- were actually cooling down, and then had no change at all until the mid 1990s. Other areas near and south of the equator didn't see significant changes comparable to the rest of the world at all."

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 11, 2019, 08:28:47 am
Les,
You should know by now that global warming is not uniform. Some areas are warming greater than average, and other areas are warming less than average. Some areas are actually cooling. Check out the following article. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140504133207.htm

"New research by a team of Florida State University scientists shows the first detailed look at global land surface warming trends over the last 100 years, illustrating precisely when and where different areas of the world started to warm up or cool down.

For example, from about 1910 to 1980, while the rest of the world was warming up, some areas south of the equator -- near the Andes -- were actually cooling down, and then had no change at all until the mid 1990s. Other areas near and south of the equator didn't see significant changes comparable to the rest of the world at all."


Yes, Ray, I know that the global warming is not uniform. That's why it is even more alarming. Some areas may warm up just by one degree, whereas others by 2-3 degrees, or even more. And that would be noticeable and accompanied by serious consequences, such as changed air streams, droughts, fires, insect plaques, invasive plants explosions, and violent storms.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 11, 2019, 09:15:58 am
Yes, Ray, I know that the global warming is not uniform. That's why it is even more alarming. Some areas may warm up just by one degree, whereas others by 2-3 degrees, or even more. And that would be noticeable and accompanied by serious consequences, such as changed air streams, droughts, fires, insect plaques, invasive plants explosions, and violent storms.

Or increased precipitation and warmth, ideal for a different type of food crop to flourish. The problems is, people tend to be fixed in their ways and are unwilling to adapt to changing circumstances.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 11, 2019, 09:20:53 am
The problems is, people tend to be fixed in their ways and are unwilling to adapt to changing circumstances.

Unfortunately changing circumstances may suggest that people move to different countries to take advantage of new cultivation opportunities.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 11, 2019, 09:24:04 am
I could adapt easily to warmer winters, but would have problems with stronger and more frequent summer heat waves.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 11, 2019, 11:49:02 am
I could adapt easily to warmer winters, but would have problems with stronger and more frequent summer heat waves.

Indeed. And since that growing requirement for additional cooling can practically *) only be achieved by using more electricity, the need will also increase. It should ideally be generated with renewable resources. Heating has multiple possible sources from which it can be generated, including the polluting burning of fossil fuel.

*) There are other possibilities to achieve cooling ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 11, 2019, 03:08:15 pm
Unfortunately changing circumstances may suggest that people move to different countries to take advantage of new cultivation opportunities.
Climate change and shifting weather patterns have destroyed civilizations in the past causing people to move.  Of course, these were natural.  We may be faced with serious problems in some areas that we'll have to deal with.  But droughts and other natural catastrophes have also always been with us.  Spitting into the wind has always been a problem. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 11, 2019, 03:12:07 pm
Indeed. And since that growing requirement for additional cooling can practically *) only be achieved by using more electricity, the need will also increase. It should ideally be generated with renewable resources. Heating has multiple possible sources from which it can be generated, including the polluting burning of fossil fuel.

*) There are other possibilities to achieve cooling ...
Warmer winters will decrease the amount of fossil fuel use during the cold season.  Also, most people heat while most people don;t air condition.  So the net benefit should be less burning of fossil fuel as temperatures go up.  I haven;t googles this so it could be different.   Would someone want to prove me wrong,  or right?   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 11, 2019, 08:01:02 pm
Here's a fascinating article which provides links to the actual research papers which can be viewed or downloaded free. I'm sure Bart will be very pleased.  ;)

The over all view in these papers is that increased temperatures tend to reduce the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and that an average cooling of the climate is likely to be more dangerous for mankind.

https://principia-scientific.org/25-new-papers-prove-remarkably-stable-modern-climate/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 13, 2019, 05:34:42 am
Here's a fascinating article which provides links to the actual research papers which can be viewed or downloaded free. I'm sure Bart will be very pleased.  ;)

Very nice, but everybody, not just me, should welcome links to the original articles. That does not yet say that these papers are peer reviewed or even correct, but it does allow one to judge if the summaries/conclusions that are usually posted on websites are somewhat accurate or missing the point (entirely).

Quote
The over all view in these papers is that increased temperatures tend to reduce the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, and that an average cooling of the climate is likely to be more dangerous for mankind.

https://principia-scientific.org/25-new-papers-prove-remarkably-stable-modern-climate/

Too bad, the website you like to link to is known to be biased (https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/principia-scientific-international/) (see attached), so it is hard to judge how representative these papers are. That is, 25 cherry-picked papers may be kind of insignificant amongst hundreds of independent papers that suggest different or opposing conclusions. That makes your post more relevant for the thread on the overrepresentation of biased media (https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=131708.0) than this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on October 13, 2019, 08:02:33 am
Many parts of the eastern US from Pennsylvania down to Georgia are in a drought situation.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/11/drought-expands-intensifies-over-dc-area/  has some good maps of the situation.  In our own area of Maryland we have had virtually no rain at all since the first week of September.  The state of Virginia is officially under a drought watch and controls on water use are likely if there is no rain in the near future. 

From personal observation, I can guarantee that this is not fake news.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 13, 2019, 08:41:22 am
Extreme disasters costing more but killing fewer
While the average cost isn't changing much, the most costly disasters are rising.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/10/extreme-disasters-costing-more-but-killing-fewer/

Quote
With the warming climate, we should expect a change in weather-related disasters. Fewer cold snaps and stronger heat waves are the obvious issues. But we should also see more intense storms, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapor, while droughts may intensify in areas where rain was already sparse as the heat bakes water out of the soil.

All that suggests the costs of weather disasters will be different—but not necessarily better or worse. Researchers who have tried to study the topic have come up with very mixed results: some show an upward trend in the cost of natural disasters, while others fiercely dispute these analyses. Now, a new study suggests a possible reason for this: while the average damage caused by disasters is staying relatively stable, the most extreme events are increasing rapidly. But in a small bit of consolation, the human costs may be dropping.

A link to the original article is available (https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/10/01/1907826116) at the end of the ArsTechnica article.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 13, 2019, 08:47:25 am
Warmer winters will decrease the amount of fossil fuel use during the cold season.  Also, most people heat while most people don;t air condition.  So the net benefit should be less burning of fossil fuel as temperatures go up.

Depends on how you generate power for the airco's ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 13, 2019, 09:53:16 am
Depends on how you generate power for the airco's ...

Regardless, very few people air condition in the world in comparison to those who need to heat. So warmer winters will reduce the amount of energy required which is still 95%+ by fossil fuels. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 13, 2019, 09:57:28 am
Many parts of the eastern US from Pennsylvania down to Georgia are in a drought situation.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/11/drought-expands-intensifies-over-dc-area/ (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/10/11/drought-expands-intensifies-over-dc-area/)  has some good maps of the situation.  In our own area of Maryland we have had virtually no rain at all since the first week of September.  The state of Virginia is officially under a drought watch and controls on water use are likely if there is no rain in the near future. 

From personal observation, I can guarantee that this is not fake news.
As global warming adherents keep reminding us, local weather patterns have nothing to do with climate change.  Last year we had the wettest weather in recorded history here in New Jersey which is a stone's throw away from Virginia and Maryland.  It's still raining a lot this year here.  (Edit add:  and Pennsylvania borders New Jersey.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 13, 2019, 10:15:22 am
Too bad, the website you like to link to is known to be biased (see attached), so it is hard to judge how representative these papers are. That is, 25 cherry-picked papers may be kind of insignificant amongst hundreds of independent papers that suggest different or opposing conclusions. That makes your post more relevant for the thread on the over-representation of biased media than this thread.

Bart,
I suspected your response would be to shoot the messenger rather than the message. It seems I was right.  :D

If 25 cherry-picked papers are insignificant amongst hundreds of others with opposing conclusions, then surely the post would be more relevant for a thread on the under-representation of biased media.  :D

By the way, a few of these research papers linked in the article are behind a pay-wall, but many are not. Here's a few in pdf format, if you're interested.

https://www.clim-past.net/12/1389/2016/cp-12-1389-2016.pdf
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/2016GL068172
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/2015GL064929
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rstb.2015.0345
https://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/20/1703/2016/hess-20-1703-2016.pdf
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 13, 2019, 07:30:21 pm
As global warming adherents keep reminding us, local weather patterns have nothing to do with climate change.

That's not correct.

1. It's unclear what a global warming adherent is, one merely needs to objectively compare the official temperature records.
    Temperatures have been rising, more in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere. That's an objective observation.
2. Weather patterns are changing due to the warming. There are more weather extremes, locally.

However, an extreme weather event on its own does not equal climate change.

Quote
Last year we had the wettest weather in recorded history here in New Jersey which is a stone's throw away from Virginia and Maryland.  It's still raining a lot this year here.  (Edit add:  and Pennsylvania borders New Jersey.)

One would need to investigate if there is a multi-decadal trend(change) before it can be attributed to climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 13, 2019, 08:44:07 pm
Weather patterns are changing due to the warming. There are more weather extremes, locally.

There might be more weather extremes in some locations, over a given period of time, but also a decrease in extreme weather events in other locations over the same period of time.

Whether or not there has been a net increase in extreme weather events globally, during the past 50 years or more, cannot be determined with any confidence. Even the IPCC admits this, as I've mentioned before.

However, an increase in heat waves and precipitation events might be the exception. It is reasonable to deduce that any increase in heat waves will be exaggerated by the Urban Heat Island effect, just as it's reasonable to deduce that increased rainfall will result from more evaporation which will occur during any warming period, whatever the cause of the warming.

This uncertainty about any global increase in extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts and hurricanes (or typhoons or cyclones depending on the location), seems to be an 'inconvenient truth' for the alarmists.

The IPCC has also made the very valid point that it's very difficult to attribute any specific, extreme weather event to a human cause, such as CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.

Despite these statements from the so-called great authority on climate matters, the IPCC, once the 'meme' pervades the consciousness of the general public, that extreme weather events are increasing as a result of mankind's CO2 emissions, every extreme weather event appears as yet another example of the effects of rising CO2 levels, and tends to be reported as such in the media, thus reinforcing the meme.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 14, 2019, 08:41:55 pm
Like I said, population is the cause of too much pollution and CO2.  So now it's had to happen.  People calling for no children.  It's sick out there and getting sicker. 
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/11/18256166/climate-change-having-kids
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 14, 2019, 11:04:22 pm
Like I said, population is the cause of too much pollution and CO2.  So now it's had to happen.  People calling for no children.  It's sick out there and getting sicker. 
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/11/18256166/climate-change-having-kids

Continuing the current trend in population increase is sure not a solution for future generation.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 14, 2019, 11:47:36 pm
Continuing the current trend in population increase is sure not a solution for future generation.
These nihilists are teaching children not to have children.  Decades ago they made the same argument there wouldn't be enough food if the population increased.  Well they were wrong then too. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 15, 2019, 12:18:23 am
Extrapolating the extremes - the humanity started when they were few people and many resources, and it will end up with many people and few resources.
Assuming anything else is just being conned into one huge pyramid scheme.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 15, 2019, 02:45:24 am
These nihilists are teaching children not to have children.  Decades ago they made the same argument there wouldn't be enough food if the population increased.  Well they were wrong then too.

Were they? You're just lucky that you are not one of the 821 million people suffering from hunger.

Global hunger continues to rise, new UN report says
821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/11-09-2018-global-hunger-continues-to-rise---new-un-report-says
Quote
The annual UN report found that climate variability affecting rainfall patterns and agricultural seasons, and climate extremes such as droughts and floods, are among the key drivers behind the rise in hunger, together with conflict and economic slowdowns.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 15, 2019, 07:37:39 am
Overfishing because of the overpopulation demands:

Quote
Conservation NGOs have expressed their anger with the EU, as Baltic Sea fishing quotas were set late on Oct. 14 at levels above the EU's own legal requirements for sustainable fishing levels in 2020. In a press release, the Danish government declared the quotas had "struck a good balance" between the development of fish stocks, and the preservation of the fishing industry.

Negotiations took place between EU member states and the European Commission (EC) at the Luxembourg Council of Ministers. The EC had proposed to reduce cod quotas in the western Baltic by 68% and herring quotas by 71%. Following yesterday's meeting, Denmark said its quotas would fall by 60% and 65% respectively.

https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/10/15/ngos-angry-as-eu-sets-baltic-quotas-above-sustainable-levels/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 15, 2019, 07:45:48 am
The fish are disappearing not only because of the overfishing, but also because of the agricultural over-fertilization and related water runoffs.

Quote
In lakes all over the world, algal blooms are getting more severe. Researchers analysed growth patterns of algal blooms in 71 large lakes across 33 countries and six continents.
Studies indicate that just in the United States, freshwater blooms result in the loss of $4 billion each year.

https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/dhw5qh/in_lakes_all_over_the_world_algal_blooms_are/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 11:19:03 am
Were they? You're just lucky that you are not one of the 821 million people suffering from hunger.

Global hunger continues to rise, new UN report says
821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/11-09-2018-global-hunger-continues-to-rise---new-un-report-says

There have always been hungry people.  But today, it's the lowest its ever been.  More people are doing better in the world than ever before especially because of capitalism and free markets.  Just look at the Chinese people today compared to where they were under Mao.  100's of millions of people are now eating better.  People are starving in North Korea because of the politics, not because there couldn;t be enough food.   The biggest issue with starving is not the food.  There;s plenty of it.  It's distribution - getting food to where it's needed.  DIstribution and giving food to the poor are interrupted by war, conflicts, theft, and greed and lots of corruption at the government level. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 11:22:58 am
Overfishing because of the overpopulation demands:

https://www.undercurrentnews.com/2019/10/15/ngos-angry-as-eu-sets-baltic-quotas-above-sustainable-levels/
What do you suggest we do with the Danish people?  Have them eat cake? :) 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 15, 2019, 11:51:42 am
What do you suggest we do with the Danish people?  Have them eat cake? :)

Pastries.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 11:55:14 am
Yum.  I love a nice Danish pastry.  Cheeze or blueberry.  Much better than sardines.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 15, 2019, 01:50:01 pm
Yum.  I love a nice Danish pastry.  Cheeze or blueberry.  Much better than sardines.

Yes, and that kind of food also lowers the pension payouts. Wholeheartedly endorsed by the government.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 15, 2019, 03:36:30 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/rise-renewables-oil-firms-decades-earlier-think

Fossil fuels are a sunset industry.  Renewables are cheaper now and will be even cheaper in the future.

The video (scroll down) is damning.  The FFI boys knew what they were doing long ago, but they persisted. Because greed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 06:52:09 pm
Yes, and that kind of food also lowers the pension payouts. Wholeheartedly endorsed by the government.

That's the answer.  Government should issue coupons for free, delicious Danish pastries.  With people dying earlier, the decreasing population will need less fossil fuel lowering CO2 in the air and saving the planet.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 06:56:08 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/rise-renewables-oil-firms-decades-earlier-think

Fossil fuels are a sunset industry.  Renewables are cheaper now and will be even cheaper in the future.

The video (scroll down) is damning.  The FFI boys knew what they were doing long ago, but they persisted. Because greed.
But Peter,  since Germany now has 40% renewables, their electricity costs have skyrocketed costing 2 1/2 times what the average American pays .  And my town just negotiated an electricity contract with a new supplier for two years that will lower my costs another $150 over the 24 months. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 15, 2019, 10:36:01 pm
Extrapolating the extremes - the humanity started when they were few people and many resources, and it will end up with many people and few resources.
Assuming anything else is just being conned into one huge pyramid scheme.

As I understand, it's the poor and undeveloped countries where populations increase the most. When countries develop and become more prosperous, with a rising middle class, the need for large families diminishes, and the population growth tends to stabilize or even fall, as in the case of Japan.

The problem with fossil fuels is not the CO2 emissions, but the real pollutants which produce unhealthy haze and smog, plus the fact that such fossil fuels will eventually become a scarce commodity as all the poor countries gradually progress towards a Western life style with electricity-consuming fridges and air-conditioners, and petrol-drive vehicles.

Being adaptive and innovative, so we can exploit all potential resources in a sensible and environmentally safe way, is the solution, and that solution should involve exploiting the benefits of CO2, by surrounding any coal-fired power plant with greenhouses, for example. After removal of the 'real' pollutants, the CO2 emissions could be funneled through dozens of greenhouses to increase crop growth, and/or wafted through new forests which have been planted around the coal-plant.

However, the solution should also include the development of renewable energy sources in order to prepare for a future scarcity of fossil fuels. Harnessing energy from the sun is a fantastic and brilliant idea, but not so smart if one covers large areas of fertile land with solar panels, which amounts to essentially destroying the environment and preventing the land being used for other purposes, such as agriculture or reforestation.

Solar panels, or films, or solar paint, are ideal for use on surfaces where the environment has already been destroyed, such as the roofs and walls of buildings, and arid regions such as deserts.

The main problem is, 'how do we get governments to prepare for a future scarcity of fossil fuels?' Any suggestions?  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 15, 2019, 11:01:37 pm
Forty years ago, I had a family member who taught College Geology.  He told me then that we were running out of oil.  Since he said that, we made amazing strides in developing new fossil fuel resources including fracking and drilling in areas we couldn;t back then.  If the Arctic losses its ice, we'll have more areas to drill.  So I don;t think we'll run out of oil anytime soon.  Or natural gas.  Let's hope that technology will advance and someone will develop a more efficient solar cell, let's say ten or 100x what we have currently.  Now, imagine what we could do then?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: John Camp on October 15, 2019, 11:48:25 pm
Forty years ago, I had a family member who taught College Geology.  He told me then that we were running out of oil.  Since he said that, we made amazing strides in developing new fossil fuel resources including fracking and drilling in areas we couldn;t back then.  If the Arctic losses its ice, we'll have more areas to drill.  So I don;t think we'll run out of oil anytime soon.  Or natural gas.  Let's hope that technology will advance and someone will develop a more efficient solar cell, let's say ten or 100x what we have currently.  Now, imagine what we could do then?

That seems unlikely, since newer solar cells are now about 20% efficient. Even 10X would make them 200% efficient, which, you know, would be tough. As somebody has pointed out, though, the 80% we don't get isn't exactly wasted, since it doesn't cost anything and doesn't hurt anything.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 16, 2019, 12:49:03 am
So I don't think we'll run out of oil anytime soon. 

That's true. My point is, it would not be wise to wait until a scarcity of fossil fuels becomes undeniable after significant increased usage and dependency on fossil fuels becomes entrenched, as the world economy develops. The development of solar technology, effective battery storage and electric vehicles, is a long and expensive process.

Many authorities claim that the generation of electricity from solar panels is now as efficient, in terms of cost, as electricity from fossil fuels, and that's encouraging. But such claims ignore the reliability factor. When the cost of battery storage is taken into consideration, to create reliability equal to the reliability of fossil fuels, the cost of solar energy is still more expensive.

Hopefully, there will be a break-through in battery technology which will make them more affordable, more durable, and less dependent on Lithium and rare earth metals which would eventually become a scarce commodity if alternative battery designs are not created.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 16, 2019, 12:49:40 am
Were they? You're just lucky that you are not one of the 821 million people suffering from hunger.

Global hunger continues to rise, new UN report says
821 million people now hungry and over 150 million children stunted, putting hunger eradication goal at risk

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/11-09-2018-global-hunger-continues-to-rise---new-un-report-says

Unfortunately in many regions, obesity and wrong type of food are today a greater health risk than hunger.

(https://cdn1.spiegel.de/images/image-1479324-860_poster_16x9-usmx-1479324.jpg)

Quote
"These numbers are frightening," says Roland Kupka of Unicef. "It's not just important that children do not go hungry, they also need to get the right food to grow without restrictions." Unicef's nutrition expert explains in an interview how hunger and nutrient deficiencies affect children. And why 40 million children have become overweight and thus become the new risk group.

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/ernaehrung-von-kindern-fettleibigkeit-ist-gefaehrlicher-als-hunger-a-1291154.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 16, 2019, 04:27:33 am
That's true. My point is, it would not be wise to wait until a scarcity of fossil fuels becomes undeniable after significant increased usage and dependency on fossil fuels becomes entrenched, as the world economy develops. The development of solar technology, effective battery storage and electric vehicles, is a long and expensive process.

Many authorities claim that the generation of electricity from solar panels is now as efficient, in terms of cost, as electricity from fossil fuels, and that's encouraging. But such claims ignore the reliability factor. When the cost of battery storage is taken into consideration, to create reliability equal to the reliability of fossil fuels, the cost of solar energy is still more expensive.

No, nothing is being ignored. The need for non-intermittent power generation remains, but this type of power generation will reduce the need for it. So there will be a net reduction of CO2-emissions.

Renewable Energy Intermittency Explained: Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/renewable-energy-intermittency-explained-challenges-solutions-and-opportunities/
Quote
While the fact that wind and solar don’t produce energy around the clock is certainly a major disadvantage, I find that the problems associated with the intermittent nature of many renewables are often exaggerated, and rarely discussed from a practical perspective.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 16, 2019, 08:24:53 am
Unfortunately in many regions, obesity and wrong type of food are today a greater health risk than hunger.
...

I was a terrible eater when I was a kid, a problem long since corrected.  My mother would yell at me at the table as the food lay dormant, "Alan, finish your food.  There are starving children in China." What would mothers tell their children today? "No seconds. Look at all those obese children in Africa."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 16, 2019, 08:41:59 am
No, nothing is being ignored. The need for non-intermittent power generation remains, but this type of power generation will reduce the need for it. So there will be a net reduction of CO2-emissions.

Renewable Energy Intermittency Explained: Challenges, Solutions, and Opportunities
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/renewable-energy-intermittency-explained-challenges-solutions-and-opportunities/ (https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/renewable-energy-intermittency-explained-challenges-solutions-and-opportunities/)
While it's true that the need for fossil fuel would be reduced with green energy, you still need fossil fuel running plants as backup as long as the earth stays dark at night.  So you have the attendant costs of providing for these plants.  This may account for why Germany has not been able to reduce its electricity costs despite a 40% level of renewable electricity production. 


Also, people still on the grid have to pay more to electricity suppliers to cover the lost revenue from private and commercial buildings who have installed solar power.  When the utility company sells less electricity,  the per-unit costs go up because they still have to maintain their plants.


Ray makes a good point about batteries.  His Australia paid millions to Tesla to provide storage for green energy production.  But those millions were a drop in the ocean. There's no way we'll have batteries to support the whole world's needs.  A breakout technology has to be developed.  Hopefully that will happen. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 16, 2019, 08:42:39 am
No, nothing is being ignored. The need for non-intermittent power generation remains, but this type of power generation will reduce the need for it. So there will be a net reduction of CO2-emissions.

You missed my point, Bart. It is the claims that solar and wind power is no more expensive, and even cheaper than energy from fossil fuels, that ignores, or does not take into full consideration, the cost of ensuring reliability of supply with back-up fossil power plants and/or battery storage.

Of course there are solutions to the intermittency of supply from solar and wind, and those solutions are not being ignored, but electricity from back-up fossil power plants which are used only part of the time, is more expensive than electricity from the same plants that are productive most of the time.

Countries such as Germany and Portugal that produce the highest percentage of their power requirements from renewable sources, have the highest electricity prices in the world.

Reducing CO2 emissions is not a concern for me. However, pollution and degradation of the environment is a concern. Messing up the environment with hundreds of bird-killing windmills is not something I endorse.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 16, 2019, 08:50:20 am
Ray, what's fascinating is that here you and I are, 12000 miles apart, on different sides of the world, and we post statements generally aligned to be read by the entire rest of the world just 40 seconds apart.  That's amazing! Well, it amazes me.  Maybe because I'm old,  Youngsters can't imagine just how amazing this is.  Someday we'll be able to send photos around the world in a jiffy.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on October 16, 2019, 09:50:18 am
...
Countries such as Germany and Portugal that produce the highest percentage of their power requirements from renewable sources, have the highest electricity prices in the world.
...
They pay a price for being the first to make this changeover, but will have lower pollution costs that are not accounted for.
Also they will have an advantage for dealing with these new techniques that wil bring them some economic advantage in the end; also not accounted for.
For it is clear this century there will be a diversion from burning carbon fossil fuel to clean energy as there have been shifts like these in the past.
Meanwhile there are new promising techniques coming up to store electrical energy for use later.
In the Netherlands the price for electricity is getting lower and new off shore windmill-parks are placed without the need of any government funding.
Electric driving is taking af, now 1 % of all cars are electric. The Tesla 3 being the most wanted lease car.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 16, 2019, 10:32:22 am
You missed my point, Bart. It is the claims that solar and wind power is no more expensive, and even cheaper than energy from fossil fuels, that ignores, or does not take into full consideration, the cost of ensuring reliability of supply with back-up fossil power plants and/or battery storage.

Apples and oranges. The cost of burning fossil fuel will be paid by the next generations, so it is only artificially low now. The fuel of wind and Solar powered generators is free, so while demand increases, the power gets relatively cheaper. Replacing slow ramp-up (12 hours) coal powered plants, by quick-start (https://www.wartsila.com/energy/learn-more/technical-comparisons/combustion-engine-vs-gas-turbine-startup-time) (10 minutes) plants on natural gas already reduces CO2 emissions. Only having to use them part of the time achieves yet another reduction.

Quote
Of course there are solutions to the intermittency of supply from solar and wind, and those solutions are not being ignored, but electricity from back-up fossil power plants which are used only part of the time, is more expensive than electricity from the same plants that are productive most of the time.

More expensive? And FlexiCycle plants also require less cooling water.

Quote
Countries such as Germany and Portugal that produce the highest percentage of their power requirements from renewable sources, have the highest electricity prices in the world.

Which includes the costs of early retirement of coal-powered plants and Nuclear power plants in Germany. Apples and oranges again.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 16, 2019, 10:36:32 am
Electric driving is taking af, now 1 % of all cars are electric. The Tesla 3 being the most wanted lease car.

Only 1% in the Netherlands!! I've seen reports that worldwide the percentage is over 2%.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 16, 2019, 10:50:20 am
The cost of burning fossil fuel will be paid by the next generations, so it is only artificially low now.

The children of the current generation are already bearing the consequences of the move towards renewables. They're suffering anxiety and stress because of the unfounded alarm about CO2 emissions, and many are wondering if they should refrain from having children because the future is so bleak.

Have you considered that cost?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 16, 2019, 10:57:02 am
Ray, what's fascinating is that here you and I are, 12000 miles apart, on different sides of the world, and we post statements generally aligned to be read by the entire rest of the world just 40 seconds apart.  That's amazing! Well, it amazes me.  Maybe because I'm old,  Youngsters can't imagine just how amazing this is.  Someday we'll be able to send photos around the world in a jiffy.  :)

Or send electricity to the USA, in the middle of the night, from solar panels in the Australian desert, via Ultra HVDC Transmission lines under the sea.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 16, 2019, 12:33:43 pm
I was a terrible eater when I was a kid, a problem long since corrected.  My mother would yell at me at the table as the food lay dormant, "Alan, finish your food.  There are starving children in China." What would mothers tell their children today? "No seconds. Look at all those obese children in Africa."

"Look at those obese children next door" more likely.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 16, 2019, 12:42:18 pm
Good point.  😏
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 16, 2019, 01:10:21 pm
Ray makes a good point about batteries.  His Australia paid millions to Tesla to provide storage for green energy production.  But those millions were a drop in the ocean. There's no way we'll have batteries to support the whole world's needs.  A breakout technology has to be developed.  Hopefully that will happen.

There could be all kinds of batteries - electrical, chemical, geo-thermal, water reservoirs, etc.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: John Camp on October 16, 2019, 07:25:58 pm
The amount of energy used by cars and trucks today, in the form of diesel and gasoline, is roughly equivalent to the output of our electrical generating capacity. So if we went to 100% electric cars, we'd have to (roughly) double our generating capacity, which means dozens of new power plants. Does anybody think that dozens of new generating plants are going to be built in this age of NIMBY? I'm really curious about how this will work (and as an aside, I have a car that runs partially on plug-in electricity. I only get about 27 miles on the battery, before the gasoline engine kicks on, but I live in a small city, Santa Fe, NM, and can often run all my daily errands purely on electric power. Recharging from 220 outlet takes about two hours.)

Ray, IMHO there is of course a lot of pollution, but it's slowly being brought under control, and would be greatly reduced if there were brutally harsh laws concerning dumping in the oceans. But CO2 and other aerosols that are creating global warming are literally an existential problem, as pollution no longer is. You can clean up pollutants, but you can't clean up heat. Further, IMHO, I think the world needs to quickly go to electric vehicles powered by advanced nuclear energy plants. Doing that would solve many of our problems, but it might already be too late.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 12:11:41 am
The amount of energy used by cars and trucks today, in the form of diesel and gasoline, is roughly equivalent to the output of our electrical generating capacity. So if we went to 100% electric cars, we'd have to (roughly) double our generating capacity, which means dozens of new power plants. Does anybody think that dozens of new generating plants are going to be built in this age of NIMBY? I'm really curious about how this will work (and as an aside, I have a car that runs partially on plug-in electricity. I only get about 27 miles on the battery, before the gasoline engine kicks on, but I live in a small city, Santa Fe, NM, and can often run all my daily errands purely on electric power. Recharging from 220 outlet takes about two hours.)

Ray, IMHO there is of course a lot of pollution, but it's slowly being brought under control, and would be greatly reduced if there were brutally harsh laws concerning dumping in the oceans. But CO2 and other aerosols that are creating global warming are literally an existential problem, as pollution no longer is. You can clean up pollutants, but you can't clean up heat. Further, IMHO, I think the world needs to quickly go to electric vehicles powered by advanced nuclear energy plants. Doing that would solve many of our problems, but it might already be too late.

John, Nice to get your input.  Santa Fe is a great town.  My wife and I spent three days there in the Spring last year as part of our trip through the southwest's national parks in Utah and Arizona.  Here are some of the pictures I took. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/albums/72157694819890421 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/alanklein2000/albums/72157694819890421)  My wife wanted to vist "artsy" Santa Fe and we really enjoyed the SW cutlture and art there.  We went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum with all her paintings and photos.  We also saw some amazing native American Indian art. 

Speaking of electricity for cars, we recently visited Thomas Alva Edison plant close to where we live in New Jersey.  He was an amazing guy who did so many things with electricity including making it.  Across the street they had a parking lot for visitors.  A local bank had installed free charging stations for electric cars parked there.  What better place to install those things then right across from Edison's place.  If you ever get up here with your hybrid car, that would be a good place to get a re-charge.

We also visited Edison's home about 1/4 miles away.  When he bought it, the lights were gas operated.  They had a dangerous gas distribution system in the home.  So Edison got rid of it and pulled an electric line up from his plant and switch his home to electric, the first one in the town.  He even got his neighbors to switch over from gas and he sold them his electricity.   He was as good at business as he was an inventor. 

I agree about NIMBY.  When I lived in NY, our governor there closed down the nuclear generating electric plant on Long Island for political reasons.  All that non-polluting with no CO2 either.  Then the same governor went ahead and is spending $3.2 billion dollars to install offshore wind generators off Long Island for about a million homes ($3200 a home), not including cost overruns which always happen with the government.   Coincidentally, he has to build separate new fossil fuel plants to backup the wind generators when the wind stops blowing.  All at additional cost.  Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.  We all would have been better off if he left the nuclear plants. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 17, 2019, 05:26:50 am
I agree about NIMBY.  When I lived in NY, our governor there closed down the nuclear generating electric plant on Long Island for political reasons.  All that non-polluting with no CO2 either.  Then the same governor went ahead and is spending $3.2 billion dollars to install offshore wind generators off Long Island for about a million homes ($3200 a home), not including cost overruns which always happen with the government.   Coincidentally, he has to build separate new fossil fuel plants to backup the wind generators when the wind stops blowing.  All at additional cost.  Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.  We all would have been better off if he left the nuclear plants.

$3200 a home, divided by 25 years operations = $128/year, add some maintenance and sell 'free fuel'. Sounds like a plan.

How much CO2 emission reduction will have been avoided?

How long had the Long Island Nuclear plant left of useful life?
What would it have cost to build a new facility?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 08:53:37 am
$3200 a home, divided by 25 years operations = $128/year, add some maintenance and sell 'free fuel'. Sounds like a plan.

How much CO2 emission reduction will have been avoided?

How long had the Long Island Nuclear plant left of useful life?
What would it have cost to build a new facility?


Bart, you left out key cost components.  First: Cost overruns.  Offshore wind is the most expensive form of renewable energy. The estimates are just that.  Government here never gets that right.  It always goes over budget.

"Some maintenance"??  It's offshore.  That means you can;t jump into a service truck and go change a fuse.  You have to pay extra a lot extra for boats, helicopters, pilots, captains of vessels, etc plus the men who are going to get extra pay to maintain these things.  It's 30 miles off shore not around the corner. 

You left out the cost for fossil fuel plants for backup that will have to be built. That will be more billions. 

Then there's an annual subsidy of $528 million to the utility company.  That's $528 for each of the million customers per year or over $13,200 for a 25 year period.  The costs will be even higher because the governor is politically motivated to have only union workers only doing the construction work and they're negotiating a new union contract which will raise all these costs.  The subsidy will actually be paid by upstate  New York customers who are poorer than the rest of the states and can't afford higher rates that will be used to pay down the costs of the wind generators.  So electric rates will go up in these areas. The governor has ordered that the utilities don't reveal in the bills that portion of the charges that are related to this project.  That way voters will just blame the utility companies for higher prices and not the politicians who are the real ones raising their rates.   

Now I see why Germany's electric costs have gone up with free renewable energy. It's just so much more expensive.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 08:57:37 am
Here's an article about it.
https://nypost.com/2019/07/22/cuomos-incredible-wind-power-pander/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 17, 2019, 09:05:29 am
Now I see why Germany's electric costs have gone up with free renewable energy. It's just so much more expensive.

In all fairness to Alan's analysis, cost of electricity in Germany went in the last decade through the roof. And it is expected to rise again.
OTOH, the German homes are much better insulated than the houses on this continent, so the real heating and cooling costs might be comparable to ours. Actually, most German homes don't have air-conditioning, but the thick walls help to keep the summer temperatures quite tolerable.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 09:59:38 am
In all fairness to Alan's analysis, cost of electricity in Germany went in the last decade through the roof. And it is expected to rise again.
OTOH, the German homes are much better insulated than the houses on this continent, so the real heating and cooling costs might be comparable to ours. Actually, most German homes don't have air-conditioning, but the thick walls help to keep the summer temperatures quite tolerable.   

I believe Germany is generally colder than America, so the US, especially the southern half of the US uses more A/C which is very expensive because of the high electrical requirements.  We tend to build a lot with wood but all newer homes are insulated well.  The products just didn't exist a few decades ago.  Mine house is great.  I can't believe how efficient it is.  6" insulation in all exterior walls and attic ceiling and double pane windows help enormously.  I also switched 90% of my lighting to LED's.  We heat and cook with natural gas, not smelly, more expensive oil.  I use time as well as temperature controlled thermostats for more efficiency and cycle outside light based on dawn and dusk lighting requirements.  I'd raise the thermostat in the summer to save even more energy but wife complains it's too hot.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 17, 2019, 12:51:47 pm
But Peter,  since Germany now has 40% renewables, their electricity costs have skyrocketed costing 2 1/2 times what the average American pays .  And my town just negotiated an electricity contract with a new supplier for two years that will lower my costs another $150 over the 24 months.

Alan, that's about the tenth time you've brought up the fact that Germany pays more for electricity than you do. We get it. However, there are factors at play that you don't mention.  For example, undoubtedly some significant share of your apparently inexpensive NJ power comes from up north: from the socialist, government-ruled, liberty-free societies of Labrador and Quebec, where they generate power efficiently, renewably and cheaply from falling water. You're welcome.

Besides, low prices aren't necessarily a good thing; just ask any small town what happens when a Walmart or Dollar General moves in.

Americans also pay among the lowest prices in the western world for gasoline and diesel, but many American highways (and bridges) are in atrocious shape. I've experienced them first hand. This fact is according to Americans, not just me. Try driving on European highways, compared to, say those in Pennsylvania. Or NYC. Or NM. Or, perish the thought, New Jersey. :) Potholes anyone?  Poor infrastructure maintenance is irresponsible, third world stuff.

Taxes have benefits.  Drive I-5 the length of relatively high-tax Oregon and be amazed at just how pleasurable smooth asphalt and clearly painted highway markings can be.

In any case, getting back to low prices, fossil fuels (especially and immediately, coal) are doomed. They're too expensive. Renewables are not only better for everyone and everything, they're rapidly becoming cheaper.

Imagine, if you will, a solar powered steel mill.  Pueblo, CO will have one soon.  Not because it's greener or more politically correct, because it's cheaper.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/360/xcel-energy-plans-to-close-2-of-its-coal-fired-plants-in-pueblo-to-make-way-for-a-greener-future



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: James Clark on October 17, 2019, 01:43:20 pm
The children of the current generation are already bearing the consequences of the move towards renewables. They're suffering anxiety and stress because of the unfounded alarm about CO2 emissions, and many are wondering if they should refrain from having children because the future is so bleak.

Have you considered that cost?

This seems like a positive side benefit.  What's your point?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on October 17, 2019, 01:52:46 pm
The children of the current generation are already bearing the consequences of the move towards renewables. They're suffering anxiety and stress because of the unfounded alarm about CO2 emissions, and many are wondering if they should refrain from having children because the future is so bleak.

Have you considered that cost?

If that became true it would mean you need more young migrant people to keep the economy working...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 03:27:43 pm
Alan, that's about the tenth time you've brought up the fact that Germany pays more for electricity than you do. We get it. However, there are factors at play that you don't mention.  For example, undoubtedly some significant share of your apparently inexpensive NJ power comes from up north: from the socialist, government-ruled, liberty-free societies of Labrador and Quebec, where they generate power efficiently, renewably and cheaply from falling water. You're welcome.

Besides, low prices aren't necessarily a good thing; just ask any small town what happens when a Walmart or Dollar General moves in.

Americans also pay among the lowest prices in the western world for gasoline and diesel, but many American highways (and bridges) are in atrocious shape. I've experienced them first hand. This fact is according to Americans, not just me. Try driving on European highways, compared to, say those in Pennsylvania. Or NYC. Or NM. Or, perish the thought, New Jersey. :) Potholes anyone?  Poor infrastructure maintenance is irresponsible, third world stuff.

Taxes have benefits.  Drive I-5 the length of relatively high-tax Oregon and be amazed at just how pleasurable smooth asphalt and clearly painted highway markings can be.

In any case, getting back to low prices, fossil fuels (especially and immediately, coal) are doomed. They're too expensive. Renewables are not only better for everyone and everything, they're rapidly becoming cheaper.

Imagine, if you will, a solar powered steel mill.  Pueblo, CO will have one soon.  Not because it's greener or more politically correct, because it's cheaper.

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/360/xcel-energy-plans-to-close-2-of-its-coal-fired-plants-in-pueblo-to-make-way-for-a-greener-future (https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/360/xcel-energy-plans-to-close-2-of-its-coal-fired-plants-in-pueblo-to-make-way-for-a-greener-future)






I have no problem with private industry deciding to build renewable energy plants.  It's their money.  It's when the governor starts doing things that are hugely expensive with my tax money so they can earn political points.  And then lie about those costs to the public. 


As an aside, the article didn't explain how the renewable energy will be produced on the 65 days when there's no sun or at night.  It seems that they'll need fossil fuel backup.  There's nothing in the article that explains what that will cost and where it's coming from.  Maybe from Labrador and Quebec, Canada? :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 03:31:02 pm
This seems like a positive side benefit.  What's your point?
So you think it's a good idea to convert happy children who would ordinarily look forward to a happy, productive future with families into children that look and act like that Greta what's her name who at 16 years of age sees no future or reason for living blaming her misery on climate change predictions? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 17, 2019, 04:38:13 pm

As an aside, the article didn't explain how the renewable energy will be produced on the 65 days when there's no sun or at night.  It seems that they'll need fossil fuel backup.  There's nothing in the article that explains what that will cost and where it's coming from.  Maybe from Labrador and Quebec, Canada? :)

I made a lot of points in my post and you chose to ignore nearly all of them. Your only response to any of it indicates that you obviously didn't even read the article. It explains precisely how they'll solve that problem. 

And, yes, it could well be at least partly coming from Labrador and Quebec.  Electricity respects neither geographical nor temporal boundaries.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 17, 2019, 05:13:36 pm
I made a lot of points in my post and you chose to ignore nearly all of them. Your only response to any of it indicates that you obviously didn't even read the article. It explains precisely how they'll solve that problem. 

And, yes, it could well be at least partly coming from Labrador and Quebec.  Electricity respects neither geographical nor temporal boundaries.

Peter, I was going to answer each of them.  But you made so many diverse points, I just didn't have the time.  Let me just say I disagree with them all. :) 

1. Germany's renewables did not save them money.  In fact they went up.  What America pays and where we get our electricity from are a separate issue. 
2. Lower prices are always better than higher prices.  Otherwise farmers should sell their tractors and hire ten more farm workers for each and raise their food prices for people starving in the world, a wasteful proposition. 
3. Sure taxes are helpful when needed.  Unfortunately, government wastes a lot of money through inefficient processes.  I personally know having worked for NYC government for 14 years in school construction.   It's best to leave most things in private hands. 

I did miss the battery storage inclusion in the first read-through.  In any case, like I said, I'm all in favor of private decisions to build renewables.  It's the government doing it I don;t trust. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 19, 2019, 12:56:26 pm
Peter, I was going to answer each of them.  But you made so many diverse points, I just didn't have the time.  Let me just say I disagree with them all. :) 

Nah.  Let's just say you're hilarious.

"I just didn't have the time".  This from a guy who appears to spend his time 24-7 on LuLa politics threads.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 20, 2019, 01:47:55 pm
Go on, Alan.  Let's see you defend pot holes or bridges that fall down.  Or decry velvet-smooth Interstates in Oregon.  You know you want to.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 20, 2019, 06:26:11 pm
As a New Yorker from "pothole city", I'm jealous of the velvet smooth interstates of Oregon.  Do you realize how much money I could have saved on flats and balancing tires?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on October 20, 2019, 07:33:11 pm
As a New Yorker from "pothole city", I'm jealous of the velvet smooth interstates of Oregon.  Do you realize how much money I could have saved on flats and balancing tires?

So, the money you (and everyone else) spent on tires (and shocks, too, probably) you could have spent on road (fuel) taxes.  Then, they could fix all the potholes and EVERYONE would benefit, not just you.

Oh, wait. That's socialism. When everyone benefits.  Sorry.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 20, 2019, 07:50:56 pm
So, the money you (and everyone else) spent on tires (and shocks, too, probably) you could have spent on road (fuel) taxes.  Then, they could fix all the potholes and EVERYONE would benefit, not just you.

Oh, wait. That's socialism. When everyone benefits.  Sorry.

Thanks for the tax advice on potholes.  I'll pass it on to the mayor. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 08:11:32 am
Sea-Level Rise From Antarctic Ice Cliffs May Be Overestimated Because of Faulty Assumptions
https://scitechdaily.com/sea-level-rise-from-antarctic-ice-cliffs-may-be-overestimated-because-of-faulty-assumptions/ (https://scitechdaily.com/sea-level-rise-from-antarctic-ice-cliffs-may-be-overestimated-because-of-faulty-assumptions/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on October 21, 2019, 02:48:10 pm
The benefits of warmer weather:

https://www.foxnews.com/science/ozone-hole-smallest-on-record-nasa
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 02:55:39 pm
Glad to see you back Slobodan. I was getting lonely holding down the fort. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 03:11:10 pm
"University dumps professor who found polar bears thriving despite climate change"

Just what I've been saying all along.  The bears figured out what to do as it warms up in the north and/or have no problem in the first place.  All a lot of fake news to drum up support for global warming alarmists.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/20/susan-crockford-fired-after-finding-polar-bears-th/ (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/20/susan-crockford-fired-after-finding-polar-bears-th/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 03:12:04 pm
Glad to see you back Slobodan. I was getting lonely holding down the fort. :)
Ray's been helping a lot.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 21, 2019, 03:34:39 pm
"University dumps professor who found polar bears thriving despite climate change"

Just what I've been saying all along.  The bears figured out what to do as it warms up in the north and/or have no problem in the first place.
 

Yes, amazing how they convinced people to stop hunting them for pleasure ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 04:25:28 pm
 

Yes, amazing how they convinced people to stop hunting them for pleasure ...
That's not true.  Studies have shown that changes in hunting policy made little difference.  The polar bears are doing very well despite "global warming".  They're adapting or it's just not making any difference in the first place. 

The main point is why are we just now reading about this?  Polar bears were the main victim of the global warming alarmists.  Yet, now there's proof they're not and the public doesn't learn about it.  It's only in a conservative paper.  Why aren't the CNN's, NY Times, and others like them broadcasting her study?  Because they're afraid it would create doubt about the whole theory.  So you hide the study.  Then you hear from people like me who become even less credulous of the theory.  Because you're hiding truth. 


And in the end she was fired from the university.

“Professor after professor has been hounded, silenced, censured or fired for speaking out against the approved man-made climate crisis narrative,” Mr. Morano said. “The message to any climate dissenters in academia is once again reinforced: Stay silent with your skepticism or risk endangering your career.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on October 21, 2019, 05:43:10 pm
... “Professor after professor has been hounded, silenced, censured or fired for speaking out against the approved man-made climate crisis narrative,” Mr. Morano said. “The message to any climate dissenters in academia is once again reinforced: Stay silent with your skepticism or risk endangering your career.”

Indeed. What I've been saying for years, as method to arrive to the "consensus." But even the fake "97% consensus" is not enough for climato-maniacs. Note the title of a recent thread here:

"How media over-represents 15 times climatosceptiks fake science"

It is not enough to claim (falsely) the 97%... no, they need 100%... thus the remaining 3% are not even considered science, but "fake science."

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 21, 2019, 06:22:36 pm
That's not true.  Studies have shown that changes in hunting policy made little difference.

Proof?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 21, 2019, 06:23:03 pm
"University dumps professor who found polar bears thriving despite climate change"

Just what I've been saying all along.  The bears figured out what to do as it warms up in the north and/or have no problem in the first place.  All a lot of fake news to drum up support for global warming alarmists.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/20/susan-crockford-fired-after-finding-polar-bears-th/ (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/oct/20/susan-crockford-fired-after-finding-polar-bears-th/)

It seems that the warming in Arctic is affecting more the Inuits than polar bears. Perhaps worse than warming is the increasing pollution in the air and water. And nobody can dispute that.

Quote
decreasing ice could allow increased shipping through Arctic waterways, including the Northwest Passage. While this may mean economic benefits for Nunavut, it can also raise the risk of oil and chemical spills.

https://www.climatechangenunavut.ca/en/understanding-climate-change/climate-change-impact
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Chris Kern on October 21, 2019, 06:26:38 pm
Glad to see you back Slobodan.

Yes, indeed: you have been missed.  My blood pressure has been unusually low of late.  (No offense meant to Alan; he has certainly been trying his best.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 07:01:11 pm
Yes, indeed: you have been missed.  My blood pressure has been unusually low of late.  (No offense meant to Alan; he has certainly been trying his best.)
Well, it's my blood pressure that's gone up since Slobodan has been AWOL.  OF course, Ray has been particularly helpful in this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 07:19:58 pm
Proof?

Here's the 72 page scientific study by this professor who's an expert on polar bears and has studied them for many years.  I've copied the study's Executive Summary below.
What I discovered is that in Al Gore's followup to An Inconvenient Truth, polar bears were not mentioned at all.  They were the main victim of global warming in the original release. It was already obvious, even to Gore, that the bears were not in danger.  So they ignored this incovenient truth in their second presentation.
https://polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/crockford_state-of-the-polar-bear-2017_gwpf-report-29_feb-2018-final.pdf (https://polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/crockford_state-of-the-polar-bear-2017_gwpf-report-29_feb-2018-final.pdf)

Executive summary
• Global polar bear numbers have been stable or risen slightly since 2005, despite the fact that
summer sea ice since 2007 hit levels not expected until mid-century: the predicted 67% decline in polar bear numbers did not occur.
• Abundant prey and adequate sea ice in spring and early summer since 2007 appear to explain
why global polar bear numbers have not declined, as might have been expected as a result of
low summer sea ice levels.
• The greatest change in sea ice habitat since 1979 was experienced by Barents Sea polar bears
and the least by those in Southern Hudson Bay, the most southerly region inhabited by bears.
• As far as is known, the record low extent of sea ice in March 2017 had no impact on polar bear
health or survival.
• Some studies show bears are lighter in weight than they were in the 1980s, but none showed
an increase in the number of individuals starving to death or too thin to reproduce.
• A just-released report of Southern Beaufort Sea bears having difficulty finding prey in 2014–
2016 suggests that the thick ice events that have impacted the region every ten years or so
since the 1960s have continued despite reduced summer sea ice.
• Claims of widespread hybridization of polar bears with grizzlies were disproven by DNA studies.
• Overly pessimistic media responses to recent polar bear issues have made heartbreaking news
out of scientifically insignificant events, suggesting an attempt is being made to restore the
status of this failed global warming icon.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 21, 2019, 07:54:30 pm
Here's the 72 page scientific study by this professor who's an expert on polar bears and has studied them for many years.

You suggested that (several) studies would show that reduced hunting did not play much of a role.

The study you mentioned says e.g. " recovery from previous overhunting might still be ongoing" and  "based on current conditions, as long as spring and early summer ice re-main abundant, it looks as though polar bears will continue to recover from the over-hunting of the early 20th century".
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2019, 08:39:48 pm
You suggested that (several) studies would show that reduced hunting did not play much of a role.

The study you mentioned says e.g. " recovery from previous overhunting might still be ongoing" and  "based on current conditions, as long as spring and early summer ice re-main abundant, it looks as though polar bears will continue to recover from the over-hunting of the early 20th century".
You just discounted her whole 72 page report where she argued there were no losses as expected due to global warming. Hunting had no influence on her study's conclusion.


Hunting had been prohibited for years before the population studies by global alarmists started (except for indigenous tribes that continue hunting). The argument from global warmists in their studies was that polar bear populations were to decrease by 67% due to warming from a base line population which occurred after hunting was prohibited.  So hunting played no part on the before and after numbers since it didn't occur during this period.   Check the first bullet in the executive summary. 



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 22, 2019, 03:46:22 am
Here's the 72 page scientific study by this professor who's an expert on polar bears and has studied them for many years.  I've copied the study's Executive Summary below.
What I discovered is that in Al Gore's followup to An Inconvenient Truth, polar bears were not mentioned at all.  They were the main victim of global warming in the original release. It was already obvious, even to Gore, that the bears were not in danger.  So they ignored this incovenient truth in their second presentation.
https://polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/crockford_state-of-the-polar-bear-2017_gwpf-report-29_feb-2018-final.pdf (https://polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/crockford_state-of-the-polar-bear-2017_gwpf-report-29_feb-2018-final.pdf)

Always a good laugh to check up on the source of Alan's information:

https://www.desmog.co.uk/global-warming-policy-foundation - some information about who funded the publication - or some lack of information, as the funders don't want to 'fess up

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/climate/polar-bears-climate-deniers.html - some background on the claims made (hint: they don't stack up)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 22, 2019, 02:42:25 pm
Always a good laugh to check up on the source of Alan's information:

https://www.desmog.co.uk/global-warming-policy-foundation (https://www.desmog.co.uk/global-warming-policy-foundation) - some information about who funded the publication - or some lack of information, as the funders don't want to 'fess up

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/climate/polar-bears-climate-deniers.html (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/10/climate/polar-bears-climate-deniers.html) - some background on the claims made (hint: they don't stack up)
Global warming scientists predicted a 67% decline in polar bear populations.  2 out of 3 would be dead.  It didn't happen.  The rest is just conversation.

Of course the main issue, that I expounded two years ago was no one is taking into account adaptation and survival of the species.  That's especially disconcerting for scientists who should know better who would point toe Darwin to support their theories.  So let me use his theory.

Those members of the polar bear population who refuse to give up their old ways of eating seal from sea ice, assuming the ice shrinks, will die off.  They won't have offspring that survives.  The bears that adapt, that catch seal on islands and other land or find other land sources of different prey will survive.  They will have the offspring that will repeat their parents methods and continue the species. Nothing new in all this.  Exactly how things happen in Darwin's nature. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 22, 2019, 02:54:32 pm
Global warming scientists predicted a 67% decline in polar bear populations.  2 out of 3 would be dead. 

Not true.  So the rest of your post is moot.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 22, 2019, 03:02:06 pm
Those members of the polar bear population who refuse to give up their old ways of eating seal from sea ice, assuming the ice shrinks, will die off.  They won't have offspring that survives.  The bears that adapt, that catch seal on islands and other land or find other land sources of different prey will survive.  They will have the offspring that will repeat their parents methods and continue the species. Nothing new in all this.  Exactly how things happen in Darwin's nature.

More likely, the polar bear survival can be attributed to the increase of seal population.
 
Quote
A collaborative project between Indigenous Alaskan hunters in villages across the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas, and scientists with the state’s Department of Fish and Game found that the pregnancy rate in bearded seals is on the rise. What’s more, the animals also seem to be maturing at a younger age. In the 1960s, bearded seals were reaching sexual maturity at around four years old. Now, they’re hitting puberty at age two and a half.

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/bearded-seals-are-maturing-younger-and-having-more-pups/

BTW, the seal liver is considered an Arctic delicacy. You can boil or roast it, but the best way is to eat it raw.  No wonder the bears are doing so well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 22, 2019, 03:24:47 pm
Not true.  So the rest of your post is moot.
He didn't read the articles you linked to so of course he got it wrong.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 22, 2019, 03:26:30 pm
More likely, the polar bear survival can be attributed to the increase of seal population.
 
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/bearded-seals-are-maturing-younger-and-having-more-pups/ (https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/bearded-seals-are-maturing-younger-and-having-more-pups/)

BTW, the seal liver is considered an Arctic delicacy. You can boil or roast it, but the best way is to eat it raw.  No wonder the bears are doing so well.
Maybe I should switch my diet to seal liver? Healthy eating; healthy heart. :)


Regarding seal births, Darwin at work again.  What disturbs me is that no matter how good the news is, every nature article still continues to press that changes in climate will destroy species.  It's a knee jerk reaction.  They can't give good news just as it is.  They twist it into something negative.  Man is bad.  Man is destroying nature.  They have to create a gray cloud around every silver lining.   


 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 22, 2019, 03:30:54 pm
It's that kind of "skeptic" fake news that drives people to question climate change.  You get the feeling your pocket is getting picked. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 22, 2019, 03:31:12 pm
Regarding seal births, Darwin at work again.  What disturbs me is that no matter how good the news is, every nature article still continues to press that changes in climate will destroy species.  It's a knee jerk reaction.  They can't give good news just as it is.  They twist it into something negative.  Man is bad.  Man is destroying nature. They have to create a gray cloud around every silver lining.

You see, politically it is more correct to let the polar bears eat the seals than to allow the Newfoundlanders kill them and sell the fur.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 23, 2019, 04:25:43 am

Those members of the polar bear population who refuse to give up their old ways of eating seal from sea ice, assuming the ice shrinks, will die off.  They won't have offspring that survives.  The bears that adapt, that catch seal on islands and other land or find other land sources of different prey will survive.  They will have the offspring that will repeat their parents methods and continue the species. Nothing new in all this.  Exactly how things happen in Darwin's nature.

Those members of the Syrian population who refuse to give up their old ways of going to school and working in the fields will be blown to bits by Russian and Turkish bombs. Those that adapt and hide in cellars will survive. Their children will copy their parents behaviour and continue the species.

Does that actually make sense to you ?  Do you think this is how evolution actually works?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: James Clark on October 23, 2019, 07:18:14 am
You see, politically it is more correct to let the polar bears eat the seals than to allow the Newfoundlanders kill them and sell the fur.

Well, yes, it is.  Polar bears don’t have self awareness of the ability to consider consequence.  I assume Newfoundlanders might. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 23, 2019, 11:35:26 am
Those members of the Syrian population who refuse to give up their old ways of going to school and working in the fields will be blown to bits by Russian and Turkish bombs. Those that adapt and hide in cellars will survive. Their children will copy their parents behaviour and continue the species.

Does that actually make sense to you ?  Do you think this is how evolution actually works?
To bring my analysis to the human species, climate change and environmental changes have always happened.  It has forced whole populations of people to move on to other locations to find food and opportunity to survive.  Crowding due to high birth rates due to good conditions also force people to move on.  If the land is occupied by other, individuals have to move to find areas where they can claim a stake.  Territorial species of all kinds do this.  Also, people living in marginal areas who can't find economic opportunity move on to areas where they can get jobs.  America was expanded and settled due to huge economic advantages by moving into areas that had little or no populations before.  Battles with indigenous people of course were fought over those territories.  All animal and plants species do this. It's the reason the whole world became occupied by humans.  Nothing unusual.  Standard Darwin type stuff.

I just want to make clear, I'm not suggesting we should go around killing people under the guise we're just doing Darwin's work.  I'm just explaining how things work in the world.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on October 23, 2019, 11:59:56 am
Standard Darwin type stuff.

Nothing to do with Darwin.  But I'm happy to see that you are welcoming people from Africa whose lives are endangered by failed harvests to move to your backyard.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 23, 2019, 02:15:31 pm
Whatever.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on October 29, 2019, 09:22:29 pm
Another climato-criminal busted - asthmatics:

Asthma carbon footprint 'as big as eating meat' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50215011

 ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on October 29, 2019, 09:39:10 pm
Another climato-criminal busted - asthmatics:

Asthma carbon footprint 'as big as eating meat' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50215011

 ;D

No laughing matter ...
Quote
But the Cambridge University team told BMJ Open patients must check with a doctor before changing medication.

Some patients will not be able to switch and should not be made to feel guilty, they add.

In addition, the emissions of particulate matter is linked to the increase in the number of people who develop respiratory diseases.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2019, 11:02:22 pm
Another climato-criminal busted - asthmatics:

Asthma carbon footprint 'as big as eating meat' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-50215011

 ;D
Relocation might work, too. It's much easier to breath in a subtropical place than in a subarctic region.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 01, 2019, 10:38:19 am
... It's much easier to breath in a subtropical place than in a subarctic region.

You sure about that?

Then again, California banned plastic straws, so there is hope  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 01, 2019, 10:59:13 am
Quote from: LesPalenik on October 29, 2019, 11:02:22 pm
... It's much easier to breath in a subtropical place than in a subarctic region.

You sure about that?
In the winter months, breathing in Miami is definitely more pleasurable than in Fairbanks. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 01, 2019, 11:20:11 am
In the winter months, breathing in Miami is definitely more pleasurable than in Fairbanks.


It doesn't really get that cold in Mallorcan winters, now and then frost at windshield level, and once or twice short-lived snow there too, but usually snow up on the mountain peaks (1440m the highest) for a couple of weeks. Walking briskly on some winter days can create a sharp discomfort in the chest; I remember feeling similar pain in my chest in Scottish winters of the 50s to the 80s if walking quickly. I get medical checks quite often due to the heart problems, but the lungs seem to be normal enough. Doesn't seem to require much cold to produce breathing discomfort of that type, which is not to be confused with any struggle for breath.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 01, 2019, 11:29:17 am
Then again, California banned plastic straws, so there is hope  ;)

1 step forwards, 2 steps back ...:

Keystone Pipeline Leaks 383,000 Gallons of Oil in North Dakota
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/31/us/keystone-pipeline-leak.html
Quote
The Keystone pipeline system, an addition to which has been the subject of environmental protests for years, leaked about 383,000 gallons of crude oil in North Dakota, covering an estimated half-acre of wetland, state environmental regulators said.

The spill, which has been contained, occurred in a low-gradient drainage area near the small town of Edinburg in northeast North Dakota, less than 50 miles from the Canadian border, according to Karl Rockeman, the director of the state Department of Environmental Quality’s division of water quality.

“It is one of the larger spills in the state,” he said in an email on Thursday.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on November 01, 2019, 12:12:07 pm
There is an interesting book out by Gilbert Gaul called Geography of Risk that documents the rise of coastal housing development in the US and its inherent weather-related risks, and how that risk has been managed. There is a 36 min podcast interview with the author here https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770812863/geography-of-risk-calculates-who-pays-when-a-storm-comes-to-shore (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770812863/geography-of-risk-calculates-who-pays-when-a-storm-comes-to-shore). There are a lot of conflicting interests, real estate developers, insurance companies, federal, state and municipal governments, even the Army Corps of Engineers, and of course home-owners.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 01, 2019, 03:57:05 pm
There is an interesting book out by Gilbert Gaul called Geography of Risk that documents the rise of coastal housing development in the US and its inherent weather-related risks, and how that risk has been managed. There is a 36 min podcast interview with the author here https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770812863/geography-of-risk-calculates-who-pays-when-a-storm-comes-to-shore (https://www.npr.org/2019/10/17/770812863/geography-of-risk-calculates-who-pays-when-a-storm-comes-to-shore). There are a lot of conflicting interests, real estate developers, insurance companies, federal, state and municipal governments, even the Army Corps of Engineers, and of course home-owners.


That was a really interesting link, for which, many thanks.

Last year saw several deaths here in Mallorca in San Lorenç from flood plane building which should never have been permitted, this from rain flooding down from mountains and meeting at normally dry torrente junctions that simply couldn't contain the volumes.

Made me think of the Bahamas and how suited they are to the future. After all, the name comes from the Spanish baja mareas/baha mar, which is a kind of mixture of the idea of low tide and shallow sea. (I could well be at sea myself on this interpretation, but it's the sense I draw.)

I wonder if there is sufficient financial clout in offshore banking circles to move business from these places and establish them (the businesses) elsewhere in newly created financially helpful areas no longer offshore? Interesting times ahead for some.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 01, 2019, 04:12:46 pm
1 step forwards, 2 steps back ...:

it's almost like mambo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6AYSCWwKM
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 04, 2019, 02:09:06 am
The severe weather conditions this past week have caused the iron scow lodged a few hundred meters in the rapids above the Niagara Falls for over a century, to shift significantly from its position. Maybe it will stay in the new position or it will plunge down the falls.

Quote
A boat stuck on rocks above Niagara Falls for more than a century has been unmoored by high wind and heavy rains.

Thursday's harsh weather pushed the vessel away from its rocky perch and closer to the falls on the Canadian side, according to the Niagara Parks Commission.
It's the first time it's moved any appreciable distance for more than a century, according to CNN affiliate CBC.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/02/americas/niagara-falls-weather-iron-scow-trnd/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 04, 2019, 04:43:11 pm
The severe weather conditions this past week have caused the iron scow lodged a few hundred meters in the rapids above the Niagara Falls for over a century, to shift significantly from its position. Maybe it will stay in the new position or it will plunge down the falls.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/02/americas/niagara-falls-weather-iron-scow-trnd/index.html

That's funny.  As time goes by, I find it harder to move. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 04, 2019, 05:28:37 pm
That's funny.  As time goes by, I find it harder to move.

Because it's rusty?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 04, 2019, 06:02:58 pm
Because it's rusty?
Must be the weather.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 05, 2019, 08:45:23 am
Yet another climato-criminal: YOU! Unless you are a nudist 100% of the time.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/opinion/climate-change-clothing-policy.html?smid=tw-nytopinion&smtyp=cur

Quote
... But first we need all people who care about climate change to understand that they’re part of the problem and the solution, just by wearing clothes.

 ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 02:17:35 pm
(https://i.cbc.ca/1.5347522.1572902232!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/climate-strike-toronto-2019.jpg)

11,000 scientists from around the world declared a ‘climate emergency’. Despite what the deniers say, all 11,000 scientists can't be wrong. Many precious years were wasted by wishy-washy politicians who wasted taxpayer's money and did nothing. It will take some doer of Trump's caliber :P, bigger Greta or some anti-Trump to get things done.

Quote
The study, called the “World scientists’ warning of a climate emergency,” marks the first time a large group of scientists has formally come out in favor of labeling climate change an “emergency,” which the study notes is caused by many human trends that are together increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The report, published Tuesday in the journal Bioscience, was spearheaded by the ecologists Bill Ripple and Christopher Wolf of Oregon State University, along with William Moomaw, a Tufts University climate scientist, and researchers in Australia and South Africa.

The study clearly lays out the huge challenge of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. “Despite 40 years of global climate negotiations, with few exceptions, we have generally conducted business as usual and have largely failed to address this predicament,” the study states.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/11/05/more-than-scientists-around-world-declare-climate-emergency/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 05, 2019, 05:12:31 pm
Les, their solution is population control, like the Chinese did.  Talk about Fascism. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 05:26:52 pm
Les, their solution is population control, like the Chinese did.  Talk about Fascism.

No fascism needed. The sad SAD (standard American Diet) will take care of the overpopulation in the developed countries even outside of China.

Quote
Average man’s sperm count has dropped steadily over the past 40 years. This fact should scare everyone, especially men. However, sperm health is the last thing on the minds of most men. How nutrition impacts sperm is even farther away from our collective consciousness.

A recent study states that average sperm counts have dropped by 59 percent over the past 38 years. With this drop in mind, it’s not surprising that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website states “in about 35 percent of couples with infertility, a male factor is identified along with a female factor." Falling sperm counts, combined with the trend of having children at later ages, means that some couples will face difficulties with fertility.

Here are the main five foods lowering the male sperm count:

1. Processed meats
2. Trans fats
3. Soy products
4. Pesticides and bisphenol a (BPA) - from packaging, unfiltered water, non-stick cookware
5. High fat dairy products (including pizza)

https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/health-and-wellness-articles/2018/december/dont-make-the-mistake-of-letting-a-diet-kill-sperm
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 05, 2019, 05:56:54 pm
... Here are the main five foods lowering the male sperm count:

1. Processed meats
2. Trans fats
3. Soy products
4. Pesticides and bisphenol a (BPA) - from packaging, unfiltered water, non-stick cookware
5. High fat dairy products (including pizza)

The list is not complete, Les.

6. feminism
7. progressivism
8. political correctness
9. MeToo
10. The Alphabet Soup
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 05, 2019, 06:16:16 pm
... 11,000 scientists from around the world declared a ‘climate emergency’. Despite what the deniers say, all 11,000 scientists can't be wrong...

11K?! Meh!

How about 31+K?

http://humansarefree.com/2017/09/31487-scientists-say-global-warming-is.html?m=0&fbclid=IwAR1wRN77cN4gHq-ekTXzEg4f7fJnRKyUA-cpwyfO75P3PdgD0lm78fwE7w0

http://www.petitionproject.org/index.php?fbclid=IwAR0gWOtLdCvSCrAIc-iQ7WJojOK-YO9UyqLzGusKHqvgR0rAsrkcK82Gjjs
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on November 05, 2019, 09:40:01 pm
The list is not complete, Les.

6. feminism
7. progressivism
8. political correctness
9. MeToo
10. The Alphabet Soup

11 Old Age
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 11:15:31 pm
11K?! Meh!

How about 31+K?

These are impressive numbers, but we are mixing apples with oranges. 31K scientists on one issue and 11K attending a conference in Paris. No wonder the individuals who couldn't get to Paris are protesting. :P

Even if we could use those numbers for a comparison, just imagine how much science we could get done if we put those two groups together. We might need another group of scientists and some new studies to synthesize and summarize the information from both these camps.

In all seriousness there are quite a few changes happening around us, some beneficial and some less so, some detectable with each new season, and others hardly visible, but potentially quite adverse in the long run.

An interesting study with indisputable evidence has been conducted recently in Belgium. Examining footage of annual bicycle race showed that the trees along the bicycle race route are now flowering earlier than 30 years earlier.

Quote
Alemu Gonsamo, a research associate at the University of Toronto's geography department who studies phenology and climate change, but who was not involved with the study, says there are other consequences that scientists are trying to better understand.

For example, with earlier leafing and flowering comes a longer growing season. Trees take in carbon from the atmosphere. While having more carbon uptake may seem like a positive in a rapidly warming world, Gonsamo notes it will cause the soil to dry out. And because there will also be more decomposition, more carbon will be released. It's unknown what the long-term, large-scale effects will be.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bike-race-footage-climate-change-1.4736912
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 05, 2019, 11:20:45 pm
These are impressive numbers, but we are mixing apples with oranges. 31K scientists on one issue and 11K attending a conference in Paris. No wonder the individuals who couldn't get to Paris are protesting. :P

Even if we could use those numbers for a comparison, just imagine how much science we could get done if we put those two groups together. We might need another group of scientists and some new studies to synthesize and summarize the information from both these camps.

In all seriousness there are quite a few changes happening around us, some beneficial and some less so, some detectable with each new season, and others hardly visible, but potentially quite adverse in the long run.

An interesting study with indisputable evidence has been conducted recently in Belgium. Examining footage of annual bicycle race showed that the trees along the bicycle race route are now flowering earlier than 30 years earlier.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bike-race-footage-climate-change-1.4736912 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/bike-race-footage-climate-change-1.4736912)
If someone paid for my trip to Paris to attend a conference, I'd change my opinion and support global warming and the Paris Accord as well.  After all, Paris is very nice in the Springtime. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 05, 2019, 11:27:21 pm
...  11K attending a conference in Paris. No wonder the individuals who couldn't get to Paris are protesting. :P

And no wonder Paris attendees are signing. That would be like Elvis impersonators convention in Las Vegas voting who is the greatest singer of all times  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 11:29:40 pm
If someone paid for my trip to Paris to attend a conference, I'd change my opinion and support global warming and the Paris Accord as well.  After all, Paris is very nice in the Springtime.

Paris is overrated. According to Yogi Berra, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 05, 2019, 11:44:57 pm
Paris is overrated. According to Yogi Berra, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

That's the same reason photographers don't shoot at Yosemite any longer.  Too many pictures have been taken of it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on November 06, 2019, 08:27:43 am
If someone paid for my trip to Paris to attend a conference, I'd change my opinion and support global warming and the Paris Accord as well.  After all, Paris is very nice in the Springtime.
That would be a great 'deal'...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 06, 2019, 09:11:52 am
That would be a great 'deal'...
Well, soon it will be Springtime in Paris in winter.  We could go then too.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 06, 2019, 02:33:25 pm
I may be speaking too soon, but have not had to put the room heaters in place yet this year, which must mean something... also, the garden sprinklers have been left on longer into the cold season than in past years.

Things are changing in these latitudes too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: rabanito on November 06, 2019, 02:48:57 pm
Paris is overrated. According to Yogi Berra, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.
That was a joke, wasn't it?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: rabanito on November 06, 2019, 02:52:49 pm
That was a joke, wasn't it?  ;)
A well known footaball player (soccer) said once:
"football is the same as chess but without the dice"
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 06, 2019, 03:10:14 pm
Quote from: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 11:29:40 pm
Paris is overrated. According to Yogi Berra, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

That was a joke, wasn't it?  ;)

Are you referring to the first or second sentence?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: rabanito on November 06, 2019, 06:35:49 pm
Quote from: LesPalenik on November 05, 2019, 11:29:40 pm
Paris is overrated. According to Yogi Berra, nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded.

Are you referring to the first or second sentence?

Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on November 07, 2019, 06:53:38 am
Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded

Yes, Very much a joke!

Peter
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 07, 2019, 09:00:44 am
That was a joke, wasn't it?  ;)

I am not sure if your question itself is a joke (the winking smiley suggests that), but if serious, it is just one example of the paradoxical jokes Yogi Berra is famous for. My favorite is this one: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Which brings to mind the Buridan’s ass, but I digress. 😊
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 07, 2019, 09:12:35 am
The one Berraism that goes around here:

"There are some people who, if they don’t already know, you can’t tell ’em."

https://www.goalcast.com/2018/06/03/15-funny-yogi-berra-quotes/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on November 07, 2019, 09:37:31 am
I am not sure if your question itself is a joke (the winking smiley suggests that), but if serous, it is just one example of the paradoxical jokes Yogi Berra is famous for. My favorite is this one: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Which brings to mind the Buridan’s ass, but I digress. 😊

When Yogi was asked if he wanted his pizza cut into 8 slices, he said "better make it six, I can't eat eight".

Peter
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 07, 2019, 09:39:31 am
When Yogi was asked if he wanted his pizza cut into 8 slices, he said "better make it six, I can't eat eight".

Peter
That's a good one Peter.  I'll have to pull that on the pizza store owner when I go there next time and order a whole pie. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on November 07, 2019, 09:42:23 am
That's a good one Peter.  I'll have to pull that on the pizza store owner when I go there next time and order a whole pie.

Alan,Good luck...let us know how that goes.

Peter
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: rabanito on November 07, 2019, 12:58:53 pm
I am not sure if your question itself is a joke (the winking smiley suggests that), but if serous, it is just one example of the paradoxical jokes Yogi Berra is famous for. My favorite is this one: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Which brings to mind the Buridan’s ass, but I digress. 😊

The smiley should suggest that it is a rethorical question.
I didn't know this person Yogi Berra before

I like this kind of humor
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 08, 2019, 07:38:35 pm
Next week's Arctic blast will be so cold, forecasters expect it to break 170 records across US
https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/08/weather-arctic-blast-next-week-midwest-east-south-cold-temperatures/2518984001/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on November 09, 2019, 01:20:45 am
Right at the beginning of the article: "Climate change is making winters colder despite rising temperatures and hotter summers." You got to love the radical climate alarmists!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 09, 2019, 04:58:36 am
Right at the beginning of the article: "Climate change is making winters colder despite rising temperatures and hotter summers." You got to love the radical climate alarmists!

You haven't thought it through.

As polar ice melts, the colder waters from there spread across the world's oceans. So, starved of sea-stored heat due to the influx of colder water, for a while, the winter on land becomes colder too. (You can see this effect of sea heating on continents by looking at the effect of the various currents on land masses, with coasts warmer than deeply inland areas during winters:

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=7YvGXdftL_LKgwf717OABw&q=sea+currents+warming+land&oq=sea+currents+warming+land&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.10370.16316..18136...0.0..0.90.1742.25......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0j0i10j0i22i30j0i333j0i8i13i30j33i22i29i30.3fnH7c9Oqpg&ved=0ahUKEwiXmJSl7dzlAhVy5eAKHfvrDHAQ4dUDCAY&uact=5  )

However, summer radiation is not affected - the Sun pumps out as usual - and so despite what's happening to the seas, the earth mass heats up, and this heating effect is greater because the reflective (and cooling) value of the ice is lessened as it changes from white ice into dark sea and from being a reflector, turns into an absorber of heat.

The longer this continues and the less ice there is to reflect sunlight, the momentum changes from an initial cooling of ocean waters due to the original inflow of melted ice, into a gradual heating, as that colder water is no longer produced as the ice will have lessened until vanished completely.

Once that happens, enjoy the fish-fry.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 05:43:47 am
Next week's Arctic blast will be so cold, forecasters expect it to break 170 records across US
https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2019/11/08/weather-arctic-blast-next-week-midwest-east-south-cold-temperatures/2518984001/

Get used to weather extremes, this is just the beginning.

And at the same time:
Australia bushfires: Record number of emergencies in New South Wales
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-50341207

So on average, things are fine and dandy, or are they?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on November 09, 2019, 09:29:23 am
Get used to weather extremes, this is just the beginning.

Sure! Isn't that true! We've never had such extreme weather events in the past. Throughout all the past civilizations of mankind, the climate has always been benign, until the industrial revolution took place and we started emitting CO2. Right?  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 09:40:48 am
Right at the beginning of the article: "Climate change is making winters colder despite rising temperatures and hotter summers." You got to love the radical climate alarmists!
Up is down; down is up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 09:57:39 am
Sure! Isn't that true! We've never had such extreme weather events in the past.

Global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, and this time it's caused by human activity (burning of fossil fuel and landuse are the main contributors).
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Shifting_Distribution_of_Summer_Temperature_Anomalies2.png/1280px-Shifting_Distribution_of_Summer_Temperature_Anomalies2.png)

https://www.noaa.gov/news/summer-2019-was-hottest-on-record-for-northern-hemisphere

This is causing a shift in weatherpatterns and more frequent droughts and floods. Food security is at risk.
The most used foodsource in the world, rice, is showing increasing levels of arsenic and lower yields which will negatively affect the poorest populations the most.

The frequency of extreme weather events is also increasing.

(https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-content/sotc/global/2019/aug/global-land-ocean-anomalies-201908.png)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 10:04:07 am
Well, at least this chart is prettier than your other chart.  :)  Do the colors mean anything or are they just patriotic because NASA is American?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 10:08:17 am
PS:  What do the numbers mean on the X and Y axis?  Why did NASA leave off the descriptors? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 09, 2019, 10:14:19 am
Sure! Isn't that true! We've never had such extreme weather events in the past. Throughout all the past civilizations of mankind, the climate has always been benign, until the industrial revolution took place and we started emitting CO2. Right?  ;D

Ray, were it that normal in the past, no vegetation-dependent wildlife would have survived because left unchecked by man, the fires would have spread everywhere there was vegetation to burn. Maybe some ants, snakes, lizards and other hole-entering creatures could have survived, but even then, you can cook by placing a chicken in a hole and lighting a fire above it. Your nationally symbolic creatures would have sizzled in their holes, barbecued on branches and charred in the meadows.

Sure, settlers probably brought their own dogs now and again, but that would have been much later in history. Camels yes, but I'm sure they didn't think to ship in spare kangaroos and koalas from somewhere, let along eucalyptus trees.



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 09, 2019, 10:29:05 am
The solution is simple: we shall wear no clothes, eat no meat, fly no planes, have no children, and the humanity will be saved!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 10:57:50 am
PS:  What do the numbers mean on the X and Y axis?  Why did NASA leave off the descriptors?

Just read the article I linked to, if you are really interested.

and this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heat_waves#/media/File:Shifting_Distribution_of_Summer_Temperature_Anomalies2.png
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 11:01:09 am
The solution is simple: we shall wear no clothes, eat no meat, fly no planes, have no children, and the humanity will be saved!

That displays a serious lack of creativity. Surely you can do better ? :-\
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on November 09, 2019, 11:01:44 am
The solution is simple: we shall wear no clothes, eat no meat, fly no planes, have no children, and the humanity will be saved!
Or we could do something simpler, like cut back on fossil fuels and use renewables in their place.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 11:16:04 am
Or we could do something simpler, like cut back on fossil fuels and use renewables in their place.

(https://www.giftstogive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Light-bulb-moment-200x200.jpg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 11:19:53 am
And just for the beauty of it:
https://vimeo.com/245581179 (https://vimeo.com/245581179)

Best viewed fullscreen.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 11:41:25 am
Just read the article I linked to, if you are really interested.

and this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heat_waves
You didn't answer my question. I asked a simple question what do the numbers mean on the x-axis and what do the numbers mean on the y-axis?
You posted a phony chart that has no meaning. It's your job to correct it not mine. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 11:45:18 am
You didn't answer my question. I asked a simple question what do the numbers mean on the x-axis and what do the numbers mean on the y-axis?
You posted a phony chart that has no meaning. It's your job to correct it not mine.

yawn  :(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on November 09, 2019, 12:06:38 pm
You didn't answer my question. I asked a simple question what do the numbers mean on the x-axis and what do the numbers mean on the y-axis?
You posted a phony chart that has no meaning. It's your job to correct it not mine.
Don't be so lazy. Read the article and find out for yourself. If you are really interested. Which you're not.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 12:14:27 pm
Don't be so lazy. Read the article and find out for yourself. If you are really interested. Which you're not.
So what do the chart numbers mean since you read the article?  The issue here is that phony data is always being presented.  No one explains what you're looking at.  So why should people believe what you;re presenting if the chart is meaningless as posted?  You're trying to convince me.  It's your job not my job to go on a wild goose chase to track down information and read a science report.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 09, 2019, 12:21:56 pm
Or we could do something simpler, like cut back on fossil fuels and use renewables in their place.

 ;D

Good luck with that.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 09, 2019, 12:46:00 pm
;D

Good luck with that.

Luck has little to do with it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 09, 2019, 01:23:43 pm
Ray, were it that normal in the past, no vegetation-dependent wildlife would have survived because left unchecked by man, the fires would have spread everywhere there was vegetation to burn. Maybe some ants, snakes, lizards and other hole-entering creatures could have survived, but even then, you can cook by placing a chicken in a hole and lighting a fire above it. Your nationally symbolic creatures would have sizzled in their holes, barbecued on branches and charred in the meadows.

Sure, settlers probably brought their own dogs now and again, but that would have been much later in history. Camels yes, but I'm sure they didn't think to ship in spare kangaroos and koalas from somewhere, let along eucalyptus trees.

Right now, I'd like to be in Australia and watch frolicking indigenous kangaroos and imported bunnies.
Here, in southern Ontario we got an early snowfall a couple of days ago. The roads are bare, but the ground and roofs are still covered with 10cm of snow. It's not an extreme cold, but for early November extremely annoying.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 03:16:58 pm
Global temperatures are rising at an unprecedented rate, and this time it's caused by human activity (burning of fossil fuel and landuse are the main contributors).
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Shifting_Distribution_of_Summer_Temperature_Anomalies2.png/1280px-Shifting_Distribution_of_Summer_Temperature_Anomalies2.png)

https://www.noaa.gov/news/summer-2019-was-hottest-on-record-for-northern-hemisphere (https://www.noaa.gov/news/summer-2019-was-hottest-on-record-for-northern-hemisphere)

This is causing a shift in weatherpatterns and more frequent droughts and floods. Food security is at risk.
The most used foodsource in the world, rice, is showing increasing levels of arsenic and lower yields which will negatively affect the poorest populations the most.

The frequency of extreme weather events is also increasing.
No wonder you didn't want to explain what the chart numbers mean.  You can't understand what they mean.  The chart is meaningless.  I read the explanation and I don;t understand a word it says.  There's no relationship between the numbers in the chart and to anything in English anyone could understand.  It's gobbledygook. These scientists should take a course on writing English.  They should be made to give back their grant money.

"Frequency of occurrence (vertical axis) of local June-July-August temperature anomalies (relative to 1951-1980 mean) for Northern Hemisphere land in units of local standard deviation (horizontal axis). Temperature anomalies in the period 1951-1980 match closely the normal distribution ("bell curve", shown in green), which is used to define cold (blue), typical (white) and hot (red) seasons, each with probability 33.3%. The distribution of anomalies has shifted to the right as a consequence of the global warming of the past three decades such that cool summers now cover only half of one side of a six-sided die, white covers one side, red covers four sides, and an extremely hot (red-brown) anomaly covers half of one side.."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 09, 2019, 04:04:30 pm
Alan, as I interpret the patterns in the chart, the summers in the northern hemisphere are getting hotter (see the dark red section past 3 degrees on the last chart on the right).
The winters are no picnic either. In Toronto, next week the night temperatures will drop to -14C.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 04:17:06 pm
Alan, as I interpret the patterns in the chart, the summers in the northern hemisphere are getting hotter (see the dark red section past 3 degrees on the last chart on the right).
The winters are no picnic either. In Toronto, next week the night temperatures will drop to -14C.

But what do the numbers mean?  Farenheit or Centigrade?  And what frequencies do they represent?  I can;t decipher the numbers on the left.  If it's let's say 1 or 2 extra hot days during a two month summer, that's just a perturbation.  If it's ten days that that would be more significant.  There's no way to decipher any meaning other than it appears hotter.  But by what?

Yeah it's getting cold like that next week here too.  They expect 150 records to fall in the US due to the freeze.  But, you know, it's just a local weather pattern when it's frigid like that and a significant climate change example if the weather gets hot.  It's spin like that that weakens the whole climate change position.  They keep changing the goal posts.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 09, 2019, 05:07:18 pm
You didn't answer my question. I asked a simple question what do the numbers mean on the x-axis and what do the numbers mean on the y-axis?
You posted a phony chart that has no meaning. It's your job to correct it not mine.

It's your job to educate yourself.

But here, I'll give you a helping hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 05:20:11 pm
It's your job to educate yourself.

But here, I'll give you a helping hand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics
That's how to convert people to your side.   Insult them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 09, 2019, 05:22:34 pm
I have no intention of "converting" anyone. 
I did offer a helping hand.  You can take that any way you like.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 09, 2019, 06:28:18 pm
The latest contribution by Rob in the Music thread links to a song by Vince Anthony which mentions a woman who left him freezing in the cold
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=122471.msg1138534#msg1138534 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 09, 2019, 06:33:09 pm
It's your job to educate yourself.

But here, I'll give you a helping hand...

You mean your condescending hand?

Short of getting a college or postgraduate course in statistics, those charts are not meant for the general public consumption. These are charts meant for peer-level review (and that literally means rocket scientists). Some of us can understand them thanks to previous statistical education, but they should not be offered to the general public in such a form, nor one should expect the general public to "educate themselves" in college-level statistics in order to understand them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 07:23:16 pm
You mean your condescending hand?

Short of getting a college or postgraduate course in statistics, those charts are not meant for the general public consumption. These are charts meant for peer-level review (and that literally means rocket scientists). Some of us can understand them thanks to previous statistical education, but they should not be offered to the general public in such a form, nor one should expect the general public to "educate themselves" in college-level statistics in order to understand them.

Thanks for the defense.  I think.  :) 

What do those charts mean in heat days differences between the periods covered?  Or how about just giving averages degree differences that everyone could understand?   Those are things all people can identify with, not statistical variables on deviation charts that you can't feel.  At least, everyone could understand Bart's last chart in Hawaii measuring the CO2 on top of Mauna Loa. :) 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on November 09, 2019, 08:02:11 pm
Ray, were it that normal in the past, no vegetation-dependent wildlife would have survived because left unchecked by man, the fires would have spread everywhere there was vegetation to burn. Maybe some ants, snakes, lizards and other hole-entering creatures could have survived, but even then, you can cook by placing a chicken in a hole and lighting a fire above it. Your nationally symbolic creatures would have sizzled in their holes, barbecued on branches and charred in the meadows.

Sure, settlers probably brought their own dogs now and again, but that would have been much later in history. Camels yes, but I'm sure they didn't think to ship in spare kangaroos and koalas from somewhere, let along eucalyptus trees.

Rob,
The most current records we have, show that drought and bush fires are a normal feature of the Australian climate.  The Aboriginals used fire for many thousands of years to control the environment. The fires were used as a tool that encouraged the growth and extent of grasslands to enhance the hunting of kangaroos, and so on, reduce levels of fuel on the forest floor, and keep vegetation from becoming dense and hard to walk through.

Recent Antarctic ice cores reveal that there have been far worse mega droughts in the past, in Australia, than anything experienced since the British colonized the country. The famous Eucalyptus tree which sheds its bark seasonally, instead of its leaves as most trees do, contributes to the frequent bush fires because it provides so much fuel, including oils, that easily burn. However, the trees have adapted to survive bush fires better than most other trees. They regrow from the ashes. From Wikipedia:

"Eucalyptus oil is highly flammable; ignited trees have been known to explode. Bushfires can travel easily through the oil-rich air of the tree crowns. Eucalypts obtain long-term fire survivability from their ability to regenerate from epicormic buds situated deep within their thick bark, or from lignotubers, or by producing serotinous fruits."

The previous drought in Australia, known as the Millennium drought, from 2001 to 2009, was described as the worst on record. When the drought broke in 2010-11, the rainfall was so significant, and the natural inland lakes, such as lake Eyre, were so dry, that the amount of accumulated water prevented from flowing back to sea, stopped global sea level rise for 18 months. Global sea levels even fell slightly, initially.

An 8-year drought sounds awful, but how awful would a 39-year drought be? The ice-core records show this occurred in Australia during the Medieval Warm Period.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291167238_A_new_direction_for_Antarctic_ice_cores_reconstructing_Pacific_decadal_variability_and_Australian_drought_history_from_the_Law_Dome_ice_core

"Eight ‘mega-droughts’ (dry periods >5 years duration) were identified over the last millennium. Six mega-droughts occurred between AD 1000-1320 including one 39 y drought (AD 1174–1212). Water resources and infrastructure planning in Australia has been based on very limited statistical certainty around drought risk due to the short ( 100 year) instrumental record and lack of rainfall proxies. This study shows that, similar to SW North America, Australia also experienced mega-droughts during the medieval period. Knowledge of the occurrence, duration and frequency of such mega-droughts will greatly improve drought risk assessment in Australia."

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2014/antarctic-ice-cores-tell-1000-year-australian-drought-story

“The study shows that the Millennium Drought was far from an exceptional event for eastern Australia during the past thousand years.”

“Droughts lasting longer than five years are in fact a normal part of long-term climate variability, and should therefore be factored into catchment management.”

The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) describes a roughly 25-year cycle in the sea surface temperature, wind and other factors in the Pacific Ocean.

The IPO’s positive phase is closely linked with longer and more severe droughts in the United States and Australia. The risk of droughts occurring in Australia is higher during the IPO’s positive phase.


Hope I've managed to elucidate this issue for you.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 09, 2019, 09:26:24 pm
While not as significant as Australia, NYC had a drought emergency back in the 1980's.  Our reservoirs went from a normal 88% filled to capacity to around 30%, about 120 days of use worth.  Restaurants stopped providing a glass of water with your meals.  The government instituted requirements for flow restrictors on showers to reduce the amount of water used.  Then, they changed flushometer requirements on toilets to 1 gallon per flush rather than 5.  That rule spread around the country.  Despite there being no droughts since, forty years later I still suffer from that design regulation when stuff gets stuffed up and won't go down requiring the use of a plunger I keep nearby to relieve the clog.  Yeach!

New York City never let up.  Nine years ago when I was a project manager for NYC School Construction, they decided to upgrade all the toilets in the 1200 schools in the city.  Most were operating on the the old 5 gallon standard.  So they had dozens of people survey every toilet and shower in all the buildings just to figure out what had to be done.  I calculated on my own that the savings would represent maybe 1-2% of the city's use of water on a normal days, not much of a savings considering the cost to upgrade.  Fortunately, before they started this inane project, I moved to New Jersey, then retired,  and bought a new plunger to deal with my own problems with water supply.  I don't think they actually did the project.  Maybe Hurricane Sandy reminded them they had bigger problems with an oversupply of water, not a lack of it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 10, 2019, 09:55:03 am
Just saw an interesting documentary about Climate Change from 2017, and I can recommend seeing it if you get the opportunity.

Age of Consequences
The investigation of climate change impacts on increased resource scarcity, migration, and conflict through the lens of US national security and global stability.
http://theageofconsequences.com/

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 10, 2019, 10:12:12 am
Just saw an interesting documentary about Climate Change from 2017, and I can recommend seeing it if you get the opportunity.

Age of Consequences
The investigation of climate change impacts on increased resource scarcity, migration, and conflict through the lens of US national security and global stability.
http://theageofconsequences.com/

Cheers,
Bart

Climate change has always had a major impact on the destruction of civilizations such as the Mayan, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, even Egypt at one time 4000 years ago, and many others.  It also led to major changes in war and peace as to who was in charge.  Just the warming up after the last ice age allowed humans to inhabit the rest of the planet.  So warming itself has been very good for the human species.  A few more degrees will make it better.  It didn't require levels in CO2 to change to have a major effect on human history. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 10, 2019, 10:26:08 am
Climate change has always had a major impact on the destruction of civilizations such as the Mayan, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, even Egypt at one time 4000 years ago, and many others.  It also led to major changes in war and peace as to who was in charge.

Correct, and the situation in Syria and the emergence of ISIS is one of several recent examples.

Quote
Just the warming up after the last ice age allowed humans to inhabit the rest of the planet.  So warming itself has been very good for the human species.  A few more degrees will make it better.  It didn't require levels in CO2 to change to have a major effect on human history.

You obviously have not seen the documentary ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on November 10, 2019, 10:50:49 am
You obviously have not seen the documentary ...
Of course not. Alan is too lazy to educate himself. It might interfere with his preconceptions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 10, 2019, 10:57:30 am
Of course not. Alan is too lazy to educate himself. It might interfere with his preconceptions.

Watching propaganda videos hardly counts as education. Unless one studies propaganda, of course.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 10, 2019, 11:01:58 am
Watching propaganda videos hardly counts as education. Unless one studies propaganda, of course.

Correct, if one is watching propaganda videos ...

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 10, 2019, 11:04:43 am
Of course not. Alan is too lazy to educate himself. It might interfere with his preconceptions.
There you go again resorting to personal attacks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on November 10, 2019, 11:23:33 am
There you go again resorting to personal attacks.
It is just a fact that you are intellectually lazy. You have admitted you'd rather blow your brains out than do a de minimus amount of background reading, and you consistently ask people to explain things to you rather than read the material linked to. You think it is everyone else's obligation to educate you, instead of your own.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 10, 2019, 11:44:10 am
It is just a fact that you are intellectually lazy. You have admitted you'd rather blow your brains out than do a de minimus amount of background reading, and you consistently ask people to explain things to you rather than read the material linked to. You think it is everyone else's obligation to educate you, instead of your own.
Nice try.  There's a requirement here that links have to be explained.  I'm not going to go off to read every link you post because you're too intellectually lazy or incapable of summarizing the article in your post.  Don;t be so lazy yourself and do what the rules request of you. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 10, 2019, 12:08:19 pm
It is just a fact that you are intellectually lazy. You think it is everyone else's obligation to educate you, instead of your own.

And, if you do provide links to educating material, you're accused of "condescension".

Pot/Kettle, etc.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 10, 2019, 12:24:34 pm
And, if you do provide links to educating material, you're accused of "condescension".

Pot/Kettle, etc.
I never accused anyone of condescension.  Sometime the articles are very informed and a read the whole thing voraciously.  Other time, I can't be bothered.  Do you read every link that everyone publishes?  In any case, the original comment I made about blowing my brains out was a joke.  Apparently, some people here have no sense of humor.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 10, 2019, 12:27:40 pm
I never accused anyone of condescension.

No, but you thanked those who did.

Nice deflection, though.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 10, 2019, 01:08:37 pm
No, but you thanked those who did.

Oh, please. You are peddling googling as "education"? It takes more than a wiki article on statistics to understand advanced concepts and graphs. Otherwise, everyone would be an expert. Unfortunately, many think they are after googling.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 11, 2019, 05:30:59 pm
https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/11/08/californians-close-to-wildfires-are-more-likely-to-vote-green?cid1=cust/dailypicks1/n/bl/n/20191111n/owned/n/n/dailypicks1/n/n/NA/341210/n

Out of sight, out of mind ;)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on November 12, 2019, 12:46:58 pm
When I lived in Felton in the Santa Cruz, California mountains in the 80's, we had a 115,000 acre fire there (the Lexington reservoir fire). Yes, it was big, but really no big deal in those days. Now they have two fires that add up to about 100,000 acres and the left goes bananas. I guess one acre in the 80's is different from one acre now, according to radical "logic".
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 12, 2019, 04:47:33 pm
Record temperatures, colds that is.
https://www.mlive.com/weather/2019/11/record-cold-on-the-way-this-afternoon-and-tonight-one-hundred-year-old-record-to-fall.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 12, 2019, 07:56:24 pm
America's largest solar panel supplier and installer sold off.  Can't make profit as government subsidies decline.  Of course, if the Democrats win in 2020, they'll bail them out and waste more of the taxpayer's money. 

"But that side will also face challenges. U.S. government support for solar panels is set to decline in 2020, when the investment tax credit for solar panels drops to 26% from 30%, and continues declining in the years afterward. Werner is confident that solar deployers can cut costs enough to make solar profitable even as support declines, but Zino thinks it’s a serious hurdle.

“My guess is they’re going to have a very difficult time if we don’t get an extension of the tax credit,” he said."

https://www.barrons.com/articles/sunpower-stock-may-struggle-to-shine-after-spinoff-51573557301 (https://www.barrons.com/articles/sunpower-stock-may-struggle-to-shine-after-spinoff-51573557301)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 13, 2019, 03:55:39 am
America's largest solar panel supplier and installer sold off.  Can't make profit as government subsidies decline.  Of course, if the Democrats win in 2020, they'll bail them out and waste more of the taxpayer's money. 

"But that side will also face challenges. U.S. government support for solar panels is set to decline in 2020, when the investment tax credit for solar panels drops to 26% from 30%, and continues declining in the years afterward. Werner is confident that solar deployers can cut costs enough to make solar profitable even as support declines, but Zino thinks it’s a serious hurdle.

“My guess is they’re going to have a very difficult time if we don’t get an extension of the tax credit,” he said."

https://www.barrons.com/articles/sunpower-stock-may-struggle-to-shine-after-spinoff-51573557301 (https://www.barrons.com/articles/sunpower-stock-may-struggle-to-shine-after-spinoff-51573557301)

It's simple, the USA have let the opportunity slip through their fingers. It's now cheaper to buy Chinese panels, except for the USA, due to the Trade war and import duties. It also wastes a lot of job opportunities in the installation sector.

Cheers,
Bart
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 13, 2019, 11:48:46 am
There's no money in solar panels.   Even the Chinese are having their problems. Government shouldn't pick winners and losers in business.  They know nothing about it.   Leave it up to private people to risk their money not the public through their taxes.  Who would want to be in a business where the industry depends on tax rebates? In any case. I'm wearing a shirt made in Bangladesh.   You probably are too.  Should American workers compete with Bangladeshis? Should the Dutch? You want to earn 3 dollars an hour?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: D Fuller on November 13, 2019, 06:07:24 pm
Alan, as I interpret the patterns in the chart, the summers in the northern hemisphere are getting hotter (see the dark red section past 3 degrees on the last chart on the right).
The winters are no picnic either. In Toronto, next week the night temperatures will drop to -14C.

That was perfectly understandable to me, and I’ve never talken a statistics course, college or otherwise.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 13, 2019, 07:09:18 pm
Government shouldn't pick winners and losers in business. 

So, is it okay that they subsidize farmers?  Fossil fuels?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 13, 2019, 10:56:52 pm
So, is it okay that they subsidize farmers?  Fossil fuels?
Only under special circumstances such as war or conflict.  A natural catastrophe.  But not regular business because the government thinks its a good idea.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 13, 2019, 11:27:35 pm
Why is the flooding in Venice being blamed on climate change?
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/13/778812333/venice-is-on-its-knees-mayor-blames-worst-tides-in-50-years-on-climate-change
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 13, 2019, 11:41:47 pm
Why is the flooding in Venice being blamed on climate change?...

Why not? Everything else is. Forest fires? Check. When it is warm - global warming. When it is cold - global warming.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 14, 2019, 12:00:30 am
Why not? Everything else is. Forest fires? Check. When it is warm - global warming. When it is cold - global warming.

When it gets cold here, it must be getting hot in some other place. Like Jimmy Buffet says: It's five degrees somewhere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 12:07:13 am
All the snowbirds where I live in New Jersey where its 23 degrees F today are heading for Florida.  They're not waiting for global warming. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 14, 2019, 04:17:04 am
All the snowbirds where I live in New Jersey where its 23 degrees F today are heading for Florida.  They're not waiting for global warming.

Which 'proves' that all that's needed to figure it out is a birds size brain.  :o
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 14, 2019, 04:20:56 am
Why not? Everything else is. Forest fires? Check. When it is warm - global warming. When it is cold - global warming.


Slobodan, I've already explained that:

"As polar ice melts, the colder waters from there spread across the world's oceans. So, starved of sea-stored heat due to the influx of colder water, for a while, the winter on land becomes colder too. (You can see this effect of sea heating on continents by looking at the effect of the various currents on land masses, with coasts warmer than deeply inland areas during winters:

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=7YvGXdftL_LKgwf717OABw&q=sea+currents+warming+land&oq=sea+currents+warming+land&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i160l2.10370.16316..18136...0.0..0.90.1742.25......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0j0i10j0i22i30j0i333j0i8i13i30j33i22i29i30.3fnH7c9Oqpg&ved=0ahUKEwiXmJSl7dzlAhVy5eAKHfvrDHAQ4dUDCAY&uact=5  )

However, summer radiation is not affected - the Sun pumps out as usual - and so despite what's happening to the seas, the earth mass heats up, and this heating effect is greater because the reflective (and cooling) value of the ice is lessened as it changes from white ice into dark sea and from being a reflector, turns into an absorber of heat.

The longer this continues and the less ice there is to reflect sunlight, the momentum changes from an initial cooling of ocean waters due to the original inflow of melted ice, into a gradual heating, as that colder water is no longer produced as the ice will have lessened until vanished completely."

Nothing has altered that, other than the fires in California and Oz adding to the problem.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on November 14, 2019, 12:59:43 pm
I've already explained that: "As polar ice melts, the colder waters from there spread across the world's oceans. So, starved of sea-stored heat due to the influx of colder water, for a while, the winter on land becomes colder too.

I guess you haven't really thought that through. If polar ice melts more because of higher global temperatures, then the oceans heat up more because of higher global temperatures as well. So there are at least these two phenomena at work here and I have the sneaking suspicion that the heating effect is greater than the cooling effect at any time of the year.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 14, 2019, 01:12:27 pm
However, summer radiation is not affected - the Sun pumps out as usual - and so despite what's happening to the seas, the earth mass heats up, and this heating effect is greater because the reflective (and cooling) value of the ice is lessened as it changes from white ice into dark sea and from being a reflector, turns into an absorber of heat.

The longer this continues and the less ice there is to reflect sunlight, the momentum changes from an initial cooling of ocean waters due to the original inflow of melted ice, into a gradual heating, as that colder water is no longer produced as the ice will have lessened until vanished completely."

And in addition to that, climatologists are observing another change in weather systems. The jetstream over the Arctic region, that is instrumental in distributing the heat in the atmosphere just like the oceans are doing with gulf streams, tends to meander in a North/South direction as it travels East.  That meandering caused High-pressure systems to be replaced by Low-pressure and thus a change in precipitation at given locations.

Now, that meandering is slowing down because the heat difference between the equator and the Poles is getting smaller. This then causes High-pressure systems to linger on at certain locations longer than they used to, and thus cause prolonged/more severe heatwaves.

Exactly as predicted, the extremes are becoming more extreme, and it's already noticeable and getting more prominent. Lows are slowly getting a bit higher, and high are getting much higher. So there will still be cold-spells and heat-spells, but their amplitude is increasing and their average is creeping up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on November 14, 2019, 01:31:31 pm
Only under special circumstances such as war or conflict.  A natural catastrophe.  But not regular business because the government thinks its a good idea.

Well, then you'd better have a chat with Uncle Sam.  According to The Guardian, those subsidies are running at a significant pace.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jul/30/america-spends-over-20bn-per-year-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies-abolish-them
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 02:02:23 pm
Well, then you'd better have a chat with Uncle Sam.  According to The Guardian, those subsidies are running at a significant pace.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2018/jul/30/america-spends-over-20bn-per-year-on-fossil-fuel-subsidies-abolish-them
What's that got to do with me? I said I didn't like subsidies. That was your question.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 14, 2019, 02:10:17 pm
What's that got to do with me? I said I didn't like subsidies. That was your question.

Everytime you eat a steak, think about the subsidy for that corn-fed cattle.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 14, 2019, 02:35:24 pm
I guess you haven't really thought that through. If polar ice melts more because of higher global temperatures, then the oceans heat up more because of higher global temperatures as well. So there are at least these two phenomena at work here and I have the sneaking suspicion that the heating effect is greater than the cooling effect at any time of the year.


The next paragraph went on to say exactly what you have added, above. We were in agreement. I was describing the initial part of the process in that first section of the post.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 04:36:24 pm
Everytime you eat a steak, think about the subsidy for that corn-fed cattle.
Well, at least my tax money is being spent for something I use.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 05:04:14 pm
And in addition to that, climatologists are observing another change in weather systems. The jetstream over the Arctic region, that is instrumental in distributing the heat in the atmosphere just like the oceans are doing with gulf streams, tends to meander in a North/South direction as it travels East.  That meandering caused High-pressure systems to be replaced by Low-pressure and thus a change in precipitation at given locations.

Now, that meandering is slowing down because the heat difference between the equator and the Poles is getting smaller. This then causes High-pressure systems to linger on at certain locations longer than they used to, and thus cause prolonged/more severe heatwaves.

Exactly as predicted, the extremes are becoming more extreme, and it's already noticeable and getting more prominent. Lows are slowly getting a bit higher, and high are getting much higher. So there will still be cold-spells and heat-spells, but their amplitude is increasing and their average is creeping up.

So why did it happen 107 years ago?  Isn't it possible that it's just another one of Earth's "once in a while" rare weather events. Maybe global warming is just due to all the hot air around here. :)
https://www.skymetweather.com/content/global-news/us-arctic-blast-being-compared-to-blue-norther-of-1911-after-hundreds-of-records-break/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 14, 2019, 06:27:43 pm
So why did it happen 107 years ago?

It? There have been weather extremes in the past, but in recent times it is becoming more the norm than the exception.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 14, 2019, 06:33:54 pm
Well, at least my tax money is being spent for something I use.  :)

It's good also for Monsanto.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 07:53:15 pm
It? There have been weather extremes in the past, but in recent times it is becoming more the norm than the exception.
Bart:  You're the one who claimed the one today is caused by global warming because the temperatures are getting closer between  the poles and equator.  But this happened in 1911 as well.  That's 108 years before those changes occured.  So these are just typical Earth occurrences in weather, rare in frequency, but not caused by some sort of catastrophic climate change.  The problem is the supporters of climate change attribute every extreme weather event to global warming. These are phony claims to stir the pot and get more adherents.  You're overplaying your hand and people see it for what it is.  You're actually hurting your arguments because why should anyone believe anything else you say? It creates distrust.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 14, 2019, 08:09:23 pm
Bart:  You're the one who claimed the one today is caused by global warming because the temperatures are getting closer between  the poles and equator.  But this happened in 1911 as well.  That's 108 years before those changes occured.  So these are just typical Earth occurrences in weather, rare in frequency, but not caused by some sort of catastrophic climate change.  The problem is the supporters of climate change attribute every extreme weather event to global warming. These are phony claims to stir the pot and get more adherents.  You're overplaying your hand and people see it for what it is.  You're actually hurting your arguments because why should anyone believe anything else you say? It creates distrust.

This year, and it's only early November, the distance between the top of the snow on my driveway and my waist seems shorter. And the air temperature is lower as well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 08:41:45 pm
This year, and it's only early November, the distance between the top of the snow on my driveway and my waist seems shorter. And the air temperature is lower as well.

Well, I've noticed that as I get older, I'm getting shorter.  So that may account for the higher levels of snow.   8)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 14, 2019, 09:05:50 pm
Well, I've noticed that as I get older, I'm getting shorter.  So that may account for the higher levels of snow.   8)

In other words, at this extremely early onset of winter, the snow is getting higher, we are getting shorter, our arteries narrower, and the snow shovel seems also heavier.
The good thing about a lot of snow and shorter outdoorsmen is that the falls are less dangerous.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 14, 2019, 09:34:53 pm
In other words, at this extremely early onset of winter, the snow is getting higher, we are getting shorter, our arteries narrower, and the snow shovel seems also heavier.
The good thing about a lot of snow and shorter outdoorsmen is that the falls are less dangerous.
Fortunately where I live in a 55+ community, the Home owner's association brings in a professional snow removal company to do all the heavy snow removal.  But I do have a snow shovel sitting in view in my garage to show to relatives who visit less they think I'm lazy. When they notice my clean driveway and sidewalks, I just point to the shovel with a smile and say nothing.  :)

 Meanwhile, many of my neighbors here have forsaken the cold weather, jumped into a jet at Newark Airport, and flown to Florida for the duration of the winter.  They figure correctly that it's easier to put up with rising tides due to global warming in the warm weather of Florida then have to deal with anything up here in the cold.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 14, 2019, 11:13:19 pm
... the snow shovel seems also heavier.
The good thing about a lot of snow and shorter outdoorsmen is that the falls are less dangerous.

Solution:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on November 15, 2019, 04:23:31 am
Solution:

Great!

Turn snow into ice, and burn some more fossil fuel in the process ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on November 15, 2019, 05:18:43 am
Great!

Turn snow into ice, and burn some more fossil fuel in the process ...

That's what Rambo would do. The guy melted now enough snow to park there his pickup truck.
When I clear my driveway, I generate heat and keep it under my coat instead of warming up the atmosphere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 15, 2019, 10:56:51 pm
Why is the flooding in Venice being blamed on climate change?...

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 15, 2019, 11:19:22 pm
(https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=131117.0;attach=203883)
Definitely global warming.  Those gondolas were gasoline powered. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 16, 2019, 01:48:24 am
I kept saying this:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 16, 2019, 05:15:41 am
I kept saying this:


Because the way to concentrate the mind in order to get anything done is by being totally absorbed in the problem: as with religion.

That does not imply that climate change is a religion, as you well know. What it does is illustrate just how important it is that the matter be addressed with a religious urgency.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 16, 2019, 06:02:21 am


Flooding in Venice in 1825 does not mean that today's situation is the same. Today's situation is far more widespread, and it's getting progressively worse. And remember, tidal and local pressure effects ensure that sea levels are never at the same peaks everywhere at the same time, but that does not mean that they never do reach their currently possible limits and that they will not reach progressively higher limits as the ice caps melt.

I watched a docu. on tv recently about the increasing problems that Florida faces due to its foundation of porous limestone. Flooding is now taking place from the ground, not only from the sky. Water is seeping up from sewers and the water plane independently of local rainfall, but due to pressure from the rise in sea levels. The projection is that most of the beachside palaces will be uninhabitable in a few years. This has led to a drift inland by the wealthy into previously deprived but higher areas, with gentrification slowly taking its toll, just as with cities, but this time due to vanishing real estate rather than the need to increase the existing space.

While mangroves - if reintroduced - may help to a degree, that cannot alter or prevent the effects of the water rising from below the ground.

Apart from the loss of land and second/third/investment/laundering properties, the documentary pointed out the problems that will cause on the fiscal side when the mortgage companies say, hey, your property is not worth the mortgage. In effect, yet another version of the property market collapse. Is Mr Trump's golfing investment on higher gound? Like his morality, for instance?

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 16, 2019, 08:49:02 am
Flooding in Venice in 1825 does not mean that today's situation is the same...

Yes, this time it’s different. Like socialism. This time it’s going to work. And both, climate change “science” and socialism shall be unquestionably believed in, like a religion.

Beachfront properties in Florida are going like hot cakes. People are buying over the phone, sight unseen, no photographs needed. I guess, in just a “few years,” according to Karla Marx and some documentaries, those buyers will realize just how stupid they were. And turn to religion, for salvation and penance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 16, 2019, 09:43:39 am
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2019/11/15/no-hurricanes-are-not-bigger-stronger-and-more-dangerous/

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on November 16, 2019, 09:55:37 am
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378019300378

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on November 16, 2019, 10:20:24 am
1. Yes, this time it’s different. Like socialism. This time it’s going to work. And both, climate change “science” and socialism shall be unquestionably believed in, like a religion.

2. Beachfront properties in Florida are going like hot cakes. People are buying over the phone, sight unseen, no photographs needed. I guess, in just a “few years,” according to Karla Marx and some documentaries, those buyers will realize just how stupid they were. And turn to religion, for salvation and penance.

1. There main connection between global warming and the colour of politics is that until relatively recently, all politicians elected to ignore the warnings; there is a massive connection between global warming and what politics can do to help retard, if not cancel, the effects.

2. Yes indeed, so the programme showed, and asked the same questions. Much like Brexit: people refuse to prick the bubble of their own spiritual confinement.

I doubt they will turn to religion; perhaps they will turn to different ways of gathering their wealth since appreciation on property there will have ceased and bombed. A bit like our chat about trading against the currency: comes the time to quit before you get burned. Recognizing that precise window of opportunity is the skill.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on November 16, 2019, 01:54:23 pm
Yes, this time it’s different. Like socialism. This time it’s going to work. And both, climate change “science” and socialism shall be unquestionably believed in, like a religion.

Beachfront properties in Florida are going like hot cakes. People are buying over the phone, sight unseen, no photographs needed. I guess, in just a “few years,” according to Karla Marx and some documentaries, those buyers will realize just how stupid they were. And turn to religion, for salvation and penance.
Socialism- Climate change - religion.
It takes a Slobodan to connect those in one sentence...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 17, 2019, 11:39:34 pm
Here's why solar is cheap.  Get other people to pay for your "free" electricity.

"Thanks to the introduction of significant federal and state incentives, bringing solar into your home is finally obtainable."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnqqr830gk&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnqqr830gk&feature=youtu.be)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 18, 2019, 10:33:48 am
So Ford joins Tesla with an electric Mustang.  America helping the climate. 
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/mustang-mach-e-reveal/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on November 18, 2019, 11:49:32 am
Here's why solar is cheap.  Get other people to pay for your "free" electricity.

"Thanks to the introduction of significant federal and state incentives, bringing solar into your home is finally obtainable."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnqqr830gk&feature=youtu.be (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujnqqr830gk&feature=youtu.be)

Just imagine when everyone wants it. 

They'll have to really tax to keep the prices reasonable. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 25, 2019, 10:33:11 pm
The chicken comes home to roost.  Like I;ve been saying, the Paris Accord is a waste of time without China.  They don't have to do anything to reduce carbon dioxide until 2030.  Does anyone really think China is going to shut down their economy then?  Meanwhile their use of coal is jumping by leaps and bounds.  Everything the world does will mean nothing.

"China is now in the process of building or reviving coal equivalent to the EU's entire generating capacity.

The researchers say that through 2018 and up to June 2019, countries outside of China cut their coal power capacity by 8.1 gigawatts (GW). In the same period, China added 43GW, enough to power around 31 million homes

China is also busy financing coal development outside the country, funding over a quarter of all the coal plants outside its borders in countries like South Africa, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The researchers say that by 2030, China needs to reduce its coal power capacity by over 40% from current levels in order to meet the reductions required to hold global warming well below 2C.

"China's proposed coal expansion is so far out of alignment with the Paris Agreement that it would put the necessary reductions in coal power out of reach, even if every other country were to completely eliminate its coal fleet," said co-author Christine Shearer of Global Energy Monitor."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50474824 (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50474824)

On the other hand, as Bart likes to remind us, it's really not that much when you look at it on a per capita basis.  ::)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on November 27, 2019, 04:29:46 pm
Has anyone determined what effect solar storms have on climate, if anything.  They seem very powerful and there's new data coming in about them.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1209202/Solar-storm-NASA-news-solar-material-blasting-Earth-tech-blackout-GPS-space-weather
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 05, 2019, 08:52:14 pm
America at work saving the environment without the Paris Accord.   Another jobs win for Trump as well in a battleground state when he credits himself in the 2020 presidential election. 

"GM, LG Chem to create $2.3 billion battery cell venture for electric vehicles, to create 1,100 jobs in Ohio"
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/05/gm-lg-to-form-2point3-billion-joint-venture-for-battery-cell-production.html (https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/05/gm-lg-to-form-2point3-billion-joint-venture-for-battery-cell-production.html)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 05, 2019, 09:25:54 pm
Good step in the right direction.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 07, 2019, 06:40:35 am
As more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, much of the generated heat is absorbed by the oceans, and the warmer water loses oxygen. It is estimated that between 1960 and 2010, the amount of the gas dissolved in the oceans declined on average by 2%, but in some tropical locations the oxygen loss can amount up to 40%.

Quote
While nutrient run-off has been known for decades, researchers say that climate change is making the lack of oxygen worse.
Around 700 ocean sites are now suffering from low oxygen, compared with 45 in the 1960s. Researchers say the depletion is threatening species including tuna, marlin and sharks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50690995
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 07, 2019, 11:11:56 am
As more carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, much of the generated heat is absorbed by the oceans, and the warmer water loses oxygen. It is estimated that between 1960 and 2010, the amount of the gas dissolved in the oceans declined on average by 2%, but in some tropical locations the oxygen loss can amount up to 40%.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50690995
Man has an effect on the environment.  Increasing population does that.  What are the solutions to control population?  How do we face ethical and moral decisions regarding that?  After all, China had a one child policy that was repugnant.  I don't think the world wants to go down that rat hole. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 07, 2019, 11:17:44 am
Man has an effect on the environment.  Increasing population does that.  What are the solutions to control population?  How do we face ethical and moral decisions regarding that?  After all, China had a one child policy that was repugnant.  I don't think the world wants to go down that rat hole.
Do you think that unrestricted population growth will solve all problems? That smells like a giant Ponzi scheme.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on December 07, 2019, 11:41:00 am
Do you think that unrestricted population growth will solve all problems? That smells like a giant Ponzi scheme.


Population growth out of control is certainly a major problem - from almost any perspective. Quite apart from creating crowds, it means increasing competition for food, water and then the pollution and wastage the best of us still manages to produce. As we live longer, the problem increases rather than stays constant.

Control, in some countries, could be applied by reducing the state handouts people with large families manage to catch. Rather than give more aid, cut it back so that folks consider the results of their unbridled sexual exploits. After all, sex is from whence it stems, has nothing to do with the light attracting them out, nor is it an infection caught on the seat of a public toilet: it's all of our very own making. If you can't afford 'em, don't have 'em.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: John Camp on December 07, 2019, 11:55:49 am
When the modern age finally arrives, in the form of female-regulated birth control, the birth rate tends to decline. In Italy, once renowned for large families, the current birth rate is below replacement, as it is for the EU as a whole. (EU population growth, which is positive, comes from immigration.) It may come as a surprise to those who live in patriarchic societies, but women don't necessary enjoy having ten children.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 07, 2019, 12:22:23 pm
Do you think that unrestricted population growth will solve all problems? That smells like a giant Ponzi scheme.
When did I say that?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on December 08, 2019, 04:47:55 am
When the modern age finally arrives, in the form of female-regulated birth control, the birth rate tends to decline. In Italy, once renowned for large families, the current birth rate is below replacement, as it is for the EU as a whole. (EU population growth, which is positive, comes from immigration.) It may come as a surprise to those who live in patriarchic societies, but women don't necessary enjoy having ten children.


Do you think they even care about the women? A cow, goat or a camel may be held to be of greater value!

And immigration causing a balancing out in popuation numbers which, of course, means an increase in immigrant births and eventual ratio within the "host" country, is one dominant reason why people, apart from some politicos and their flock, are fearful of the change that that is going to make to the indigenous society. They need only go to a cowboy and indians movie to see it for themselves. Which of course, is where the Brexit crowd got it all wrong: they will only lessen the European immigrants, most of whom they wouldn't recognize as such if they were sitting opposite one another in a train.

Wish I was joking.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 10, 2019, 04:16:51 am
Ah, that CO2:

Sydney smoke: Residents 'choking' on intense bushfire pollution https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-50722650
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 10, 2019, 09:38:38 pm
Australia is well-known as a land of droughts and floods. Attached image is of the centre of Brisbane city in 1893 during one of the greatest floods ever recorded in modern times, in this region.

The floods usually follow long periods of droughts. When the previous drought, known as the Millennium drought, ended in 2010-11, the rainfall was so massive that global sea levels stopped rising for 18 months because so much water was trapped in inland lakes, such as Lake Eyre, and absorbed into the dry earth and empty dams.

Proxy records from recent ice cores in the Antarctic suggest that most of Australia's worst droughts occurred during the Medieval Warm Period. The longest drought lasted 39 years, if the proxy records are reliable.

Since we are now in a warming period similar to the MWP, the risk of another 39 year drought during this century should be considered and planned for.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291167238_A_new_direction_for_Antarctic_ice_cores_reconstructing_Pacific_decadal_variability_and_Australian_drought_history_from_the_Law_Dome_ice_core

"This study shows that, similar to SW North America, Australia also experienced mega-droughts during the medieval period. Knowledge of the occurrence, duration and frequency of such mega-droughts will greatly improve drought risk assessment in Australia."

"Eight ‘mega-droughts’ (dry periods >5 years duration) were identified over the last millennium. Six mega-droughts occurred between AD 1000-1320 including one 39 y drought (AD 1174–1212)."


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on December 11, 2019, 11:32:33 am
My goodness, Ray, that link is even more opaque than extreme Trump!

I did try, I promise!

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 11, 2019, 11:55:55 am
[...]
Since we are now in a warming period similar to the MWP, the risk of another 39 year drought during this century should be considered and planned for.

But the big difference is that this time around it is caused by humans, and nature (e.g. from ocean currents, plus global warming due to CO2 also creates more biomass as fuel for wildfires) can still add to that. And extreme weather is increasing, and it could persist for longer periods.

The particulate matter and other residuals are a healthhazard.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 11, 2019, 01:02:39 pm
Trump for Chief Ranger.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 11, 2019, 01:24:40 pm
Trump for Chief Ranger.

There is already plenty of hot air...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 11, 2019, 05:38:53 pm
But the big difference is that this time around it is caused by humans, and nature (e.g. from ocean currents, plus global warming due to CO2 also creates more biomass as fuel for wildfires) can still add to that. And extreme weather is increasing, and it could persist for longer periods.

The particulate matter and other residuals are a healthhazard.

Ah! You mean, if it weren't for mankind's contribution to climate change we'd still be in the Little Ice Age, which is preferable. Right?  ;)

I find it significant that 6 of the 8 mega droughts that have occurred in Australia during the past 1,000 years, occurred during the Medieval Warm Period, according to the study I linked. That suggests we haven't yet reached the warm temperatures experienced 800 to 1,000 years ago. Perhaps we never will, regardless of CO2 emissions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 12, 2019, 07:41:02 am
Ah! You mean, if it weren't for mankind's contribution to climate change we'd still be in the Little Ice Age, which is preferable. Right?  ;)

Wrong, again. :(

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 12, 2019, 05:01:39 pm
Wrong, again. :(

Very honest of you to admit you are wrong again.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 13, 2019, 07:52:52 am
A nice video on the issue of climate change, for those who like to watch Youtube videos instead of reading abstruse scientific research papers.  ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDOgWeTAas0
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on December 13, 2019, 08:45:24 am
Some really interesting pictures in today's NY Times showing methane emissions from natural gas facilities in Texas.  Methane is one of the worst of the greenhouse gases as well as being a valuable source of energy.  https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/12/climate/texas-methane-super-emitters.html shows how infrared photographer is used to document methane releases.  The energy industry is currently trying to weaken regulations governing the release of this gas.  Additionally, some energy companies are writing down gas producing assets because of the low price of natural gas (disclosure:  I'm a Chevron stockholder and the other day they took a $10 billion write down on gas fields in Appalachia.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 13, 2019, 11:13:55 am
From my professor of Economics:

Quote
My reading of the evidence is that uncertainty in estimates of climate sensitivity to atmospheric CO2 is very high (putting aside the serious questions about validity of the underlying climate models). Moreover the models are running hot (predictions compared to actual, especially in the troposphere which is where the models suggest we should observe the most anthropogenic warming), which to this informal Bayesian suggests we give more confidence to sensitivity estimates on the lower end of the scale.

As an economist, I note that our very crude estimates suggest net benefits from some additional warming. The costs of most proposed measures are catastrophic (to borrow a term), especially for the world's poorest. Moreover mitigation is rarely proposed, though it is common (see the barrier they're now finishing in Venice, or Holland).

I see a lot of reasons to ask probing questions about these strong policy proposals; certainly to be far from sure that they are the right approach.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 13, 2019, 02:26:28 pm
+1
Warmer weather has been benefiting man since the Ice Age ended.  Why wouldn't a little more warming continue to help?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 13, 2019, 05:36:57 pm
Warmer weather has been benefiting man since the Ice Age ended.  Why wouldn't a little more warming continue to help?

Not in the Arctic. Too warm for seal hunting, and not warm enough for growing weed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 13, 2019, 07:01:35 pm
Adaption is the key, not hubristic control. If we want to prosper, we should exploit the benefits of a warmer climate, and the growth-enhancing higher CO2 levels, and manage the greater rainfall resulting from more evaporation, by building more dams and more long-distance water pipes. If only we were that sensible.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 13, 2019, 07:25:14 pm
Not in the Arctic. Too warm for seal hunting, and not warm enough for growing weed.
I'm in San Diego Diego California fir a few days with my wife.   Everywhere you walk,  you get a good whiff of marijuana.  Nobody here is waiting for global warming.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 14, 2019, 09:39:25 pm
I recently came across the following National Geographic article which addresses the issue of adaption to climate change. However, National Geographic tends to be pro-alarmist, so they haven't delved into the psychological complexities of tackling both issues of adaption and CO2 reduction simultaneously, although they agree both policies should be implemented.

As I see it, alarm or exaggeration is so frequently used throughout the history of humanity in order to control and motivate human behaviour. If describing the punishment for bad behaviour in this life, as horrible, eternal suffering in Hell after death, causes people to behave better in this life, then there is a justification for such assertions of eternal damnation, whether factual or not.

Likewise, if undeveloped countries in particular, but also some developed countries, do not use 'state-of-the-art' emission controls to reduce the levels of toxic emissions to negligible proportions, as is currently possible, then there is some justification in branding CO2 as a toxic emission which will cause devastating climate consequences, even though scientifically that is very uncertain.

We all want a clean atmosphere. CO2 is a clean and odorless gas, essential for all life, and the more the better, up to a certain point, of course. Drinking too much water can kill you.

The major problem, as I see it, is that the motivation for 'adaption' to climate change is in conflict with the motivation for reduction of CO2 emissions. The motivation for reduction of CO2 emissions relies upon the media creating the 'illusion' that all current extreme weather events are unprecedented and caused by rising CO2 levels.

The motivation for adaption would rely upon the media reporting that extreme weather events in the past have been as great or greater than current, 'so-called' record events, despite the lower concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere.

In other words, to galvanize the public, politically, to accept that we should spend billions of dollars in protecting ourselves from a repetition of previous extreme weather events that had nothing to do with human emissions of CO2, completely undermines the exaggerated narrative that all current extreme weather events are unprecedented, due to rising CO2 levels.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/01/communities-adapt-to-changing-climate-after-fires-floods-storms/

"The spotty nature of adaptation efforts so far can be seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael—where one reinforced, raised home famously survived, nearly alone, along Mexico Beach, Florida, after the strongest Panhandle hurricane in at least 155 years. In the Camp Fire that devastated Paradise, California, and killed 85 people, a sprinkling of houses built and maintained to withstand embers survived, but—again—were the rare exception."

"Another source of concern is accumulating research revealing patterns of extraordinarily extreme weather through the last several thousand years in places now heavily built and populated. Scientists dissecting cores of layered ancient marsh and lake mud and other clues to past climate conditions have revealed spasms of frequent, powerful hurricanes even in past cooler periods around Puerto Rico, extreme hill-scouring rainstorms in Vermont, and century-long megadroughts in Ghana—meaning calamities that might be perceived as “unprecedented” are in fact simply rare, and thus unmeasured, threats."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 14, 2019, 09:41:40 pm
Historical perspective is always good, the western US and water: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost).

<description below added later, as requested by moderator>
The article is by John F Ross from The Atlantic. From the article "In America’s first climate war, John Wesley Powell tried to prevent the overdevelopment that led to environmental devastation." It is a description of western US development from a water use/climate point of view.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 14, 2019, 10:15:07 pm
Historical perspective is always good, the western US and water: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost).

Thanks for the interesting link, Ronald. Definitely more interesting and insightful than many of the posts here.
Hopefully, the proponents of the unlimited growth and exploitation of the land will learn something from the history. Otherwise, we will have to speed up the Mars colonization mission.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on December 15, 2019, 02:08:34 am
One type of extreme weather event that the IPCC is confident has been increasing due to global warming, is the frequency of 'heavy precipitation' events.

All we have to do now is capture that rainfall and slow down its return to the sea. We can then increase crop production significantly, due to increased water supply and increased CO2 levels, and at the same time slow down or even stop sea level rise so that wealthy people, such as Al Gore and Barack Obama, whose homes are close to the beach, can relax with no worries.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 15, 2019, 03:19:22 am
Historical perspective is always good, the western US and water: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost).

I must, once again, express my annoyance with your habit of posting links without even a hint of what they are about and the point they make.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 15, 2019, 09:30:13 am
I must, once again, express my annoyance with your habit of posting links without even a hint of what they are about and the point they make.

How hard can it be? "Historical perspective", so it's probably not about the future, and  "the western US and water" makes me guess that it's not about Europe. And in a thead about Extreme Weather makes me expect it to have something to do with climate and other conspiracies.

Of course, if one is not interested in stuff like that, then, by all means, one should not click the link.

BTW, your comment, coming from someone who likes to post doctored images as a comment without explanation, strikes me as a bit odd.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 10:33:14 am
How hard can it be? "Historical perspective", so it's probably not about the future, and  "the western US and water" makes me guess that it's not about Europe. And in a thead about Extreme Weather makes me expect it to have something to do with climate and other conspiracies.

Of course, if one is not interested in stuff like that, then, by all means, one should not click the link.

BTW, your comment, coming from someone who likes to post doctored images as a comment without explanation, strikes me as a bit odd.
Bart I think it would be helpful if you summed up in one sentence the point of the article or maybe a section of it.     Or give your opinion about a subject then use the link to provide backup for further information.   Then if someone is interested in reading the whole thing, they would.   It's unfair and unreasonable to expect people to read long articles just because you posted a link.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 15, 2019, 10:51:02 am
Bart I think it would be helpful if you summed up in one sentence the point of the article or maybe a section of it.     Or give your opinion about a subject then use threw link to provide backup ir further information.   Then if someone is interested in reading the whole thing, they would.   It's unfair and unreasonable to expect people to read long articles just because you posted a link.

It's not my link. And it's a nice article about a historical perspective, "In America’s first climate war, John Wesley Powell tried to prevent the overdevelopment that led to environmental devastation." "Before his time, Powell understood that unbridled optimism and headlong land development would lead to environmental ruin and mass human suffering."

So, it's also about how history repeats itself when short term profit is taken as more important than the warnings that climate gives us, and the devastating results from denying it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 11:08:40 am
Bart, I read the article that you presented about the American West and its limits of water. I think it's interesting that you a Dutchman lives in a country that's below sea level and has had to use dams and dikes and other scientific inventions to protect your country, should be the first to acknowledge that people do live in areas that are very difficult to maintain.  Are you planning to leave the Netherlands?

I'm in San Diego County California right now having flown across the u.s. from New Jersey. When I flew across the Colorado Plateau you could see how arid the West really is except for the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies to provide water for this huge area.  But the population is huge and people have survived.   Our friends  told us how they built a desalinization plant here with Israeli Engineers help.

Somehow the west wil get through water shortages just as the world will get through climate change as they have in the past.   Sure there's will be displacements.   But life will go on.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 15, 2019, 11:26:29 am
Bart I think it would be helpful if you summed up in one sentence the point of the article or maybe a section of it.     Or give your opinion about a subject then use the link to provide backup for further information.   Then if someone is interested in reading the whole thing, they would.   It's unfair and unreasonable to expect people to read long articles just because you posted a link.

Alan, I didn't provide that linked article for you. You never read or listen to anything anyone suggests. ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 11:28:34 am
UN climate talks collapse.  Trump gets blamed.   China breathes a sigh of relief not having to commit to anything. 
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/15/united-nations-climate-talks-collapse-after-trump-shuns-paris-pact-085464
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 11:30:27 am
Alan, I didn't provide that linked article for you. You never read or listen to anything anyone suggests. ;)
Robert I don't understand you're post.i was responding to Bart and Slobo.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 15, 2019, 11:31:16 am
Somehow the west wil get through water shortages just as the world will get through climate change as they have in the past.   Sure there's will be displacements.   But life will go on.

Of course life will go on, mother nature will endure. But wouldn't it be a good idea if we did things a bit more carefully so as to mitigate against pointless suffering. Just sayin'.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 11:35:15 am
Of course life will go on, mother nature will endure. But wouldn't it be a good idea if we did things a bit more carefully so as to mitigate against pointless suffering. Just sayin'.
Sure.   But Powell wasn't going to stop the westward migration of America because he thought there would be water problems.   Any more than people will drastically change their lives because the sea might rise two inches 50 years from now.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 15, 2019, 12:31:36 pm
Sure.   But Powell wasn't going to stop the westward migration of America because he thought there would be water problems.

People change how they do things all the time based on new circumstances and information.


Any more than people will drastically change their lives because the sea might rise two inches 50 years from now.

You wanna bet? They've already started to, what are you talking about.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 15, 2019, 01:33:03 pm
How hard can it be?...

This hard:

https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=125586.msg1052569#msg1052569

Quote
Quite a few posts recently have consisted solely of a link to an external site. Such posts are no longer acceptable: they are difficult to distinguish from clickbait.

This is a discussion forum; in case anyone is in any doubt about what that means, the forum exists for members to hold discussions to which those who choose to post can make their own contributions.

That does not preclude including links to external web pages if they are relevant to the topic under discussion. However, any post which includes such a link must also include text which:

- summarises the information contained in the linked page;
- indicates, if it is not obvious, why that information is of interest;
- if the linked page is long, indicates where in that page the relevant information is to be found.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 15, 2019, 01:34:13 pm
People change how they do things all the time based on new circumstances and information.

Only the smarter ones, or those who don't want to waste infinite amounts of resources, will start by turning off the faucet instead of just buying more and bigger mops. The other ones will just throw more and more money at it trying to keep their heads above the water, and as a result have less to spend on useful things, like healthcare and education.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on December 15, 2019, 01:36:23 pm
This hard:

https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=125586.msg1052569#msg1052569

So? The link was preceded by a summary/introduction.

P.S. And since when were you appointed moderator?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 15, 2019, 01:42:55 pm
So? The link was preceded by a summary/introduction.

P.S. And since when were you appointed moderator?

You call this a summary: “ Historical perspective is always good, the western US and water:”!?

P.S. There is a “report to moderator” button, however, so one doesn’t have to be a moderator himself.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 15, 2019, 02:30:31 pm
People change how they do things all the time based on new circumstances and information.


You wanna bet? They've already started to, what are you talking about.
But Powell did not stop westward migration.  The West was populated despite water issues. 

And climate change is only affecting us on the margins.   Most people ignore it although I had to pay a dime for a bag to take my groceries here in California. And you need to use paper not plastic straws.  Most everyday activities area not affected.    In NJ, if you live along the shore,  then you're concerned more.   People raise their homes on stilts.   But they're not moving out.   In fact real estate prices are higher than ever in those places.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 15, 2019, 02:41:49 pm
And climate change is only affecting us on the margins.   Most people ignore it although I had to pay a dime for a bag to take my groceries here in California. And you need to use paper not plastic straws.  Most everyday activities area not affected.    In NJ, if you live along the shore,  then you're concerned more.   People raise their homes on stilts.   But they're not moving out.   In fact real estate prices are higher than ever in those places.

Real-estate prices are rising everywhere. The increase in house prices in New Jersey could be due to the higher prices for the stilts, and to the increased immigration from Long Island which faces higher water levels than the NJ coastline.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 15, 2019, 04:41:27 pm
... the increased immigration from Long Island which faces higher water levels than the NJ coastline.

Nope, not for that reason. People are fleeing LI after Karla Marx killed Amazon arrival there 😉
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 07:56:11 am
Nope, not for that reason. People are fleeing LI after Karla Marx killed Amazon arrival there 😉

I'm not really familiar with this particular incident, but if what the politician did is insist that tax incentives NOT be given to one of the largest corporations on earth, one that doesn't pay much tax itself, well she would fall more into the Adam Smith camp.

This infantile left vs right nonsense is close to 100 years past its best before date.

Just think about it for a second. Governments give tax money to rich private corporations so that those corporations can "create" jobs. What's that, Feudalism 2.0?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 16, 2019, 08:42:56 am
Robert, since I didn’t take $100 from you, consider that as given to you. I expect a prompt return of the said $100, within 15 days.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 10:55:32 am
Robert, since I didn’t take $100 from you, consider that as given to you. I expect a prompt return of the said $100, within 15 days.
They won't get ir.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 11:02:18 am
In any case it wasn't a tax incentive rather waiving taxes.   So now that Amazon isn't moving there,  NYC doesn't get the taxes in the first place to give back.   So all that's happened is thousands of jobs will go elsewhere and all the associated wealth created by those jobs will be lost by NYC.     
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 11:21:28 am
In any case it wasn't a tax incentive rather waiving taxes.   So now that Amazon isn't moving there,  NYC doesn't get the taxes in the first place to give back.   So all that's happened is thousands of jobs will go elsewhere and all the associated wealth created by those jobs will be lost by NYC.   

What convoluted horse manure.

If a company can't finance its own expansion, maybe it deserves to go belly-up to make room for one that can. Is that too free a market for you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 16, 2019, 11:49:54 am
Apparently, lefties never had a problem with tax incentives for their virtue signaling: “green” cars, solar panels, etc. But God forbid a company that would bring 25,000 jobs and pay enormous taxes along the way get some tax incentives as well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on December 16, 2019, 12:51:48 pm
What convoluted horse manure.

If a company can't finance its own expansion, maybe it deserves to go belly-up to make room for one that can. Is that too free a market for you?

Amazon is doing just fine and has no problem financing it's own expansion. They didn't like the business-adverse attitude and went elsewhere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 12:56:54 pm
Apparently, lefties never had a problem with tax incentives for their virtue signaling: “green” cars, solar panels, etc. But God forbid a company that would bring 25,000 jobs and pay enormous taxes along the way get some tax incentives as well.

Oh please, this childish crap is beneath you. There are some proper uses for public funds and there are some that aren't. I have no idea if "green" $100,000+ Teslas fall into the former category (I doubt it), but subsidizing Amazon is self-evidently in the latter category.

If government has to finance the "creation" of jobs, then they're decidely not "created", they're subsidized. Milton Friedman must be turning over in his grave. Again.

Using tax money to subsidize Amazon? Please, do you not realize how silly this sounds.

I thought you were a free marketeer. Or is it just that when government hands out money to you or your friends, then it's ok. Funny how "liberal" deficits are bad but "conservative" ones are good.

Is this what the culture war descends into, belief in flat earth?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 12:58:59 pm
Amazon is doing just fine and has no problem financing it's own expansion. They didn't like the business-adverse attitude and went elsewhere.

So now if a jurisdiction doesn't want to hand over taxpayer money to a corporation, they are business-adverse? Is this the new "free market"?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 02:58:10 pm
Nobody less than liberal Democrats the Mayor and Governor of New York made the deal and urged Amazon to change their mind and go through with the deal.   They understood the importance of additional jobs and wealth to NY and New Yorkers all at little cost to NY but with huge positive wealth to the state.   But of course foreigners here know better about America and NYC.   So thousands of poor blacks who lived nearby where Amazon was to move (I worked there for 40 years), have lost an opportunity for good paying jobs.  So Amazon moved the headquarters to a different state and the poor blacks will just have to stay poor.  I'm sure they're thankful for saving them from something terrible.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 04:10:30 pm
Nobody less than liberal Democrats the Mayor and Governor of New York made the deal and urged Amazon to change their mind and go through with the deal.   They understood the importance of additional jobs and wealth to NY and New Yorkers all at little cost to NY but with huge positive wealth to the state.   But of course foreigners here know better about America and NYC.   So thousands of poor blacks who lived nearby where Amazon was to move (I worked there for 40 years), have lost an opportunity for good paying jobs.  So Amazon moved the headquarters to a different state and the poor blacks will just have to stay poor.  I'm sure they're thankful for saving them from something terrible.

I'm getting a little sick and tired of being called an interfering foreigner for voicing my opinion that's different from yours,

But the main point is that you have again completely missed the point of the discussion. You complain of left-wing policies and government interference yet you're in favour of handing over taxpayer money to corporations.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 16, 2019, 04:29:08 pm
...handing over taxpayer money to corporations.

Do you really not understand how these things work, or just pretend? I am genuinely puzzled.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 05:27:02 pm
Do you really not understand how these things work, or just pretend? I am genuinely puzzled.

Cute, but I know you know what I'm talking about.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on December 16, 2019, 05:57:55 pm
Nobody less than liberal Democrats the Mayor and Governor of New York made the deal and urged Amazon to change their mind and go through with the deal.   They understood the importance of additional jobs and wealth to NY and New Yorkers all at little cost to NY but with huge positive wealth to the state.   But of course foreigners here know better about America and NYC.   So thousands of poor blacks who lived nearby where Amazon was to move (I worked there for 40 years), have lost an opportunity for good paying jobs.  So Amazon moved the headquarters to a different state and the poor blacks will just have to stay poor.  I'm sure they're thankful for saving them from something terrible.

As a foreigner, I understand that Amazon's move to Virginia will be of great benefit to the state of Virginia. That seems like a good thing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 06:24:24 pm
I'm getting a little sick and tired of being called an interfering foreigner for voicing my opinion that's different from yours,

But the main point is that you have again completely missed the point of the discussion. You complain of left-wing policies and government interference yet you're in favour of handing over taxpayer money to corporations.
Since you don't pay NYC or NY State taxes,  it's a little presuprious to tell New Yorkers how they should handle taxes that they do pay.   It would be like me telling you how many times a week you should feed steak to your family. It's none of my business.   That's The problem with leftists and socialists  They"re always ready to spend someone else's money or tell them how to do it. .
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 06:39:14 pm
As a foreigner, I understand that Amazon's move to Virginia will be of great benefit to the state of Virginia. That seems like a good thing.
New York's loss is Virginia's gain.   Lower taxes in Texas and Florida draws businesses from Higher taxed states like California New York and new Jersey.   What Robert doesn't get that Slobo tried to explain to him is that reducing taxes is not a subsidy.   It's letting people and companies keep more of the money they earned.   Money that the government never earned or had an intrinsic ownership of.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 16, 2019, 10:34:37 pm
Since you don't pay NYC or NY State taxes,  it's a little presuprious to tell New Yorkers how they should handle taxes that they do pay.   It would be like me telling you how many times a week you should feed steak to your family. It's none of my business.   That's The problem with leftists and socialists  They"re always ready to spend someone else's money or tell them how to do it. .

What? None of that made any sense nor did it follow from the discussion. I presume that you're not serious then.

But I did get a good belly laugh from your earlier remark that suggested that the reason New York wanted to give tax subsidies/concessions/whatever to Amazon was to help disadvantaged African Americans, and that somehow I was against this.

So when did you stop beating your wife?  :)

Don't stay up too late.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 16, 2019, 11:06:00 pm
I didn't know you beat your wife. 😏
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on December 17, 2019, 04:23:06 am
Robert, you occasionally make sensible comments that even I can agree with. But here, you just got off the deep end.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 17, 2019, 12:22:27 pm
Robert, you occasionally make sensible comments that even I can agree with. But here, you just got off the deep end.

Oh good, I'd hate it if you agreed with me too often.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 17, 2019, 12:24:23 pm
New York's loss is Virginia's gain.   Lower taxes in Texas and Florida draws businesses from Higher taxed states like California New York and new Jersey.   What Robert doesn't get that Slobo tried to explain to him is that reducing taxes is not a subsidy.   It's letting people and companies keep more of the money they earned.   Money that the government never earned or had an intrinsic ownership of.


How does your support of tax relief/concession/suspension/subsidy/whatever mesh with your often stated view that government should not try to pick winners?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on December 17, 2019, 12:41:07 pm
Historical perspective is always good, the western US and water: https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost (https://getpocket.com/explore/item/how-the-west-was-lost).

I've made it clear before now that posts which include links to external sites must explain what the link illustrates and why it should be read. See here (https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=125586.0).

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on December 17, 2019, 12:45:12 pm
I've made it clear before now that posts which include links to external sites must explain what the link illustrates and why it should be read. See here (https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=125586.0).

Jeremy

Well I thought I had given enough of a hint at the content without being too long-winded, but ok, understood. The article's own sub-title might have served your purpose, I think.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on December 17, 2019, 11:45:17 pm

How does your support of tax relief/concession/suspension/subsidy/whatever mesh with your often stated view that government should not try to pick winners?
Picking winners is when NYS subsidizes a particular industry like the solar panel industry rather than leaving them to compete with other power industries.

What's happening here with Amazon is NYS is incentivizing companies to move to NY and set up shop.   Any company.   There are incentives granted to all companies.   It is true that Amazon got a special deal because of the number of jobs they promised.  But NYS is competing with all other states to get their business.   But it is strictly driven by economic benefit to New York State.   Playing favorites is done for political reasons.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 04, 2020, 12:19:27 am
Warmer weather has been benefiting man since the Ice Age ended.  Why wouldn't a little more warming continue to help?

Little warming wouldn't hurt, especially in the northern states. But the evidence shows that we are getting more heat than bargained for.

Quote
We see the effects in melting ice, burning forests, warming oceans and heat waves, like the one in France this summer that killed 1,500 people. Qatar has become so hot it has started air conditioning the outside, and record-breaking heat waves in India and Pakistan caused temperatures approaching 124 degrees Fahrenheit in some places.

Heat is the number-one weather killer in the U.S., causing up to 1,500 deaths a year, more deaths than hurricanes, floods or tornadoes. By midcentury, if action isn’t taken, the U.S. can expect the number of days where temperatures exceed 105 degrees to triple.

Heat can have devastating impacts on the body, including heat stress, heat stroke and links to chronic kidney disease. It exacerbates existing conditions such as heart and respiratory diseases. It can also lead to premature births, which can have a significant impact on the long-term health of the child.

“Extreme heat is among the deadliest weather hazards society faces,” reads the “Killer Heat” report published by the UCS. “It is possible [heat extremes] will affect daily life for the average U.S. resident more than any other facet of climate change.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/environment-heat-wave-climate-change-elections_n_5def87d7e4b05d1e8a57cb90?ri18n=true
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 04, 2020, 01:10:14 am
Quote
Heat is the number-one weather killer in the U.S., causing up to 1,500 deaths a year, more deaths than hurricanes, floods or tornadoes. By midcentury, if action isn’t taken, the U.S. can expect the number of days where temperatures exceed 105 degrees to triple.

Les,
That's very strange! How did those ancient Egyptians cope? They lived in a very hot and arid region with summertime temperatures often above 40 degrees C. They didn't have air-conditioning, or vehicles and cranes, yet succeeded in building impressively massive Pyramids, dragging huge blocks of stone several kilometres, and created one of the most impressive ancient civilizations on Earth.

Do you think perhaps in this modern era we have become too 'namby pamby'.   ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 04, 2020, 01:12:02 am
2 degree increase up in Canada might be appreciated even though they aren't building pyramids.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 04, 2020, 04:43:10 am
Les,
That's very strange! How did those ancient Egyptians cope? They lived in a very hot and arid region with summertime temperatures often above 40 degrees C. They didn't have air-conditioning, or vehicles and cranes, yet succeeded in building impressively massive Pyramids, dragging huge blocks of stone several kilometres, and created one of the most impressive ancient civilizations on Earth.

Do you think perhaps in this modern era we have become too 'namby pamby'.   ;D

They did it, Ray, by using slaves, expendable people whose deaths didn't matter for as long as they could be replaced by more of the same. Much like the cotton fields, then. Or the concentration camps of WW2.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 04, 2020, 05:17:24 am
They did it, Ray, by using slaves, expendable people whose deaths didn't matter for as long as they could be replaced by more of the same. Much like the cotton fields, then. Or the concentration camps of WW2.

Are you sure, Rob? You trust the BBC, don't you?  ;)
Have a look at the following article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/pyramid_builders_01.shtml

"Almost every family in Egypt was either directly or indirectly involved in pyramid building. The pyramid labourers were clearly not slaves. They may well have been the unwilling victims of the corvée or compulsory labour system, the system that allowed the pharaoh to compel his people to work for three or four month shifts on state projects. If this is the case, we may imagine that they were selected at random from local registers.

But, in a complete reversal of the story of oppression told by Herodotus, Lehner and Hawass have suggested that the labourers may have been volunteers. Zahi Hawass believes that the symbolism of the pyramid was already strong enough to encourage people to volunteer for the supreme national project. Mark Lehner has gone further, comparing pyramid building to American Amish barn raising, which is done on a volunteer basis. He might equally well have compared it to the staffing of archaeological digs, which tend to be manned by enthusiastic, unpaid volunteers supervised by a few paid professionals."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 04, 2020, 05:51:26 am
They did it, Ray, by using slaves, expendable people whose deaths didn't matter for as long as they could be replaced by more of the same. Much like the cotton fields, then. Or the concentration camps of WW2.

Dear Rob, you seem to be transitioning faster and faster to the dark side? What’s up with all that cynicism?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 04, 2020, 09:02:02 am
2 degree increase up in Canada might be appreciated even though they aren't building pyramids.  :)

Not pyramides, but much smaller structures, called igloos. In high Arctic, the igloos used to last till mid May, but in 2 degree warmer temperatures,  they will now collapse around the March equinox.

Also many ice fishing huts on the southern lakes are falling through the weakened ice by that time. Although some manage to stay afloat through the whole summer.

(https://www.vmcdn.ca/f/files/sudbury/uploadedImages/news/localNews/2019/10/ice_hut03.JPG;w=960;h=640;bgcolor=000000)

https://www.sootoday.com/around-ontario/ontario-ice-hut-still-floating-on-lake-in-sudbury-six-months-after-thaw-1823547

 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 04, 2020, 09:14:14 am
Les,
That's very strange! How did those ancient Egyptians cope? They lived in a very hot and arid region with summertime temperatures often above 40 degrees C. They didn't have air-conditioning, or vehicles and cranes, yet succeeded in building impressively massive Pyramids, dragging huge blocks of stone several kilometres, and created one of the most impressive ancient civilizations on Earth.

Do you think perhaps in this modern era we have become too 'namby pamby'.   ;D

Yes, Ray, in the modern era, due to the higher summer temperatures and more namby-pamby seniors alive hot summer days can indeed inflict a serious damage.  I find, it's hard to exercise and do stretches when the weather gets really hot.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 04, 2020, 11:56:44 am
Let's not forget that an average global temperature rise of 2 degrees can be a much larger increase locally, especially in the Northern hemisphere (on land).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on January 04, 2020, 12:17:28 pm
Let's not forget that an average global temperature rise of 2 degrees can be a much larger increase locally, especially in the Northern hemisphere (on land).
Yes, Bart, and the sky is falling, but it can fall much faster locally.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 04, 2020, 12:20:01 pm
2 degree increase up in Canada might be appreciated even though they aren't building pyramids.  :)

You've mentioned the potential benefits of increases in temperature in Canada before, albeit maybe in jest. You realize that it might be accompanied by turning Iowa into a desert. Would that be ok?

Funny how we've gone from man-induced climate being impossible, if not a hoax, to now wondering if climate change might be a good thing. Seems irresponsible to not also consider that it might also be a bad thing. Shouldn't you want to study that a bit more before making any assumptions either way?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 04, 2020, 04:00:34 pm
You've mentioned the potential benefits of increases in temperature in Canada before, albeit maybe in jest. You realize that it might be accompanied by turning Iowa into a desert. Would that be ok?

Funny how we've gone from man-induced climate being impossible, if not a hoax, to now wondering if climate change might be a good thing. Seems irresponsible to not also consider that it might also be a bad thing. Shouldn't you want to study that a bit more before making any assumptions either way?
Iowa?  Where's Iowa?

Meanwhile American firm Tesla is helping the wastrel Chinese reduce their pollution and CO2 production despite their refusal to help the rest of the Paris signatories as Tesla expands its electric automobile facilities in China.
https://insideevs.com/news/391035/tesla-model-3-production-3000-week/

And American oil companies expand their oil production from the largest in the world to even larger putting more wastrel coal companies out of business. 
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Reporter-s-Notebook-Will-13-million-barrels-a-14946242.php

Who needs Paris anyway?



https://insideevs.com/news/391035/tesla-model-3-production-3000-week/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 04, 2020, 04:00:59 pm
Dear Rob, you seem to be transitioning faster and faster to the dark side? What’s up with all that cynicism?


I had my two sets of cataracts removed; remember?

 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MrHxhQPOO2c

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 04, 2020, 04:16:12 pm
Are you sure, Rob? You trust the BBC, don't you?  ;)
Have a look at the following article.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/pyramid_builders_01.shtml

"Almost every family in Egypt was either directly or indirectly involved in pyramid building. The pyramid labourers were clearly not slaves. They may well have been the unwilling victims of the corvée or compulsory labour system, the system that allowed the pharaoh to compel his people to work for three or four month shifts on state projects. If this is the case, we may imagine that they were selected at random from local registers.

But, in a complete reversal of the story of oppression told by Herodotus, Lehner and Hawass have suggested that the labourers may have been volunteers. Zahi Hawass believes that the symbolism of the pyramid was already strong enough to encourage people to volunteer for the supreme national project. Mark Lehner has gone further, comparing pyramid building to American Amish barn raising, which is done on a volunteer basis. He might equally well have compared it to the staffing of archaeological digs, which tend to be manned by enthusiastic, unpaid volunteers supervised by a few paid professionals."


The "temporary workers" were indeed slaves: they were paid in kind: food, just like in the cotton fields.

If you are willing to believe that payment in food alone is not slavery, then there was no slavery in Belsen, none in the USA, either, so we can all relax and have a cup of tea and declare that it was all just a huge misunderstanding, and that we can now re-erect all those statues that we pulled down.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 04, 2020, 04:33:07 pm
From france24.com's vaults:

https://www.france24.com/en/20200103-down-to-earth-rise-of-eco-anxiety-climate-change-environment-bleak-future
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 04, 2020, 05:34:52 pm
The "temporary workers" were indeed slaves: they were paid in kind: food, just like in the cotton fields.

If you are willing to believe that payment in food alone is not slavery, then there was no slavery in Belsen, none in the USA, either, so we can all relax and have a cup of tea and declare that it was all just a huge misunderstanding, and that we can now re-erect all those statues that we pulled down.

:-)

Did you read the entire article, Rob?

"The temporary workers

The many thousands of manual labourers were housed in a temporary camp beside the pyramid town. Here they received a subsistence wage in the form of rations. The standard Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC) ration for a labourer was ten loaves and a measure of beer. (per day)

We can just about imagine a labouring family consuming ten loaves in a day, but supervisors and those of higher status were entitled to hundreds of loaves and many jugs of beer a day. These were supplies which would not keep fresh for long, so we must assume that they were, at least in part, notional rations, which were actually paid in the form of other goods - or perhaps credits. In any case, the pyramid town, like all other Egyptian towns, would soon have developed its own economy as everyone traded unwanted rations for desirable goods or skills."


Doesn't look like slavery to me.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 05, 2020, 03:06:29 am
Doesn't look like slavery to me.

Yeah, the workers did it from conviction and desire to please the pharaohs. And also because of satisfying their creative urges and self-actualization.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 05, 2020, 03:55:51 am
Did you read the entire article, Rob?

"The temporary workers

1. The many thousands of manual labourers were housed in a temporary camp beside the pyramid town. Here they received a subsistence wage in the form of rations. The standard Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BC) ration for a labourer was ten loaves and a measure of beer. (per day)

We can just about imagine a labouring family consuming ten loaves in a day, but supervisors and those of higher status were entitled to hundreds of loaves and many jugs of beer a day. These were supplies which would not keep fresh for long, so we must assume that they were, at least in part, notional rations, which were actually paid in the form of other goods - or perhaps credits. 2. In any case, the pyramid town, like all other Egyptian towns, would soon have developed its own economy as everyone traded unwanted rations for desirable goods or skills.

3. Doesn't look like slavery to me.

You're not looking critically, just from the perspective that might be bent to suit your narrative.

1. Housed as in:

Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Belzec.
Bergen-Belsen.
Buchenwald.
Chelmno.
Dachau.
Ebensee.
Flossenbürg.

2. Exactly as in all prisons; those living outside do not share the same fate or conditions except, in the WW2 case, lack of food.

3. Reflection of climate change attitude: the art of the ostrich.

;-)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 05, 2020, 04:47:16 am
You're not looking critically, just from the perspective that might be bent to suit your narrative.

It's not my narrative. I'm just quoting the archaeological experts in the field.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 05, 2020, 09:08:03 am
It's not my narrative. I'm just quoting the archaeological experts in the field.

But Ray, such experts change tack whever there's a fresh field to plough, a new set of tombs to raid or distinguished "papers" to write. Nobody wins awards doing the same old same old: esoteric academia depends on fresh discovery, real or imaginary - nobody can prove you right or wrong in either case. The world's theirs (not to mention the grants and travel opportunities) for the claiming.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 05, 2020, 11:12:49 am
But Ray, such experts change tack whever there's a fresh field to plough, a new set of tombs to raid or distinguished "papers" to write. Nobody wins awards doing the same old same old: esoteric academia depends on fresh discovery, real or imaginary - nobody can prove you right or wrong in either case. The world's theirs (not to mention the grants and travel opportunities) for the claiming.

True, Rob, true.

But only for archeologists and historians that look a couple of thousands years back. Those who look a couple of millions of billions years back, like climatologists, are always right, intentions always pure,  never swayed by the grants and travel opportunities ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 05, 2020, 11:44:48 am
True, Rob, true.

But only for archeologists and historians that look a couple of thousands years back. Those who look a couple of millions of billions years back, like climatologists, are always right, intentions always pure,  never swayed by the grants and travel opportunities ;)

I was always swayed by travel opportunies; funny we should touch on this, because I haven't flown for about fifteen years - ended up not even wanting to do it again, what with all the red tape, but as I memtioned earlier today, it's been a beautifully bright day with not a cloud in sight. Consequently, there were quite a few contrails coming and going all afternoon, and as I sat having my coffee I thought yeah, I'd love to be up there again, heading out somewhere. And there's the thing: travel was always about going.

That brilliantly bright day has already - at 17:43 - started to promise a freezingly cold night ahead!

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 05, 2020, 11:52:27 am
... I'd love to be up there again, heading out somewhere...

And to bring the thread back full circle, this is apparently “up there” these days, above Australia:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 05, 2020, 11:57:21 am
Yeah, and a helluva time for my granddaughter to have gone out there to work. At least, as a doc in A&E, she has a lot to contribute for those affected by this terrible scourge.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 05, 2020, 06:09:46 pm
But Ray, such experts change tack whever there's a fresh field to plough, a new set of tombs to raid or distinguished "papers" to write. Nobody wins awards doing the same old same old: esoteric academia depends on fresh discovery, real or imaginary - nobody can prove you right or wrong in either case. The world's theirs (not to mention the grants and travel opportunities) for the claiming.

:-)

Rarely do they change tack unanimously. History is an important subject, and as new evidence becomes available which appears to be in conflict with previously accepted understanding or interpretations of an issue, we should always modify our understanding, or at least question it.

If one looks at the history of droughts and floods in Australia, there is strong evidence that the current drought and heat waves are not unprecedented. Studies of ice cores from the Antarctic have provided a 1,000 year record of droughts in South West Australia. 8 mega droughts have been identified, 6 of which occurred before before the industrial revolution, and the worst one occurred in the 12th century A.D. and lasted 39 years.

Newspaper records from the 19th century describe terrible heat waves that killed many people in Australia. It's reasonable to question the accuracy of the reported temperatures which were as high as 129 Degrees F (or 54 degrees C). They might be off by a couple of degrees compared with modern methods of taking temperature readings, but I doubt that local newspapers would get away with reporting fake news about people dying during heat waves that didn't occur.

A major problem for us all, is that so many citizens don't seem to understand that although  the damage caused by extreme weather events, whether droughts, floods, or cyclones, might be unprecedented, because of the huge increase in population, the actual severity of the extreme weather event, in terms of flood height, drought length, maximum temperatures, and so on, is very unlikely to be unprecedented.

As a result of these current bush fires in Australia, there's going to be a major push to persuade the government to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions, because of a deluded belief that CO2 is the culprit.

If the Media would spend more time reporting on the history of climate change and extreme weather events, we'd stand a better chance of protecting ourselves from the very likely repetition of such events.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 06, 2020, 04:48:05 am
If I read you correctly, you are saying that nothing here, today, is new.

Just for the sake if argument, let's assume you are correct. Does it not, nonetheless, make good sense for mankind to reduce all possible additional contributory actions that it can, simply in order not to add to the problems we face?

If ten million people each contribute a quid to my Help Rob's Bank Numbers account, I will inevitably become very much better off than I am today. N'est-ce pas?

And that would not be a selfish expectation on my part: each week I happily contribute money to other people winning vastly larger sums on the lottery.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 06, 2020, 08:48:09 am
A message to the Hollywood elites:

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 06, 2020, 12:20:21 pm
A message to the Hollywood elites:

 ;D ;D ;D


If true, says something serious about the value of a "good" education. I have often thought that the drive to put as many people as possible into so-called further education (such as university) can often be a waste of both the student's time and money, if not that of the taxpayers, in some countries.

There is much to be said for non-academic knowledge; a good plumber or electrician is often a damned sight more valuable to one than any professor. Jobs are what folks need at the end of their studies, and not everybody who walks out of university with a degree will find employment that equates with his or her qualifications. That can lead to deep frustration.

Showbiz success is one of those glittering prizes not a great distance removed from the lottery; not for the poor of pocket or those with existing commitments to family! Or, perversely, just the ticket for those with nothing to lose.

Of course, this view in no way means that those who can actually benefit from higher education - mainly by following sensible courses - should neither pursue nor get it!

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: David Sutton on January 06, 2020, 05:00:29 pm
Rarely do they change tack unanimously. History is an important subject, and as new evidence becomes available which appears to be in conflict with previously accepted understanding or interpretations of an issue, we should always modify our understanding, or at least question it.

If one looks at the history of droughts and floods in Australia, there is strong evidence that the current drought and heat waves are not unprecedented. Studies of ice cores from the Antarctic have provided a 1,000 year record of droughts in South West Australia. 8 mega droughts have been identified, 6 of which occurred before before the industrial revolution, and the worst one occurred in the 12th century A.D. and lasted 39 years.

Newspaper records from the 19th century describe terrible heat waves that killed many people in Australia. It's reasonable to question the accuracy of the reported temperatures which were as high as 129 Degrees F (or 54 degrees C). They might be off by a couple of degrees compared with modern methods of taking temperature readings, but I doubt that local newspapers would get away with reporting fake news about people dying during heat waves that didn't occur.

A major problem for us all, is that so many citizens don't seem to understand that although  the damage caused by extreme weather events, whether droughts, floods, or cyclones, might be unprecedented, because of the huge increase in population, the actual severity of the extreme weather event, in terms of flood height, drought length, maximum temperatures, and so on, is very unlikely to be unprecedented.

As a result of these current bush fires in Australia, there's going to be a major push to persuade the government to drastically reduce our CO2 emissions, because of a deluded belief that CO2 is the culprit.

If the Media would spend more time reporting on the history of climate change and extreme weather events, we'd stand a better chance of protecting ourselves from the very likely repetition of such events.

Anyone in the future wondering what happened to Australia, here's how it worked.
The leaders of both major parties were not going to do anything that would risk their wallets or the income of their mates in the mining industry. So step one was climate change denial. Step two was yes it's happening but we're not the cause. The current prime minister Scott Morrison is now at step two. Step three was yes, we caused it but now it's too late to do anything.
That's the plan. The Australian public went along with it.
The opinions of Ray and other supporters are a great evil in the world.
The other side of the same coin are the mega wealthy suppporters of people like Greta Thunberg. Their plan is to panic the world into accepting a much lower standard of living while the wealthy get to keep their extravagant lifestyle. Watch to see which country is the first to spend billions of taxpayers' money on solar arrays. Billions that go straight into the pockets of the government's wealthy mates.
On the whole the green energy movement is a con. I certainly don't begrudge people their electric cars, but globally it's little more than virtue signalling. There are not enough resources in the Earth to allow even one medium sized European country to convert their fleet to electric given the current technology. The industry is based on the exploitation of poor countires and the workers in the mines are fundamentally slave labour.

For what it's worth, I was brought up in Melbourne and remember watching the Dandenong Ranges go up in smoke in the late sixties. I was in the middle of the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents all were country people and knew about bushfires. The current fires are not getting gradually worse.
They are orders of magnitude worse.
Unmatched in the historical record. Where I now live here in New Zealand we are over 2,000 km from Australia. Last week there was so much smoke in the upper atmosphere that the street lights went on and it was too dark to see indoors without lights. The forests that have burned will not regenerate, The creatures that lived there will go extinct.
In New South Wales there are towns slowly shutting up shop because the farms that supprted them no longer have stock. The sustained heat has made the animals sterile.
I haven't got the figures in front of me, but I suspect the fires in the Amazon, Indonesia, the Congo and the Siberian wilderness are worse.
Cheery thought for the day.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 06, 2020, 05:37:46 pm
Anyone in the future wondering what happened to Australia, here's how it worked.
The leaders of both major parties were not going to do anything that would risk their wallets or the income of their mates in the mining industry. So step one was climate change denial. Step two was yes it's happening but we're not the cause. The current prime minister Scott Morrison is now at step two. Step three was yes, we caused it but now it's too late to do anything.
That's the plan. The Australian public went along with it.
The opinions of Ray and other supporters are a great evil in the world.
The other side of the same coin are the mega wealthy suppporters of people like Greta Thunberg. Their plan is to panic the world into accepting a much lower standard of living while the wealthy get to keep their extravagant lifestyle. Watch to see which country is the first to spend billions of taxpayers' money on solar arrays. Billions that go straight into the pockets of the government's wealthy mates.
On the whole the green energy movement is a con. I certainly don't begrudge people their electric cars, but globally it's little more than virtue signalling. There are not enough resources in the Earth to allow even one medium sized European country to convert their fleet to electric given the current technology. The industry is based on the exploitation of poor countires and the workers in the mines are fundamentally slave labour.

For what it's worth, I was brought up in Melbourne and remember watching the Dandenong Ranges go up in smoke in the late sixties. I was in the middle of the Ash Wednesday fires in 1983. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents all were country people and knew about bushfires. The current fires are not getting gradually worse.
They are orders of magnitude worse.
Unmatched in the historical record. Where I now live here in New Zealand we are over 2,000 km from Australia. Last week there was so much smoke in the upper atmosphere that the street lights went on and it was too dark to see indoors without lights. The forests that have burned will not regenerate, The creatures that lived there will go extinct.
In New South Wales there are towns slowly shutting up shop because the farms that supprted them no longer have stock. The sustained heat has made the animals sterile.
I haven't got the figures in front of me, but I suspect the fires in the Amazon, Indonesia, the Congo and the Siberian wilderness are worse.
Cheery thought for the day.

Well put.

And that doesn't include Africa, where people are starving to death because of failed rains and dying earth as well as finding it through political ambitions of fellow Africans. 

I suggest that we neglect African hardships at our (western) peril: we already have attempted immigration that's too great to handle - it can only get worse as the struggle to eat increases. Folks don't risk their lives and those of their infants on old inflatables because they want to make a fast buck. They have smartphones too, and Internet: they know thousands have died trying the great escape. What they flee must be as bad as the journey's risk, at the very least.

I've just been watching videos of Jay Leno driving around in 800 hp cars. Very nice, until you think what that means in terms of pollution. I think the time's coming when anything above two litres will be internationally banned.

Regarding electric cars: quite apart from the materials for the batteries and the efficient wiring, places like Mallorca already have power problems both summer and winter: in summer the tourist numbers increase the draw on available supplies and in winter, though almost devoid of tourist hordes, the useless, no, non-existent home insulation has interiors feeling colder than outside, with electricity running way under the power you are expecting. I'm no cook, but the difference in the way the cooker works in winter is noticeable. If you burn wood, that's also extortionate and locally very polluting. The winter is also the period when it's legal to burn garden and farm rubbish. Some days the smell of smoke is so bad you can't do your washing because the sheets would stink for a week.

Again, whether or not one believes Man is causing climate change, it's undeniable that he isn't helping much to reduce it. I never understand the philosophy that goes: nature also causes climate change; let's forget it, it's happened before. Yes, it's happened before from natural events such as asteroid strike that apparently wiped out much of life, and volcanic activity that is also outwith our control. Does that mean that it makes any sense not to try to do the best that humans can, at least in the direction of not increasing the problem?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 06, 2020, 06:15:49 pm
... The opinions of Ray and other supporters are a great evil in the world...

Oh, get a life, mate!  >:(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 06, 2020, 07:16:00 pm
Oh, get a life, mate!  >:(

While others are trying to make it harder?

https://oec.world/en/profile/country/aus/
Exports
In 2017 Australia exported $243B, making it the 20th largest exporter in the world. During the last five years the exports of Australia have decreased at an annualized rate of -0.6%, from $249B in 2012 to $243B in 2017. The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore which represent 19.8% of the total exports of Australia, followed by Coal Briquettes, which account for 19.3%.

Which kind of explains the (short-sighted) stance of Australian politics.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 06, 2020, 09:47:55 pm
While others are trying to make it harder?

https://oec.world/en/profile/country/aus/
Exports
In 2017 Australia exported $243B, making it the 20th largest exporter in the world. During the last five years the exports of Australia have decreased at an annualized rate of -0.6%, from $249B in 2012 to $243B in 2017. The most recent exports are led by Iron Ore which represent 19.8% of the total exports of Australia, followed by Coal Briquettes, which account for 19.3%.

Which kind of explains the (short-sighted) stance of Australian politics.



I agree.  Australians are thoughtless and greedy.  They should stop exporting their coal and let American export theirs and take the hit ethically.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: David Sutton on January 06, 2020, 10:13:28 pm
Oh, get a life, mate!  >:(

Thank you for your kind suggestion but I assure you I have one already and very nice it is too.
I'm raising a question around the common response to awkward ideas being "well, everyone has the right  to their own opinions".
Of course, that has never been true. Most countries will not tolerate opinions that child exploitation is okay, for example. You will be aware in your own country that some opinions that were quite normal 50 years ago would now get you in deep poo. And if we travel in non-western cultures it's politic to keep our mouths shut on some topics. Life saving, even.
I'm suggesting that while the right to certain opinions may be cultural, and change with time, there are some things that we have no right to believe. And yes, I'm aware of the internal contradiction here.
I've been looking for a word to describe those who have power or influence and who have known about anthropogenic climate change but continue to deny it publicly. Governmental leaders in other words. Today the nearest word I can find is "perverts".
My belief is that climate change deniers are supporting this lot. I wouldn't want to see their ideas banned, fat lot of good that would do anyway, but I think I may start calling them out on this. I suspect that the only effect this will have will be to get me into hot water again, but I think I'd rather run the risk of being wrong in 10 years time than to have said nothing.
Such is life.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 06, 2020, 10:46:31 pm
Thank you for your kind suggestion but I assure you I have one already and very nice it is too.
I'm raising a question around the common response to awkward ideas being "well, everyone has the right  to their own opinions".
Of course, that has never been true. Most countries will not tolerate opinions that child exploitation is okay, for example. You will be aware in your own country that some opinions that were quite normal 50 years ago would now get you in deep poo. And if we travel in non-western cultures it's politic to keep our mouths shut on some topics. Life saving, even.
I'm suggesting that while the right to certain opinions may be cultural, and change with time, there are some things that we have no right to believe. And yes, I'm aware of the internal contradiction here.
I've been looking for a word to describe those who have power or influence and who have known about anthropogenic climate change but continue to deny it publicly. Governmental leaders in other words. Today the nearest word I can find is "perverts".
My belief is that climate change deniers are supporting this lot. I wouldn't want to see their ideas banned, fat lot of good that would do anyway, but I think I may start calling them out on this. I suspect that the only effect this will have will be to get me into hot water again, but I think I'd rather run the risk of being wrong in 10 years time than to have said nothing.
Such is life.

David, American free speech is constitutionally protected.  It's been one of our cherished rights.  Nazis are allowed to march in the street.  Not because they get much support.  But the right to free speech is so constitutionally ingrained in most Americans, that we allow them their rights as perverted most believe they are.  The argument is that let the fresh air of sunlight be the cure.  Opposite thought is the sunlight.  Ideas should stand or not through debate and thought.  But we should not close down ideas just because you have different beliefs. Otherwise you can justify book burning and burning witches at the stake, something that is very common in the world.  It's a slippery slope once you start shutting down speech one side feels is offensive.  Pretty soon, political thought and religious practices are shut down and people are put in jail for their thinking.  All under the guise of some people just knowing what is right. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 06, 2020, 11:00:55 pm
If I read you correctly, you are saying that nothing here, today, is new.

Not quite. Within the average person's lifetime there's always something new. Unfortunately, this is the standard so often used for describing extreme weather events as 'unprecedented', that is, the worst in living memory, completely ignoring historical records that go back further than a lifetime.

Using this standard, it's logical that every person who has ever lived must have experienced an unprecedented extreme weather event of some type in their lifetime, whether flood, drought, heatwave, cyclone or forest fire.

Quote
Just for the sake if argument, let's assume you are correct. Does it not, nonetheless, make good sense for mankind to reduce all possible additional contributory actions that it can, simply in order not to add to the problems we face?

Of course it makes good sense, but in order to do that one must first be aware of the history of those extreme weather events that have had little to do with human activity in the past, and then be confident that such extreme weather events are getting worse, over time, and that the reason they are getting worse is due to specific human activities, such as human emissions of CO2.

For example, the city of Darwin in Northern Australia was devastated by a cyclone on Christmas day in 1974. This was before the alarm about CO2 emissions had become pervasive. Certain religious people claimed that the cause of the cyclone was a punishment by God for the city naming itself after Charles Darwin, that horrible atheistic character who demolished the Adam and Eve myth.  ;)

However, this area in Australia has a long history of cyclones, recorded since 1839. Refer attached article.
http://www.darwinstorms.com/cyclones/

The devastation caused by the 1974 Cyclone Tracy was greater than it should have been because past governments had ignored the obvious risk of a severe cyclone hitting the city, despite the historical record of cyclones in that area making it clear that there was a strong risk, and such governments had approved the construction of standard homes that were not designed to withstand the force of cyclones.

The initial reaction to the devastation was that the city of Darwin should be abandoned, and real estate prices plummeted as a consequence. However, someone then had the brilliant idea that it would be sensible to rebuild the city with a new and more robust building code that ensured all homes could withstand the force of a category 4 cyclone, such as Cyclone Tracy. This was done and I missed out becoming a multi-millionaire as property prices rebounded.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 06, 2020, 11:09:28 pm
David, American free speech is constitutionally protected.  It's been one of our cherished rights.  Nazis are allowed to march in the street.  Not because they get much support.  But the right to free speech is so constitutionally ingrained in most Americans, that we allow them their rights as perverted most believe they are.  The argument is that let the fresh air of sunlight be the cure.  Opposite thought is the sunlight.  Ideas should stand or not through debate and thought.  But we should not close down ideas just because you have different beliefs. Otherwise you can justify book burning and burning witches at the stake, something that is very common in the world.  It's a slippery slope once you start shutting down speech one side feels is offensive.  Pretty soon, political thought and religious practices are shut down and people are put in jail for their thinking.  All under the guise of some people just knowing what is right.

Well said, Alan.

Unlike the ever-unhelpful “Oh get a life, mate”

As before; condescending.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 04:45:05 am
Of course it makes good sense, but in order to do that one must first be aware of the history of those extreme weather events that have had little to do with human activity in the past, and then be confident that such extreme weather events are getting worse, over time, and that the reason they are getting worse is due to specific human activities, such as human emissions of CO2.

Just to make sure, do you think that CO2 emissions contribute to global warming?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on January 07, 2020, 07:39:54 am
Just to make sure, do you think that CO2 emissions contribute to global warming?
I believe from his past statements that it will lead to improved vegetation growth which is a net positive.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 07, 2020, 08:38:00 am
Just to make sure, do you think that CO2 emissions contribute to global warming?

Everything is connected to some degree, and everything is subject to 'cause and effect'. Even Gautama Buddha understood this 2500 years ago.

However, it doesn't seem plausible to me that such tiny amounts of CO2 increases in the atmosphere, currently at 0.044% could have any significant 'bad' effect on climate.

The often quoted claim that 97% of all climatologist agree that human emissions of Greenhouse Gases are the main driver of the current warming, seems a deliberate misinterpretation of the facts for political purposes.

Most scientists in the field of climatology, and most scientists in general, are not willing to express an opinion either way. The 97% figure refers only to a minority of the peer-reviewed research papers examined, that mention in their 'abstract' a degree of certainty that CO2 or human activity is the main driver of the current warming. The other 3% of that minority reject that CO2 increases have any significant effect on climate.

The following article delves into this issue in some detail. For those too lazy to read it, look at attached image.  ;D
https://www.friendsofscience.org/assets/documents/97_Consensus_Myth.pdf

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 07, 2020, 08:43:29 am
Global warming is bad for the Florida winter tourist trade but good for manufacturers of snow making equipment.  Invest wisely.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 07, 2020, 08:50:11 am
... The following article delves into this issue in some detail. For those too lazy to read it, look at attached image...

A great evil infographic.

“How dare you...”

 ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 11:36:00 am
Everything is connected to some degree, and everything is subject to 'cause and effect'. Even Gautama Buddha understood this 2500 years ago.

However, it doesn't seem plausible to me that such tiny amounts of CO2 increases in the atmosphere, currently at 0.044% could have any significant 'bad' effect on climate.

That position defies physics, and logic.

The fact that it's a small amount makes it an even more urgent issue. If such an amount can affect global warming to this extent, we shouldn't leave its emissions out of control.

BTW, if you deny that CO2 plays a significant role, then why does global temperature rise, more or less in line with CO2 emissions? It's not due to differences in orbit around the sun, so what is it then?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 07, 2020, 11:49:17 am
That position defies physics, and logic.

The fact that it's a small amount makes it an even more urgent issue. If such an amount can affect global warming to this extent, we shouldn't leave its emissions out of control.

BTW, if you deny that CO2 plays a significant role, then why does global temperature rise, more or less in line with CO2 emissions? It's not due to differences in orbit around the sun, so what is it then?
Every variable in the world is either going up, down or remaining the same.  The fact two things are going in the same direction is not proof that one is causing the other.  Most of these things are coincidental.  It just could be that nature declared it was time for temperature to go up as it has in the past.  So we look for reasons and see that CO2 is going up too.  Well, they may be causative and they may not be.  But you just can't assume they are.  You're science oriented and know that the way it works.  So you shouldn't use layman analysis.  You know better and are smarter than that Bart. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 12:04:23 pm
Every variable in the world is either going up, down or remaining the same.  The fact two things are going in the same direction is not proof that one is causing the other.  Most of these things are coincidental.  It just could be that nature declared it was time for temperature to go up as it has in the past.  So we look for reasons and see that CO2 is going up too.  Well, they may be causative and they may not be.  But you just can't assume they are.  You're science oriented and know that the way it works.  So you shouldn't use layman analysis.  You know better and are smarter than that Bart.

So predictable, and so wrong.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 07, 2020, 12:10:57 pm
Every variable in the world is either going up, down or remaining the same.  The fact two things are going in the same direction is not proof that one is causing the other.  Most of these things are coincidental.  It just could be that nature declared it was time for temperature to go up as it has in the past.  So we look for reasons and see that CO2 is going up too.  Well, they may be causative and they may not be.  But you just can't assume they are.  You're science oriented and know that the way it works.  So you shouldn't use layman analysis.  You know better and are smarter than that Bart.

One thing is quite sure and very logical, and even you, Alan must agree with it. Adding more CO2 to the atmosphere can't help.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 07, 2020, 12:52:59 pm
... BTW, if you deny that CO2 plays a significant role, then why does global temperature rise, more or less in line with CO2 emissions?...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 01:02:17 pm


You're dodging the question.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 07, 2020, 01:16:30 pm
correlation charts between cheese consumption and people dying entangled in their bed sheets
(https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=131117.0;attach=205696;image)

Obviously, it's not a good idea to eat cheese in the bed. Logical conclusion is to switch from cheese to tofu and eat it while standing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 07, 2020, 01:21:57 pm
You're dodging the question.

I doubt you’d be happy with my answer: that's the way the cookie crumbles - that is, the stochastic nature of natural events.

The fact that I may or may not know the right answer doesn’t make your answer any more correct.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 07, 2020, 02:13:38 pm

n
Thanks for providing the charts.  I was just telling my wife the other day when she wanted to switch from butter to margarine that it would be a bad idea. We might be contributing to global warming. Now you've given me the evidence I need to prove my case. Thank you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 02:50:55 pm
I doubt you’d be happy with my answer: that's the way the cookie crumbles - that is, the stochastic nature of natural events.

The fact that I may or may not know the right answer doesn’t make your answer any more correct.

The physical properties of CO2 have been known since the middle of the 19th century. In 1896, (Nobel laureate) Svante Arrhenius calculated and concluded that human-caused CO2 emissions, from fossil-fuel burning and other combustion processes, are large enough to cause global warming.

Physics have not changed, and his predictions based on calculations have proven to be correct, the increased CO2 concentrations do lead to global warming.

So it has nothing to do with the stochastic nature of natural events, but instead is a demonstration of pure cause and effect, very predictable.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 07, 2020, 07:04:00 pm
However, it doesn't seem plausible to me that such tiny amounts of CO2 increases in the atmosphere, currently at 0.044% could have any significant 'bad' effect on climate.


No matter how skilled you are at making pretty charts with Photoshop, science is not a matter of opinion.

Ask the residents of Samoa, (or the rest of the idiot anti-vaxxers) who thought they knew more about immunology than does medical science.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 07, 2020, 07:16:46 pm

No matter how skilled you are at making pretty charts with Photoshop, science is not a matter of opinion.

Ask the residents of Samoa, (or the rest of the idiot anti-vaxxers) who thought they knew more about immunology than does medical science.
Strawman.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 07, 2020, 07:31:27 pm
Strawman.
Are you an anti-vaxer too?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 07, 2020, 08:47:05 pm

No matter how skilled you are at making pretty charts with Photoshop, science is not a matter of opinion.

Exactly, it is not about opinions/feelings, it is about scientific research, observations, measurements and calculations, and resulting peer reviewed facts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjD0e1d6GgQ
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 07, 2020, 09:51:40 pm
Strawman.

Nothing of the sort.  Just another example of ingnorance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 07, 2020, 10:47:01 pm
Are you an anti-vaxer too?
Strawman question.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 07, 2020, 11:22:01 pm
Strawman question.  :)

Which one is a bigger threat - a strawman or an anti-vaxer?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 10:18:12 am
Oops.
Glacier National Park is replacing signs that predicted its glaciers would be gone by 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 09, 2020, 10:51:52 am
Oops.
Glacier National Park is replacing signs that predicted its glaciers would be gone by 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html)

🤣🤣🤣
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 09, 2020, 11:04:21 am
I'm surprised they didn't just paint over the 2020 and paint in 2030. We haven't yet reversed from the global warming game to the coming ice age game. We'll get there before too long.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 09, 2020, 01:05:06 pm
Oops.
Glacier National Park is replacing signs that predicted its glaciers would be gone by 2020
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/glaciers-national-park-2020-trnd/index.html)
The link is to an article on CNN. I thought CNN was left wing fake news that couldn't be trusted. Should I believe the entire article or just the part where it says the signs are being changed?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 02:49:35 pm
The link is to an article on CNN. I thought CNN was left wing fake news that couldn't be trusted. Should I believe the entire article or just the part where it says the signs are being changed?

You're right Frank. I think the park should put the signs back up so we can claim CNN is still doing fake news.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 09, 2020, 03:36:16 pm
You're right Frank. I think the park should put the signs back up so we can claim CNN is still doing fake news.
It is just so confusing with you guys. If you agree with a news story, it's true; if you disagree with a news story, it's left wing media fake news.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 03:42:11 pm
It is just so confusing with you guys. If you agree with a news story, it's true; if you disagree with a news story, it's left wing media fake news.
You're right Frank.  It is all very confusing.  Just this morning my wife told me it was going to rain.  I'm still waiting.  Dry as a bone.  So now it seems my wife is passing on fake weather reports.  I don't know where to turn any longer. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 09, 2020, 03:59:00 pm
You're right Frank.  It is all very confusing.  Just this morning my wife told me it was going to rain.  I'm still waiting.  Dry as a bone.  So now it seems my wife is passing on fake weather reports.  I don't know where to turn any longer.
Ask another woman.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 04:05:50 pm
Ask another woman.
What's the matter?  You want me dead?  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 09, 2020, 04:35:54 pm
What's the matter?  You want me dead?  :)

I didn't mean asking out another woman, just asking for a weather report from a different source.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 08:14:19 pm
Another Oops.

Scientists Were Wrong – Coral Reef Fish Not Affected by Ocean Acidification From Climate Change
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-were-wrong-coral-reef-fish-not-affected-by-ocean-acidification-from-climate-change/ (https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-were-wrong-coral-reef-fish-not-affected-by-ocean-acidification-from-climate-change/)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 09, 2020, 08:50:15 pm
Our tax dollars at work.   Must have been some climate change scientist who decided to try his hand at biology.  LIke why do they think cuttlefish have two eyes?  Duh.  Every animal with bifocal vision sees in 3D. Maybe they ought to show the cuttlefish Avatar in 3D and get their opinion about the movie.  Now that would be interesting. 

"Cuttlefish wearing 3D glasses prove they sense depth just like us"
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/3d-glasses-cuttlefish-scn-trnd/index.html (https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/08/us/3d-glasses-cuttlefish-scn-trnd/index.html)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 09, 2020, 10:58:09 pm
Here in Australia, we have just experienced both the hottest year on record and the driest year on record.  This has given rise to an unprecedented fire season that started last July, in the middle of winter.  There are hundreds of fires and many remain out of control.  They are likely to continue for weeks or months.  So far 107,000 square kilometres have burned, just under the size of Cuba or Tennessee.  This is clearly driven by man-made climate change, as was predicted for this time by the Garnaut study ten years ago.

Some days in Canberra smoke from fires to the East and to the South-West have given us the worst air quality of any city in the world.  I recently published a Blog post that shows nearby wildlife in previous months and the effect of smoka haze last Sunday and outlines the Climate Crisis context.

https://murrayfoote.com/2020/01/05/australia-burning/?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 10, 2020, 03:59:09 am
Welcome to LuLa!

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 10, 2020, 04:31:18 am
... This is clearly driven by man-made climate change...

 ;D ;D ;D

Welcome to LuLa, indeed. We’ve been sorely missing another alarmist.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 10, 2020, 04:49:42 am
Have you read his blog, Slobodan?
It's first-hand report about the dire Australian situation accompanied by interesting pictures. Real and alarming. Everybody should read it.

(https://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20200109&t=2&i=1474405541&w=780&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=2020-01-09T223013Z_13772_MRPRC2ACE9GOG0Z_RTRMADP_0_AUSTRALIA-BUSHFIRES)

More animal pictures here (https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/01/animals-rescued-from-australias-bushfires/604693/)


For climate-change deniers, here is a report fresh from the press:

Quote
Australia urged nearly a quarter of a million people to evacuate their homes on Friday and prepared military backup as authorities said the next few hours could be “very, very challenging” even as rain poured down in some parts.

“Even with rain in Melbourne, even with forecast better conditions next week, there is a long way to go in what has been an unprecedented fire event...and, of course, we know that we have many weeks of the fire season to run,” Daniel Andrews, the premier of Victoria, told a televised briefing.

“The next few hours are going to be very, very challenging.”

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-bushfires/australia-urges-quarter-of-a-million-to-flee-as-winds-fan-huge-bushfires-idUSKBN1Z82ND?il=0
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: James Clark on January 10, 2020, 03:54:53 pm
;D ;D ;D

Welcome to LuLa, indeed. We’ve been sorely missing another alarmist.

Perhaps your climatology degree can help ferret out who killed Kennedy as well?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on January 10, 2020, 08:04:23 pm
Here in Australia, we have just experienced both the hottest year on record and the driest year on record.  This has given rise to an unprecedented fire season that started last July, in the middle of winter.  There are hundreds of fires and many remain out of control.  They are likely to continue for weeks or months.  So far 107,000 square kilometres have burned, just under the size of Cuba or Tennessee.  This is clearly driven by man-made climate change, as was predicted for this time by the Garnaut study ten years ago.

Some days in Canberra smoke from fires to the East and to the South-West have given us the worst air quality of any city in the world.  I recently published a Blog post that shows nearby wildlife in previous months and the effect of smoka haze last Sunday and outlines the Climate Crisis context.

https://murrayfoote.com/2020/01/05/australia-burning/?

Remind me...how many people have been arrested for setting fires?  Just curious.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 10, 2020, 08:13:43 pm
Welcome to LuLa, indeed. We’ve been sorely missing another alarmist.

Alarmist? Is that perhaps an emotive attempt to fit me into a stereotype?  Although I probably know more about Photography, I do try to pay attention to scientists and international conservation organisations.  Even Australian Fire Chiefs who have come out collectively decrying the lack of preparation our Government's climate denialism has led to.

For example, here is a link to a disturbing article by one of Australia's leading climate experts.  She says that there are a number of international studies coming out soon that show that the Climate Crisis is escalating much faster than anyone has suspected.  https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2019/august/1566136800/jo-lle-gergis/terrible-truth-climate-change?

If the nature of our reality is alarming, then to point to that is not alarmist and knowledge of this is a precondition for belated effective action.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 10, 2020, 08:23:33 pm
Remind me...how many people have been arrested for setting fires?  Just curious.

Twenty four.  And there have been many hundreds or maybe thousands of fires.  The number of fires doesn't mean a lot because fires join up.  The fire authorities in Victoria came out yesterday and said that none of the fires there were started by arson.  The giant fire on the south coast of New South Wales was started by a single lightening strike.  Identifying the fires with arson is an inaccurate claim, I understand largely on American media, to avoid attribution of a prime cause to the Climate Crisis. 

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/twitter-bots-trolls-australian-bushfires-social-media-disinformation-campaign-false-claims
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 10, 2020, 08:40:53 pm
Here in Australia, we have just experienced both the hottest year on record and the driest year on record.  This has given rise to an unprecedented fire season that started last July, in the middle of winter.  There are hundreds of fires and many remain out of control.  They are likely to continue for weeks or months.  So far 107,000 square kilometres have burned, just under the size of Cuba or Tennessee.  This is clearly driven by man-made climate change, as was predicted for this time by the Garnaut study ten years ago.

Welcome, Murray,

It's not clear at all. The greatest environmental danger facing Australia in coming decades will result from a failure to identify and tackle the main contributing causes of the major bushfires which occur during the major periods of drought which have always been a natural cycle in Australia.

Deluding ourselves that reducing our CO2 emissions will fix the problem is likely to bring on even greater catastrophes.
Whilst there's no doubt that hot, dry and windy conditions set the stage for bushfires to proliferate, the initial spark that starts such fires is usually from human activity. There seems to be a widespread misconception that most fires are started by 'dry lightning' strikes. This might be the case in very remote, uninhabited regions where there are no roads, but is not the case generally.

Here's an investigation of the causes of recent, past, bushfires in NSW that occurred between 2001-2004.
 https://aic.gov.au/publications/bfab/bfab021

Refer attached 'infographics'.

Here's another article addressing the issue.

"While figures vary, around half of all bushfires in Australia are either known to be deliberately lit or are considered suspicious, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-11-20/bushfire-ignition-source-how-we-know/11701132

Another cause which greatly exaggerates the intensity of bushfires is the accumulation of forest floor debris which increases the fire load and makes it easier for a fire to start.

We can't control wind and heat but we can control the fuel load on the forest floor through sensible management, winter back-burning and firewood removal.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 10, 2020, 08:41:13 pm
First, welcome to the forum Murray.  Get ready for a lot of heated debate.  :)  I'm sorry Australia is having so much damage and death.  We have a lot of fire issues out in western America that hit our citizens every year during the hot, dry season.  We foolishly build in areas that are prone to being hit.  Yet we ignore the signs and keep building there instead of safer areas. 

I'm confused why the Australian fires are caused by climate change and not just natural occurrences and changing weather patterns that occur from time to time.  These fires and very hot weather patterns apparently happened there before the industrial revolution as well.  So why blame what's happening now on climate change? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 10, 2020, 08:48:13 pm
[...]
We can't control wind and heat but we can control the fuel load on the forest floor through sensible management, winter back-burning and firewood removal.

Really?

And don't the rising CO2 concentrations add even more biomass to burn?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 10, 2020, 09:54:13 pm
Thanks very much Alan.

The thing is that the nature of the conditions has changed.  There have been a couple of peak fire years before in the last fifty years or so but in both cases they followed a period of high rainfall which produced lots of fuel (eg grasses) to burn.  This time is different because there is no such fuel and everything is tinder dry.  The Bureau of Meteorology announced a few days ago that 2019 was both the hottest and the driest year on record for Australia.  Last December was the hottest December on record and a few days ago we had the hottest day ever in Canberra by a significant margin.  Firefighters and locals in the bush are frequently saying that they've never seen anything like these fires. Record heat plus record dryness has produced unprecedented fires.  Many are out of control and will only be extinguished by significant rain which is not happening soon.  The most significant underlying reason is man-made climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 10, 2020, 10:26:27 pm
Ray

Droughts have always a natural cycle in Australia but average temperatures are higher than they have ever been and also the landscape drier.  Then when particularlly hot conditions and weather changes create high winds, unstoppable fires result, whatever the spark.  The increased heat and changed weather conditions that underly this are significantly associated with man-made climate change.  Fire chiefs are collectively calling on the Federal Goverment to address the Climate Crisis as a cause of the fires.

Winter prescribed burns are a normal measure to reduce fire risk but this fire season started last July, in the middle of winter.  The usual damp conditions in winter were much reduced and consequently the window for such burning was much conscribed.  In Victoria for example, they were only able to perform prescribed burns to half of the area they had intended.  In any case such burns do not prevent fires and in many cases this season the condidions are so severe that the fires go right through the prescribed burns.

Incidentally, I visited Binna Burra eighteen months before it burned and there are a couple of posts on my Blog.  Here is the first one:  https://murrayfoote.com/2017/08/16/alcheringa-daves-creek-circuit-and-tullawallal-circuit/

Update:  I've just seen a news report that indicates that hardly any of the fires in New South Wales and Victoria were deliberately lit:  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/australias-fires-reveal-arson-not-a-major-cause/11855022
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2020, 05:06:35 am
Really?

And don't the rising CO2 concentrations add even more biomass to burn?

Of course they do, but not nearly enough to compensate for all the trees removed over the past century for agricultural purposes and use of timber. Whilst a doubling of CO2 will result in a 35% increase in the growth of most plants, CO2 concentrations have risen by only 45% during the past 150 years or so.

If that 45% increase had occurred  during a single decade of wet weather prior to a severe drought, then the claim that CO2 concentrations played a significant part in the severity of the drought, would make sense.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2020, 05:17:39 am
Ray

Droughts have always a natural cycle in Australia but average temperatures are higher than they have ever been and also the landscape drier.

Not necessarily, Murray. Australian scientists drilling in the Antarctic, at Law Dome, have gathered a 1,000 year record of past droughts in Australia, examining the composition of layers of ice which are affected by conditions which also cause droughts in Australia.

They have identified 8 mega droughts during that 1,000 year period. 6 of those mega droughts occurred before significant rises in CO2 levels from industrialization. The worst, or at least longest drought, was during the 12th to 13th century A.D., and lasted 39 years from AD 1174–1212.

We can't be sure of the precise temperatures in those times, but the Medieval Warm Period is considered by many experts in the field to be at least as warm as the current period, and likely warmer.

http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2014/antarctic-ice-cores-tell-1000-year-australian-drought-story

Quote
Update:  I've just seen a news report that indicates that hardly any of the fires in New South Wales and Victoria were deliberately lit:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-11/australias-fires-reveal-arson-not-a-major-cause/11855022     

At this stage I doubt that we can be certain about the number of fires lit deliberately, but analysis of past fires during past droughts suggest a much higher number than 1% are deliberately lit, so the question that 'thinking' people should address is 'Why is that number of deliberately lit fires, or arson, so dramatically lower on this occasion?'

Another cause of the fires is due to accidental ignition resulting from sparks from machinery, vehicles and trains, and many other activities, including kids just playing around.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2020, 06:37:45 am
Whoopee! It's been raining in Brisbane, Australia, for the past hour.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 11, 2020, 06:58:15 am
Whoopee! It's been raining in Brisbane, Australia, for the past hour.  ;D

Congratulations.

It does seem to be more like a drizle for the moment, but in a few hours you'll get a short lasting shower, and then it's over for a couple of days. It cannot be nearly enough to offset the drought though.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 11, 2020, 08:22:09 am
Not necessarily, Murray. Australian scientists drilling in the Antarctic, at Law Dome, have gathered a 1,000 year record of past droughts in Australia, examining the composition of layers of ice which are affected by conditions which also cause droughts in Australia.
They have identified 8 mega droughts during that 1,000 year period. 6 of those mega droughts occurred before significant rises in CO2 levels from industrialization. The worst, or at least longest drought, was during the 12th to 13th century A.D., and lasted 39 years from AD 1174–1212.
We can't be sure of the precise temperatures in those times, but the Medieval Warm Period is considered by many experts in the field to be at least as warm as the current period, and likely warmer.
http://www.antarctica.gov.au/news/2014/antarctic-ice-cores-tell-1000-year-australian-drought-story
But that's just droughts, and as compared to the millenial drought of around twenty years ago.  The pre-European ecology, prior to the introduction of sheep and cattle and the elimination of perennial grasses, was quite different and Aborigines were still undertaking cool burns in their traditional context.  Last year was a record high temperature and there's been a year beating the previous high probably every second year in the last ten.  Last year was also the driest since 1902.  Accurate recordings of temperature only date from the adoption of the Stevenson Cage in 1908 (a standardised shaded environment).  But from what I have read, we are experiencing the hottest temperatures for thousands of years.

Recent research also suggests that the Mediaeval warm period was not as widespread as has been generally assumed, confined to parts of Europe and not, for example, relevant to the settlement of Greenland.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/12/04/climate-change-may-not-have-driven-the-vikings-from-greenland-after-all/

At this stage I doubt that we can be certain about the number of fires lit deliberately, but analysis of past fires during past droughts suggest a much higher number than 1% are deliberately lit, so the question that 'thinking' people should address is 'Why is that number of deliberately lit fires, or arson, so dramatically lower on this occasion?'
Another cause of the fires is due to accidental ignition resulting from sparks from machinery, vehicles and trains, and many other activities, including kids just playing around.
I don't see any reason to doubt the ABC article.  I think the obvious answer is that the conditions are very different this time.  This is not like previous fire seasons.  The unprecedented heat and drought can create its own weather conditions on peak days and a CFA controller in Victoria is quoted in that article as saying that most of the fires were caused by dry lightening.  Hence the unprecedented fires which even burn rainforest.

We've had a few drops of rain but not much more. Rain is forecast for the end of next week but not I would think enough to put the fires out.  Without significant rain, there are several out of control fires 50 or 60 kilometres to the west of Canberra that might reach us in say two to four weeks.  Hopefully it won't come to that but there's no end in sight at this stage and no guarantees.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 11, 2020, 08:35:02 am
Are illegal fires set mischievously or for farming reasons like in the Brazil Amazon?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2020, 08:36:28 am
Congratulations.

It does seem to be more like a drizle for the moment, but in a few hours you'll get a short lasting shower, and then it's over for a couple of days. It cannot be nearly enough to offset the drought though.

It was a bit more than drizzle for a while where I am, but it has stopped for now. From past experience, I expect people will get used to short and light periods of rain, then when the drought begins to truly break, and serious rain is forecast, there will be uncertainty about the amount of precipitation, because weather forecasts are rarely accurate and alarmists will be repeating the mantra that droughts are predicted to get worse because of anthropomorphic climate change, and the dam operators will probably not release enough water in preparation for the forecasted rains, and massive flood damage will result.

At least that's what happened in Brisbane at the end of the so-called 'Millennium' drought in 2010-11. There was a class action against the dam operators for not releasing water immediately after the BOM forecast heavy rains. After 10 years of litigation the court has finally ruled that the dam operators were in fact negligent for not releasing more water before the forecasted heavy rains arrived.

This is why I find the widespread mania about the harmful effects of CO2 on climate, very troubling. The practical solution to our problems are more flood-mitigation dams and long-distance water pipes, stricter building codes based upon the past history of extreme weather events in the region, regular burn-off of forest debris during safe conditions, as the Aboriginals used to do, and so on.

Doing this requires abundant sources of energy, which we have. Strangling ourselves with expensive and unreliable, alternative energy supplies, will get us nowhere.  :(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 11, 2020, 09:21:25 am
The rain has started again.  ;D

Not heavy, but quite moderate. I hope it goes on all night, but I'm off to bed right now. I'll know in the morning.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 11, 2020, 09:34:52 am
I have a theory that the warmer it gets, the more evaporation and the more precipitation.  Maybe the extra rains come at the wrong times in the wrong places.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 11, 2020, 09:45:33 am
I have a theory that the warmer it gets, the more evaporation and the more precipitation.  Maybe the extra rains come at the wrong times in the wrong places.

That's basically correct.

When a large amount of precipitation falls, the soil may be unable to absorb it fast enough which then leads to runoffs and loss of nutrients, and the soil remains too dry. Also, when the underbrush was cleared (mechanically or by burning) there is also less capacity to store the precipitation.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 11, 2020, 11:32:19 am
I have a theory that the warmer it gets, the more evaporation and the more precipitation.  Maybe the extra rains come at the wrong times in the wrong places.
Exactly. All that rain has been coming down on the other side of Earth, right here in Ontario.

 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 11, 2020, 11:59:50 am
Well, it's about 60 degrees F right now in New Jersey and humid.  No rain.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on January 11, 2020, 03:47:15 pm
Well, it's about 60 degrees F right now in New Jersey and humid.  No rain.

It’s been raining heavily here in NE Indiana.  The golf course behind me is massively flooded.   I be happy to send some of this to OZ
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 11, 2020, 08:58:29 pm
This is why I find the widespread mania about the harmful effects of CO2 on climate, very troubling. The practical solution to our problems are more flood-mitigation dams and long-distance water pipes, stricter building codes based upon the past history of extreme weather events in the region, regular burn-off of forest debris during safe conditions, as the Aboriginals used to do, and so on.

It’s not a question of religion, it’s a question of science.  Whether we are in a Climate Crisis caused by human actions such as burning fossil fuels is a question for scientists to answer.  And they have.  It doesn’t really matter how comfortable we are with the way things are.  The governments of all developed countries apart from Australia and the United States recognise the necessity to deal with man-made climate change.  In Australia it’s not just the scientists, it’s also the fire chiefs that are calling for that because they have seen how unprecedented current conditions are.

Increases in average temperature don’t just affect bushfires and extreme weather events, they also affect the viability of agricultural land and the availability of water.  The longer we wait to address underlying causes of change, the more drastic the responses will need to be and the less effective they may be.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 11, 2020, 10:27:00 pm
It’s not a question of religion, it’s a question of science.  Whether we are in a Climate Crisis caused by human actions such as burning fossil fuels is a question for scientists to answer.  And they have.  It doesn’t really matter how comfortable we are with the way things are. The governments of all developed countries apart from Australia and the United States recognise the necessity to deal with man-made climate change.  In Australia it’s not just the scientists, it’s also the fire chiefs that are calling for that because they have seen how unprecedented current conditions are.

Increases in average temperature don’t just affect bushfires and extreme weather events, they also affect the viability of agricultural land and the availability of water.  The longer we wait to address underlying causes of change, the more drastic the responses will need to be and the less effective they may be.



This isn;t true.  China and India who produce 37% of the CO2 do not have to conform to any reduction requirements until 2030.  By that time, they may be producing half the world's man-made CO2.  CHina is building 850 coal fired electric plants throughout the world.  Meanwhile, America, who is second in producing CO2, has reduced its percentage from 17% to 14%, less than half of what China produces.  Without China and India, we're whistling in the wind.  In any case, we may be left with remediation rather than prevention, even if we could change the end results which many now agree is an impossible criteria to meet. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 12, 2020, 12:17:08 am
It is true.  I said developed countries.

We have a serious problem that is only going to escalate if we do nothing.  California for example is doing its best but Trump is pulling out of international climate conventions and Morrison is using accounting trickery to pretend that Australia is doing anything at all.  The problem was originally with developed countries and if we do not show leadership we cannot expect to persuade others.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 12, 2020, 05:32:47 am
... In Australia it’s not just the scientists, it’s also the fire chiefs that are calling for that because they have seen how unprecedented current conditions are....

OMG, this takes the cake! Fire chiefs spoke! Imagine! They have as much to say about science as your local priest.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 12, 2020, 06:36:36 am
OMG, this takes the cake! Fire chiefs spoke! Imagine! They have as much to say about science as your local priest.

If he's a Jesuit, he may have a great deal to contribute.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 12, 2020, 07:20:41 am
OMG, this takes the cake! Fire chiefs spoke! Imagine! They have as much to say about science as your local priest.

Fire chiefs know how to read a fire better that most scientists, it's a matter of life and dead to them.
Scientists can use their valuable input.

I don't know why, but some folks keep demonstrating their lack of understanding of the Scientific method, and they only add cheap shots instead of contributing something useful, like a possible solution. So far, your stance seems to be that future technology will solve all issues. Yet very little evidence is supplied, so it remains cheap.

The scientific method starts with observations!

In this particular case, the people in Australia seem to have a different perspective on what technology can do to save lives, livelihood, and property. The billion or so animals that got scorched, of course, have no say in this.

Also, the feral Camels face the first culling of some 10,000 animals, because they have become a pest to people and other animals in their search for water.

Camel cull in South Australia's remote APY Lands to begin, following sharp increase in population
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-07/camel-cull-in-apy-lands-begins/11848716
Quote
The first mass cull of feral camels in South Australia's remote north-west will start tomorrow, after dry conditions have seen the pest's numbers dramatically increase in the region as they seek water.

Key points:

The SA environment department estimates 10,000 camels are flocking to water sources APY Lands' Richard King said the camels destroy air conditioners to access moisture. Traditional owners previously mustered and sold the camels, but numbers are now too large

The population increase has resulted in significant damage to infrastructure and is a danger to families and communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, according to the South Australian Department for Environment and Water (DEW).

DEW estimates 10,000 camels are flocking to water sources, including tanks, taps and any available water.

APY Lands manager Richard King said the camels had come right into communities looking for water.

The "do nothing" (except adding to the problem), "someone else will do something to survive", is a needlessly expensive, lazy, and irresponsible "Après nous le déluge" attitude.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 12, 2020, 07:48:07 am
... So far, your stance seems to be that future technology will solve all issues...

For once, you understood me correctly.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 12, 2020, 08:05:40 am
For once, you understood me correctly.

You're an open book, even if one thinks that cloaking oneself in multi-interpretable comments would suggest intelligence.
Debating tricks do not provide solutions.

A non-answer remains just that. Not helpful.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 12, 2020, 08:50:10 am
It’s not a question of religion, it’s a question of science.  Whether we are in a Climate Crisis caused by human actions such as burning fossil fuels is a question for scientists to answer.  And they have. 

That's true. The scientists have provided answers - thousands of answers on thousands of climate related topics, and not all of the answers are consistent by any means.

The climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear. Future unexpected, large and rapid climate system changes (as have occurred in the past) are, by their nature, difficult to predict. This implies that future climate changes may also involve ‘surprises'. In particular, these arise from the non-linear, chaotic nature of the climate system.

Didn't you know that?   :(

I'm quoting from the IPCC.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 12, 2020, 10:19:00 am
That's true. The scientists have provided answers - thousands of answers on thousands of climate related topics, and not all of the answers are consistent by any means.

They are consistent, in that not everything is know yet (which doesn't mean that nothing is known). There are processes we can learn to understand and predict better, and the interactions are complex. But there is a large agreement on most subjects.

The actual observations often do match the predicted results, like rising global temperatures and rising sea-levels. There will usually be a margin of uncertainty, like how does humanity change its behavior? So that's why one makes models and given the correct inputs, the approx. correct results will be given.

Quote
The climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear. Future unexpected, large and rapid climate system changes (as have occurred in the past) are, by their nature, difficult to predict. This implies that future climate changes may also involve ‘surprises'. In particular, these arise from the non-linear, chaotic nature of the climate system.


So? We therefore improve our understanding, and base our actions on the best insights we have so far. It tells us exactly that we should not wait until we know everything, because 'everything' will probably not happen (and not in time), and it will be too costly to first destroy and then rebuild if even possible. And if things turn out even worse than expected, we've maneuvered ourselves in an impossible situation.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 10:20:45 am
It is true.  I said developed countries.

We have a serious problem that is only going to escalate if we do nothing.  California for example is doing its best but Trump is pulling out of international climate conventions and Morrison is using accounting trickery to pretend that Australia is doing anything at all.  The problem was originally with developed countries and if we do not show leadership we cannot expect to persuade others.
That's crazy.  China is a developed country.  Economically its second in the world.  I just bought a 4x5 camera from them.  How many does Australia or the US make?  IF you leave China out of the formula, you'll never get a handle on CO2.  You'll be spitting into the wind.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 10:23:31 am
Australia's indigenous people have a solution for the country's bushfires. And it's been around for 50,000 years
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/12/world/aboriginal-australia-fire-trnd/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 12, 2020, 10:41:13 am
Quote
So far, your stance seems to be that future technology will solve all issues...

Hardly! For example, even the best engineers and doctors were not able to speed up the human 9-month gestation time.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 12, 2020, 10:47:38 am
That's crazy.  China is a developed country.  Economically its second in the world.  I just bought a 4x5 camera from them.  How many does Australia or the US make?  IF you leave China out of the formula, you'll never get a handle on CO2.  You'll be spitting into the wind.

I thought you wanted to buy Sony RX100 camera to lighten your load. Do Chinese make now tiny 4x5 cameras?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 10:57:34 am
I thought you wanted to buy Sony RX100 camera to lighten your load. Do Chinese make now tiny 4x5 cameras?
I got a terrible case of GAS before my birthday and succumbed.  I do already shoot medium format film with my Mamiya RB67.  So first I bought a chimney viewfinder for it, a sports viewfinder and another light meter.  They weren't enough.  The GAS was eating at me.  So I pulled the trigger.  However, on the good side, the 4x5 weighs less than the Mamiya.  The 4x5 lenses are lighter too.  Plus, it's such a pretty camera -teak, black metal and carbon fiber. http://www.chamonixviewcamera.com/cameras/45h1

 You know I'm going to shoot better.  Right?  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 11:00:21 am
PS I do have an RX100 that I use when running around on vacation.  It's light and pocketable.  Film is for my contemplative moments similar to posting in the Coffee Corner. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 12, 2020, 11:05:57 am
I still have Fuji GX617 film camera with an excellent optical viewfinder. It's quite bulky but relatively light.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 11:12:46 am
Your Fuji apparently has held its value unlike my RB67 equipment.  The 4x5 I just bought can handle different backs beside 4x5 including  4x10, 5x7 (horizontal only), and 6x17.  So I have great options for future GAS attacks. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 12, 2020, 04:32:55 pm
That's crazy.  China is a developed country.  Economically its second in the world.  I just bought a 4x5 camera from them.  How many does Australia or the US make?  IF you leave China out of the formula, you'll never get a handle on CO2.  You'll be spitting into the wind.

China is not a developed country and is not generally recognised as such.  While it is one of the largest economies in the world, it is close to world average in GDP per capita, $18,000 as compared to $63,000 for the US.

China obviously needs to be part of the solution but that does not give the federal governments of Australia and the US an excuse for effectively doing nothing.  As I said "The problem was originally with developed countries and if we do not show leadership we cannot expect to persuade others."  Also, while likely not enough, China has made significant commitments to action on climate change, unlike the US and Australia.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 12, 2020, 04:48:47 pm
That's true. The scientists have provided answers - thousands of answers on thousands of climate related topics, and not all of the answers are consistent by any means.
The climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear. Future unexpected, large and rapid climate system changes (as have occurred in the past) are, by their nature, difficult to predict. This implies that future climate changes may also involve ‘surprises'. In particular, these arise from the non-linear, chaotic nature of the climate system.
Didn't you know that?   :(
I'm quoting from the IPCC.

The science has been clear for some time.  Here are some quotes from six years ago.

A March 2014 IPCC assessment found with “high confidence” that higher temperatures and drier conditions would lead to “increased damages to ecosystems and settlements, economic losses and risks to human life from wildfires in most of southern Australia and many parts of New Zealand”.


And from the Australian Climate Council in 2014:
“Very hot, dry and windy days create very high bushfire risk. The most direct link between bushfires and climate change therefore comes from the relationship between the long-term trend towards a warmer climate due to increasing greenhouse gas emissions ... and the incidence of very hot days.”

“Put simply, climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of very hot days and is driving up the likelihood of very high fire danger weather.”

“Asking if a weather event is ‘caused’ by climate change is the wrong question. All extreme weather events are now being influenced by climate change because they are occurring in a climate system that is hotter and moister than it was 50 years ago.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 04:56:51 pm
China is not a developed country and is not generally recognised as such.  While it is one of the largest economies in the world, it is close to world average in GDP per capita, $18,000 as compared to $63,000 for the US.

China obviously needs to be part of the solution but that does not give the federal governments of Australia and the US an excuse for effectively doing nothing.  As I said "The problem was originally with developed countries and if we do not show leadership we cannot expect to persuade others."  Also, while likely not enough, China has made significant commitments to action on climate change, unlike the US and Australia.

Murray, You're late to this thread.  We've all hashed out our positions in depth over 60 pages.  You can read my earlier responses.  I'm not going to rehash them out again. I have more important things to do. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 12, 2020, 04:59:02 pm
Like the Trump thread, this one has turned out useless too.

Entrenched ideas remain as they are; those who will not see remain blindly oblivious, and so it goes, just like religion, with no solution beyond bitterness and eventual mass killings, whether by food and water wars, fire, starvation or drowning.

So sad that some can't even agree that, right or wrong in the broader sense, it at least makes sense to try and stop what's happening or, at the very least, slow it down so we have another generation or two living the pre-apocalyptic life.

Doing any less than trying is the ultimate selfishness.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 12, 2020, 05:08:08 pm
Like the Trump thread, this one has turned out useless too.

Entrenched ideas remain as they are; those who will not see remain blindly oblivious, and so it goes, just like religion, with no solution beyond bitterness and eventual mass killings, whether by food and water wars, fire, starvation or drowning.

So sad that some can't even agree that, right or wrong in the broader sense, it at least makes sense to try and stop what's happening or, at the very least, slow it down so we have another generation or two living the pre-apocalyptic life.

Doing any less than trying is the ultimate selfishness.
Talk to the Chinese.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 12, 2020, 05:28:16 pm
... it at least makes sense to try and stop what's happening or, at the very least, slow it down...

Like what?

Try what exactly? Stop what exactly? Slow what exactly? And more importantly, how?

The latest example of the climato-maniacs lunacy is the attack on Roger Federer. Yes, the tennis star. Apparently, those idiots think that by stopping him from accepting Credit Suisse bank's sponsorship, they will stop Credit Suisse, and by stopping the bank they will stop the fossil fuel industry that the bank finances.

Stoping the fossil fuel industry!? Are you serious? How do you think the world will function without it? Shall I start looking for a bow and arrow for my next lunch? Amish friends, here i come!

Idiots.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 12, 2020, 07:27:07 pm
It looks like Roger Federer will accept the Credit Suisse sponsorship and the said bank will continue their business with the fossil industry. Pure business.
Much more worrisome is the fact that fossil industry continues to sabotage the global climate discussions. Meanwhile, PetroChina Co.’s capital spending is bigger than that of Exxon Mobil and BP combined.

Quote
Fossil fuel industry giants such as ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell are maintaining an outsize presence at global climate discussions, working to undermine scientific consensus and slow policy progress, according to findings released last week by an environmental monitoring organization.

The Climate Investigations Center (CIC) report claims that fossil fuel trade associations have sent more than 6,400 delegates to climate talks since 1995, including delegates from Shell, BP and ExxonMobil.

https://business.financialpost.com/commodities/energy/fossil-fuel-industry-quietly-undermining-global-climate-talks-report
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 12, 2020, 07:45:36 pm
Like what?...Try what exactly? Stop what exactly? Slow what exactly? And more importantly, how?...Idiots.

Yawn.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 13, 2020, 05:57:51 am
This Facebook post seems appropriate at this point:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 13, 2020, 03:05:08 pm
This Facebook post seems appropriate at this point:

Apropos blame... I am sure our friends will blame it on the climate change (man-caused, of course). When it is too hot - climate change, when it is too cold - climate change, when it is high tide - climate change, when it is low tide - climate change. I know even what are they going to say this time too: something about climate change and extremes:

"Venice canals almost dry, two months after severe floods|

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51098129

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 13, 2020, 03:21:14 pm
Someone lost the stopper. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 13, 2020, 07:41:54 pm
The science has been clear for some time.  Here are some quotes from six years ago.

Yes. The science is very clear that the climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear, which obviously makes predictions of future climate very unreliable. However, the IPCC, in its summaries for politicians, tends to soften this reality by using the term 'projection' rather than 'prediction', because its predictions have been wrong on so many occasions in the past, and using the word 'challenging' rather than 'unreliable'.

Quote
“Asking if a weather event is ‘caused’ by climate change is the wrong question. All extreme weather events are now being influenced by climate change because they are occurring in a climate system that is hotter and moister than it was 50 years ago.”

Climate is an average of all weather events in a particular region. A change in climate is therefore a result of a change in the frequency and/or severity of weather events, and those changes are caused by numerous factors. Climate can therefore neither cause nor influence an extreme weather event, because it is always the result of other conditions and changes, and is a mathematical calculation of averages.

To calculate the 'global' average of climate is very 'challenging', to put it mildly. The 'science based' Working Group 1 part of the IPCC reports, tend to be more truthful than the summaries for politicians (or policy makers).

Consider the following projections for the 21st Century.
https://wg1.ipcc.ch/presentations/Sbsta_drought.pdf

"Projections of drought by 2100 in RCP8.5

• Low confidence in an observed global-scale trend in drought or dryness (lack of
rainfall) since the 1950s, due to lack of direct observations, methodological uncertainties and choice and geographical inconsistencies in the trends ;
High confidence that the frequency and intensity of drought since 1950 have likely increased in the Mediterranean and West Africa (although 1970s Sahel drought dominatesthe trend) and likely decreased in central North America and northwest Australia ;
Low confidence in attributing changes in drought over global land areas since the mid20th century to human influence owing to observational uncertainties and difficulties in distinguishing decadal-scale variability in drought from long-term trends ;
High confidence for droughts during the last millennium of greater magnitude and longer duration than those observed since the beginning of the 20th century in many regions."


Note, there is high confidence that drought frequency and intensity has decreased in Northwest Australia since 1950. Southern Australia in not mentioned in the above quote, but is included in the following IPCC report.

https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-Chap25_FINAL.pdf

"Uncertainty in projected rainfall changes remains large for many parts of Australia and New Zealand, which creates significant challenges for adaptation. For example, projections for average annual runoff in far southeastern Australia range from little change to a 40% decline for 2°C global warming above current levels.

Some sectors in some locations have the potential to benefit from projected changes in climate and increasing atmospheric CO2 (high confidence). Examples include reduced winter mortality (low confidence), reduced energy demand for winter heating in New Zealand and southern parts of Australia, and forest growth in cooler regions except where soil nutrients or rainfall are limiting. Spring pasture growth in cooler regions would also increase and be beneficial for animal production if it can be utilized."


Yes, the science is definitely clear, about the general degree of uncertainty.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 13, 2020, 11:25:25 pm
A new study looking at the data from year 2019 and comparing it to the previous years provides more evidence that Earth is warming at an accelerated pace.

Quote
The world's oceans hit their warmest level in recorded history in 2019, according to a study published Monday that provides more evidence that Earth is warming at an accelerated pace. The analysis, which also found that ocean temperatures in the last decade have been the warmest on record, shows the impact of human-caused warming on the planet's oceans and suggests that sea-level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events could worsen as the oceans continue to absorb so much heat.

"The pace of warming has increased about 500 percent since the late 1980s," said one of the study's authors, John Abraham, a professor of thermal sciences at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. "The findings, to be honest, were not unexpected. Warming is continuing, it has accelerated, and it is unabated. Unless we do something significant and quickly, it's really dire news."

Abraham and his colleagues found that the rate of ocean warming accelerated from 1987 to 2019 to nearly 4½ times the rate of warming from 1955 to 1986.


https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/earth-s-oceans-are-hotter-ever-getting-warmer-faster-n1114811
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 14, 2020, 10:48:55 am
Yes. The science is very clear that the climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear, which obviously makes predictions of future climate very unreliable.

Strange conclusion, and very unscientific. One of the goals of science is to create a better understanding of complex issues.

That improved knowledge can be used to create models and, as Climate models have shown, with the right inputs they can give an excellent idea of what to expect. The models have been getting better as new knowledge was added, e.g. by better measurements. In fact, global warming caused by rising CO2 concentration from fossil-fuel burning and other combustion processes was already (correctly) predicted in 1896.

One way that science deals with complex processes is by creating Ensemble models (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistical_ensemble_(mathematical_physics)). From those, statistical probabilities for different outcomes can be derived.

If only humans would take the logical steps based on such models, then the models would prove even more reliable ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 14, 2020, 02:18:44 pm
Is there divine justice in that Oz, as the world's biggest exporter of coal and gas, also gets the flames?

And is it coincidence that Ozzie Murdoch's media champions pyromaniacs as the cause of such fires rather than the result of man-made industrial and personal pollution and its effect on the natural order and equilibrium?

The fuzz has denied that it's got much to do with any outbreak of largely imaginary fire crazies, blaming whom seems to be one of that media conglomerate's diversionary tactics. Maybe the media has been bugging the pyromaniacs' telephones... buy hey, they wouldn't do that kind of thing, would they? Not bug anybody again, surely?

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 14, 2020, 06:38:12 pm
Quote
Quote from: Ray on January 13, 2020, 07:41:54 pm
Yes. The science is very clear that the climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear, which obviously makes predictions of future climate very unreliable.

Strange conclusion, and very unscientific. One of the goals of science is to create a better understanding of complex issues.

That's a very illogical and unscientific statement, Bart. A better understanding of chaotic and complex systems can result in a realization that they are more complex and chaotic that we originally thought.

An example is our increasing understanding of the expansion of the universe from the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago. We calculated the expansion was slowing down and predicted it would soon come to a halt. The universe would then begin contracting and collapse on itself.

However, as we extended our observations, via the Hubble telescope, to more distant galaxies, it became clear that the rate of expansion is accelerating. The explanation for this accelerating expansion is the anti-gravitational effect of Dark Matter and Dark Energy, which is currently invisible and undetectable. Furthermore, if the 'hypothesis' for the existence of Dark Matter and Energy is correct, it must exist in such large quantities that it represents around 95% of all the matter and energy in the universe.

Wow! After centuries of amazing scientific development we have reached the stage of being able to detect, with all our sophisticated instruments and devices, only 5% of the matter and energy that surrounds us.

I think this adds truth to the saying, 'The more we know, the more we realize how little we know'.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: John Camp on January 15, 2020, 12:09:20 am
Yes. The science is very clear that the climate system is complex, chaotic and non-linear, which obviously makes predictions of future climate very unreliable.

I would disagree with that, Ray, though you are certainly right that the system is complex, chaotic and non-linear. As is a roulette wheel, for any one roll of the ball, which bounces, ricochets, and hops from one cup to the next. But with all that, the overall edge for the house (with a standard wheel and rules) is about 5.26%. And that's an extremely reliable 5.26%. So while any particular outcome in roulette or the weather is subject to all kinds of vagaries, the overall trend tends to be quite predictable -- perhaps not as much with climate as with roulette, but at this point, we have enough data to clearly discern a particular direction. We can't say that climate change means it'll be warmer in West Jesus, Texas, in particular, because of those complexities, but we can confidently say that Texas, over some longer period of time, will become warmer.

This is not easy stuff to get around. For example, some reasonably credible people have suggested that if it gets warm enough on earth as a whole, the melting of the Greenland glaciers may quicken to the point that a flood of cool, lighter (because fresh) water will enter the North Atlantic, floating on top of, and muffling the normal effect of the warm Gulf Stream. If that happens, Europe, which derives quite a bit of warmth from the Gulf Stream, could suffer a prolonged cold climate, until the flow of fresh water abates. (Europe is unusually warm because of the Gulf Stream -- it's useful to remember that Paris is about the same latitude as Winnipeg, Canada, and London is actually further north than Winnipeg.) A cooler Europe wouldn't mean that the earth as a whole is getting cooler, or that Europe will be permanently cool, it's that the cool weather there would be a product of the warmer earth.

I have some ideas about people who deny climate change, but it would be impolite to bring them up here, so I won't.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 15, 2020, 01:12:43 am
How much should we spend to change the earth's climate assuming that's possible?  Where will the resources come from?  (The US is already running a trillion dollar annual deficit.)  How much money won;t be available for cancer research, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, providing medical care for the sick, inventing new life saving pharmaceuticals?  How many people who now have heating and other life's necessities will lose them or never obtain them if we outlaw fossil fuels?  How will you accomplish anything when China and India who don;t have to comply and don;t comply with Paris accord standards are contributing 37% of the CO2?  That's over a third of the total. 

You know, I;d like to have a chalet on the Riviera.  But if I had one I couldn't afford to eat. 

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 15, 2020, 03:08:26 am
How much should we spend to change the earth's climate assuming that's possible?  Where will the resources come from?  (The US is already running a trillion dollar annual deficit.)  How much money won;t be available for cancer research, feeding the poor, housing the homeless, providing medical care for the sick, inventing new life saving pharmaceuticals?  How many people who now have heating and other life's necessities will lose them or never obtain them if we outlaw fossil fuels?  How will you accomplish anything when China and India who don;t have to comply and don;t comply with Paris accord standards are contributing 37% of the CO2?  That's over a third of the total. 

You know, I;d like to have a chalet on the Riviera.  But if I had one I couldn't afford to eat.
Some measures may actually bring efficiencies.  In any case the cost of doing nothing or even too little is likely to be greater than the cost of effective action.

The US has 17% of world population and 50% of world military expenditure.  There must be scope for saving there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 15, 2020, 04:47:58 am
How much should we spend to change the earth's climate assuming that's possible?  Where will the resources come from?

There is a lot of stupid art and bananas taped to the wall in various galleries purchased for millions of dollars. That money could be used more wisely for solar panels, cow fart bags or catching microplastics in the oceans.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 05:04:39 am
...we can confidently say that Texas, Whateverville, over some longer period of time, will become warmer...

So?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 05:11:21 am
There is a lot of stupid art and bananas taped to the wall in various galleries purchased for millions of dollars. That money could be used more wisely for solar panels, cow fart bags or catching microplastics in the oceans.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 15, 2020, 08:46:45 am
Some measures may actually bring efficiencies.  In any case the cost of doing nothing or even too little is likely to be greater than the cost of effective action.

The US has 17% of world population and 50% of world military expenditure.  There must be scope for saving there.
America is doing stuff already.  Tesla sold Australia millions of dollars in batteries to backup electricity production there.  Tesla also makes electric cars sold throughout the world and is building a 2 billion dollar plant in CHina for their consumption..  We're doing a lot of other stuff as well.  But the kind of spending required to make a difference in the climate is huge.  Without CHina and India, it's going nowheres. 

Additionally, we could cut back on military spending.  But is Australia ready to go it alone against the Chinese in the Pacific if we recall our Pacific fleet to save money.  WHo are you going to join forces with? VietNam? Taiwan? the Philippines?  Would you prefer theirs or American power as a partner?  If you increase your spending to make up the difference so you can protect yourself better, where will the Australian money come from to pay for green energy plans?  Ditto with Europe.  If we pull back, than Europe has to spend more on their military as well leaving less money for green.  Spending money is a zero sum game.

I suppose Americans could accept less Social Security money in retirement. Or less government sponsored medical care.  But what American politician is going to vote for those reductions in benefits to help the climate out 50 years from now so some poor Bangladeshis won't have another foot of seawater?  Do you think most Americans care about other rich Americans who can afford to live by the shore? Here in New Jersey, they putting their homes on stilts if they live by the beach.  Cheap solution for rising seas.

Which Australian politician would vote to shut down Australia's coal export business to China?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 09:04:56 am
... In any case the cost of doing nothing or even too little is likely to be greater than the cost of effective action...

This is one of those cutesy sayings that make people saying them oh, so warm and feel so smart, yet totally meaningless in the real world.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 15, 2020, 09:13:32 am
So?

So what? That predictions of future climate are not very unreliable, given the right input?

After all, global temperature rise was predicted in 1896, the exact amount being dependent on the amount of fossil fuel burning. That human/anthropogenic aspect is the hard part to predict (because logic doesn't apply, and the human species is willing to destruct their own habitat). Let some miracle technology solve it in the future, and if not, who cares about future generations. Therefore, science also uses a "business as usual" model, and that paints a very grim outlook.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 15, 2020, 09:14:28 am
This is one of those cutesy sayings that make people saying them oh, so warm and feel so smart, yet totally meaningless in the real world.

There are 'some' Australians who beg to differ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 15, 2020, 09:20:11 am
This is one of those cutesy sayings that make people saying them oh, so warm and feel so smart, yet totally meaningless in the real world.

Virtually all human advancement contradicts your statement.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 10:03:39 am
Virtually all human advancement contradicts your statement.

Yet another one of those cutesy sayings that make people saying them oh, so warm and feel so smart, yet totally meaningless.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 10:06:40 am
... That predictions of future climate are not very unreliable...

Right.

Polar caps already melted two years ago, Glacier National Park will this year, Maldives are already under water since 2018, etc. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 15, 2020, 11:08:30 am
Right.

Polar caps already melted two years ago, Glacier National Park will this year, Maldives are already under water since 2018, etc.

You shouldn't be so gullible and believe such blog posts or sensational stories. Listen to what solid peer-reviewed scientific evidence tells us (and check who funded the research).

1. No scientific reports to support that notion. Prediction of ice-free arctic sea-areas during summers, yes, but that would grow back during winter.
The US military also made contingency plans for an ice-free northern passage during summers, are that's a wise thing to do. 
2. No scientific report from a decade ago available.
3. No scientific reports that indicate the Maldives going under for quite a while. Summer storm floods with saltwater, yes, increasing salination of the islands' water due to rising water pressure from the sea, yes. But going under by 2018, no.
3.1 Maldives I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41TCWEl-x_g
3.2 Maldives II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQqTFGxrmg
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 15, 2020, 03:01:33 pm
A novel way of showing lots of data in an informative way is known as Warming stripes, which shows average annual temperatures from the earliest official temperature recordings at a given location to present (2019). Many examples for different locations can be found here (https://www.climate-lab-book.ac.uk/2018/warming-stripes/).

Admittedly, those are from a Climate Scientist's blog, but it links to the publicly available official source data sets.

Annual global temperatures from 1850-2017
(http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/climate-lab-book/files/2018/05/globalcore.png)
The colour scale represents the change in global temperatures covering 1.35°C [data (https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/hadobs/hadcrut4/)]


Annual temperatures for Australia (1910-2017)
(http://blogs.reading.ac.uk/climate-lab-book/files/2018/05/australia_stripes.png)
The colour scale goes from 20.7°C (dark blue) to 23.0°C (dark red)[data (http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/change/#tabs=Tracker&tracker=timeseries)]

P.S. here are the stripes for your country: http://showyourstripes.info/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 15, 2020, 03:20:15 pm
Bart, These are definitely prettier than your other chart in Hawaii on the mountaintop showing the CO2 levels.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 15, 2020, 03:34:16 pm
Bart, These are definitely prettier than your other chart in Hawaii on the mountaintop showing the CO2 levels.  :)

I agree, although the message is not pretty.

And maybe you like this animated CO2 chart more than the more static one:
Time history of atmospheric CO2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mZyCblxS4
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 15, 2020, 03:36:46 pm
I agree, although the message is not pretty.

And maybe you like this animated CO2 chart more than the more static one:
Time history of atmospheric CO2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2mZyCblxS4

I wish my investment chart looked like that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 03:59:03 pm
You shouldn't be so gullible and believe such blog posts or sensational stories. Listen to what solid peer-reviewed scientific evidence tells us (and check who funded the research).

1. No scientific reports to support that notion. Prediction of ice-free arctic sea-areas during summers, yes, but that would grow back during winter.
The US military also made contingency plans for an ice-free northern passage during summers, are that's a wise thing to do. 
2. No scientific report from a decade ago available.
3. No scientific reports that indicate the Maldives going under for quite a while. Summer storm floods with saltwater, yes, increasing salination of the islands' water due to rising water pressure from the sea, yes. But going under by 2018, no.
3.1 Maldives I: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41TCWEl-x_g
3.2 Maldives II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aQqTFGxrmg

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 15, 2020, 04:16:04 pm
You shouldn't be so gullible and believe such blog posts or sensational stories...

There we agree. I didn't believe it then, don't believe it now. The world is not ending in 12 years, Miami won't be underwater in "a few years,"  the world is not on the brink of extinction, etc.

But apparently you believe that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 15, 2020, 06:18:28 pm
There we agree. I didn't believe it then, don't believe it now. The world is not ending in 12 years, Miami won't be underwater in "a few years,"  the world is not on the brink of extinction, etc.

But apparently you believe that.
Maybe it won't be your problem, but certainly that of all future generations if we do not act.
The CO2-graphs show the simple result of man digging up carbon and burning it.
The forest fires in Austalia are a result and make the CO2 position worse ; The same happens in the USSR with the permafrost soils.
In that case the temperature increase make the soils unfrozen and they release methane, a much more powerfull greenhouse gas, making the situation worse again.
Maybe you do not agree that the climate change is man-made; but it is clearly happening and we have to do something about it.
Burning less carbon is a good start.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 15, 2020, 06:25:57 pm
Maybe it won't be your problem, but certainly that of all future generations if we do not act.
The CO2-graphs show the simple result of man digging up carbon and burning it.
The forest fires in Austalia are a result and make the CO2 position worse ; The same happens in the USSR with the permafrost soils.
In that case the temperature increase make the soils unfrozen and they release methane, a much more powerfull greenhouse gas, making the situation worse again.
Maybe you do not agree that the climate change is man-made; but it is clearly happening and we have to do something about it.
Burning less carbon is a good start.

If the permafrost melts, think of all the new arable land that will be available for farming.  Think of all the species that will be able to expand their populations into.  Think of all the grasses that will "eat" the CO2. 

Let's talk about benefits from warming.  Climate change has winners as well as losers.  History has shown that there are more winners than losers as the world has gotten warmer.  Life is more abundant today than any time in the past since the last ice age for most species including man.  A couple of extra degrees will make it even better.  Sure, it may negatively affect 150 million people who live a low areas by the sea.  By there's billions more that warmer weather will make it better for. 

Think of all those cold Canadians who won;t have to flee to FLorida in the winter.   :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 15, 2020, 07:48:29 pm
If the permafrost melts, think of all the new arable land that will be available for farming.  Think of all the species that will be able to expand their populations into.  Think of all the grasses that will "eat" the CO2. 

Let's talk about benefits from warming.  Climate change has winners as well as losers.  History has shown that there are more winners than losers as the world has gotten warmer.  Life is more abundant today than any time in the past since the last ice age for most species including man.  A couple of extra degrees will make it even better.  Sure, it may negatively affect 150 million people who live a low areas by the sea.  By there's billions more that warmer weather will make it better for. 

Think of all those cold Canadians who won;t have to flee to FLorida in the winter.   :)

Alan, we had this discussion before. The sudden and unpredictable temperature swings are a big problem. As shown somewhere else on the first few pages of this thread, 2 degrees higher temperatures killed thousands of people in Asia and Europe in the recent summers.
 
This year, in Ontario we had 15 record warm days. That's as of 15th of January. We haven't been able to skate outdoors yet, but more slush and ice the ice had been forming on the sidewalks than usual. The warm winter days ruin also all the fun and fish harvesting from the winter ice fishing. Most fishing huts are still sitting in the suburban driveways and backyards. Not speaking about ruined skiing season.

The changing weather patterns are also a problem for the snow birds. In southern Florida, the second half of December was the coldest, windiest and wettest 2 week period in the recent history. With huge and angry waves preventing swimming in the ocean.

The greatest benefactors of warmest weather in the northern hemisphere are all kinds of insects. Personally, I saw in Ontario a great increase in japanese beetles, mosquitoes, and ticks. The onslaught of japanese beetles destroyed many berry bushes in matter of days and the hordes of mosquitoes ruin all fun from carrying a canoe just from the parking lot to the lake. The problem with destroyed berry bushes is not only that one summer harvest, but a setback for the entire plant. Two seasons in a row like that, and the mature and nice bushes are finished.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 15, 2020, 08:02:59 pm
If the permafrost melts, think of all the new arable land that will be available for farming. ...
No Alan, these will be muddy swamps with methane bubbling up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: MurrayFoote on January 16, 2020, 05:10:44 am
Apart from that, good soil takes a long time to generate by the cumulation of biological processes.  There won't be any good soil under the permafrost.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 16, 2020, 05:27:18 am
It's been going on for some years, this gradual warming, and to many people's cost. They built a skiing resort up in Scotland's Grampians, and for some time it was a success story, then bit by bit the snows stopped coming well enough to make it work; there are some abandoned places up there now...

The same holds for the snow houses that used to exist in the mountains in Mallorca, used to gather ice for taking down to the towns.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 06:29:09 am
For our scientific friends on the forum, a couple of questions (asking for a friend):

Quote
Why  were  temperatures  rising  from  the  1800s (actually even earlier)  without   significant  increase  in  CO2  until  well into  the  20th  Century?  Why  is  warming  less  strong in  the  troposphere,  which climate  models  predict  is  where  we should mostly  see  it,  &  has  changed little  for  some  years  despite  continued  increase  in  CO2? It  appears  that  the  equilibrium  climate sensitivity (estimate  of  change  in  temp  from  doubling  of  emissions) is  less  than  previously  thought,  based on  newer  methods  based  on  data  instead  of  simulations.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 16, 2020, 06:33:55 am
Apart from that, good soil takes a long time to generate by the cumulation of biological processes.  There won't be any good soil under the permafrost.
+1
and then the permafrost is very deep- sometimes more than a hundred meter deep. Only the top is melting and turning into a swamp - this soil has no structure at all.
The houses in Siberia are 'detached' from the permafrost soil especially to keep it frozen.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 07:03:34 am
... The greatest benefactors of warmest weather in the northern hemisphere are all kinds of insects. Personally, I saw in Ontario a great increase in japanese beetles, mosquitoes, and ticks....

Yes, it is important to know your ticks:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 07:17:02 am
Most definitely, there has been a significant increase of both, ticks and lunatics.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 07:45:36 am
McKinsey released results of a new study on climate change, which is seen is no longer only as an environmental problem, but increasingly as a serious economic threat.
If nothing happens, climate change could “endanger hundreds of millions of lives, trillions of dollars in economic power, and the physical and natural capital of the world.”

Quote
  • For example, they suffer Tourism and food production in the Mediterranean, if in 2050 the climatic conditions in Marseille resemble those of Algiers today. The drought period in the Mediterranean region then extends over an average of more than six months a year. The risk of crop failures is increasing worldwide. Additional storage is required to compensate for this, the report estimates the cost to be between five and eleven billion dollars a year.
  • The danger from Cyclones and tidal waves could expose the value Florida Real Estate by 30 percent by 2050.
  • The Warming the oceans could that fishing by eight percent by 2050 and affect the livelihoods of 650 to 800 million citizens worldwide.
  • A quarter of the Top 100 Airports is less than ten meters above sea level and, according to the study, could be exposed to “serious dangers” from high tides and storms. In addition, around 185,000 passengers a year would not be able to fly until 2050 due to the heat.

https://en24.news/2020/01/mckinsey-study-on-climate-change-results-are-devastating.html

The other certainty is that in 2050 Greta Thunberg will be 45 and most climate change deniers 100 years old (or not).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 16, 2020, 08:06:31 am
We're all doomed! DOOMED! Damn.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 16, 2020, 08:24:41 am
There we agree. I didn't believe it then, don't believe it now. The world is not ending in 12 years, Miami won't be underwater in "a few years,"  the world is not on the brink of extinction, etc.

But apparently you believe that.

It's fun to watch you use the most outlandish predictions from the fringe to sidetrack sensible discussion. But it's only your credibility that suffers in the long run.

What I find more interesting is your knee-jerk dismissal of any idea that does not fit into your "lefties are loony" world view, especially since the definition of who is a "lefty loony" is completely arbitrary to begin with.

But you should be happy today. Rollbacks in water protection at the EPA are being met with cheers from various industries and especially Big Agriculture. Why should they have to participate in measures to preserve fresh water in the future? Clean water and air are "lefty loony" ideas, after all.

You're winning, why all the whining, you should be cheering. What can go wrong?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 16, 2020, 08:32:42 am
Most definitely, there has been a significant increase of both, ticks and lunatics.
:)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 16, 2020, 08:34:10 am
In a recent speech, Trump spoke out against using more efficient home appliances, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/trump-rails-against-refrigerators-promises-cleaner-dishes-milwaukee-rally?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/trump-rails-against-refrigerators-promises-cleaner-dishes-milwaukee-rally?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other). I presume he's claiming that they don't work well.

Sometimes it feels as if we are in an episode of a Rod Serling program. What a pathetic spectacle this culture war is turning into. My wish is that the real world is not what we see every day on the interweb.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 08:41:51 am
It's fun to watch you use the most outlandish predictions from the fringe to sidetrack sensible discussion...

Most outlandish they are. That's to be expected from the Loonie Left.

But from the fringe? These are predictions peddled by the former Vice President of the US and a Nobel Prize winner for his work on climate; current member of the US Congress and peddler of the Green New Deal, broadly accepted by the Left and all the 2020 presidential candidates; and last, but not least, a speech from the platform of the UN by a medically-certified loonie kid.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 16, 2020, 08:42:47 am
My wish is that the real world is not what we see every day on the interweb.

Don't sweat it, Robert. It's not. Never has been. Never will be.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 08:44:37 am
... I presume he's claiming that they don't work well...

And he is, once again, absolutely right. Anyone who washes dishes in a dishwasher can certify that. Maybe in Canada you are luckier and do not have "environmentally-friendly" (not!) detergents.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 16, 2020, 08:46:10 am
In a recent speech, Trump spoke out against using more efficient home appliances, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/trump-rails-against-refrigerators-promises-cleaner-dishes-milwaukee-rally?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/15/trump-rails-against-refrigerators-promises-cleaner-dishes-milwaukee-rally?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other). I presume he's claiming that they don't work well.

Sometimes it feels as if we are in an episode of a Rod Serling program. What a pathetic spectacle this culture war is turning into. My wish is that the real world is not what we see every day on the interweb.



It's about government regulation interfering in your life that is often silly.  Such as requiring low flow shower heads so you can;t enjoy a brisk shower, low water flush toilets that get stuffed up or you have to flush 4 times every time you use it, bulbs that are too cold because they outlawed warm colored incandescent bulbs,. etc.  In NJ where I live now, they want to outlaw plastic straws, Bloomberg when he was mayor of NYC wanted to outlaw drink cups larger than 16 ounces, and they're also talking about outlawing plastic bags at the supermarket.  Trump is the outsider, the anti-establishmentarian.  Bernie Sanders is like him but from the left.  Biden is taking a nap. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 16, 2020, 08:48:24 am
Maybe you do not agree that the climate change is man-made; but it is clearly happening and we have to do something about it.
Burning less carbon is a good start.

Yes. Climate change is happening. It always has and always will. That's the nature of climate.
We can argue endlessly about the contribution of anthropogenic CO2 emissions to such warming, and the contribution of deforestation and modern agriculture, which cannot be precisely quantified because of the complex, chaotic and non-linear nature of climate.

However, despite these uncertainties, it is clear that significant changes in climate have occurred in the past, with devastating consequences for civilizations in the region. A recent example is the collapse of the Khmer civilization in Cambodia during the 13th and 14th centuries, due to long periods of drought.

Does someone think that reducing CO2 levels would have prevented that Khmer civilization from collapsing?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 16, 2020, 08:56:28 am
Yes. Climate change is happening. It always has and always will. That's the nature of climate.
We can argue endlessly about the contribution of anthropogenic CO2 emissions to such warming, and the contribution of deforestation and modern agriculture, which cannot be precisely quantified because of the complex, chaotic and non-linear nature of climate.

However, despite these uncertainties, it is clear that significant changes in climate have occurred in the past, with devastating consequences for civilizations in the region. A recent example is the collapse of the Khmer civilization in Cambodia during the 13th and 14th centuries, due to long periods of drought.

Does someone think that reducing CO2 levels would have prevented that Khmer civilization from collapsing?  ;)

Actually changing the climate to save the Khmers might be easier than changing anyone's mind here.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 16, 2020, 09:04:51 am
I presume he's claiming that they don't work well.

So how do you like your "low flush" toilet, Robert? Are you convinced that since you save water every time you flush it,  flushing it three times to clear it saves a lot of water?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 09:22:00 am
And he is, once again, absolutely right. Anyone who washes dishes in a dishwasher can certify that. Maybe in Canada you are luckier and do not have "environmentally-friendly" (not!) detergents.

The first google find, from a loonie left-friendly source, NPR. This is an older article, but I learned about it from a recent one (can't find it right now) that had an update: that the replacement chemical is even worse for the environment.

https://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132072122/it-s-not-your-fault-your-dishes-are-still-dirty

"Dishes Still Dirty? Blame Phosphate-Free Detergent"

Quote
Is your dishwasher not working the way it used to? Earlier this year, with little fanfare, detergent makers reworked their formulas.

This was supposed to be good for waterways. But it turned a simple chore into a frustrating mystery for many people across the country.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 09:30:47 am
And he is, once again, absolutely right. Anyone who washes dishes in a dishwasher can certify that. Maybe in Canada you are luckier and do not have "environmentally-friendly" (not!) detergents.

Canadians wash their laundry in the same "super-quick" machines as the Americans. When they compare European washers with the American models they complain about the longer washing times, and Europeans complain of poor washing results in American washers. As to my own experience, when washing shirts I agree with the American reviewers but when it comes to underwear I side with Europeans. Slobodan, what has been your experience?
   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 16, 2020, 09:45:27 am
How are we going to change the climate when people demand washers and dryers in their lives and we have billions of people who still wash clothes by hand?  Reminds me when I was a kid. I grew up in The Bronx, lunatic congresswoman AOC's territory now.  There were 2 or 3 washers in the basement of the apartment building serving 64 apartments.  I was assigned the washer and had to take the wash down and argue for my next turn with other tenants.  Then after doing all the washes bringing them up to the roof to hang them out to dry with clothespins on a clothesline because it was cheaper than using the drier. I guess we used the drier in the winter or if it rained. I don;t recall now.   At least I got some sun when it was out. 

Having these things in my home now are so convenient.  They don't always clean things the way I like, but who's complaining too much?  We really are spoiled. 

OK who's the first here volunteering to give up their washer and dryer to save the earth?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 10:17:38 am
How are we going to change the climate when people demand washers and dryers in their lives and we have billions of people who still wash clothes by hand?  Reminds me when I was a kid. I grew up in The Bronx, lunatic congresswoman AOC's territory now.  There were 2 or 3 washers in the basement of the apartment building serving 64 apartments.  I was assigned the washer and had to take the wash down and argue for my next turn with other tenants.  Then after doing all the washes bringing them up to the roof to hang them out to dry with clothespins on a clothesline because it was cheaper than using the drier. I guess we used the drier in the winter or if it rained. I don;t recall now.   At least I got some sun when it was out. 

Having these things in my home now are so convenient.  They don't always clean things the way I like, but who's complaining too much?  We really are spoiled. 

OK who's the first here volunteering to give up their washer and dryer to save the earth?

The technology varied between Europe and America. When I was kid in the then communist country, our low-rise apartment building didn't have any elevators, but we had our own washer in the bathroom, which doubled as my dark room. As far as I remember, we didn't own a dryer. I am doing my bit in saving the earth. Although I own both washer and dryer, I don't use the dryer at all. In the summer, I string cloth lines in my backyard and in the winter in the basement. Most Cubans still hang out their laundry on the cloth lines.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 16, 2020, 10:30:15 am
The technology varied between Europe and America. When I was kid in the then communist country, our low-rise apartment building didn't have any elevators, but we had our own washer in the bathroom, which doubled as my dark room. As far as I remember, we didn't own a dryer. I am doing my bit in saving the earth. Although I own both washer and dryer, I don't use the dryer at all. In the summer, I string cloth lines in my backyard and in the winter in the basement. Most Cubans still hang out their laundry on the cloth lines.
I too am doing my part to save the earth as I rarely do either the washing or drying.  My wife is the polluter, not me.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 10:31:53 am
Most women like and use their dryers.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 10:54:12 am
... Most Cubans still hang out their laundry on the cloth lines.

Out of necessity.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 12:23:57 pm
I always thought it was some secret spy signal. Although the arrangement in your third picture could have a different meaning.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 12:42:13 pm
Jeff Bezos says that anyone who denies reality of climate change is ‘not being reasonable’.

Quote
Denying climate change is dangerous and unreasonable in the year 2020, according to billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Speaking at Amazon’s Smbhav summit for small and medium-sized enterprises in New Delhi, India, Bezos described climate change as a big problem and warned that Earth is “a finite planet.”
“You can go back 10 years or 20 years and there were people who just did not acknowledge that climate change is real,” he said. “Anybody today who is not acknowledging that climate change is real — that we humans are affecting this planet in a very significant and dangerous way — those people are not being reasonable.”

“We have sent robotic probes to every planet in the solar system — this is the good one,” he said. “There are no other good planets in this solar system. We have to take care of this one.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/15/jeff-bezos-anyone-who-denies-climate-change-is-not-being-reasonable.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 01:03:39 pm
How many times we need to go over that tired trope that “some” are denying climate change!? Nobody is doing that, as the climate has been changing since the dawn of time.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 06:50:40 pm
13 extremely snowy pictures from Tyrol mountains in Austria

(https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/941d187f-0001-0004-0000-000001391662_w1528_r1.502439024390244_fpx29.96_fpy50.98.jpg)

https://www.spiegel.de/reise/europa/weitwandern-im-winter-seefeld-tirol-der-schnee-ist-das-ziel-a-1251677.html#fotostrecke-985d5855-0001-0002-0000-000000166732
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 16, 2020, 07:25:25 pm
So much for Alan's assertion that things will get better as the climate heats up. 

Tell that to the estimated million common murres who died recently as a result of warming seas in the North Pacific.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51140869
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 16, 2020, 08:03:44 pm
So much for Alan's assertion that things will get better as the climate heats up. 

Tell that to the estimated million common murres who died recently as a result of warming seas in the North Pacific.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51140869

Not counting one billion dead animals in Australia fires due to a combination of very high temperatures and a record drought.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 09:29:31 pm
..l Tell that to the estimated million common murres...

Who gives a #$&* about murres!?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 16, 2020, 09:43:46 pm
So how do you like your "low flush" toilet, Robert? Are you convinced that since you save water every time you flush it,  flushing it three times to clear it saves a lot of water?

What ARE you talking about?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 16, 2020, 09:50:13 pm
People used to make fun of "third world" dictators saying stupid shit. Now Trump makes some comments about laundry machines and all the fellow travellers jump on the bandwagon. All of a sudden dish and laundry machines don't work anymore. You guys don't need to feel that you have to agree with everything that comes out of that guy's mouth. No one will doubt your credentials, you know. No one will see it as treason, you can relax.

Tribal identification is a powerful force.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 16, 2020, 09:56:47 pm
People used to make fun of "third world" dictators saying stupid shit. Now Trump makes some comments about laundry machines and all the fellow travellers jump on the bandwagon. All of a sudden dish and laundry machines don't work anymore. You guys don't need to feel that you have to agree with everything that comes out of that guy's mouth. No one will doubt your credentials, you know. No one will see it as treason, you can relax.

Tribal identification is a powerful force.

WTH are you talking about? I posted an article that is from 10 years ago that identified the problem with dishwashers. Something I personally experienced. Long before Trump.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 16, 2020, 10:50:44 pm
Not counting one billion dead animals in Australia fires due to a combination of very high temperatures and a record drought.

No kidding. I just sent some money to those who are looking after some of the survivors.

I can't help it.  It's the socialist in me.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: James Clark on January 16, 2020, 11:24:34 pm
The first google find, from a loonie left-friendly source, NPR. This is an older article, but I learned about it from a recent one (can't find it right now) that had an update: that the replacement chemical is even worse for the environment.

https://www.npr.org/2010/12/15/132072122/it-s-not-your-fault-your-dishes-are-still-dirty

"Dishes Still Dirty? Blame Phosphate-Free Detergent"

From your article:

Quote
Seventeen states banned phosphates from dishwasher detergents because the chemical compounds also pollute lakes, bays and streams. They create algae blooms and starve fish of oxygen.

But dirty and damaged dishes are turning many people into skeptics, including Wright.

"I'm angry at the people who decided that phosphate was growing algae. I'm not sure that I believe that," Wright adds.

This is Trumper “logic” in a nutshell - the exact emotional level he plays to.  :-[
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 17, 2020, 10:47:59 am
Listen, guys. If your toilet isn't flushing properly, have it repaired or buy a better one. Stop blaming Obama. You sound like crazy people, seriously.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on January 17, 2020, 11:19:41 am
Listen, guys. If your toilet isn't flushing properly, have it repaired or buy a better one. Stop blaming Obama. You sound like crazy people, seriously.

We recently moved.  I replaced all three toilets with high quality Kohlers.  They all still take multi flushes quite often.  The low water rules suck.  Dont get me started on washing machines....
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 17, 2020, 11:29:14 am
But you're saving water every time you flush, Craig. So it's okay.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: James Clark on January 17, 2020, 11:38:01 am
You guys need to eat more fiber.  And apparently not get so dirty.   :o
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 17, 2020, 02:07:46 pm
This is how Florida is preparing for the global warming and rising sea levels:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 17, 2020, 02:19:10 pm
This is how Florida is preparing for the global warming and rising sea levels:


Wise man: he already thought of the stilts!

It will turn into a pleasant houseboat, in time, but there's little guarantee the stilts have been built strongly enough to handle Atlantic tides and storms, and who knows if the electricity and water supplies have been thought ahead as brilliantly? It may be different on the Gulf coast.

Is there a chance that the poor old alligators from the swamps will be able to ape Australia's salt water variety of croc?

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 17, 2020, 02:23:33 pm
... Is there a chance that the poor old alligators from the swamps will be able to ape Australia's salt water variety of croc?

Already practicing:
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 17, 2020, 11:04:00 pm
This is how Florida is preparing for the global warming and rising sea levels:
After Hurricane Sandy that wiped out a lot of beach front homes here on the New Jersey shore, all new home are built on stilts and many existing homes have been lifted and placed on stilts.  The bottom level is used for a garage only.  So if you;re expecting a storm, you drive the hell away to higher ground until it's over. 

It's not for rising sea levels.  If they get that high, there's really no way to live there.  It's for storm surges that will recede when the storm passes. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 17, 2020, 11:21:48 pm
Further up the Atlantic coast, in Newfoundland, they are experiencing a record snow storm.
Epic storm with a snowfall up to 2 1/2 ft (75cm), 5 ft tall snowdrifts, 130km wind gusts, -45C (49F below) temperatures, and 30 ft high waves.

(https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4772717!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg)

Quote
The storm, which is expected to linger until Saturday, is expected to hit Newfoundland and Labrador the hardest, with the capital of St. John’s declaring a state of emergency. The scope of the storm can be seen in a photo captured by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/newfoundland-blizzard-as-seen-from-space-1.4772687

Only 20cm (8") expected for Toronto.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 17, 2020, 11:34:37 pm
I think I'll take my sun tan lotion and pina colada. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 18, 2020, 09:35:05 am
Further up the Atlantic coast, in Newfoundland, they are experiencing a record snow storm.
Epic storm with a snowfall up to 2 1/2 ft (75cm), 5 ft tall snowdrifts, 130km wind gusts, -45C (49F below) temperatures, and 30 ft high waves.

(https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.4772717!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/image.jpg)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/newfoundland-blizzard-as-seen-from-space-1.4772687

Only 20cm (8") expected for Toronto.

The west coast (Vancouver Island) has had a lot of snow this week as well. A friend in Nanaimo reports lots of difficulty in getting around but she says that's more because of a lack of plows. They're just not equipped for that kind of weather since it happens rarely.

I jokingly asked a B&B proprietor in Victoria once if he owned a snow shovel and he just looked at me blankly and said no.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 18, 2020, 09:53:09 am
The Vancouverites may be low on snow shovels, but many own skis.

(https://images.dailyhive.com/20200115100722/Screen-Shot-2020-01-15-at-10.06.50-AM-e1579111721575.png)

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/people-skiing-vancouver-snow

Meanwhile, in Newfoundland not only people, but also moose are stuck in the deep snow

(https://media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/966/607/Newfoundland_Moose_Rescue_848x480_1128441411888.jpg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Chris Kern on January 18, 2020, 10:43:10 am
I jokingly asked a B&B proprietor in Victoria once if he owned a snow shovel and he just looked at me blankly and said no.

I spent four years attending undergraduate college in New Hampshire, and got my fill of snow.  (The skiers loved it, of course.)  Since then, I've gravitated toward warmer climes.  Still, nature can pitch you an occasional curve ball.

I was once in Vancouver when it snowed.  For all of about ... let's say ... 30 minutes, light flakes fell along the waterfront.  We tourists took it in stride, but the locals seemed mesmerized by their winter wonderland.  Then the precipitation turned to (very cold) rain.  We tourists were really miserable, but the locals took it in stride.  Then the sun came out.  Fin de "storm."

One morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my wife and I woke up to discover two inches of snow covering the outdoor wooden stairs leading down from our second-story (storey) extended-stay hotel suite.  I grabbed a plastic coat hanger from the closet, and used it to clear them before we walked down to go to the main building for breakfast.  By the time we had finished eating, the snow was gone, the sun was shining, and the outdoor temperatures demanded nothing more than a light jacket.  By lunchtime, even that was too much.

Here in the Washington, D.C. area, we're more-or-less accustomed to snow.  We get some every winter, and occasionally we experience a real deluge (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/02/05/remembering-s-snowmageddon-images-scenes/).  Doesn't seem to make any difference: whenever it snows, our traffic―already notoriously awful―typically grinds to a halt.  Some would consider that an appropriate metaphor for our politics.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 18, 2020, 03:55:51 pm
I spent four years attending undergraduate college in New Hampshire, and got my fill of snow.  (The skiers loved it, of course.)  Since then, I've gravitated toward warmer climes.  Still, nature can pitch you an occasional curve ball.

I was once in Vancouver when it snowed.  For all of about ... let's say ... 30 minutes, light flakes fell along the waterfront.  We tourists took it in stride, but the locals seemed mesmerized by their winter wonderland.  Then the precipitation turned to (very cold) rain.  We tourists were really miserable, but the locals took it in stride.  Then the sun came out.  Fin de "storm."

One morning in Santa Fe, New Mexico, my wife and I woke up to discover two inches of snow covering the outdoor wooden stairs leading down from our second-story (storey) extended-stay hotel suite.  I grabbed a plastic coat hanger from the closet, and used it to clear them before we walked down to go to the main building for breakfast.  By the time we had finished eating, the snow was gone, the sun was shining, and the outdoor temperatures demanded nothing more than a light jacket.  By lunchtime, even that was too much.

Here in the Washington, D.C. area, we're more-or-less accustomed to snow.  We get some every winter, and occasionally we experience a real deluge (https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/02/05/remembering-s-snowmageddon-images-scenes/).  Doesn't seem to make any difference: whenever it snows, our traffic―already notoriously awful―typically grinds to a halt.  Some would consider that an appropriate metaphor for our politics.


A little snow, and Britain's railroads stop: wrong kind of snow; just like the wrong kind of leaves does it in autumn.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 18, 2020, 05:46:17 pm
More photos from Newfoundland on Jan 18. Click on the link below.

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EOkGdjUX0AUHUOw?format=jpg&name=small)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/card_img/1218632193351745537/m54L0DWp?format=jpg&name=small)

https://globalnews.ca/news/6430959/photos-eastern-newfoundland-snow/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 18, 2020, 08:57:39 pm
Good thing global warming is here. It will be here before you can say super octane.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 19, 2020, 05:29:08 am
The cause of Australia’s bushfires – what the SCIENCE says
https://youtu.be/t0x46-enxsA

A nice analysis of a not so nice outlook into the future...

I feel sorry for those who are suffering losses right now.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 20, 2020, 10:49:27 am
STORM GLORIA: Triggers A Terrifying And Rare Red Weather Alert In Spain
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/01/20/storm-gloria-triggers-a-terrifying-and-rare-red-weather-alert-in-spain/
Quote
SPAIN has been hit by a freak snow blizzard that is expected to last until tomorrow (Tuesday), in what could be the “most intense” snowfall to strike the country on record.

The unusual weather has triggered a terrifying and rare red weather alert in Spain, amid warnings for snow, freezing temperatures, rain and high winds. Storm Gloria will continue throughout today, Monday, and tomorrow leaving strong winds and rain throughout the peninsula, with special strength in the Mediterranean arc.

Storm Gloria continues to rip through Spain leaving a trail of destruction in its wake and has already claimed it’s first mortal victim. The accident took place on the Asturian side of the Puerto de San Isidro (León), when a 44-year-old man was run over by a vehicle while putting snow chains on his car.

The storm gets fed by increased temperatures of the Mediterranean sea, so while it's just an extreme weather event, it is also climate related.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 20, 2020, 11:07:29 am
Absolutely, Bart. We're all gonna die!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 20, 2020, 11:17:04 am
Absolutely, Bart. We're all gonna die!
In Florida, mainly in the low lying areas.

(https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/11/27/img_2467-e553a185582000789c81090b13ebd091840fcd2b-s800-c85.jpg)

Quote
The flooding here and elsewhere is happening during so-called "king tides." Those are times, mostly in the fall, when the moon's gravitational pull means tides are higher than usual.

"It's kind of tough to go out and walk your dog unless you have hip boots on," he says. "There [are] people that are going to work that won't drive their vehicles through here. And they park up to the grocery store on U.S. 1 and they'll walk up."

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/28/783349974/this-florida-keys-neighborhood-has-been-flooded-for-nearly-3-months
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 20, 2020, 11:26:46 am
Glub, glub.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 20, 2020, 12:49:36 pm
Absolutely, Bart. We're all gonna die!

Death and Taxes, both unavoidable. It's not a question of 'if' but rather 'how?'.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 20, 2020, 09:01:32 pm
CFCs (like Freon) responsible for half of Arctic sea-ice loss due to causing rising atmospheric temperatures. .  Apparently damage to the Ozone layer has caused about a third of the melting.  What's not reported ids how much of it contributed to global warming in general.  What other factors are not yet apparent that may be causing a rise?  WE skeptics want to know. 
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/cfcs-responsible-for-half-of-arctic-sea-ice-loss/4011037.article

Apparently, China has become a major contributor to ozone depleting CFC gas.  At least 40-60% of the increase in emissions reported last year can be traced back to sources in China.  On the other hand, it's not too bad on a per Chinese capita basis.  :)
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/china-identified-as-source-of-unexpected-rise-in-cfc-emissions/3010523.article

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 21, 2020, 06:13:43 am
Global warming can't be blamed on CFCs – another one bites the dust
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/apr/18/global-warming-carbon-not-cfcs
Quote
Nuccitelli et al. (2014) rebuts the argument that global warming is due to chlorofluorocarbon rather than carbon emissions


Are the ozone hole and global warming related?
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/are-the-ozone-hole-and-global-warming-related/
Quote
There are some connections between the two phenomena.

For example, the CFCs that destroy ozone are also potent greenhouse gases, though they are present in such small concentrations in the atmosphere (several hundred parts per trillion, compared to several hundred parts per million for carbon dioxide) that they are considered a minor player in greenhouse warming. CFCs account for about 13% of the total energy absorbed by human-produced greenhouse gases.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 21, 2020, 07:05:22 am
The Guardian as a source!? The newspaper of choice of the Soviet elite!? Has anyone told them (The Guardian) that Brezhnev is no longer the Party’s Secretary General? The news about the Berlin Wall fall should also be delivered to them very gently. Poor souls.

 ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 21, 2020, 08:43:27 am
I see Harry and Meghan are moving to Canada after giving up their royalty. Must be the warming weather in Canada that attracted them another advantage of climate change. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 21, 2020, 08:46:51 am
Global warming can't be blamed on CFCs – another one bites the dust
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2014/apr/18/global-warming-carbon-not-cfcs

Are the ozone hole and global warming related?
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/climateqa/are-the-ozone-hole-and-global-warming-related/
Bart you're cherry picking again. The original article didn't say global warming was all due to the CFCs. Only a third. Of course that's a lot. Let's tell the truth please. Also the fact that there is less CFCs than CO2 doesn't address the fact that CFCs are hundreds of times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 21, 2020, 08:52:13 am
Also loss of ozone layer caused by cfc contributes in a major way from the extra radiation of the sun.   What other factors have scientists missed about global warming? What if wer found another factor so far unknown to scientists currently that makes CO2 a minor component of the problem? This happens a lot in science as new discoveries obsolete old theories.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 21, 2020, 10:12:23 am
Also loss of ozone layer caused by cfc contributes in a major way from the extra radiation of the sun.   What other factors have scientists missed about global warming?

You are apparently assuming, for some reason, that scientists are overlooking something huge. Something that will debunk(?) the physical effects of CO2

Quote
What if wer found another factor so far unknown to scientists currently that makes CO2 a minor component of the problem?

That would create a challenge to explain away the measurable effect that CO2 has. You can have both CO2 AND some unknown major thing causing exactly the effect of CO2. Ain't gonna happen. The effects of CO2 have been predicted since 1896, and we are witnessing it today. Physics is correct.

And the (scientists of the) oil companies have known it for quite a while as well:
Climate of Concern - Royal Dutch Shell (1991)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VOWi8oVXmo

Quote
https://thecorrespondent.com/6285/shell-made-a-film-about-climate-change-in-1991-then-neglected-to-heed-its-own-warning/692663565-875331f6
Confidential documents show that Shell sounded the alarm about global warming as early as 1986. But despite this clear-eyed view of the risks, the oil giant has lobbied against strong climate legislation for decades. Today we make Shell’s 1991 film, Climate of Concern, public again.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 21, 2020, 10:45:17 am
That would create a challenge to explain away the measurable effect that CO2 has.

How do you know that "effect" exists, Bart? One thing I learned early in my programming career was that correlation and causation are two different things.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 21, 2020, 12:01:43 pm
I've come across this in a Facebook post. Do not know the source, nor i can vouch for its authenticity.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 21, 2020, 12:05:26 pm
Bart I never said that CO2 has no effect on global warming. What I said is there may be other factors as if as just been discovered with CFCs that might have caused up to 1/3 increased in temperatures. What if there are other factors that are still unknown. That's all I'm saying is that there are other scientific discoveries to be made.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 21, 2020, 12:16:41 pm
I've come across this in a Facebook post. Do not know the source, nor i can vouch for its authenticity.
Slobo that's a great chart.  What if the Gulf Stream shut down again?  Europe would enter another ice period.   Looks like it been cooling down overall since the Roman period.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 21, 2020, 04:12:30 pm
Today, at Porto Colom in "sunny" Mallorca: 40m waves. The wave is shown on tv as it goes over a headland with villas after which I once lusted...

The Spanish news is full of this weather event called Gloria. It has now hit the Costa Brava and southern France, bringing snow, streets filled with sea foam, front-line establishments ruined, floods and several deaths and disappearances. And in Davos, Mr T says "I believe in the environment..." Unfortunately, he doesn't believe in the evidence of his own eyes, but then maybe his viewing habits are governed by his staff so as not to upset him and his beliefs.

It seems to me, from what I can pick up on the various weather charts being shown, that it started in the Sahara, which might say something about changes going down.

My own little town was shown earlier in the day, with more yachts swept ashore.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 21, 2020, 04:46:23 pm
... And in Davos, Mr T says "I believe in the environment..." Unfortunately, he doesn't believe in the evidence of his own eyes...

What evidence? That Mother Nature is being Mother Nature? Not the first nor the last time.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 21, 2020, 04:52:23 pm
Today, at Porto Colom in "sunny" Mallorca: 40m waves...

That seems impossible. I assume you meant 4m? The weather prognosis for eastern Spain calls for 6-8m possible waves.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 21, 2020, 05:23:07 pm
That seems impossible. I assume you meant 4m? The weather prognosis for eastern Spain calls for 6-8m possible waves.

Nope, I mean 40metres; try to catch one of the Spanish national tv stations tonight. I think it also appeared on france24.com but most of that news was consumed by Davos.
 
Here we go:

https://www.diariodemallorca.es/multimedia/videos/mallorca/2020-01-21-193134-borrasca-gloria-video-temporal-provoca-olas-gigantes-portocolom.html

http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/telediario/telediario-21-horas-21-01-20/5489266/

(This one has better coverage.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 21, 2020, 06:04:57 pm
Nope, I mean 40metres; try to catch one of the Spanish national tv stations tonight. I think it also appeared on france24.com but most of that news was consumed by Davos.
 
Here we go:
https://www.diariodemallorca.es/multimedia/videos/mallorca/2020-01-21-193134-borrasca-gloria-video-temporal-provoca-olas-gigantes-portocolom.html
http://www.rtve.es/alacarta/videos/telediario/telediario-21-horas-21-01-20/5489266/

40 meter waves, that's difficult to imagine. Something like 12 to 15 storey building.
I watched your link, and it looked frightening. Like a tsunami coming to town.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 22, 2020, 11:32:13 am
Global warming (Centigrades):

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 22, 2020, 11:59:32 am
More accurate than "Global Warming", or even "Climate Change" is "Climate Disruption".

Science has been warning of unpredictable changes that will result from continued CO2 emissions, and that's exactly what we're seeing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 22, 2020, 12:36:48 pm

...Science has been warning of unpredictable changes...

🤣🤣🤣

That’s what we’ve been saying all this time. Mother Nature being Mother Nature. Thanks for confirming.

And yet, even when we can’t predict sh”t, we are supposed to kill growth and return to the Stone Age, hunting our lunch with a bow and arrow!?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 22, 2020, 12:53:27 pm
Global warming (Centigrades):

All local temperatures, not global. So without a multidecadal history, you're talking about weather, not climate.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 22, 2020, 12:54:09 pm
That’s what we’ve been saying all this time. Mother Nature being Mother Nature. Thanks for confirming.

And yet, even when we can’t predict sh”t, we are supposed to kill growth and return to the Stone Age, hunting our lunch with a bow and arrow!?

Little growth can never hurt. But extreme growth based on accelerated exploitation and pollution of Earth could be detrimental not only to the health of the planet, but also to her inhabitants.  Besides, if we keep destroying the nature and animals, there won't be anything left to be shot with bow and arrows.
Billion animals perished in a very short time just in the recent Australia fires. Many more gone on the other continents.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 22, 2020, 01:06:04 pm
Extreme growth!?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 22, 2020, 01:31:46 pm
Extreme growth!?
Extreme growth of corn would be beneficial, but extreme growth of production of plastic straws and polyethelene shopping bags not.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 22, 2020, 02:03:54 pm
Extreme growth of corn would be beneficial, but extreme growth of production of plastic straws and polyethelene shopping bags not.
Actually extreme growth of corn is the problem the others are just the result. Farming has allowed huge population explosions that has led to the impact on the environment. In any case the environment won't be finally impacted because the population will level off. We're already seeing that and countries in Europe and elsewhere as the issues of modern living have limited the number of children people are having. So it's all self-correcting.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 22, 2020, 02:39:26 pm
... the population will level off. We're already seeing that and countries in Europe and elsewhere as the issues of modern living have limited the number of children people are having...

Which means the end of the Western Civilization and the victory for the barbarians. Just like the Roman Empire.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 22, 2020, 04:47:48 pm
Which means the end of the Western Civilization and the victory for the barbarians. Just like the Roman Empire.

It depends on how you configure the maths: if each couple has no more than two, is simply replaces itself upon death. Problems start when alien groups move in with less considered birth rates (or cleverly designed ones!) and throw the indigenous equation out of gear, in which case, you are terribly right!

The original limit of two creates an initial build-up of figures, but life span limits the damage and brings the ratio into equilibrium after the original rise in the graph. Few of us meet great great grandchildren. Thank goodness. What would we find to say to them? And their music, O.M.G.

:-(
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 22, 2020, 04:55:09 pm
we are supposed to kill growth and return to the Stone Age, hunting our lunch with a bow and arrow!?

I've seen very few recommendations to that effect.

Always with the reductio ad absurdum.  Can't you come up with something a little more, I dunno, reasonable?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 22, 2020, 05:09:32 pm
Rob, Western societies are all already way bellow the replacement rate, which is 2.1 per woman.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 22, 2020, 05:15:16 pm
Rob, Western societies are all already way bellow the replacement rate, which is 2.1 per woman.

I understand; that 0.1 refers to miscarriages. Maths is wunnerful.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 22, 2020, 05:37:04 pm
Regarding the storm of a day or two ago here in the western Med: I wandered down to the sea today, and I counted twenty-four yachts that had broken from their anchorages in the bay and had hit the shore and one another. I am told that a further six sank at their mooring. I have only ever seen one boat at a time in that condition on the rare winter's day. This is new territory.

I remember being told that you can't get insurance if you moor out there during winter; if that's correct, a lot of people gonna feel bad.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 22, 2020, 07:02:55 pm
This is new territory.

That's what the weathermen from all continents keep telling us.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on January 22, 2020, 08:27:03 pm
Regarding the storm of a day or two ago here in the western Med: I wandered down to the sea today, and I counted twenty-four yachts that had broken from their anchorages in the bay and had hit the shore and one another. I am told that a further six sank at their mooring. I have only ever seen one boat at a time in that condition on the rare winter's day. This is new territory.

Maybe new territory for you, Rob, and the locals whose memory extends back only a few decades, but imagine if the locals' Great Grandfathers were still alive. They might recall even worse events when they were young and CO2 levels were lower.

The greatest threat to humanity's future is the type of dumb thinking which describes every major, extreme weather event as 'unprecedented' and attributable to rising CO2 levels.

In the distant past, extreme weather events were attributed to a particular God. Now they are attributed to rising CO2 levels. It's just another religion. Even as recently as 1974, before the alarm about CO2 levels became widespread, the destruction of the city of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy, on Christmas Day 1974, was considered by some Christian fundamentalists to be a punishment by God because the city (in Northern Australia) was named after that horrible atheist, Charles Darwin.  ;)

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 22, 2020, 10:18:54 pm
Rob, Western societies are all already way bellow the replacement rate, which is 2.1 per woman.
China has a more severe problem.  But in the end will have the same reduction of population that will help the environment.  The issue of population causing climate change, if true,  will end naturally.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/opinion/sunday/the-chinese-population-crisis.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 23, 2020, 02:31:42 am
... This is new territory...

For you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 23, 2020, 02:35:08 am
... In the distant past, extreme weather events were attributed to a particular God. Now they are attributed to rising CO2 levels. It's just another religion...

Exactly. Science as the new religion. People have that insatiable urge to explain things they don’t understand. One way or another.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 23, 2020, 03:59:10 am
"In the distant past, extreme weather events were attributed to a particular God. Now they are attributed to rising CO2 levels. It's just another religion. Even as recently as 1974, before the alarm about CO2 levels became widespread, the destruction of the city of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy, on Christmas Day 1974, was considered by some Christian fundamentalists to be a punishment by God because the city (in Northern Australia) was named after that horrible atheist, Charles Darwin." .... Ray

"For you." .... Slobodan

Which is kinda the point we have been trying to make to you guys: it's changing. And it's incumbent upon us to do what we can to mitigate that change which is not doing any of us any good.

Bunching religion and science together is misleading; it may convince the oddball who shows the same blindness re. Mr Trump, but for the rest of us, the conjunction doesn't fit. You may as well try to make a similar analogy between the Southern Ocean weather and that of the Dead Sea.

The CO2 (how do you drop that pesky 2 on a keyboard?) levels were already rising in '74 and nobody spoke about it because nobody I knew had a clue as to what we'd been doing to our world; all we knew was that when regulations came in, we lost the smog that used to kill us, but no associations were struck. Today, we have rubbed the sleep from our eyes. Well, some of us have.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 23, 2020, 07:44:44 am
Exactly. Science as the new religion. People have that insatiable urge to explain things they don’t understand. One way or another.


Give me a break.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on January 23, 2020, 08:06:45 am
People have that insatiable urge to explain things they don’t understand. One way or another.

That's why humans have had many gods. Fire, Rain, Lightning, Wind, etc... Notice as Science answers these issues, their gods disappear. When this planet finds the answer as to what this Universe is truly all about and why, the idea of God will need a update.

Peter
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 09:06:39 am
I think we're best off letting God explain why things are and science how things work.  Conflating the too isn't good.  There's no argument with most religious people that you can have faith in God yet still be a scientist trying to understand how things work.  Call it getting in the mind of God or whatever.  The two are related but different as well. 

While we're on the subject of God, there's no conflict either with being observant and being a good steward of the environment.  In fact, the bible commands it even requiring beasts of burden to have the day off on the sabbath.  God, man and beasts all rest together.  Also, God doesn;t want us to schmutz up His creation.  But He also gives us the earth to be used.  We have to find a balance.  Sometimes were at odds what that balance is as it seems currently regarding climate change.  But we're all in His hands as well.  So maybe a little trust that all will work out regardless would be a nice thing to consider. . 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 23, 2020, 09:40:37 am
While we're on the subject of God, there's no conflict either with being observant and being a good steward of the environment.  In fact, the bible commands it even requiring beasts of burden to have the day off on the sabbath.  God, man and beasts all rest together.  Also, God doesn;t want us to schmutz up His creation.  But He also gives us the earth to be used.  We have to find a balance.  Sometimes were at odds what that balance is as it seems currently regarding climate change.  But we're all in His hands as well.  So maybe a little trust that all will work out regardless would be a nice thing to consider. .

The Great Spirit teachings of the native Indians were to preserve and promote the beauty of the Nature.
The contemporary evangelical interpreters of God today promote greed, money, wars, and anti-abortion movements.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 23, 2020, 09:53:09 am
But at least I have finally understood the mystery of black holes.

They have nothing to do with very high density/gravity. Their function is to act as drains: when a planet or other heavenly body loses its sense of gravity it can no longer hang together with itself, but performs the act of explosion. This creates loose particles which have to go somewhere, because if they don't, they simply cloud the issue. Hence, Nature, in its bounty, has given us these natural drainage holes through which all the loose crap slips weightlessly out to the next level of being where, with luck, it gets a freh dose of gravity and comes to its senses one more time. Do you see?

Infinity, if you like.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 23, 2020, 10:30:49 am
The Great Spirit teachings of the native Indians were to preserve and promote the beauty of the Nature.
The contemporary evangelical interpreters of God today promote greed, money, wars, and anti-abortion movements.

And yet the latter defeated the former.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 23, 2020, 10:55:05 am
And yet the latter defeated the former.

Despicable.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 23, 2020, 11:00:17 am
No president has done more for the environment as Trump...
so now

Trump rolls back US water pollution controls

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51225604

The US has become just too clean...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 11:08:24 am
The Great Spirit teachings of the native Indians were to preserve and promote the beauty of the Nature.
The contemporary evangelical interpreters of God today promote greed, money, wars, and anti-abortion movements.

Well, man has always used religion to his own selfish desires.  It's not just a contemporary issue.  But that's not God's fault.  He's given man a choice of doing good or evil. It's up to us.  There are many more who have used religion for good purposes. It's given our basis for legal living and moral thought from not killing to not stealing and finding a purpose in life beyond the mundane.  Let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 11:15:19 am
No president has done more for the environment as Trump...
so now

Trump rolls back US water pollution controls

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51225604

The US has become just too clean...
The law affect small waterways and small private areas that in the past have prevented small owners from developing their plots of land.  What was going on that if it rained hard and your land had a little wetland look, you came under rather heavy handed laws that were originally intended for actual wetlands.  You couldn't build a cabin on n your property or farm it.  There was no sensible balance.  Small nails were getting hit with huge sledgehammers.  The new regulation adds some balance into the regulation.  It does not allow people to spill chemicals and pollute.  That's fake news by the liberal press their typical method of stirring up the masses and forcing us to shoot ourselves in the foot.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 23, 2020, 01:35:19 pm
The law affect small waterways and small private areas that in the past have prevented small owners from developing their plots of land.  What was going on that if it rained hard and your land had a little wetland look, you came under rather heavy handed laws that were originally intended for actual wetlands.  You couldn't build a cabin on n your property or farm it.  There was no sensible balance.  Small nails were getting hit with huge sledgehammers.  The new regulation adds some balance into the regulation.  It does not allow people to spill chemicals and pollute.  That's fake news by the liberal press their typical method of stirring up the masses and forcing us to shoot ourselves in the foot.
From the story you linked to:

"Under the new regulations, landowners and property developers will be able to pour pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants directly into millions of miles of the nation's waterways for the first time in decades."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 02:00:19 pm
From the story you linked to:

"Under the new regulations, landowners and property developers will be able to pour pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants directly into millions of miles of the nation's waterways for the first time in decades."
Fake news by the liberal BBC.
It mainly affects small streams that do not extend beyond the state lines which will be under the control and regulation of each individual states Pollution Control. Also note Obama pt these mainly into effect in 2015 a year before h.w Leahy office.  So it's not some old law. Here's an excerpt from The New York Times.
"The new rule, written by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, will retain federal protections of large bodies of water, as well as larger rivers and streams that flow into them and wetlands that lie adjacent to them. But it removes protections for many other waters, including wetlands that are not adjacent to large bodies of water, some seasonal streams that flow for only a portion of the year, “ephemeral” streams that only flow after rainstorms, and water that temporarily flows through underground passages."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 23, 2020, 02:07:30 pm
Fake news by the liberal BBC.
It mainly affects small streams that do not extend beyond the state lines which will be under the control and regulation of each individual states Pollution Control. Also note Obama pt these mainly into effect in 2015 a year before h.w Leahy office.  So it's not some old law. Here's an excerpt from The New York Times.
"The new rule, written by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers, will retain federal protections of large bodies of water, as well as larger rivers and streams that flow into them and wetlands that lie adjacent to them. But it removes protections for many other waters, including wetlands that are not adjacent to large bodies of water, some seasonal streams that flow for only a portion of the year, “ephemeral” streams that only flow after rainstorms, and water that temporarily flows through underground passages."
You are quoting the New York Times in support of your position? I thought they were the epitome of fake news. But if they are good enough for you, here's a NYT quote:

"The new water rule for the first time in decades allow landowners and property developers to dump pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers directly into hundreds of thousands of waterways, and to destroy or fill in wetlands for construction projects."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 23, 2020, 02:25:43 pm
I would trust the BBC before I would any private news outlet.

It doesn't take a lot of thinking to understand why private companies are far more likely to run with the money and not the truth. At least Auntie apologizes for her occasional mistakes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 23, 2020, 02:38:04 pm
I would trust the BBC before I would any private news outlet....

Это правда.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 08:03:29 pm
You are quoting the New York Times in support of your position? I thought they were the epitome of fake news. But if they are good enough for you, here's a NYT quote:

"The new water rule for the first time in decades allow landowners and property developers to dump pollutants such as pesticides and fertilizers directly into hundreds of thousands of waterways, and to destroy or fill in wetlands for construction projects."
You're right that the NY Times is no friend of mine.  Where they've gone off the rails is by not acknowledging that States have their own regulations regarding pollution.  The used hot words like "dumping" when the real word is "using".  Farmers use pesticides and fertilizers all the time.  But they don't dump them in waterways or are they allowed too.  That's just a lot of rhetoric.  The waterways they;re referring to are not interstate and not end up in those waterways.  The State's control those and write their own laws.  It's not the Federal government's business.  We are a federal government.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 23, 2020, 08:16:00 pm
You're right that the NY Times is no friend of mine.
Then why do you link to them to support your position?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 23, 2020, 08:39:45 pm
Then why do you link to them to support your position?

You have to understand the NY Times.  They'll bias the article by putting it above the fold on page one or buried on page 37 depending on its political impact for what they favor.  rR they'll write the headline in a way the biases the information.  But then they''ll often include both the good stuff and bad stuff within the article.  That way they can say they covered all the facts about the situation.  They're bistable.  Psychotic.  They have to tell the truth but then they have to present it in a way that makes the point they're trying to get across. Less sophisticated media just leave out the stuff that doesn;t support their viewpoint.

You have to learn how the Times does this and cull from the article the real truth.  The truth in this case is that what Trump did does not do away with the EPA regulations that were in force basically before 2015.  It was only in the last year of King Obama's term that he unilaterally changed the rules without Congress's approval.  Just like the JCPOA.  The old rule protected interstate waterways, like it is now that Trump went back to it.  It's just that small local areas are left alone federally.  It's up to the States to regulate them just as it always was before 2015.  So now as was before, small real estate owners who want to build a cabin, or a farmer who wants to plant his small field, can do so without having to go to Washington DC to get approval from the EPA.  That's a very long and costly process which can be denied for arbitrary reasons making small owner's property valueless.  Obama went a step too far and applied onerous regulations to areas that don't require it.  The areas that still required it stay protected.  These regulations are still valid.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 24, 2020, 09:38:57 am
You have to understand the NY Times.  They'll bias the article by putting it above the fold on page one or buried on page 37 depending on its political impact for what they favor.  rR they'll write the headline in a way the biases the information.  But then they''ll often include both the good stuff and bad stuff within the article.  That way they can say they covered all the facts about the situation.  They're bistable.  Psychotic.  They have to tell the truth but then they have to present it in a way that makes the point they're trying to get across. Less sophisticated media just leave out the stuff that doesn;t support their viewpoint.
What a crock. You just say the stuff you like is true and the stuff you don't like is fake, even within the same article. What a fantasy land you have created for yourself.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 24, 2020, 10:11:07 am
What a crock. You just say the stuff you like is true and the stuff you don't like is fake, even within the same article.

Inherited from Trumpian politic: Frequently-required “walkbacks”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 24, 2020, 10:36:56 am
Это правда.
You mixed up the BBC with Trump i believe...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 24, 2020, 12:10:56 pm
What a crock. You just say the stuff you like is true and the stuff you don't like is fake, even within the same article. What a fantasy land you have created for yourself.
The article implies he's poisoning the entire country's rivers.  But it's text subsidies that the change is only for minor streams and parcels.  I try to apply discernment to aust I'm reading.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 24, 2020, 01:08:47 pm
... You just say the stuff you like is true and the stuff you don't like is fake, even within the same article...

Precisely because it is within the same article.

If you ask Goebbels, he would tell you the best propaganda is the one composed of truth, semi-truths, and lies.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 24, 2020, 01:16:15 pm
Precisely because it is within the same article.

If you ask Goebbels, he would tell you the best propaganda is the one composed of truth, semi-truths, and lies.

Now that's a load of fake news, Slobodan. You can't ask Goebby anything anymore.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 25, 2020, 08:43:06 am
Since many here do not have access to Facebook, I am posting the whole post here (however, if you click on the underlined date, just under his name, it will take you to the post)
Quote

Bjørn Lomborg (https://www.facebook.com/bjornlomborg/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARBQWYAtsHbfebBQdxTRBcyBp6FT4OC3K_X-KMJdGbQ_yP-gF4UgXoSnydifl2OvFG3bvyrDB456Uaxr&hc_ref=ARRA6xoJJuZ-dqXuNnYJO645qT9VP1pmIS_cPvXAZY6u4YUCX1wq6zRjZNBzYyR4rl8&fref=nf&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAR11O5vjvA3RElrYxBhOmow1fm07WurmTVWb6Mu_HNOzlGAeQBfSsxlywpt79aoGsvRSdXDVJByVwHojhlF3uiZk8TJ5pJ8z1yg7tdOXY8-q7PIEH7wphFbwDWzlSmCEbPHwgF5T2fI3Pm7V_qkVKUt8qmiU8ydFleJMJMt6OpXq4Coh3w52rWXoApcCYPSl4W5Q3YmB1Y0hwRq9BTBgYu6hgmsg1nsKzJTB5LAbKe7rvkDacHm98CQjmkFsY0pdsGc9cLZ1aoPXY-cX7V61dMgmRHaoUs74Jyt_UtFFFVhPPJDlvv2koC3e9c7xvlmFjR320wvqiKefAavj0s)
January 19 at 2:17 P (https://www.facebook.com/bjornlomborg/photos/a.221758208967/10158666710443968/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAR11O5vjvA3RElrYxBhOmow1fm07WurmTVWb6Mu_HNOzlGAeQBfSsxlywpt79aoGsvRSdXDVJByVwHojhlF3uiZk8TJ5pJ8z1yg7tdOXY8-q7PIEH7wphFbwDWzlSmCEbPHwgF5T2fI3Pm7V_qkVKUt8qmiU8ydFleJMJMt6OpXq4Coh3w52rWXoApcCYPSl4W5Q3YmB1Y0hwRq9BTBgYu6hgmsg1nsKzJTB5LAbKe7rvkDacHm98CQjmkFsY0pdsGc9cLZ1aoPXY-cX7V61dMgmRHaoUs74Jyt_UtFFFVhPPJDlvv2koC3e9c7xvlmFjR320wvqiKefAavj0s&__tn__=-R)M
The Australian wildfires are tragic.
But exploiting them for 'proving' climate change is confirmation bias.
In much of the conversation, there is some true points and a lot of misdirection.
Yes, the fires this year have been *much* larger in the temperate forests of New South Wales (home of Sydney) and Victoria (Melbourne).
But the climate models predict not just temperate forests to see their burnt area increase. They predict almost *all* biomes to see their burnt area increase.
So, if people *only* look at temperate forests this year, show that they burnt more and conclude ‘see, climate change’ it is confirmation bias.
You can’t take a result *after* it has happened and decide only to test the part that fits your theory.
Global warming should increase *all* burnt area in Australia, and it should increase burnt area in Australia minus NT (avoiding a lot of the tropical savanna) even more.
The fact that burnt area for both Australia and Australia minus NT has declined is inconvenient for the claim that global warming increases burnt area.
Here I show the likely *annual* burnt area for all of Australia. Of course, the current fire season is not over, but we can reasonably predict the total burnt area by looking at the proportion of burnt area in the historical record. It turns out that comparing the full season with how much had burnt by January 1, the full season was 119.5% higher.
The Guardian newspaper has been providing the running total amount of burnt area in this fire season (running from June 2019-May 2020, according to https://en.wikipedia.org/…/List_of_Australian_bushfire_seas… (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_bushfire_seasons?fbclid=IwAR2UyyF8h_zkXBPrIkuu4c739MeLa1QUro-SwzmO5yv8K2wWQflNZS1_0MY)). They find the total area burnt for Australia minus Northern Territory is 10.7 million hectares to January 6, 2020. In personal communication, they have told me the NT burnt area is 13.3 million hectares (and that this might be for all of 2019, so possibly too large — but here we'll just use this data point).[/font]
The total burnt area is therefore 24 million hectares from June 2019 to about January 6 2020. That means the likely total for the whole fire season June 1, 2019, to May 31, 2020, is 119.5% of that or 28.6 million hectares.
Now, we can get slightly more updated satellite data, because we can get annual data from GFED (1997-2016) and GWIS (2001-18) They splice nicely.
The data shows two things.
First, climate models would expect the burnt area of Australia to be increasing. It is not.
Second, the current Australian fire season is in terms of area burnt not unprecedented compared to the recent past.
Data: For this fire season from https://www.theguardian.com/ (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1agjkq0YTsmhzK1o2wzD5rUpF77c15EwuvrHmuzcclULeIwaRXxgvupcg&h=AT3KJ_ACE9QAeMSfTjq60pa_bJJw73SwndvRlqc8qbvsJ2x2eaZ4kKks8fgPu_fJ7O4l6nI_qu7FmfSOUEUxPz4_-wqf77eXiPDJpSNugJoPDzc0g_KCXveAvFWJ76L6qWQ5WPiGg1jjZb-hQMe5Ja7uZeDQTBeT68qNwhD9pZfpZ5LLBi3RenRKnkQ3ti3G_Dtbadbh4BNK07TIaNAlC42y8jcvdHot4Ss4Drm5ux0mLkJ6vASpxJUDMoemplYrIjLKwhWNZBbhwrODTcwwZUfC7XyHLvIMn-yKG3RdDvBD0HaIXcoWyOSt4onOK_2VW8oDrMmYv2gzR6SX3janyn_C4d_nBouPf_00-lSHAW8rcgYW7DDSZKnwTa5cKi2tHRbyGpHF7QOmTzzXKZtrVYTpE31PLwNqwjd7TdhRhTL_eweQTo8i12Ez_VbLyyKuFc2M9LSi0c36BfqOWlFLvOf-xr83qhd5Qh8JkhCBkjQfbtSdkqUN43vkYknnBBE1ry8nojtff9NfMyJaTat5doKBdX0H3LzZ7_pNboAPFKKR48MfchieU5XhYIbQCDxNPqou9YHghKIWnw6iy8oZGEiwm_FRMkdvmedyUJo2dBRB92JScB5ZiFLMD1grEw)…/how-big-are-the-fires-burning…
For 1997-2016 from http://www.globalfiredata.org/analysis.html (http://www.globalfiredata.org/analysis.html?fbclid=IwAR3mwNpSuHtoVapykrNZS-WkgeoDrQvj6qiF3D91PJnYPsqg4XJs8bMjJ4c)[/font],
For 2001-18: https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/…/g…/countries-estimates/OC/AU (https://gwis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/static/gwis.statistics.portal/countries-estimates/OC/AU?fbclid=IwAR2oexQdTGN7PVmNVVk7DbFeTWqZbif2pIByrD18f7ZbPcu_xj2Nw63OBis)[/font][/font]
NSW 4.9 million hectares: https://www.theguardian.com/ (https://www.theguardian.com/?fbclid=IwAR2eJ4dNrZXE83RPYwvdGMqBG85AchaisJZSBNoq1ZXwXG_Sr-Jj3AZSwqQ)…/record-breaking-49m-hectares-…
Similar sized fires: https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/ (https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/?fbclid=IwAR2bRFInNp9TLQS5iY7BAQXKckmog47Z4-if6vqAwHbZIkA4b8wWawRbnbk)[/font]…/FESA_Report-NationalInquiryonB…[/font]
Victoria: https://twitter.com/m_parrington/status/1214562153769734144 (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fm_parrington%2Fstatus%2F1214562153769734144%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR19g_vCB9jlxZhMezr2fgwU7PyxEgxpZyPoGq1ZUFzZNw7au88qj_Z1gJY&h=AT0cQatEqHWujmjatvDFIDqPVy9c472NQvMsuuH9vfMG1ZQhtu8eKccSq7fW5PI2ggom_CPSGUSwzSzUhpn7RFOQuL1Sjqb2WDfSYdjlDHSXb5tVltvL7yY6vDBW0iqeLadpqIe2y0fxAyD1d-uLyMLxLPiUtZs081jpoyjWT-boVRwgKOUAgZRyFCLyhSqCAuJUP-ZLEBgSqSOurco4tONR5_zLu-spLcT6gOqWoLEigW63GljRIHECcYjOIhD3Jr4VVQLrFsU2E5X7dXKDv7-5Io2eEcI-VUtVZN6uxTu-mhkSpiaD4lcxWTsqnPYXMHBA4uTMeePMzFheRKsydYmKXw-fc-9GQ_WRNXsza6g_V_NivBE6kkh-ChNk-Ug_oP3GKrIyQYXGGi9XGTCw12OHMT3prPThlGwgEVQPTc9JrqwdkaF8ud99v4zbG2z61F_AdwTEZpCnF3czNHoeLsLFzzU_OC3nSqIxt7BQBSVTEKwB66WtOt-tIa31iLzht9hklMIGUwzoj8g4Dd1LKLWo7WyaLLqWWWPfhOskc45RAr-Q0fpZHST57pAYWdgQJGigtWjeKKdwM4hst6nRobP5SlCM05sQstHe0RlInTOqM1MlPF9_5HgbMyEqcg)
5 million hectares from https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/ (https://www.dfes.wa.gov.au/?fbclid=IwAR0cvZuXmPzIxwM5UMvCJ20QzHplloX7iJrrJAV9BeyKN3qRFWZx_AhNbbg)[/font]…/FESA_Report-NationalInquiryonB…[/font]
Global lower burnt area: (https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fagupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0vwL3ZFfXPA2FB4HVMALkeivzg2xQdcbd4aAhRqG4U808jEfMIM3n3gPw&h=AT0E85pj3tWN6DwW6WVTHwA6IxYA_SI77LjbjcuTF3HqKEq5JVmN7SucYVZA3cjLbREP0VRtQshEcceNbOcGpVNcL59xhax8bHITYbP4gIcXrux84hjARrUGaORdSL67cnvG9vGi51NjKNmxZqIslOYwfA9kbwi6ah-iL9dwW7DmFsB3itliZguroe5xSpBC8Z8_hq2JqO4BVFoeLFmyT0NNchC2BYlQTQplkpSMPO2vsmUzF2vINJ0VG6j77w8cCTsJJuMuCO4CvZnoml2EWQYzsD_-HCl7fwAUMIuwMOeOuvQwybTpzh3hBpmozfDXqe7FoTLWtfsrpWcyBV9_dsNNahpfHNVNOEYihe50k-RyUq_okf81v3_oEXhfYq21iONHLxoRi3o-sN3I4e7lfQsJiHRovjEMDuJYjTdFeb5Yd-r5QnfDj-Uql-AkDhyxJ6SkpMTpy2UL6zDHVY4ou8OWT44TCcts18rPe1c5tZ1FVsqzwihHcxUmlTvcUC6fH1d8vMHIz_ZCaerUHORPqDlf-RutQzmAmC2snCAFCn7k6iUU9qwaBjWdRTmdqGIeOQwjGf2Prc_PIHgcRTAwHDBzTcsxiMI5Kad3WrRNcLfXPACttDDAEoh_WgCqgA)…/10.1…/2013JG002532)[/font]
Climate models expect increasing burnt area for Australia: https://iopscience.iop.org/artic…/10.1088/1748-9326/…/104015 (https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fiopscience.iop.org%2Farticle%2F10.1088%2F1748-9326%2F9%2F10%2F104015%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0xXrkysuiiI6672OullyThfex6AAvrXsv32NdY18sLN1vRkj5LhxoOM6E&h=AT2uBhsFHkRvA3vGWk8_rF8JY1WoL5E9aWYeo6oQsEJ-PkWtrfL53ACEZqgJru3ugKl-mIe1Wsr-zkwNDQSF2pj2a6dPyF-4r24-5UzjakgeYNhcIN11qORQQ1y9irIvTflA2NQE5gkV9fRn-HOfNze7JqbzPTGvFvi-ZVcAZ4Vax5jYAaMXmFqrG9sHllmR4Ti55WE78pzAjdlnGSvCEwTmih7xsZV857mEet3H2EKbv0ITzbJc7_zLXXE1icRqzJMxBwdHsHCysjHhsJ7drcbzp_e24yz6TtJqnj8mxZsdgZmxDNKcdl0E_y1J1ps09qxoRlqks9z5MRgs-63pUKI6Cse1M8vaH-Vu2-PbDAkX1-2FcuhqnUYvUI49lZF-lzocwb5QqTnfZfJxtlye6q-glHNocDnqH8KGI1ArS3LdLBJ8FnvwV82qANczl0iGGq60X4swdwSHytS-o7TjwRgMBcEBK8HYXxv7VaJk-FjooBLUHs4IaP1VZP7J5V-w5uSYMMlBJUx_GIrJVfraR1uMdqHnfJcpGvGgVZ7LCwOBiuWqlHSGCtH7y2XDsxk9iXdXnznOb_rbG8EYaNo2Goo7Lb_9WPVJtoS2f_t2Y3wfkQGOrcOnXlt-qGbcFg).. The climate model predicts not just temperate forests to see their burnt area increase (0.28%), but almost all other types of areas, too. And these areas are expected to increase *more*. So burnt area of grass & scrublands will increase by about 1.1%, burnt area of tropical forests 2.5% and sclerophyll woodland 3.3%. The only land type that should experience decreasing burnt area is tropical savanna (in Northern Territory and northern Queensland) by 4.2%.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 27, 2020, 09:29:57 pm
Who needs Paris?
GM to invest $2.2B in first all-electric vehicle plant, create 2,200 jobs
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/gm-invest-2-2b-first-all-electric-vehicle-plant-create-n1124086
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 27, 2020, 11:17:46 pm
Who needs Paris?

You do.  Ever been there?   The City of Light.

Kudos to GM for seeing the light.  Sustainable energy will create zillions of high paying quality jobs.  Better, even, than coal mining.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 27, 2020, 11:48:09 pm
You do.  Ever been there?   The City of Light.

Kudos to GM for seeing the light.  Sustainable energy will create zillions of high paying quality jobs.  Better, even, than coal mining.
Building electric cars doesn't create electricity.  It needs electricity, likely from fossil fuels. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 28, 2020, 12:12:15 am
In Ontario, January 2020 has been wet and mild, 2-5 degrees Celsius warmer than average January. The month is not over yet, so it might turn out as the wettest and warmest January yet. 

Quote
"Much of southern Ontario has seen 150 to just over 200 percent of the normal or average precipitation for the month of January," Sonnenburg adds. "But with the warmer temperatures, a lot of that precipitation has fallen as rain."

Currently, this is Toronto's second rainiest January on record with 105.6 mm of rain reported so far. Total precipitation for the month as of January 26 is sitting at 130.6 mm.

STAYING MILD AND ABOVE SEASONAL INTO EARLY FEBRUARY
"The first few days of February will bring a continuation of what we have seen during January -- changeable weather," says meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham. "But overall above seasonal temperatures are expected to dominate, though the pattern looks to be much more active and unsettled than how we are ending January this week."

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ca/news/article/ontario-mild-and-wet-january-lack-of-arctic-air-but-with-above-average-precipitation-for-the-month
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 28, 2020, 04:09:07 am
Building electric cars doesn't create electricity.  It needs electricity, likely from fossil fuels.

Only for the laggards ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 28, 2020, 06:48:27 am
Building electric cars doesn't create electricity.  It needs electricity, likely from fossil fuels.

Building oil cars doesn't create oil.  It needs oil, likely from fossil fuels.

In a few years you have cars and oil cars...

btw
https://www.pik-potsdam.de/news/press-releases/climate-costs-smallest-if-warming-is-limited-to-2degc
the Potsdam institute for climate Impact research has figured out:

“We did a lot of thorough testing with our computers. And we have been amazed to find that limiting the global temperature increase to 2°C, as agreed in the science-based but highly political process leading towards the 2015 Paris Agreement, indeed emerges as economically optimal.”

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 28, 2020, 07:15:47 am
... “We did a lot of thorough testing with our computers...

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 28, 2020, 08:02:27 am
;D ;D ;D

It's called modeling. How else do you propose to test different scenarios and anticipate what future outcomes are possible?

Climate costs smallest if warming is limited to 2°C
Quote

27/01/2020 - Climate costs are likely smallest if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius. The politically negotiated Paris Agreement is thus also the economically sensible one, Potsdam researchers find in a new study. Using computer simulations of a model by US Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus, they weight climate damages from, for instance, increasing weather extremes or decreasing labour productivity against the costs of cutting greenhouse gas emission by phasing out coal and oil. Interestingly, the economically most cost-efficient level of global warming turns out to be the one more than 190 nations signed as the Paris Climate Agreement. So far however, CO2 reductions promised by nations worldwide are insufficient to reach this goal.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 28, 2020, 08:07:42 am
I wrote this in an essay  (http://www.russ-lewis.com/essays/commoncause.html)in 1980, Bart. Nothing has changed since then:

"The efficacy of any correct algorithmic process depends on two things: the validity of its premises and the validity of the data fed into it. The premises almost always are unprovable. They are arbitrary perceptions of reality arrived at through a mind leap that suspiciously resembles faith. The data need not only be accurate, they need to measure what the algorithm purports to deal with. Without valid premises and valid data a process may be quite valid and work perfectly well, but at the same time produce garbage.

"Many who claim “scientific” methodology seem utterly uncritical about the premises upon which their methodology is based, and seem unable to distinguish between what can be quantified and what cannot. Most of what these people produce is garbage. Yet, it seems, our society has been taught to accept the results of any methodology provided it’s sufficiently complex and mysterious to hide the question of faith buried in its premises. Process itself has become our religion. Revelation and mathematics have become synonymous."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 28, 2020, 08:26:14 am
I wrote this in an essay  (http://www.russ-lewis.com/essays/commoncause.html)in 1980, Bart. Nothing has changed since then:[...]

Russ, may I suggest to read up on modern technology? A lot has changed since then.

The models used now, were not available then. The amount and quality of input data has improved, since then.

And while I'm sceptical of many economists, it looks like William D. Nordhaus did a thourough job that after 40 years culminated into this 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for him and Paul M. Romer in this shared honor.

2018 Nobel in Economics Is Awarded to William Nordhaus and Paul Romer
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/08/business/economic-science-nobel-prize.html
Quote
WASHINGTON — The Yale economist William D. Nordhaus has spent the better part of four decades trying to persuade governments to address climate change, preferably by imposing a tax on carbon emissions.

His careful work has long since convinced most members of his own profession, and on Monday he was awarded the 2018 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in recognition of that achievement.

But Professor Nordhaus sadly noted that he hadn’t convinced the government of his own country.

“The policies are lagging very, very far — miles, miles, miles behind the science and what needs to be done,” Professor Nordhaus said shortly after learning of the prize. “It’s hard to be optimistic. And we’re actually going backward in the United States with the disastrous policies of the Trump administration.”

Professor Nordhaus shared the prize with Paul M. Romer, an economist at New York University whose work has demonstrated that government policy plays a critical role in fostering technological innovation.

The award was announced just hours after a United Nations panel said large changes in public policy were urgently needed to limit the catastrophic consequences of rising temperatures. The prize committee said its choice of laureates was meant to emphasize the need for international cooperation.

“The message is that it’s needed for countries to cooperate globally to solve some of these big questions,” said Goran K. Hansson, the secretary general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Quote
Professor Romer, for his part, offered a more optimistic take on the challenges confronting society, saying that his work showed that governments could drive technological change. He noted the success of efforts to reduce emissions of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons in the 1990s.

One problem today is that people think protecting the environment will be so costly and so hard that they want to ignore the problem and pretend it doesn’t exist,” Professor Romer said at a news conference after the announcement. “Humans are capable of amazing accomplishments if we set our minds to it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 28, 2020, 08:37:09 am
GIGO=Garbage in. Garbage out.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on January 28, 2020, 08:46:56 am
GIGO=Garbage in. Garbage out.

You mean fossil fuel ...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 28, 2020, 08:56:51 am
GIGO=Garbage in. Garbage out.
"It was popular in the early days of computing, but applies even more today, when powerful computers can produce large amounts of erroneous data or information in a short time. The first use of the phrase has been dated to a November 10, 1957, syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers,[4] in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable computing device design:

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.


— Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher[5]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 28, 2020, 09:14:10 am
Models don't have to be perfect to be useful.

The argument that because things have been wrong in the past means that they are wrong now is specious.

What ARE you people afraid of?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 28, 2020, 09:25:23 am
... What ARE you people afraid of?

That you are going to f&*ck up our way of life for your crazy delusions. We are afraid of your totalitarianism that inevitably follows any left rule. We are afraid of you shoving down our throats your preconceptions of what we shall think, say, eat, and do.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 28, 2020, 09:35:08 am
Models don't have to be perfect to be useful.

The argument that because things have been wrong in the past means that they are wrong now is specious.

What ARE you people afraid of?
There are more things wrong today because there are more people inputting data and having opinions about things that they can spread around on the web.  So it's actually harder to distinguish truth from BS.  That's what so scary about AI.  All it is is people imputed data and algorithms using their own flaws and prejudice that slants the results.  It's one of the concerns about climatology.  But it really extends to all social and hard sciences, economics, politics, etc.  You can;t trust anything you read today and have to be very discerning about trying to extract the truth. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 28, 2020, 09:40:06 am
That you are going to f&*ck up our way of life for your crazy delusions. We are afraid of your totalitarianism that inevitably follows any left rule.

Relax, that sounds frantic. You're letting ideology rule your thinking, much like all those "student radicals" do.

Every environmental policy in the last 50 years has improved our lives. It has nothing to do with totalitarianism, you just insist on seeing everything through the same lens. It's a bizarre notion, that designing systems that conserve resources are viewed as "left-wing rule" on your part. Time for you to step back and re-analyze. Most of the corporate world started doing exactly that several decades ago. You're stuck in a meme.

Nobody is destroying your way of life. If anything, the rest of the world is rushing to adopt it, with occasional hiccups along the way as per normal.

There are moves in the coal belt to prevent agencies from collecting disease data. From the rantings on these threads, it sounds like many people want to stop climate modelling, presumably because it doesn't produce the results they favour. Do you really think that kind of strategy can work? Don't you think that people will notice that strip coal mining produces air pollutants than make people sick? Do you think that making it more difficult for people to sue when they get sick is actually a good thing for society?

Just because people you don't like who supports a policy does not make the policy bad. You're not thinking straight.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 28, 2020, 09:42:55 am
There are more things wrong today because there are more people inputting data and having opinions about things that they can spread around on the web.  So it's actually harder to distinguish truth from BS.  That's what so scary about AI.  All it is is people imputed data and algorithms using their own flaws and prejudice that slants the results.  It's one of the concerns about climatology.  But it really extends to all social and hard sciences, economics, politics, etc.  You can;t trust anything you read today and have to be very discerning about trying to extract the truth.

One the weirdest things I've read on this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 28, 2020, 09:45:04 am
"It was popular in the early days of computing, but applies even more today, when powerful computers can produce large amounts of erroneous data or information in a short time. The first use of the phrase has been dated to a November 10, 1957, syndicated newspaper article about US Army mathematicians and their work with early computers,[4] in which an Army Specialist named William D. Mellin explained that computers cannot think for themselves, and that "sloppily programmed" inputs inevitably lead to incorrect outputs. The underlying principle was noted by the inventor of the first programmable computing device design:

On two occasions I have been asked, "Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?" ... I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.


— Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher[5]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_in,_garbage_out

Some people here got stuck in 1957 cq 1980... for them after that nothing has changed ....
Science is not to be trusted ... after 1980.... ??
only argument seems to be: believe you me: I am old and wise...    ... or getting senile... ?

Today, input that goes into computers for calculations in observing our climate and our economy is very precise and comes from multiple sources and satellites that were not available in 1980, or 1957. In the early days of computing there was often no relevant data.
Today there is so much more relevant data that can be used in calculations, also for cross checking.
Now computers can be fed with more relevant and precise data than ever before, and computers can deal with more complex calculations than ever before...

There should be MORE trust in science, than ever before...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 28, 2020, 09:45:14 am
Russ, may I suggest to read up on modern technology? A lot has changed since then.

The models used now, were not available then. The amount and quality of input data has improved, since then.

But the premises behind the algorithms, premises that resemble faith haven't changed, Bart. The data may be more accurate (though you'd have to prove that somehow), but the potential fallacies built into the "models" are no less disastrous than they were "then." I did software engineering for thirty years after I retired from the Air Force. I understand the problems involved, and I understand that the problems, like the oceans, always will be there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 28, 2020, 04:16:58 pm
... There should be MORE trust in science, than ever before...

Actually, there is MORE need for scepticism about "science" than ever before, for two reasons. Reason #1 is well explained by Alan K. (in short, everybody is a scientist these days, just like photographers, and their instantaneous reach to the public via mass media and Internet is nothing short of dangerous).

Reason #2 is that, with the waning influence of organized religion, people are turning to science as the new religion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 28, 2020, 04:21:39 pm
Relax, that sounds frantic. You're letting ideology rule your thinking, much like all those "student radicals" do.

Every environmental policy in the last 50 years has improved our lives. It has nothing to do with totalitarianism, you just insist on seeing everything through the same lens. It's a bizarre notion, that designing systems that conserve resources are viewed as "left-wing rule" on your part. Time for you to step back and re-analyze. Most of the corporate world started doing exactly that several decades ago. You're stuck in a meme.

Nobody is destroying your way of life. If anything, the rest of the world is rushing to adopt it, with occasional hiccups along the way as per normal.

There are moves in the coal belt to prevent agencies from collecting disease data. From the rantings on these threads, it sounds like many people want to stop climate modelling, presumably because it doesn't produce the results they favour. Do you really think that kind of strategy can work? Don't you think that people will notice that strip coal mining produces air pollutants than make people sick? Do you think that making it more difficult for people to sue when they get sick is actually a good thing for society?

Just because people you don't like who supports a policy does not make the policy bad. You're not thinking straight.

I am not sure if you are doing it deliberately, but you are changing goal posts mid-game. You will not find any post of mine that I am arguing against the things in bold above. That is environmental stuff. That is Erin Brockovich stuff. I support all that. But that is not climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: David Sutton on January 28, 2020, 08:08:53 pm
Nobody is destroying your way of life. If anything, the rest of the world is rushing to adopt it, with occasional hiccups along the way as per normal.

Maybe, maybe not.
The dominant religion for the last 300 years has been the belief in progress. It's one of the cornerstones of capitalism and socialism, and most other “isms”. It's delivered some useful things, but has also turned every human being into a commodity.
The idea that humans have caused climate change is an attack on the foundations of the belief in progress. No more “onward and upward”. Faced with an existential threat to their belief system and the fantasy of continuing their current way of life indefinitely, I'm surprised more people haven't joined the climate change deniers.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 30, 2020, 04:47:39 am
Actually, there is MORE need for scepticism about "science" than ever before, for two reasons. Reason #1 is well explained by Alan K. (in short, everybody is a scientist these days, just like photographers, and their instantaneous reach to the public via mass media and Internet is nothing short of dangerous).

Reason #2 is that, with the waning influence of organized religion, people are turning to science as the new religion.

#1 is demonstrated by Alan Klein.
#2 science will never be a religion in the way it will always be finetuned and insights might even completely changed based upon new evidence and proof ; science is an open end.

Quote
waning influence of organized religion
I see an strong uprising Christian religious Amerika at the moment influenced by Pence and Pompeo from their believe and Trump because he thinks it will get him more votes.
It goes from Muslim bans, abortion bans, the choice of the conservative supreme court judges to the full support of Israels in the case of the new 'Peace plan' and the oppression of Iran.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on January 30, 2020, 05:05:45 am
... I see an strong uprising Christian religious Amerika at the moment..
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on January 30, 2020, 06:03:19 am
I guess we both are right.

back to the ( extreme ) weather...
In the Netherlands everything is moderate also the weather... We have had a long period without sun and 5º...
today at last some sun again...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on January 30, 2020, 09:51:16 am


Which suggests that the evangelicals might have too much influence in political and judicial matters. Practice whatever religion they like, but why do they assume they have the right to tell others what to do. So much for "freedom".

Maybe the next time some goofball like Pat Robertson calls New Orleans hurricanes the wages of sin or openly worries about gay penguins (because two male penguins in a zoo somewhere adopted the caretaking of an egg) some politician with cojones will tell the old moron to shut the eff up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 30, 2020, 10:13:07 am
Which suggests that the evangelicals might have too much influence in political and judicial matters. Practice whatever religion they like, but why do they assume they have the right to tell others what to do. So much for "freedom".

Maybe the next time some goofball like Pat Robertson calls New Orleans hurricanes the wages of sin or openly worries about gay penguins (because two male penguins in a zoo somewhere adopted the caretaking of an egg) some politician with cojones will tell the old moron to shut the eff up.

The Bill of Rights in our Constitution (ei. free speech, religious freedom, right to bear arms, etc) are what defends Americans from the abuse of power of the election box and any one group.  Laws are written based on majority democratic votes only as long as the personal rights contained in our Constitution are not infringed or violated by those laws.   

It's a good system we have. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 30, 2020, 01:53:36 pm
GIGO so they've been using the wrong criteria in over 2000 studies. Not as bad as they thought.   I wonder if this will be on page 1 of the NY Times? 

It's this kind of stuff that gives climate change science a bad name

Quote: "Rather than being seen as something that only had a 3% chance of becoming reality, it became known as the "business-as-usual" scenario, by climate scientists and has been used in more than 2,000 research papers since."
https://news.google.com/articles/CBMiN2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL3NjaWVuY2UtZW52aXJvbm1lbnQtNTEyODE5ODbSATtodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYmMuY28udWsvbmV3cy9hbXAvc2NpZW5jZS1lbnZpcm9ubWVudC01MTI4MTk4Ng?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on January 30, 2020, 02:24:33 pm
Which suggests that the evangelicals might have too much influence in political and judicial matters. Practice whatever religion they like, but why do they assume they have the right to tell others what to do. So much for "freedom".

Maybe the next time some goofball like Pat Robertson calls New Orleans hurricanes the wages of sin or openly worries about gay penguins (because two male penguins in a zoo somewhere adopted the caretaking of an egg) some politician with cojones will tell the old moron to shut the eff up.


I have mentioned before that an unfortunate part of my youth was spent in a boarding school run by fundamentalist Christians. You have to experience it to understand it. There is no reasoning, no questioning; it's the closest thing to absolute, blind political belief systems you will find. I believe it does more to distance people from religion than anything else. You have to escape its grasp and lie fallow inside for many years, until your own mind comes to certain conclusions about life and faith and matters of your soul. Then, and only then, I believe, you finally have the ability to cut through the jungle of organized thought and see meanings and purposes for yourself. Those, I find, that I can trust, and from which derive an inner sense of peace and a more positive approach to what we may be, and where we go when we go.

It's often difficult, but you have to think for yourself. Binding yourself to any faith that simply tells you that it's right because it quotes it's foundations in which lie its beliefs, is not really enough. It's just another "it's right because I say so" situation (as everyone will recognize from regular LuLaing). As a basis for clean and friendly coexistence between people, the general sense of the Commandments is pretty sound; it's when taken to simplistic, rigidly held belief and interpretation that trouble starts and destroys the good that comes from the basic concept.

Not much new, then.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on January 30, 2020, 02:31:07 pm

As a basis for clean and friendly coexistence between people, the general sense of the Commandments is pretty sound; it's when taken to simplistic, rigidly held belief and interpretation that trouble starts and destroys the good that comes from the basic concept.

Should be written above the door of each and every church.  Especially the ones that devised the business model of the sale of forgiveness.



Rob
[/quote]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on January 30, 2020, 02:40:54 pm
It's often difficult, but you have to think for yourself.
Surprisingly, little of that goes on.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 30, 2020, 02:46:54 pm
Interesting article about the Thwaites glacier in Antartica.

Quote
Glaciologists have described Thwaites as the "most important" glacier in the world, the "riskiest" glacier, even the "doomsday" glacier.

It is massive - roughly the size of Britain.
It already accounts for 4% of world sea level rise each year - a huge figure for a single glacier - and satellite data show that it is melting increasingly rapidly.
There is enough water locked up in it to raise world sea level by more than half a metre.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51097309
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 30, 2020, 03:40:21 pm
We'd better all run for the hills, Les.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 30, 2020, 04:17:00 pm
We'd better all run for the hills, Les.

You should read it, Russ
This was not so much a doomsday report, as an interesting article how the scientists drilled with a hot water drill a hole in half-a-mile thick ice. You need a lot of heavy machinery for a project like that.

(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/10992/production/_110668976_hercules_bbc_1920.jpg) 

Quote
To gather all the necessary data the MELT team, which included scientists from Georgia Tech, developed Icefin, an underwater robot to navigate the waters underneath the glacier and to collect data in the area where the glacier meets the sea.

Using a hot-water drill, the MELT team was able to drill nearly half a mile or through 2,300 feet of ice to get to the ocean and seafloor. The Icefin was then able to swim more than a mile to the Thwaites grounding zone to gather data including measurements and images. The robot also mapped the glacier's melting.

“We designed Icefin to be able to finally enable access to grounding zones of glaciers, places where observations have been nearly impossible, but where rapid change is taking place,” said Dr. Britney Schmidt, lead scientist for Icefin and associate professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Schmidt, a co-investigator on the MELT project, in a press release announcing the results. “We’re proud of Icefin since it represents a new way of looking at glaciers and ice shelves. For really the first time, we can drive miles under the ice to measure and map processes we can’t otherwise reach. We’ve taken the first close-up look at a grounding zone. It’s our ‘walking on the moon’ moment.”

Here is another similar report from that area.

https://interestingengineering.com/researchers-drill-deep-into-one-of-the-most-important-antarctica-glaciers


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 31, 2020, 05:39:46 pm
Well, let's see what the scientists could say.

Option 1:  It looks really bad the way the land and the ice seem to be traveling past one another.  We really got some awful evidence with our trillion dollar cameras.  We need to study this for at least another ten years to check how bad it's going to get.  We wouldn't want any more polar bears to starve.

or,

Option 2:  Well, we looked and noticed the ice is passing the edge of the land.  Nothing unusual that we can tell.  The government ought to shut down the program and save their money.  I'll be alright.  I use to be a short-order cook.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on January 31, 2020, 05:49:03 pm
Well, let's see what the scientists could say.
We need to study this for at least another ten years to check how bad it's going to get.  We wouldn't want any more polar bears to starve.

I'm afraid there are no more polar bears around that glacier.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on January 31, 2020, 06:27:48 pm
I'm afraid there are no more polar bears around that glacier.
Well, that's good.  At least no more will die. The scientists are already doing valuable work. Maybe with ten year more research, the polar bears will be back.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on January 31, 2020, 07:55:13 pm
You should read it, Russ
This was not so much a doomsday report, as an interesting article how the scientists drilled with a hot water drill a hole in half-a-mile thick ice. You need a lot of heavy machinery for a project like that.

I'll read it when I get time, Les. I have a brother-in-law who spent a year on a scientific expedition to Antarctica. I also once volunteered for an Arctic survival course run by the Air Force. Didn't get to go, unfortunately. Wanted to do it because I was flying over some pretty desolate winter territory in northern Montana and southern Canada.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 01, 2020, 10:52:43 pm
Reducing carbon emissions with nuclear.

"Rolls-Royce plans to build up to 15 mini nuclear reactors in Britain"
https://newatlas.com/energy/rolls-royce-plans-mini-nuclear-reactors-in-britain/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 04, 2020, 06:54:53 pm
2019 was the second warmest year in recorded history (just 0.04C after 2016). January 2019 was also earth's warmest January on record (as of 2019), essentially tying with January 2016. January 2020 was even warmer - 0.054C degrees warmer than 2019. I don't have the temperatures for all corners of the world, but January 2020 broke all records in Europe and in southern Canada. Last year, we had actually good ice for skating on the nearby lakes and ponds until late March, but not this year.

Quote
Given the size and tremendous heat capacity of the global oceans, it takes a massive amount of heat energy to raise Earth’s average yearly surface temperature even a small amount. The 2-degree increase in global average surface temperature that has occurred since the pre-industrial era (1880-1900) might seem small, but it means a significant increase in accumulated heat. That extra heat is driving regional and seasonal temperature extremes, reducing snow cover and sea ice, intensifying heavy rainfall, and changing habitat ranges for plants and animals—expanding some and shrinking others. 

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/eye-of-the-storm/earth-had-its-second-warmest-year-in-recorded-history-in-2019/

https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-global-temperature

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 04, 2020, 08:12:29 pm
It's been getting warmer since the Ice Age ended 12,000 years ago.  Man, animals and fauna have all done terrific the warmer it got.  So we're all going to do better. Isn't that good?  Frankly, I think a warmer winter is nice.  I was out yesterday practicing with my new 4x5 camera.  It was in the 50's.  I would have stayed home if it was really cold.  Warmer weather is good for photography.  And photographers.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 04, 2020, 08:14:44 pm
It's been getting warmer since the Ice Age ended 12,000 years ago.  Man, animals and fauna have all done terrific the warmer it got.  So we're all going to do better. Isn't that good?  Frankly, I think a warmer winter is nice.  I was out yesterday practicing with my new 4x5 camera.  It was in the 50's.  I would have stayed home if it was really cold.  Warmer weather is good for photography.  And photographers.  :)

I like it also more when it's warmer. But those warmer winters could seriously impact Florida economy. Just think of all the snow birds who stop going south.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 04, 2020, 08:48:14 pm
I like it also more when it's warmer. But those warmer winters could seriously impact Florida economy. Just think of all the snow birds who stop going south.
You may be right.  I live in 55+ community.  Loads of people on my block are in FLorida right now keeping their buns warm.  If it warms up there, they might not go.  But it still will be pretty cold up there in Canada where you live.  So things will get cheaper in Florida for you and other Canadians.  See?  Global Warming is good for the economy.  The Canadian economy. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 07, 2020, 11:56:19 am
Antarctica weather breaks the records. Yesterday, it was warmer there than in Jacksonville in Florida.

Quote
“The Argentine research base, which is called Esperanza, it’s on the northern tip of the Antarctic peninsula; it set a new record temperature yesterday: 18.3°C, which is not a figure you would normally associate with Antarctica even in summertime. This beat the former record of 17.5°C, which was set back in 2015.”

“It’s among the fastest-warming regions of the planet”, Ms. Nullis said of the Antarctic. “We hear a lot about the Arctic, but this particular part of the Antarctic peninsula is warming very quickly.  Over the past 50 years it’s warmed almost 3°C.” Amid steadily warming temperatures, Ms. Nullis also noted that the amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic ice sheet “increased at least six-fold between 1979 and 2017”. Most of this ice loss happens when ice shelves melt from below, as they come into contact with relatively warm ocean water,
 

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1056902
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 07, 2020, 05:48:15 pm
Antarctica weather breaks the records. Yesterday, it was warmer there than in Jacksonville in Florida.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/02/1056902

I watched, today, a brief clip of a massive, wide rim of a southern glacier collapsing into the sea. It was accompanied by the sound of cannon shots as the ice cracked and broke off. The scale of this event was huge, as will be the result when this keeps on happening with no way left to stop it.

Apparently, the ability of snowfall to replace the loss of ice is no longer enough to stabilize the balance again unless something exceptional happens to mitigate the direction of temperature travel.

Yet, it's silly alarmist nonsense to mention the fact. Go figure; that's a trick of self-deception with which I can't quite get to grips. It's so freakin' obvious that the more heat you put in the more heat you put in! Putting in less would, at the very least, contribute to a slowing down of the effect and buy us some time. But nope, all you get to hear about is economics, and how bad it might be for business to do anything to save our species!

I can see it now: a silent world with the seas covered in soggy greenbacks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on February 07, 2020, 10:45:36 pm
Man, animals and fauna have all done terrific the warmer it got. So we're all going to do better. Isn't that good?

Alan, what you keep saying over and over and over is simply not true.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/winter-ticks-climate-change-moose-1.5452694

Forests and animals in general and moose in particular are dying at unprecedented rates due to insect infestation resulting from warmer winters.

Arctic natives are seeing insects they've never seen before.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 07, 2020, 11:44:55 pm
Alan, what you keep saying over and over and over is simply not true.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/winter-ticks-climate-change-moose-1.5452694

Forests and animals in general and moose in particular are dying at unprecedented rates due to insect infestation resulting from warmer winters.

Arctic natives are seeing insects they've never seen before.
You're deciding which animals and plants are more valuable to nature.  The point is the number and diversity and especially the ranges have increased as the climate has gotten warmer.  Think of the huge range and population increases that have occured since the ice age ended due to warming.  Let's face it, there wouldn't be any Canadians if it was colder.  Les would have moved to FLorida a long time ago.  Also, while I hate ticks as much as the moose must, ticks are prey to many animals including other insects and birds. So their ranges and population will increase. Also, moose will adapt as deer adapted.  Read Darwin. Bottom line is warmer weather is better for animals and plants even though there will be minor displacements of some species. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 07, 2020, 11:57:22 pm
I haven't counted moose in my neighbourhood, but I got a pretty good understanding of the japanese beetles plaque. As reported previously, we get now many times more of then than in previous years. They are pretty, but nobody eats them and they eat voraciously leaves on our berry bushes - currants, raspberries, and blackberries. Last summer, I neutralized thousands of them (40-50 per day for at least 100 days), otherwise the plants wouldn't have survived their onslaught. Who needs those invaders?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 08, 2020, 12:14:04 am
I haven't counted moose in my neighbourhood, but I got a pretty good understanding of the japanese beetles plaque. As reported previously, we get now many times more of then than in previous years. They are pretty, but nobody eats them and they eat voraciously leaves on our berry bushes - currants, raspberries, and blackberries. Last summer, I neutralized thousands of them (40-50 per day for at least 100 days), otherwise the plants wouldn't have survived their onslaught. Who needs those invaders?
I can;t stand ticks.  I've had Lyme disease and my dog almost died from some tick borne disease.  I'm afraid to go into the woods to take pictures.  So I understand.  New Jersey where I live i like the central cross hairs for their livelihood.  But that's not the point.  When climate changes there are winners and losers, mainly winners.  If it was colder, you;d have to leave Canada.  The point I'm making is that warmer climate is good for all species mainly,  Sure there are local imbalances that occur.  But generally, all species do better/  One look at the tropics like in Brazil and you can appreciate just how varied and populated the place is.  Pointing out one or two species that might be having problems from warm weather is only telling half the story.  That's what makes people so suspicious of the claims.  Leaving out the species that are growing when discussing these things, just make people like myself question the honesty of the supporters of climate change.  They have their thumbs on the scale. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 08, 2020, 05:07:57 am
... Putting in less would, at the very least, contribute to a slowing down of the effect and buy us some time. But nope, all you get to hear about is economics, and how bad it might be for business to do anything to save our species! ...

A Heated Oxford Education
Protesting students get a personal lesson about fossil fuels.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-heated-oxford-education-11580680180?emailToken=3235e27a89fc2771d4f00eba3db46873VpLXirAFKJXTW0D3vK+n7jh8buXzfDc3WEmeJrRcoe8YMsHkZe9%2F3%2FQNeKHwcsOWi2bUJzbN1J74cCVlogRuQQ%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share

Quote
... students occupying his 15th-century quadrangle and refusing to leave until the college divested its oil-company shares. The students want the college to sell the more than $10 million of its endowment now invested in Shell and BP, and they want it now.

Quote
... bursar Andrew Parker made them a counteroffer. “I am not able to arrange any divestment at short notice,” he wrote. “But I can arrange for the gas central heating in college to be switched off with immediate effect. Please let me know if you support this proposal.”

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 07:09:12 am
A Heated Oxford Education
Protesting students get a personal lesson about fossil fuels.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-heated-oxford-education-11580680180?emailToken=3235e27a89fc2771d4f00eba3db46873VpLXirAFKJXTW0D3vK+n7jh8buXzfDc3WEmeJrRcoe8YMsHkZe9%2F3%2FQNeKHwcsOWi2bUJzbN1J74cCVlogRuQQ%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share

 ;D ;D ;D

If he were to divest at short notice, the students wouldn't mind putting on some extra clothes. But he is not making such an offer, so why should they?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 08, 2020, 09:42:08 am
If he were to divest at short notice, the students wouldn't mind putting on some extra clothes. But he is not making such an offer, so why should they?
I've made that offer to my wife.  But she didn't take me up on it.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 03:01:26 pm
Meanwhile, this Saturday, we're bracing ourselves for a Gigantic (ranging from Norway to North Spain) Low-pressure system that's traveling from Ireland towards the Werstern European coast. Tomorrow, Sunday Febr. 9th, 2020, in the afternoon, the storm named "Ciara" is anticipated to deliver windgusts on land with a speed of more than 120 Km/h, Schiphol Amsterdan Airport has cancelled several dozens of flights, Soccer-games and other outdoor-activities have been cancelled, and roadtraffic is advised to avoid traveling with empty trucks and prepare for delays. The peak is expected between 18:00h - 20:00h local time. It's a Code Orange situation, so it could be worse, but it's still something to take seriously.

Due to heavy rains last week, the water level in the river Meuse, where it enters the country, has rizen to 13.75 meters (a little over 45 feet) above (roughly) average sea-level. But that's not a critical level yet. Let's hope the wind coming from the South-West doesn't damage the water-management systems or raises the level any more.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 08, 2020, 05:39:48 pm
Meanwhile, this Saturday, we're bracing ourselves for a Gigantic (ranging from Norway to North Spain) Low-pressure system that's traveling from Ireland towards the Werstern European coast. Tomorrow, Sunday Febr. 9th, 2020, in the afternoon, the storm named "Ciara" is anticipated to deliver windgusts on land with a speed of more than 120 Km/h, Schiphol Amsterdan Airport has cancelled several dozens of flights, Soccer-games and other outdoor-activities have been cancelled, and roadtraffic is advised to avoid traveling with empty trucks and prepare for delays. The peak is expected between 18:00h - 20:00h local time. It's a Code Orange situation, so it could be worse, but it's still something to take seriously.

Due to heavy rains last week, the water level in the river Meuse, where it enters the country, has rizen to 13.75 meters (a little over 45 feet) above (roughly) average sea-level. But that's not a critical level yet. Let's hope the wind coming from the South-West doesn't damage the water-management systems or raises the level any more.


We just got rid of Gloria so please, no Gigantics required right now!

A neighbour has a nice, shiny new black Audi which helps raise the tone of the parking lot. During a recent weather tantrum, it became landing strip for a few terracotta pantiles from off the roof of a building. Roof, hood and trunk all badly dented. Could have been my Fiesta - lucky this time: it's hail that dents it every year, but not this year yet.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 05:48:10 pm

We just got rid of Gloria so please, no Gigantics required right now!

A neighbour has a nice, shiny new black Audi which helps raise the tone of the parking lot. During a recent weather tantrum, it became landing strip for a few terracotta pantiles from off the roof of a building. Roof, hood and trunk all badly dented. Could have been my Fiesta - lucky this time: it's hail that dents it every year, but not this year yet.

At this moment, 'Ciara' is reported as having windspeeds of 100 m/s over the Atlantic ocean, that's 360 km/h (224 miles/hour). It'll slow down when it makes landfall.

Let's hope you are far enough to the South end of this storm this time. I'm not as lucky this round.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 08:36:59 pm
Daily Satellite Observations of Methane from Oil and Gas Production Regions in the United States
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-57678-4.pdf?origin=ppub

Quote
Production of oil and natural gas in North America is at an all-time high due to the development and use
of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Methane emissions associated with this industrial activity
are a concern because of the contribution to climate radiative forcing
.

Quote
Methane emissions from the U.S. oil and natural gas supply chain have received much recent attention and are estimated to be 2.3% of gross U.S. gas  production4 and 41% of the anthropogenic U.S. emissions.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 08, 2020, 08:55:53 pm
Daily Satellite Observations of Methane from Oil and Gas Production Regions in the United States
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-57678-4.pdf?origin=ppub


If we were not producing it, someone else would or other carbon fossil fuels would be used that are dirtier.  Fracking has made us energy independent of oil and gas.  It may help us stay out of Middle East conflicts, while you are dependent on buying Saudi oil and Russian natural gas. The additional wealth created by fracking has made America a lot richer.  It's allowed us to reduce by half the dirtier coal we used before with cleaner natural gas, reducing our CO2 footprint and amount of pollution. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 08, 2020, 08:58:58 pm
If we were not producing it, someone else would or other carbon fossil fuels would be used that are dirtier.  Fracking has made us energy independent of oil and gas.  It may help us stay out of Middle East conflicts, while you are dependent on buying Saudi oil and Russian natural gas. The additional wealth created by fracking has made America a lot richer.  It's allowed us to reduce by half the dirtier coal we used before with cleaner natural gas, reducing our CO2 footprint and amount of pollution.

This is about leakage... spilling gas without any purpose; it is about contamination for no reason.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 09:05:42 pm
If we were not producing it, someone else would or other carbon fossil fuels would be used that are dirtier.

You're not making sense. In this case, the USA is leaking the Methane. You cannot blame it on Democrats or anybody else. It is your leakage, address it, or at least do not deny it. Denial is the cause of much of this. Sane people wouldn't deny what's irrefutably obvious.

It's just one (of several) more reasons to not depend on only USA produced natural gas ...

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 08, 2020, 10:14:56 pm
To reduce the effects of methane, EPA could establish new rules and add methane credits.  Since a significant volume of methane is generated by the cows and pigs for the benefit of meat eaters, the vegetarians and vegans could earn methane pollution credits. EPA could then sell or trade the earned credits to livestock farms, steakhouses and individual carnivores.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 08, 2020, 10:28:01 pm
To reduce the effects of methane, EPA could establish new rules and add methane credits.  Since a significant volume of methane is generated by the cows and pigs for the benefit of meat eaters, the vegetarians and vegans could earn methane pollution credits. EPA could then sell or trade the earned credits to livestock farms, steakhouses and individual carnivores.

While I'd potentially agree with the observable different contributions by various stakeholders, I tend to be more focused on actual reduction of unwanted emssions. Selling or trading emision does not fundamentally change the contribution to the surplus of greenhouse gasses.

If we can avoid it, let's do, but when we cannot at this moment in time, let's try.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 08, 2020, 10:32:50 pm
To reduce the effects of methane, EPA could establish new rules and add methane credits.  Since a significant volume of methane is generated by the cows and pigs for the benefit of meat eaters, the vegetarians and vegans could earn methane pollution credits. EPA could then sell or trade the earned credits to livestock farms, steakhouses and individual carnivores.
Well, as an individual carnivore, I would be willing to pay for methane credits if vegans paid their fair share for eating beans.   :-[
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 08, 2020, 10:52:20 pm
Well, as an individual carnivore, I would be willing to pay for methane credits if vegans paid their fair share for eating beans.   :-[

That could be indeed an opportunity for a new trade exchange platform - cattle methane output vs human methane output credits. I estimate that the vegans would come ahead and they could even get some options and credits eligible for the fuel for their vehicles. Or utilize the methane directly for the car propulsion. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 08, 2020, 10:57:24 pm
That could be indeed an opportunity for a new trade exchange platform - cattle methane output vs human methane output credits. I estimate that the vegans would come ahead and they could even get some options and credits eligible for the fuel for their vehicles. Or utilize the methane directly for the car propulsion. 
People fueled automobiles.  Now, where's Elon Musk when we really need him?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 08, 2020, 10:57:33 pm
While I'd potentially agree with the observable different contributions by various stakeholders, I tend to be more focused on actual reduction of unwanted emssions. Selling or trading emision does not fundamentally change the contribution to the surplus of greenhouse gasses.

If we can avoid it, let's do, but when we cannot at this moment in time, let's try.

Most definitely. Reduction of methane output would be much more effective than storing it and trying to offload it to someone else.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 11, 2020, 08:10:42 am
Global warming:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iraq-snow-baghdad-first-time-in-over-a-decade-winter-weather
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 11, 2020, 08:23:50 am
Global warming:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iraq-snow-baghdad-first-time-in-over-a-decade-winter-weather

Interesting pictures, but very unsettling music.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 11, 2020, 09:16:42 am
Interesting pictures, but very unsettling music.

Hey!   i also saw some nice photo: Al jazeera

like the first very much

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/pictures-rare-snowfall-carpets-iraq-200211083835781.html#lg=1&slide=0
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 11, 2020, 09:39:33 am
Could the Solar System be causing recent changes in carbon in the atmosphere affecting the climate?  Could this be one of the missing parameters needed for a more accurate computer simulation of global warming?

"Scientists show solar system processes control the carbon cycle throughout Earth's history"
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-solar-carbon-earth-history.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 11, 2020, 10:25:49 am
Global warming:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iraq-snow-baghdad-first-time-in-over-a-decade-winter-weather

Yes, GLOBAL warming, although a decade is a bit short to speak of Climate change in a specific location.

But given the fact that many countries have recorded the warmest month of January since temperatures are recorded systematically, and Iran has some cold weather, doesn't mean that GLOBAL temperatures are not rising. So yes, global warming.

Also, I for one have not forgotten the recent events, scorchingly high temperatures and wildfires, in Australia. There too, a pattern is emerging.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 11, 2020, 10:38:52 am
Global warming:

https://www.foxnews.com/world/iraq-snow-baghdad-first-time-in-over-a-decade-winter-weather

It's already warming up there. 5C right now, forecast for tomorrow and next few days 29C.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 11, 2020, 10:45:37 am
Could the Solar System be causing recent changes in carbon in the atmosphere affecting the climate?  Could this be one of the missing parameters needed for a more accurate computer simulation of global warming?

"Scientists show solar system processes control the carbon cycle throughout Earth's history"
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-solar-carbon-earth-history.html

Unfortunately, this is not a missing parameter. Solar radiation varies with the 11 year sunspot cycle, and as a result of the Earth's orbit around the sun, and its slow variation of the axis of rotation, but it takes an 'extremely' long time to create a significant difference.

How the inclination of Earth's orbit affects incoming solar irradiance
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2012GL052950
Quote
Abstract
The variability in solar irradiance, the main external energy source of the Earth's system, must be critically studied in order to place the effects of human‐driven climate change into perspective and allow plausible predictions of the evolution of climate. Accurate measurements of total solar irradiance (TSI) variability by instruments onboard space platforms during the last three solar cycles indicate changes of approximately 0.1% over the sunspot cycle. Physics‐based models also suggest variations of the same magnitude on centennial to millennia time‐scales.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 11, 2020, 10:47:48 am
It's already warming up there. 5C right now, forecast for tomorrow and next few days 29C.

That's what one could call LOCAL warming indeed.  ;D
Winter in Baghdad...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 12, 2020, 06:47:11 am
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2020/02/09/a-climate-blacklist-that-works-it-should-make-her-unhirable-in-academia/?fbclid=IwAR1teB-pjebUJTn3qUOEHI0QbrS0wZu1H50ZXVcWoLMgohQHjEnO3AsuAeE#5cf713663682

"How Academic ‘Blacklists’ Impede Serious Work On Climate Science"

Quote
A climate advocacy group called Skeptical Science hosts a list of academics that it has labeled “climate misinformers.” The list includes 17 academics and is intended as a blacklist. We know of this intent because one of the principals of Skeptical Science, a blogger named Dana Nuccitelli, said so last Friday, writing of one academic on their list, “if you look at the statements we cataloged and debunked on her [Skeptical Science] page, it should make her unhirable in academia.”

That so-called “unhirable” academic is Professor Judy Curry, formerly the chair of the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Georgia Tech, and a Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and American Meteorological Society. By any conventional academic metric, Curry has compiled an impressive record over many decades. The idea that she would be unhirable would seem laughable.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 12, 2020, 09:19:29 am
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2020/02/09/a-climate-blacklist-that-works-it-should-make-her-unhirable-in-academia/?fbclid=IwAR1teB-pjebUJTn3qUOEHI0QbrS0wZu1H50ZXVcWoLMgohQHjEnO3AsuAeE#5cf713663682

"How Academic ‘Blacklists’ Impede Serious Work On Climate Science"


For the same reason so many Hollywood types make their fake liberal bones by spouting off at the Academy awards and other places like that.  Any hint of conservatism, they could be finished in Hollywood.  It's the political equivalent of the casting couch.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 09:42:38 am
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerpielke/2020/02/09/a-climate-blacklist-that-works-it-should-make-her-unhirable-in-academia/?fbclid=IwAR1teB-pjebUJTn3qUOEHI0QbrS0wZu1H50ZXVcWoLMgohQHjEnO3AsuAeE#5cf713663682

"How Academic ‘Blacklists’ Impede Serious Work On Climate Science"

Yes, "Skeptical Science" is very highly rated for its factual reporting on Science.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/skeptical-science/

Forbes is more of a mixed bag in general, with a 3 steps lower rating.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/forbes/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 12, 2020, 09:52:25 am
Hi Bart, Where does “mediabiasfactcheck.com” rate on the factual reporting scale? In other words, who's deciding what's "factual?"
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 10:03:59 am
Hi Bart, Where does “mediabiasfactcheck.com” rate on the factual reporting scale? In other words, who's deciding what's "factual?"

They obviously do not rate themselves (otherwise they'd possibly be rated as "stable geniuses").

The International Fact-Checking Network is a unit of the Poynter Institute dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers worldwide.
The Media Bias/Fact check are part of The International Fact-Checking Network
https://www.poynter.org/ifcn/

And Poynter institute is rated:
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/poynter-institute/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 12, 2020, 10:08:41 am
They obviously do not rate themselves (otherwise they'd possibly be rted as "stable geniuses").



The question is how do others rate them?  Perhaps like the Columbia Jounalism Review for example?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 10:11:16 am
The question is how do others rate them?  Perhaps like the Columbia Jounalism Review for example?

Depends on who those 'others' are.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 12, 2020, 10:13:35 am
Exactly, and I'm always suspicious of any outfit with enough chutzpah to call itself a "rating" company.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 10:21:22 am
Exactly, and I'm always suspicious of any outfit with enough chutzpah to call itself a "rating" company.

Suspicious is good, paranoid isn't.

If you take the time to peruse their website, you'll see that they actually do a good job, and their rating of "Skeptical Science" overall looks to be pretty damn close to reality.

What's reality, one might ask? But then we get into philosopy, which is something for another thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 12, 2020, 10:25:02 am
Not really, Bart. I think it's been rampant in this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 12, 2020, 10:26:03 am
Exactly, and I'm always suspicious of any outfit with enough chutzpah to call itself a "rating" company.
Wasn't it the rating companies like Moody's and S&P and Fitch and others that overrated the worthless stock that caused the 2008 recession when the real estate market collapsed?  They didn't want to lose their clients, the banks that hired them to rate their worthless real estate stock as something AAA valuable when it was worth Ddd-, or slightly higher than dog poop. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 12, 2020, 10:31:09 am
Depends on who those 'others' are.

Why are you deflecting so much here Bart?  Do you have a problem with say, the Columbia Jounalism Review?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 12, 2020, 10:44:54 am
When I want to know what's really going on with a global warming study,  I check with my nearest art gallery who's owner let's me know its real value.  Or a pawn shop. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 11:11:10 am
Why are you deflecting so much here Bart?  Do you have a problem with say, the Columbia Jounalism Review?

I haven't studied their reporting, but Media Bias/Fact Check has (not that Russ trusts their judgement based on ???):
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/columbia-journalism-review/

MBFC has them labeled as: "Overall, we rate Columbia Journalism Review Left-Center Biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record."

So who am I to disagree, before you show me something specific to judge for myself?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 12, 2020, 12:09:21 pm
I haven't studied their reporting, but Media Bias/Fact Check has (not that Russ trusts their judgement based on ???):
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/columbia-journalism-review/

MBFC has them labeled as: "Overall, we rate Columbia Journalism Review Left-Center Biased based on editorial positions that moderately favor the left. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record."

So who am I to disagree, before you show me something specific to judge for myself?

Why dont you look at what they say?  Its your source, have you at least done the research to see if its a quality source and the principals are qualified?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 12, 2020, 12:23:11 pm
Yes, "Skeptical Science" is very highly rated for its factual reporting on Science.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/skeptical-science/

Forbes is more of a mixed bag in general, with a 3 steps lower rating.
https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/forbes/

That is a quite skillful ad hominem deflection from the main point: aggressive blacklisting of reputable climate scientists who do not fall in line.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 12:28:25 pm
That is a quite skillful ad hominem deflection from the main point: aggressive blacklisting of reputable climate scientists who do not fall in line.

It's your assumption that the Forbes contributor is unbiased, and that Skeptical Science website is wrong.
I do not see it as my task to correct everything that people believe ... , although I may at times.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 12, 2020, 12:49:50 pm
It's your assumption that the Forbes contributor is unbiased, and that Skeptical Science website is wrong.
I do not see it as my task to correct everything that people believe ... , although I may at times.

We are not talking about assumptions or who believes what, but about facts presented in the article, emails, interviews etc. Which show a pattern of aggressive lobbying to blacklist scientists that dare to veer off the prescribed path, losing jobs and academic positions, in spite of stellar careers up to that point. Certainly one way to achieve a "scientific consensus."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 01:13:23 pm
We are not talking about assumptions or who believes what, but about facts presented in the article, emails, interviews etc. Which show a pattern of aggressive lobbying to blacklist scientists that dare to veer off the prescribed path, losing jobs and academic positions, in spite of stellar careers up to that point. Certainly one way to achieve a "scientific consensus."

You almost make it sound like what Trump does, but that's for another thread.

If what I've read is correct, then the person mentioned did claim a number of strange things, for a person of science. Maybe listing her is justified. What others may or may not do with that is not my responsibility. It seems a bit overreacted, but then I've not read everything she has published. Have you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 12, 2020, 07:50:52 pm
This year’s winter in France has, so far, been the mildest in more than a century, and that has had a direct impact on the ski resort of Le Mourtis, in the Pyrenees mountains.

Quote
The last time France experienced a December and January as mild as this year was in 1900, according to Christelle Robert, a forecaster with Meteo-France, the national meteorological service. Weather has always fluctuated from year to year, but Robert said a clear pattern was emerging - of mild winters and less snow - that was in line with global warming. If the trend continues, ski resorts around 1,600 meters above sea level will be so warm they cannot even spray artificial snow on their pistes. It will melt.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-france-skiing/the-ski-resort-with-no-snow-contemplates-a-warmer-future-idUSKBN2061H4
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 12, 2020, 08:31:57 pm
So, what was the cause in the year 1900?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 08:59:59 pm
I've mentioned it before, in another thread, but it might be useful to repeat it here (since there still seem to be folks in denial about the trend of rising (global) temperatures).

In the Netherlands we have a winter-tradition called the "Elf steden tocht" (the eleven cities tour):
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfstedentocht .

It is a 200 km long tour with ice skates on natural ice (frozen canals and waterways), leading past 11 cities in one single day, in the Northern province of Friesland. It has been officially organized since 1909, although there are reports of it being done since 1760.

The event only takes place once a year, provided that the ice is thick enough (at least 15 centimeters thick along the entire course).

Here are the years that is was possible to do the run:
1909
1912
1917
1929
1933
1940
1941
1942
1947
1954
1956
1963
1985
1986
1997

So, this event is not linked to a specific date, but it just has to be cold enough during the winter to grow ice that's going to be thick enough, and then it's a go within 48 hours (and care is taken to reduce the flow of water, as part of our water-management). The frequency of being able to organize the event has gradually been going down.

Yet another demonstration of the effects of Global warming as witnessed in a local venue.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 12, 2020, 10:25:13 pm
I've mentioned it before, in another thread, but it might be useful to repeat it here (since there still seem to be folks in denial about the trend of rising (global) temperatures).

In the Netherlands we have a winter-tradition called the "Elf steden tocht" (the eleven cities tour):
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elfstedentocht .

It is a 200 km long tour with ice skates on natural ice (frozen canals and waterways), leading past 11 cities in one single day, in the Northern province of Friesland. It has been officially organized since 1909, although there are reports of it being done since 1760.

The event only takes place once a year, provided that the ice is thick enough (at least 15 centimeters thick along the entire course).

Here are the years that is was possible to do the run:
1909
1912
1917
1929
1933
1940
1941
1942
1947
1954
1956
1963
1985
1986
1997

So, this event is not linked to a specific date, but it just has to be cold enough during the winter to grow ice that's going to be thick enough, and then it's a go within 48 hours (and care is taken to reduce the flow of water, as part of our water-management). The frequency of being able to organize the event has gradually been going down.

Yet another demonstration of the effects of Global warming as witnessed in a local venue.

What caused the problem from 63 to 85?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 12, 2020, 10:28:17 pm
Perturbations in the solar system.
https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-solar-carbon-earth-history.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 12, 2020, 11:00:25 pm
Some caused the problem from 63 to 85?

Yes, the intervals are getting larger due to rising temperatures. The average temperature in the Netherlands has been rising some 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius since official systematic recording around the 1900's. It's been 23 years since the latest 11 cities event (with one close call in 2019), and it's getting less likely (although theoretically still possible) that it will happen this year.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 12, 2020, 11:08:17 pm
So, what was the cause in the year 1900?

Possibly a faulty thermometer.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 12, 2020, 11:27:33 pm
Yes, the intervals are getting larger due to rising temperatures. The average temperature in the Netherlands has been rising some 1.5-2.0 degrees Celsius since official systematic recording around the 1900's. It's been 23 years since the latest 11 cities event (with one close call in 2019), and it's getting less likely (although theoretically still possible) that it will happen this year.

You dodged the question.  What caused the problem from 63 to 85? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 12, 2020, 11:35:14 pm
Too many cows.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 13, 2020, 10:15:23 am
New high temperature record for Antartica 20.75ºC

Antarctic temperature rises above 20C for first time on record
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/13/antarctic-temperature-rises-above-20c-first-time-record
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 13, 2020, 10:48:08 am
What caused the problem from 63 to 85?

Heat.

Part of the reason that folks still deny the changes going down is that they think it is all going to be an immediate thing you can measure over five years or something short like that. Global warming due to mankind has been going on for ages. We didn't start to pollute with the advent of the petrol engine, you know. We have been doing it with fossil fuels over centuries.

For some years when I lived in Glasgow, I can remember my mother bringing in grey washing - and we lived in a nice, leafy suburb, not in the city. As an apprentice, I can remember cycling home from work and having to get off and push the bike because I literally could not see a yard ahead. That was in the fifties. Later on, when I had a car, I recall driving back from the city following the tramlines, and hoping I remembered which turned off where. They brought in clean air acts, and that stuff became history. Fog, yes, a different but related beast, but the industrial smog was gone.

Today, engineering industry gasses (and coal fires at home) have been replaced as pollutants by vastly more cars and aircraft than ever existed before, and we produce pollution that is largely invisible to the naked eye if not to the lungs. Population growth has caused much more agriculture-based pollution than ever before.

It does not follow - never did - that every year would follow the exact pattern of the one before it; we go up and down, high and low, but the thing is, there is also an overall pattern to be considered, and that's what should get us thinking seriously. There's no denying that natural events like explodoing volcanoes and meteorite hits also caused vast climate changes in history; natural events indeed, but nowhere does it follow that man doing his best to stop his own pollution from getting worse is not going to help us survive - if only a little longer.

I think that's the whole point of what we are trying to do: stall the beginning of the end.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 13, 2020, 11:16:24 am
Heat.

Part of the reason that folks still deny the changes going down is that they think it is all going to be an immediate thing you can measure over five years or something short like that. Global warming due to mankind has been going on for ages. We didn't start to pollute with the advent of the petrol engine, you know. We have been doing it with fossil fuels over centuries.

For some years when I lived in Glasgow, I can remember my mother bringing in grey washing - and we lived in a nice, leafy suburb, not in the city. As an apprentice, I can remember cycling home from work and having to get off and push the bike because I literally could not see a yard ahead. That was in the fifties. Later on, when I had a car, I recall driving back from the city following the tramlines, and hoping I remembered which turned off where. They brought in clean air acts, and that stuff became history. Fog, yes, a different but related beast, but the industrial smog was gone.

Today, engineering industry gasses (and coal fires at home) have been replaced as pollutants by vastly more cars and aircraft than ever existed before, and we produce pollution that is largely invisible to the naked eye if not to the lungs. Population growth has caused much more agriculture-based pollution than ever before.

It does not follow - never did - that every year would follow the exact pattern of the one before it; we go up and down, high and low, but the thing is, there is also an overall pattern to be considered, and that's what should get us thinking seriously. There's no denying that natural events like explodoing volcanoes and meteorite hits also caused vast climate changes in history; natural events indeed, but nowhere does it follow that man doing his best to stop his own pollution from getting worse is not going to help us survive - if only a little longer.

I think that's the whole point of what we are trying to do: stall the beginning of the end.

I clearly don't deny that climate changes.  Heck just north of my location was once a giant glacier.  It's now what is know as Great Lakes.  How did that happen? The climate changed.  Humans had zero to do with that change.

In my opinion we have zero chance of changing it now. The earth and universe are beyond our control.  As for trying to "FIX" what we have now...given the likelyhood of unexpected conequences, we just might screw things up totally.  And I'm not talking about the environment.  Science is grasping at straws.  They have no real idea of whats going on, only educated guesses.  Nothing wrong with making guesses based on incomplete data but lets  call a spade a spade here.    No one reallly knows how this will work out as time goes forward.  Lets stop pretending we do.

Saying we must do this or that to "save the planet" is hyperbole, IMO.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on February 13, 2020, 03:14:38 pm
I clearly don't deny that climate changes.  Heck just north of my location was once a giant glacier.  It's now what is know as Great Lakes.  How did that happen? The climate changed.  Humans had zero to do with that change.

In my opinion we have zero chance of changing it now. The earth and universe are beyond our control.  As for trying to "FIX" what we have now...given the likelyhood of unexpected conequences, we just might screw things up totally.  And I'm not talking about the environment.  Science is grasping at straws.  They have no real idea of whats going on, only educated guesses.  Nothing wrong with making guesses based on incomplete data but lets  call a spade a spade here.    No one reallly knows how this will work out as time goes forward.  Lets stop pretending we do.

Saying we must do this or that to "save the planet" is hyperbole, IMO.

Except that it may be the case that the direction we're headed is bad so maybe we should do what is within our power to do. Reducing resource and energy use is a good idea regardless of anything else. I don't mean passing legislation that forces us to be "good", that's a mug's game. But it would be a good idea to stop pretending that externalities aren't real costs.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 13, 2020, 03:40:09 pm
I think that's the whole point of what we are trying to do: stall the beginning of the end.

Rob, can you think of a single case in history where humans turned away from a course of action before they reached the point of understanding that what they were doing was an existential disaster? I can't.

On the other hand, I don't agree that we're facing that kind of disaster. I have too many geologists and geophysicists in my family. Since I was there when it was happening, and had it vividly described and explained, I'm well aware of the period when we were facing extermination in a new ice age -- as surely as we're now facing incineration. In the end I think the hand of God either will save us from ourselves, or if the Lord has decided we've been around long enough, bring down the curtain on the whole performance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 13, 2020, 03:59:28 pm
Except that it may be the case that the direction we're headed is bad so maybe we should do what is within our power to do. Reducing resource and energy use is a good idea regardless of anything else. I don't mean passing legislation that forces us to be "good", that's a mug's game. But it would be a good idea to stop pretending that externalities aren't real costs.

I have no problem if people want to drive electric cars and use solar and wind power. Don't want to eat beef?
Fine with  me.  The market will take care of that.  So much of this we just can't understand and can't control.  But I think its also a good idea to stop pretending that this will not be a situation where passing legislation to make us be good, it not really the end game.  There is raw political power at play here, at least IMO.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 13, 2020, 04:09:30 pm
There is raw political power at play here, at least IMO.

In mine too, Craig.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 13, 2020, 04:21:47 pm
1. Rob, can you think of a single case in history where humans turned away from a course of action before they reached the point of understanding that what they were doing was an existential disaster? I can't.

2. On the other hand, I don't agree that we're facing that kind of disaster. I have too many geologists and geophysicists in my family. Since I was there when it was happening, and had it vividly described and explained, I'm well aware of the period when we were facing extermination in a new ice age -- as surely as we're now facing incineration. In the end I think the hand of God either will save us from ourselves, or if the Lord has decided we've been around long enough, bring down the curtain on the whole performance.



1. Many have realised we are creating such a disaster; many refuse to look, preferring the comfort of the warm sand about their ears.

2. God bringing down the curtain seems fair enough; our doing it seems insane. As I say, what's wrong with trying to mitigate it and play and pray for time? That may be all we need to fix our self-inflicted damage: change our ways. At any rate, it's the only part we can actually influence, should we decide to try.

M. Macron was up at Mont Blanc today looking at the vanishing glacier; the ski industry is facing disaster. Perhaps that may knock some influential heads together. One thing is for sure: as with blocking millionaires at 50, it ain't gonna happen until the head honchos realise its going to hurt them to do nothing. That may prove more difficult in some states than in others. It also suddenly seems to make the idea of a federal Europe make sense if only because of the problem of conflicting local pressures that pull in different directions, each unit jockeying for advantage. A federal governing body strong enough could force it through. As the world shrinks, rather than it uniting in the common interest, the opposite seems to happen. Why is humanity so perverse?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on February 13, 2020, 08:56:19 pm
Why is humanity so perverse?

Because greed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 13, 2020, 08:58:41 pm
Because greed.

Because most of us believe in freedom...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 13, 2020, 11:15:28 pm
I have no problem if people want to drive electric cars and use solar and wind power. Don't want to eat beef?
Fine with  me.  The market will take care of that.  So much of this we just can't understand and can't control.  But I think its also a good idea to stop pretending that this will not be a situation where passing legislation to make us be good, it not really the end game.  There is raw political power at play here, at least IMO.
And money.  Carbon credits will favor many companies and individuals.  Government grants for research into climate change keeps the articles and research papers coming. Movies, documentaries, magazine articles, photographers, scuba divers, and others are getting rich from climate change.  Solar, electric car, and other related manufacturers get grants and rebates from government to keep their businesses going. The very aspect of climate change brings wealth to them as they sell their products.    Universities get grants as well for research. Politicians gain power selling the idea.  It goes on and on. 

Reminds me of the saying years ago about all the social programs that government was spending for to help people who were poor.  Some old wise and rich businessman declared, "There's lots of money to be made in poverty."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 13, 2020, 11:57:22 pm
So it seems it's been very warm in Europe and elsewhere this winter not because of global warming but due to an extra strong Polar Vortex above the Arctic locking up cold air from descending to lower latitudes.  The article makes no comment that I noticed explaining the cause for the large Polar Vortex other than a big difference it temperatures between polar regions and lower latitudes.  But why did this happen this year?  Sun spots?  Solar system perturbations?  Cow farts?

https://weather.com/news/news/2020-02-13-polar-vortex-arctic-sea-ice-cover-highest
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 06:01:33 am
So it seems it's been very warm in Europe and elsewhere this winter not because of global warming but due to an extra strong Polar Vortex above the Arctic locking up cold air from descending to lower latitudes.  The article makes no comment that I noticed explaining the cause for the large Polar Vortex other than a big difference it temperatures between polar regions and lower latitudes.

Which were caused by global warming ....

Quote
But why did this happen this year?  Sun spots?  Solar system perturbations?  Cow farts?

It didn't happen this year, it's a trend.

Attached I have added a chart of the average temperature as measured at the official Dutch meteorological institute in the center of the country, both as annual averages (so the seasons will cancel out if no change is observed), and the 11-year solar sunspot average period (which cancels out that periodic fluctuation). If it were only caused by oribital variations, the change would be too slow to see, and it would have a net cooling effect as we approach a new Ice-age, in some 16000 years from now.

Despite only having access to the hourly data since 1951, the trend is clear. The main cause is the accumulating amount of greenhouse gasses that trap the heat, and is fully in line with the known rise in temperature (recognizing that the oceans already absorb a huge amount of that heat and roughly 40-50% of CO2 emissions), which in turn causes other issues. So despite approaching a new Ice-age, we're witnessing increasing temperatures that can reach tipping points we should try to avoid because they will be costly in many different ways.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 14, 2020, 06:41:41 am
Because most of us believe in freedom...

So do I; I do not, however, believe in mass suicide being inflicted upon the rest of us by folks who refuse to accept the evidence before their very eyes.

It gets wearying dealing with rubber-wall minds; perhaps that's why they get promoted and encouraged, conditioned by their leaders to retain the profitable status quo until those making a killing out of it are no longer around to give a shit about the next generations.

On behalf of my kids and grandchildren: thank you for your concer, folks; so touching!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 14, 2020, 09:08:16 am
Rob , glad to see you are getting younger and younger every day, like Benjamin Button ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 09:22:33 am
So do I; I do not, however, believe in mass suicide being inflicted upon the rest of us by folks who refuse to accept the evidence before their very eyes.

It gets wearying dealing with rubber-wall minds; perhaps that's why they get promoted and encouraged, conditioned by their leaders to retain the profitable status quo until those making a killing out of it are no longer around to give a shit about the next generations.

On behalf of my kids and grandchildren: thank you for your concer, folks; so touching!

Actually it appears you don’t really want freedom, as witnessed by you wanting to set a ceiling on wealth.  Now you want to do it in regards to personal freedoms that may or may not relate to some scientists guesses about how humans are effecting the climate.

Again people are doing what they want with regards to helping the “climate” of their own free will.  The results are working.  The markets are working.  It’s called freedom.  Doing it at the point of a gun ( metaphorically) is not freedom.  You 2ant to impose your will on others.  I stand for just the opposite.  Do all you want to change, vote with your dollars, but keep your demand on how I can live my life.  (via draconian laws)


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 14, 2020, 09:38:16 am
Are you sure, Rob, you are castigating the right people?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 09:45:08 am
Actually it appears you don’t really want freedom, as witnessed by you wanting to set a ceiling on wealth.

I do not follow your knee-jerk reaction to progress. There are lots of jobs and innovation in renewable energy, fewer and fewer in e.g. coal.

Quote
Now you want to do it in regards to personal freedoms that may or may not relate to some scientists guesses about how humans are effecting the climate.

You seem to claim personal freedom for yourself, but at the same time deny the personal freedom of others. You also seem to reject science. That's a poor basis for realistic analysis, IMHO of course.

Quote
Again people are doing what they want with regards to helping the “climate” of their own free will.  The results are working.

The results are not working. Climate is affected at a rate that nature cannot keep up with, leading to extinction. Rising (salt) water-levels around the world are causing a threat to freshwater supply for human consumption and irrigation and give rise to loss of coastal farmland and of real estate property. People are dying prematurely from the causes of air-pollution.

That's not freedom, that's avoidable manmade stupidity due to short-term 'thinking'.

And it will unavoidably cost more (not less), the longer we wait to mitigate/remedy it. Studies have shown, that the break-even point indeed is close to the maximizing of global temperature rise to about 2 degrees Celsius. Prevention is better/cheaper than cure. Even in a large country like the USA, you are not prepared for the mass migration and social consequences when you lose the ability to live and have harbors where the current coastline is.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 14, 2020, 09:55:48 am
Bart, before you go too far with this approach, check https://fee.org/articles/4-catastrophic-climate-predictions-that-never-came-true/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 10:08:17 am
Bart, before you go too far with this approach, check https://fee.org/articles/4-catastrophic-climate-predictions-that-never-came-true/

Russ, I see mostly claims by non-scientific sources. I'd expect those to be mistaken more often than peer reviewed scientific studies. No surprise there.

Also, some 'predictions' are based on rational risk avoiding behavior by humans, and if this thread proves anything, some humans are so deep in denial that 'rational' is not an appropriate desciption. That's why many scientific models are rather optimistic, until human behavior (or the lack thereoff) forces them to readjust the models.

As mentioned, a behavior that limits global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius seems to give the best balance between upfront cost and later damage repair, yet we are heading in the direction of 3-5 degrees global warming if we do not react adequately to the challenges in front of us.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 10:25:42 am
I do not follow your knee-jerk reaction to progress. There are lots of jobs and innovation in renewable energy, fewer and fewer in e.g. coal.

I love progress, it’s amazing and it mostly benefits everyone.  Renewable energy is a case in point.  If it’s viable, can stand on its own and prosper it will succeed in the marketplace.  Coal for example is fading precisely because of progress.  Fracking has unleashed massive stores of natural gas, displacing coal as a power generating fuel.   Now If renewables can ever be as reliable and prolific as the current sources of electricity they will flourish.  And they won’t need to be propped up by needless laws.

Quote
You seem to claim personal freedom for yourself, but at the same time deny the personal freedom of others. You also seem to reject science. That's a poor basis for realistic analysis, IMHO of course.

How in the world could you ever think I’m trying to deny personal freedom to others?  Talk about knee jerk.   As I’ve stated  more than once...build all the windmills you want, install all the solar you want, drive electric if you choose.  Say no to cows.   Live your life as you choose.   Just don’t try and force me to join you...and that is what you espouse.

Quote
The results are not working. Climate is affected at a rate that nature cannot keep up with, leading to extinction. Rising (salt) water-levels around the world are causing a threat to freshwater supply for human consumption and irrigation and give rise to loss of coastal farmland and of real estate property. People are dying prematurely from the causes of air-pollution.

But they are working.  The output of C02 is falling rapidly in all the advanced nations. Your claims of “extinction” are part of your problem.  You can’t say that’s anything but a scientific guess.  Air pollution n advanced countries is far less than it has been for a very long time.  But hey, if the is really bugging you, why has you contingency not taken China and India to take more forcefully.  The free market is working quite well in advanced countries without your need to control how people live.

Quote
That's not freedom, that's avoidable manmade stupidity due to short-term 'thinking'.

So instead we should surrender our freedom to you and the climate police and be FORCED to play by YOUR rules or else.  Wow, you sure have a warped view of freedom

Quote
And it will unavoidably cost more (not less), the longer we wait to mitigate/remedy it. Studies have shown, that the break-even point indeed is close to the maximizing of global temperature rise to about 2 degrees Celsius. Prevention is better/cheaper than cure. Even in a large country like the USA, you are not prepared for the mass migration and social consequences when you lose the ability to live and have harbors where the current coastline is.

So say you.  I’ve heard it all before, I’m going to freeze to death.  So said science.  Studies had shown that to be true.  Listen, do as you wish, change how you live.  Have at it if it makes you feel better.  That works for me.  Heck gather up all of your friends and do it together.  I’m sure not going to tell you how to live your life.  Just quit yrying to tell me how to live mine.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 10:30:24 am
Russ, I see mostly claims by non-scientific sources. I'd expect those to be mistaken more often than peer reviewed scientific studies. No surprise there.

Also, some 'predictions' are based on rational risk avoiding behavior by humans, and if this thread proves anything, some humans are so deep in denial that 'rational' is not an appropriate desciption. That's why many scientific models are rather optimistic, until human behavior (or the lack thereoff) forces them to readjust the models.

As mentioned, a behavior that limits global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius seems to give the best balance between upfront cost and later damage repair, yet we are heading in the direction of 3-5 degrees global warming if we do not react adequately to the challenges in front of us.

Ah yes, the my science is far better argument.   What a novel argument.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 14, 2020, 10:33:30 am
I have no problem if people want to drive electric cars and use solar and wind power. Don't want to eat beef?
Fine with  me.  The market will take care of that.  So much of this we just can't understand and can't control.  But I think its also a good idea to stop pretending that this will not be a situation where passing legislation to make us be good, it not really the end game.  There is raw political power at play here, at least IMO.


Raw political power at play. That reads cool, so tell me, what's that power, and what does it want to achieve?

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 10:35:50 am
Ah yes, the my science is far better argument.   What a novel argument.

It's also your science. One can ignore it, or not, that is a personal choice.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 11:09:59 am
It's also your science. One can ignore it, or not, that is a personal choice.

Its MY science?  But yes I can choose what to do with it.  The problem is I'm being told I don't have a choice, and I MUST succumb.  Do you see the problem with that?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 14, 2020, 11:12:01 am
...yet we are heading in the direction of 3-5 degrees global warming if we do not react adequately to the challenges in front of us.

By "reacting adequately," Bart, I guess you're saying we should tell China and India "Naughty, naughty." That'll get them to quit using fossil fuels.

(Not that I buy the idea that fossil fuels will cause us all to roast.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 14, 2020, 11:17:04 am
All religions have their doomsday scenarios and prophets... the scientific religion too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 14, 2020, 11:47:54 am
I do not follow your knee-jerk reaction to progress. There are lots of jobs and innovation in renewable energy, fewer and fewer in e.g. coal.

...

You missed the economic considerations. Adding people to make the same amount of energy is less productive, not more.  More people raise the costs of any product.   Coal is very efficient as it's a mature industry that doesn;t need new people.  Creating alternative energy products that require more people means higher costs as what's happened in Germany where they're playing 2 1/2 times for electricity as Americans do.

If we got rid of tractors, a farm would need lots of more people to sow and reap.  More jobs. But the cost of food would skyrocket due to increasing costs of labor to farm the same amount of produce. 

The argument renewables create more jobs is a reason NOT to use them. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 12:42:43 pm
Its MY science?  But yes I can choose what to do with it.  The problem is I'm being told I don't have a choice, and I MUST succumb.  Do you see the problem with that?

Why would you want to lay the burdon on others, and do little yourself (e.g. the USA is the world's second largest producer of CO2), other than for selfish shortsighted reasons (that will turn against you as time is wasted)?

You do have a choice, but why make the wrong one?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: EricV on February 14, 2020, 12:56:30 pm
The argument renewables create more jobs is a reason NOT to use them.
  Sadly, for most politicians, the choice to support project A, which creates lots of local jobs, versus project B, which accomplishes the same goal cheaply and efficiently, is obvious.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 01:08:21 pm
You missed the economic considerations.

On the contrary, I've said it several times already, but you seem to not grasp it. It's more costly to not act sensibly.

Quote
Adding people to make the same amount of energy is less productive, not more.


Tell that to the coalminers.

Quote
More people raise the costs of any product.   Coal is very efficient as it's a mature industry that doesn;t need new people.

You're kidding/trolling, aren't you?

Coal is not efficient when the true cost is incorporated. How much is (human) life worth to you?

Quote
Creating alternative energy products that require more people means higher costs as what's happened in Germany where they're playing 2 1/2 times for electricity as Americans do.

No, we do not require more people for that. We require more energy as world population grows and we replace many processes with electric ones (not too many steam engines available anymore, are there?).

Quote
If we got rid of tractors, a farm would need lots of more people to sow and reap.  More jobs. But the cost of food would skyrocket due to increasing costs of labor to farm the same amount of produce.
 

We are not replacing tractors with people, your example is ludicrous.

Quote
The argument renewables create more jobs is a reason NOT to use them.

More skilled labor is needed not for its own sake, but to replace inefficient technology with higher quality jobs. More and better education is needed because jobs need that. There are fewer people entering the labor market, so they need to be better equipped for the tasks at hand. Export markets are expanding, so you should invest in people/skills and technology you can export and monetize (instead of importing/consuming more that you earn, which requires printing money and burdening future generations). One could go on, but I won't waste more words on it. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink".

If only people would open their eyes... Not to stare at their bellybutton, but to look forward to the (no too distant) future.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 01:17:53 pm
Why would you want to lay the burdon on others, and do little yourself (e.g. the USA is the world's second largest producer of CO2), other than for selfish shortsighted reasons (that will turn against you as time is wasted)?

You do have a choice, but why make the wrong one?

I’m not placing any burdens on others.  You and they can do what ever wish wish or not.  No one is stopping you.    In fact  it’s you who is placing the burden upon others based solely on your belief.

The problem is you believe yours is the only possible choice and you want ... or demand ... others  submit.   I reject that.  And I’m not alone. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 14, 2020, 01:26:01 pm
If we got rid of tractors, a farm would need lots of more people to sow and reap.  More jobs. But the cost of food would skyrocket due to increasing costs of labor to farm the same amount of produce. 

That's old thinking. Nowadays, many farms use the latest technology, enclosed greenhouses and robots. For cultivation, optimal watering, and harvest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFxzWG-KGGU
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 14, 2020, 01:40:16 pm
I’m not placing any burdens on others.  You and they can do what ever wish wish or not.  No one is stopping you.    In fact  it’s you who is placing the burden upon others based solely on your belief.
What burden is being placed on you? I'm not seeing what it is that has you so riled up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 01:47:11 pm
What burden is being placed on you? I'm not seeing what it is that has you so riled up.

If it's not here today, it's what is being demanded for the future. Lets talk "New Green Deal" shall we?  You don't think that will be a burden?

Thats the problem I have.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 14, 2020, 02:29:01 pm
Hottest January on record as Antarctica  temperature hits 20C for first time
Scientists agree that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a significant cause of the current planetary warming
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/14/records-broken-hottest-ever-january/

Quote
Last month was the hottest January on record, surpassing a previous high recorded in 2016, the US climate service said on Thursday.

Land and ocean surface temperatures surpassed the 20th century January average of 53.6F (12C) by 2.05F, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
And they beat January 2016 - the hottest January since records began in 1880 - by a narrow 0.04F.

The news confirms a similar finding by the European Union's climate monitoring service last week, which used slightly different data.

It comes as the Antarctic has registered a temperature of more than 68F (20C) for the first time, prompting fears of climate instability.
Quote
Scientists agree overwhelmingly that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a significant cause of the planetary warming we are currently experiencing.

The United Nations said last year these need to tumble 7.6 per cent annually over the next decade to cap global warming at (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels, the aspirational goal set in the landmark Paris Agreement.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 14, 2020, 02:32:51 pm
If it's not here today, it's what is being demanded for the future. Lets talk "New Green Deal" shall we?  You don't think that will be a burden? Thats the problem I have.
Surely you are not losing sleep over the possibility the New Green Deal will pass in the House and Senate and be signed the President.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 14, 2020, 02:35:08 pm
Hottest January on record as Antarctica  temperature hits 20C for first time
Scientists agree that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a significant cause of the current planetary warming
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/14/records-broken-hottest-ever-january/

Could be that the tipping point is closer than originally predicted. Once over that point, all climate models go out of the window.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 03:01:58 pm
Surely you are not losing sleep over the possibility the New Green Deal will pass in the House and Senate and be signed the President.

Not today...tomorrow. not so sure. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 03:03:35 pm
Hottest January on record as Antarctica  temperature hits 20C for first time
Scientists agree that man-made greenhouse gas emissions are a significant cause of the current planetary warming
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/02/14/records-broken-hottest-ever-january/

Stopped paying attention right there...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 14, 2020, 03:37:39 pm
Save the planet? Sure, just don’t have children. Simple.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 14, 2020, 03:48:43 pm
Its MY science?  But yes I can choose what to do with it.  The problem is I'm being told I don't have a choice, and I MUST succumb.  Do you see the problem with that?


Yes, I see the problem with that: you not having a choice and you being indignant about that because you always want a choice. But neither does any one of us have that choice. It is not a matter of a comfortable choice, a Republican choice, a Democrat choice or any other friggin' colour of choice - it is a matter of reality and us all having to stop thinking like schoolboy idiots wanting it to be our team rah, rah! There is no competition to win, no team, there is only the realisation that the problem is bigger than all of us and we have to pull out all the stops we have. If food gets more expensive, so be it: buy a cheaper car next time or a smaller house, watch fewer pay-to-view channels and wear the same wardrobe of clothes two years running; let your good jeans develop the rips naturally.

Bringing in India and China is not an answer to your, our, neglect and head-in-sand attitude. They will do what they can as they can - they also know the problem and, surprise, surprise, also want to live - we, the rich dogs in the West already can do a helluva lot if we want to, and that is the massive difference and why we should be ashamed of our inactivity; Jesus, half of us don't even want to think.

Better our trying to save this place than killing our grandchildren.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 14, 2020, 06:02:37 pm
Actually it appears you don’t really want freedom, as witnessed by you wanting to set a ceiling on wealth.  Now you want to do it in regards to personal freedoms that may or may not relate to some scientists guesses about how humans are effecting the climate.

Again people are doing what they want with regards to helping the “climate” of their own free will.  The results are working.  The markets are working.  It’s called freedom.  Doing it at the point of a gun ( metaphorically) is not freedom.  You 2ant to impose your will on others.  I stand for just the opposite.  Do all you want to change, vote with your dollars, but keep your demand on how I can live my life.  (via draconian laws)


Freedom; you confuse it with licence.

Freedom appears to be a word built into some minds as a kind of trigger or switch that passes beyond the actual meaning of freedom and takes on the mantle of personal irresponsibility. If you inhabit a cave, an island all your own, then yeah, independence is able to turn into the freedom to shoot your head right off your body, but please, don't do it in the crowded bus in which we all travel at the same time - with the doors welded shut. Your divine freedom does not stretch to the right to inflict bloody collateral damage on the other passengers.

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 14, 2020, 06:37:43 pm
On the contrary, I've said it several times already, but you seem to not grasp it. It's more costly to not act sensibly.
 

Tell that to the coalminers.

You're kidding/trolling, aren't you?

Coal is not efficient when the true cost is incorporated. How much is (human) life worth to you?

No, we do not require more people for that. We require more energy as world population grows and we replace many processes with electric ones (not too many steam engines available anymore, are there?).
 

We are not replacing tractors with people, your example is ludicrous.

More skilled labor is needed not for its own sake, but to replace inefficient technology with higher quality jobs. More and better education is needed because jobs need that. There are fewer people entering the labor market, so they need to be better equipped for the tasks at hand. Export markets are expanding, so you should invest in people/skills and technology you can export and monetize (instead of importing/consuming more that you earn, which requires printing money and burdening future generations). One could go on, but I won't waste more words on it. "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink".

If only people would open their eyes... Not to stare at their bellybutton, but to look forward to the (no too distant) future.
More people used to produce the same amount of electricity lowers productivity and raises costs for each KWH produced.  There's no other economic explanation as much as you try to spin it.  If green energy reduces the amount of people required, than that would be great.  Prices for power would go down.  But your argument is wrong.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 06:38:50 pm

Freedom; you confuse it with licence.

Freedom appears to be a word built into some minds as a kind of trigger or switch that passes beyond the actual meaning of freedom and takes on the mantle of personal irresponsibility. If you inhabit a cave, an island all your own, then yeah, independence is able to turn into the freedom to shoot your head right off your body, but please, don't do it in the crowded bus in which we all travel at the same time - with the doors welded shut. Your divine freedom does not stretch to the right to inflict bloody collateral damage on the other passengers.

:-)

I'm not confusing it at all Rob.  To call it personal irresponsibility is just about as bad, maybe worse that thinking you and perhaps society has the right to tell someone how much money they can have. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 14, 2020, 07:20:30 pm

Yes, I see the problem with that: you not having a choice and you being indignant about that because you always want a choice. But neither does any one of us have that choice. It is not a matter of a comfortable choice, a Republican choice, a Democrat choice or any other friggin' colour of choice - it is a matter of reality and us all having to stop thinking like schoolboy idiots wanting it to be our team rah, rah! There is no competition to win, no team, there is only the realisation that the problem is bigger than all of us and we have to pull out all the stops we have. If food gets more expensive, so be it: buy a cheaper car next time or a smaller house, watch fewer pay-to-view channels and wear the same wardrobe of clothes two years running; let your good jeans develop the rips naturally.

Bringing in India and China is not an answer to your, our, neglect and head-in-sand attitude. They will do what they can as they can - they also know the problem and, surprise, surprise, also want to live - we, the rich dogs in the West already can do a helluva lot if we want to, and that is the massive difference and why we should be ashamed of our inactivity; Jesus, half of us don't even want to think.

Better our trying to save this place than killing our grandchildren.

EVERYONE should have a choice, if they live in a free society.  And those who don't ..we should be trying to bring them that choice. And of course I want a choice and yes I am indignant when someone says, sorry we are taking your choice away.

It's clear you have drank the kool-aid.  More power to you. I'll pass, thank you very much.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 14, 2020, 08:46:28 pm

Freedom; you confuse it with licence.

Freedom appears to be a word built into some minds as a kind of trigger or switch that passes beyond the actual meaning of freedom and takes on the mantle of personal irresponsibility. If you inhabit a cave, an island all your own, then yeah, independence is able to turn into the freedom to shoot your head right off your body, but please, don't do it in the crowded bus in which we all travel at the same time - with the doors welded shut. Your divine freedom does not stretch to the right to inflict bloody collateral damage on the other passengers.

:-)
I think everyone wants to be good stewards of the environment.  We all live here, breathe the same air and drink the same water.  Disagreements about policy doesn;t mean one side or the other is out to blow up the world.

Even if there are negative consequences from burning fossil fuels, the discussing goes beyond that.  All people can want good things although arrive at differing solutions.  If we spend too much money remediating the use of fossil fuels, will the poor be fed, homeless housed, and cancer research spending be reduced?  After all there's only so much money to go around.   Would it be better to remediate the consequences of warmer weather and rising seas rather than trying to reduce fossil fuel use?  That might leave more money for the aforementioned research and other activities that benefit mankind.  Are we spending too much time studying the negative effects of warming?  Or should we spend more time exploring it's benefits?  After all, warmer climate has expanded benefits for man and other creatures since the last ice age ended.  There seems to be some good in it. 

We seem to be stuck with the same old argument about whether it's real or not applying an everything or nothing to solutions.  We all seem to be stuck in a box. We should start thinking outside of it.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 06:18:22 am
... Better our trying to save this place than killing our grandchildren.

What grandchildren? According to your side, there should be no children, let alone grandchildren.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 06:43:19 am
What grandchildren? According to your side, there should be no children, let alone grandchildren.

What on Earth are you talking about? I don't have a side; I have two kids and two grandkids.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 06:57:48 am
I'm not confusing it at all Rob.  To call it personal irresponsibility is just about as bad, maybe worse that thinking you and perhaps society has the right to tell someone how much money they can have.

So you don't like paying taxes. I got news for you: neither do I. That is also daft: we have to pay them in order to have a civilized society. If we don't, then we have rule by tyrants such as in the Middle Ages and before; I appreciate that you are currently experiencing much the same rule by wannabe Caesar, but be patient - it'll run its course unless you stop being careful and a new dynasty is created whilst you were away fishing.

In the meantime, and whilst there is time, it strikes me as the perfect time to introducer a new cash ceiling as I have described earlier. The resulting, mandatory reinvestment in the same or new business(es) will create opportunity for millions of people on the margins. That's what redistribution of wealth should be about: not stopping anyone from getting rich, but making it obligatory to help humanity when you are already rich enough to satisfy any normal person's idea of being comfortable. Go beyond, and you're into excess: that's unhealthy - always was, if you check out history. We'd be doing these fat cats a favour.

The greater good is what your much-vaunted democracy is supposedly all about, isn't it?

:-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 07:01:05 am
What on Earth are you talking about? I don't have a side; I have two kids and two grandkids.

Political side, Rob. And I was talking about future children and grandchildren.

Quote
A growing contingent of young people are refusing to have kids — or are considering having fewer kids — because of climate change. Their voices have been growing louder over the past year. UK women set up a movement called BirthStrike, announcing that they won’t procreate until the world gets its act together on climate, and high-profile US figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez amplified the question of whether childbearing is still morally acceptable.

One of the main worries cited by this contingent is that having a child will make climate change worse. Their logic is that anytime you have a kid you’re doing something bad for the planet. You’re adding yet another person who’ll cause more carbon emissions, plus their children, plus their grandchildren ... and so on, in a never-ending cascade of procreative shame.

Driving this logic are studies claiming to show that having a child leads to a gargantuan amount of carbon emissions — way, way more than the emissions generated by other lifestyle choices, like driving a car or eating meat. Media reports have trumpeted the takeaway that if you want to fight climate change, having fewer children is far and away the best thing you can do.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/13/21132013/climate-change-children-kids-anti-natalism

"Having one fewer child is far and away the best thing you can do to save the planet"
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 07:16:10 am
EVERYONE should have a choice, if they live in a free society.  And those who don't ..we should be trying to bring them that choice. And of course I want a choice and yes I am indignant when someone says, sorry we are taking your choice away.

It's clear you have drank the kool-aid.  More power to you. I'll pass, thank you very much.


EVERYONE does have a choice; everyone has a zillion choices, but not all are acceptable in a society that works. A society that works has to have limitations of many freedoms for otherwise, your freedom would quickly be chaos. Is that so difficult to understand? It is asinine to claim that choice is life; choices are not all equal anymore than are people: one man's choice can mean another man's death. Do you feel you should have the choice to cause or not cause that on whim, perhaps - it would still be a choice, you know, and a cherished freedom by which you would be killing? Think about it; choices have to be rational and not harmful to society.

Screams for freedom are often little more than slogans designed to rouse the rabble. Alternatively, they are often screams for help, for deliverance from oppression whether religious or political. It all depends upon your point of departure.

Setting a fifty-million cap on personal wealth hardly strikes me as oppressive: most cats I know would be happy to settle for one million in any of their accounts - in the totality of their accounts, myself very much included in that dream!

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 08:24:21 am
... most cats I know would be happy to settle for one million in any of their accounts - in the totality of their accounts, myself very much included in that dream!

Mice dreaming.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 15, 2020, 08:42:17 am
Setting a fifty-million cap on personal wealth hardly strikes me as oppressive: most cats I know would be happy to settle for one million in any of their accounts - in the totality of their accounts, myself very much included in that dream!

Rob, you seem to believe that personal wealth is cash that somebody hides in a mattress. Actually, personal wealth amounts to capital. Capital means things like hydraulic presses in a factory. People who make use of capital do it to produce more wealth, for themselves and for others -- otherwise known as "customers." Instead of producing capital, governments who steal personal wealth use it to produce politics rather than more wealth. Check Venezuela to see what happens when governments put a cap on personal wealth.

People who believe there should be a limit on personal wealth desperately need a course in basic economics. Thomas Sowell's book, Basic Economics is a good place to start.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 08:54:44 am
.... Check Venezuela to see what happens when governments put a cap on personal wealth...
What grandchildren? According to your side, there should be no children, let alone grandchildren.
I thought we would skip the hyperboles...
Makes your comments less trust worthy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 09:11:38 am
I thought we would skip the hyperboles...

These are not hyperboles, as I demonstrated in my next post.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 09:31:40 am

EVERYONE does have a choice; everyone has a zillion choices, but not all are acceptable in a society that works. A society that works has to have limitations of many freedoms for otherwise, your freedom would quickly be chaos. Is that so difficult to understand? It is asinine to claim that choice is life; choices are not all equal anymore than are people: one man's choice can mean another man's death. Do you feel you should have the choice to cause or not cause that on whim, perhaps - it would still be a choice, you know, and a cherished freedom by which you would be killing? Think about it; choices have to be rational and not harmful to society.

Screams for freedom are often little more than slogans designed to rouse the rabble. Alternatively, they are often screams for help, for deliverance from oppression whether religious or political. It all depends upon your point of departure.

Setting a fifty-million cap on personal wealth hardly strikes me as oppressive: most cats I know would be happy to settle for one million in any of their accounts - in the totality of their accounts, myself very much included in that dream!

Yes, I choose to accept the limits that are placed upon me by the society I live in, just as I could choose to not accept them.  So what?  I could choose to cause another’s death at a whim.  Again everyone could make that choice.  So what? Choices do not have to be rational or not harmful to society.  That too happens daily.  All one needs to do is to be willing to accept the responsibility of ones actions.  Like it or not that is the nature of the human race.   

Screams of freedom generally arise when one group of people decide they want to stifle the freedom of others, like you are doing.  Be it wealth, a way of life or any number of other things where some group of people decide they are going to make new rules to control another.  But I guess that works out fine for you. 

As for wealth.  I celebrate those who make it big, and the last thing I want to do is tell them what they can do with their money.  Someday thinking like that is going to roll down that slippery slope and entangle the smaller folks below.  Taxes are bad enough, we don’t need wealth police.

When you tell me that I need to change my way of life, upend our social norms, and ...how did you put it...”pull out all the stops we have”, to fulfill YOUR choices, pardon me when I tell you my choice is to say heck no. 




.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 09:33:59 am
These are not hyperboles, as I demonstrated in my next post.
I do not know the scientific value of Founders Pledge/stories/ ... but if they are right the US has more reason to do something about the CO2 emissions ( children?)
https://founderspledge.com/stories/climate-and-lifestyle-report
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 09:40:40 am
... When you tell me that I need to change my way of life, upend our social norms, and ...how did you put it...”pull out all the stops we have”, to fulfill YOUR choices, pardon me when I tell you my choice is to say heck no.

+1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 15, 2020, 09:46:27 am
What's being proposed here in America lately is socialism and the kind of confiscatory government like they had in the Soviet Union. Americans have maintained their freedoms for over 230 years protected by a written constitution.  Socialism will wind up taking our freedoms away and make us all poor. 

Redistribution is not about helping the real poor.  Our system is taking care of them.  No one is really poor in America if they take advantage of the private and government programs available.  The push for redistribution is really all about taking from others to make average people better off then they are.  It's founded on jealousy and covetousness.  It has nothing to do with poverty.  That's just the excuse to justify it.  Average people just wanting more than they got and wanting to take it from others.  It's stealing. It happens when a people lose faith in a God who takes care of them.  So they start grubbing around taking from others.  They've lost their way.  They've lost their gratitude for what they have and what God has given them. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 09:54:38 am
...
Screams of freedom generally arise when one group of people decide they want to stifle the freedom of others, like you are doing.  Be it wealth, a way of life or any number of other things where some group of people decide they are going to make new rules to control another. ...
But it is mostly the other way around;
The wealthy group have more freedom and are also in power while making decisions for 'the poor group' that largely benefits themselves to become even wealthier.
That is a world wide problem at the moment even in democratic countries.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 10:00:46 am
What's being proposed here in America lately is socialism and the kind of confiscatory government like they had in the Soviet Union.
another hyperbole...

Redistribution is not about helping the real poor.  Our system is taking care of them.  No one is really poor in America if they take advantage of the private and government programs available.  The push for redistribution is really all about taking from others to make average people better off then they are.  It's founded on jealousy and covetousness.  It has nothing to do with poverty.  That's just the excuse to justify it.  Average people just wanting more than they got and wanting to take it from others.  It's stealing. It happens when a people lose faith in a God who takes care of them.  So they start grubbing around taking from others.  They've lost their way.  They've lost their gratitude for what they have and what God has given them.
I tend to disagree completely ... there are enough poor people in the States, even people with mulitple jobs that still do not earn enough...
; to say it is their own fault and they are greedy is ridiculous...
and please leave GOD out of this...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 15, 2020, 10:05:26 am
But it is mostly the other way around;
The wealthy group have more freedom and are also in power while making decisions for 'the poor group' that largely benefits themselves to become even wealthier.
That is a world wide problem at the moment even in democratic countries.

But the proof in America is that we're the richest country in the world and have the most freedoms. People from around the world are dying to get here.  So throughout all our faults, more people have done better than ever before in history.  That's the bottom line.  Changing it would be playing with fire.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 15, 2020, 10:07:01 am
I tend to disagree completely ... there are enough poor people in the States, even people with mulitple jobs that still do not earn enough...

How much is "enough", Pieter?

It would be interesting to know where you're getting your information about the States. From what you're saying it sounds a lot as if it's coming directly from TV.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 15, 2020, 10:10:47 am
another hyperbole...
I tend to disagree completely ... there are enough poor people in the States, even people with mulitple jobs that still do not earn enough...
; to say it is their own fault and they are greedy is ridiculous...
and please leave GOD out of this...
So your answer to economic problems is redistribution.  How about less taxes and less regulation?  That's what helping us now with less unemployment, better jobs, and higher wages.  So your answer is to steal Bloomberg's money.  How about all the jobs and wealth he's created throughout the world with his Bloomberg Media empire?  How many jobs will the government create?   

Also, why should I leave God out of it.  It's my opinion.  You have yours.  I have mine.  Maybe if we had more faith, we wouldn't being doing what we do to each other.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 15, 2020, 10:20:48 am
Also, why should I leave God out of it.  It's my opinion.  You have yours.  I have mine.  Maybe if we had more faith, we wouldn't being doing what we do to each other.   
Maybe if we had a loving God, we wouldn't have poverty...or climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 10:31:00 am
Maybe if we had a loving God, we wouldn't have poverty...or climate change.

He is just punishing us for communists ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 11:00:49 am
Mice dreaming.

That's why the lottery exists. Some mice get lucky.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 11:10:56 am
Political side, Rob. And I was talking about future children and grandchildren.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/2/13/21132013/climate-change-children-kids-anti-natalism

"Having one fewer child is far and away the best thing you can do to save the planet"


But I don"t have a political side anymore. I used to be a Conservative until Brexit and the emergence of Boris, who has turned himself into the acolyte and clone of Trump. I think he is even more dangerous than your guy because he has a mind that works and stays on message.

As for the other UK parties, they all fell apart when Brexit arrived on the table: they could not separate constituents and party from national priorities and, consequently, fell into a state of paralysis. Big Brother is alive and well, and unless the "borrowed" votes wake up in tme, it will be too late to do anything about it. The judiciary is now under attack too: control the referee and you win every game. I don't want to believe it but I have no choice.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 11:29:20 am
Rob, you seem to believe that personal wealth is cash that somebody hides in a mattress. Actually, personal wealth amounts to capital. Capital means things like hydraulic presses in a factory. People who make use of capital do it to produce more wealth, for themselves and for others -- otherwise known as "customers." Instead of producing capital, governments who steal personal wealth use it to produce politics rather than more wealth. Check Venezuela to see what happens when governments put a cap on personal wealth.

People who believe there should be a limit on personal wealth desperately need a course in basic economics. Thomas Sowell's book, Basic Economics is a good place to start.


I understand perfectly well that wealth includes machinery and factories etc. Russ, I am all in favour of that, and I have stated from the onset that the more the owners plow back into those things, the better. It is excluded from my pogrom on the über wealthy whose cash, when over the suggested limit, is not doing anything of much good for humanity.

As I wrote, repeatedly, the more businesses these folks open in order to use their pennies, if only to avoid paying them in taxation when over a limit, the better, exactly for the benefit of new employees and the customers for their products and services. I have no fight with that.

Put another way: money invested creating employment is good; money doing nothing but buying gold taps for the loo is also good, as long as you use all those loos. Money above a certain ammount, doing nothing more than sitting banked, is not good. And from a wider perspective than the just the owner's, it sitting banked is a temptation for it to get turned into unsupportable loans that will bring us right back to 2008, which I remember all too damned well.

I think it's quite easy to measure wealth that's not invested: you can start by adding up the value of the houses, the yachts, the cars etc. You can enjoy several of all of those and be well under fifty million bucks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 11:30:01 am
Maybe if we had a loving God, we wouldn't have poverty...or climate change.

What is it that believing in God actually promises you?  Lets just use Christianity for simpliciticy.  If we answer this question then perhaps we can understand if god is loving or not.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 11:41:52 am
How much is "enough", Pieter?

It would be interesting to know where you're getting your information about the States. From what you're saying it sounds a lot as if it's coming directly from TV.


According to Rob: fifty million bucks. Would you feel deprived sitting on that golden egg? Would your personal desires require an even bigger personal egg?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 11:59:14 am
Yes, I choose to accept the limits that are placed upon me by the society I live in, just as I could choose to not accept them.  So what?  I could choose to cause another’s death at a whim.  Again everyone could make that choice.  So what? Choices do not have to be rational or not harmful to society.  That too happens daily.  All one needs to do is to be willing to accept the responsibility of ones actions.  Like it or not that is the nature of the human race.   

Screams of freedom generally arise when one group of people decide they want to stifle the freedom of others, like you are doing.  Be it wealth, a way of life or any number of other things where some group of people decide they are going to make new rules to control another.  But I guess that works out fine for you. 

As for wealth.  I celebrate those who make it big, and the last thing I want to do is tell them what they can do with their money.  Someday thinking like that is going to roll down that slippery slope and entangle the smaller folks below.  Taxes are bad enough, we don’t need wealth police.

When you tell me that I need to change my way of life, upend our social norms, and ...how did you put it...”pull out all the stops we have”, to fulfill YOUR choices, pardon me when I tell you my choice is to say heck no. 



Ah, were it but to fulfil my choices!

Unfortunately, it's not my choices at all but survival of which I write. Does your sense of "freedom" also condone doing nothing to save humanity? If it does, you must have more than a touch of the misanthrope lurking somewhere within you mind. There is a touch of it in mine, too, but not to the point of wishing us all extinction.

I find it difficult to understand that anyone would think personal freedom to sit back and let the world go to hell because of not wanting to do anything to prevent that on principle makes any kind of sense. I don't think I drank of the kool-aid: I don't think you left any!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 15, 2020, 12:01:13 pm

According to Rob: fifty million bucks. Would you feel deprived sitting on that golden egg? Would your personal desires require an even bigger personal egg?
But it's not in cash.  It's wrapped up in stock.  Forcing a sale of stock would hurt all the other investors.  Just wait until the stock is sold.  Then it's taxed.  Also, then it's spent so they're be sales tax on purchases, and then add to the economy by buying goods from other companies and give jobs to workers of those companies.  Meanwhile, the stock is doing it's work as it was suppose to by financing a new company or an older company's continued expansion creating more jobs.  Liquidating stock to create cash will hurt everyone.  What you want to do is redistribute investment capital.  That's how economies are destroyed.  Look at Venezuela. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 15, 2020, 12:43:07 pm
Setting a fifty-million cap on personal wealth hardly strikes me as oppressive: most cats I know would be happy to settle for one million in any of their accounts - in the totality of their accounts, myself very much included in that dream!

The ceiling has to be substantially higher than 50 million. I would say, at least 50 billion.
Otherwise, Mike Bloomberg could not spend 200 million on his anti-Trump campaign. Or Bezos, Musk, and Branson on their space exploration projects.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 15, 2020, 12:49:56 pm
The ceiling has to be substantially higher than 50 million. I would say, at least 50 billion.
Otherwise, Mike Bloomberg could not spend 200 million on his anti-Trump campaign. Or Bezos, Musk, and Branson on their space exploration projects.


Les, I think I see several blue horizons there.

Electioneering should be state-funded and limited to that. We try to set limits for it in Britain, but private funds often blow the legal limits, so the guys with the biggest wallets tend to get their way, or if not, at least cause the most trouble.

There's something about politicians...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 15, 2020, 12:54:11 pm
What is it that believing in God actually promises you?  Lets just use Christianity for simpliciticy.  If we answer this question then perhaps we can understand if god is loving or not.
If I remember correctly, everlasting life, if God deems you worthy. Otherwise, you burn in hell for eternity. Sort of a carrot and stick approach.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 15, 2020, 01:02:29 pm
If I remember correctly, everlasting life, if God deems you worthy. Otherwise, you burn in hell for eternity...

Exactly like global warming alarmists.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 01:07:25 pm

Ah, were it but to fulfil my choices!

Unfortunately, it's not my choices at all but survival of which I write. Does your sense of "freedom" also condone doing nothing to save humanity? If it does, you must have more than a touch of the misanthrope lurking somewhere within you mind. There is a touch of it in mine, too, but not to the point of wishing us all extinction.

I find it difficult to understand that anyone would think personal freedom to sit back and let the world go to hell because of not wanting to do anything to prevent that on principle makes any kind of sense. I don't think I drank of the kool-aid: I don't think you left any!


But it IS your choice, as you have stated repeatedly. You also choose to BELIEVE that this is about survival.  No worries, you can believe as you choose.  I can choose to belive otherwise.  But to demand...even suggest I ( or we ) must abide by YOUR choice is simply wrong.
 
You assume I and others in the US are doing nothing.  That is not the case, but as it stands its mostly by individual or corporate choice. Which is as it should be. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 01:12:48 pm
If I remember correctly, everlasting life, if God deems you worthy. Otherwise, you burn in hell for eternity. Sort of a carrot and stick approach.

Basically, yes.  OK, so why would you expect a loving God to eliminate poverty or Global Warming? 

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 15, 2020, 01:25:41 pm
But it IS your choice, as you have stated repeatedly. You also choose to BELIEVE that this is about survival.  No worries, you can believe as you choose.  I can choose to belive otherwise.  But to demand...even suggest I ( or we ) must abide by YOUR choice is simply wrong.
That's part of the deal when you live in a society, in this cases a democracy. The majority decides...roughly. I don't like driving on the right side of the street. Tough cookies. I don't agree with every expenditure in the federal budget. Guess what? I don't have the choice to direct my taxes only towards expenditures I approve of. Living in a society has costs and benefits.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 01:52:56 pm
That's part of the deal when you live in a society, in this cases a democracy. The majority decides...roughly. I don't like driving on the right side of the street. Tough cookies. I don't agree with every expenditure in the federal budget. Guess what? I don't have the choice to direct my taxes only towards expenditures I approve of. Living in a society has costs and benefits.

Your choice in this case it to live where you live and vote or those who support your views.  The consequence of your choice is you live live with the outcome, or you move.

But yes there are costs and benefits.  You choose to accept them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 15, 2020, 02:12:24 pm
Your choice in this case it to live where you live and vote or those who support your views.  The consequence of your choice is you live live with the outcome, or you move. But yes there are costs and benefits.  You choose to accept them.
Including the collective judgment about what to do about climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 02:58:39 pm
Including the collective judgment about what to do about climate change.

Yes thats a choice as well.  If its OUR  (as a country) judgement.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 03:06:35 pm
Some progress is made

https://www.iea.org/articles/global-co2-emissions-in-2019

Global energy-related CO2 emissions flattened in 2019 at around 33 gigatonnes (Gt), following two years of increases. This resulted mainly from a sharp decline in CO2 emissions from the power sector in advanced economies1, thanks to the expanding role of renewable sources (mainly wind and solar PV), fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power output.

Germany is at the level of 1950 !
Quote
Germany spearheaded the decline in emissions in the European Union. Its emissions fell by 8% to 620 Mt of CO2, a level not seen since the 1950s, when the German economy was around 10 times smaller. The country’s coal-fired power fleet saw a drop in output of more than 25% year on year as electricity demand declined and generation from renewables, especially wind (+11%), increased. With a share of over 40%, renewables for the very first time generated more electricity in 2019 than Germany’s coal-fired power stations.



Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 03:19:49 pm
Some progress is made

https://www.iea.org/articles/global-co2-emissions-in-2019

Global energy-related CO2 emissions flattened in 2019 at around 33 gigatonnes (Gt), following two years of increases. This resulted mainly from a sharp decline in CO2 emissions from the power sector in advanced economies1, thanks to the expanding role of renewable sources (mainly wind and solar PV), fuel switching from coal to natural gas, and higher nuclear power output.

Germany is at the level of 1950 !

That graph really drives home the point that unless the non advanced countries are part of the solution its pretty much a feel good exercise.   So where again are China and India onthe advanced/non advanced scale?   And why again should the US lifestlye be trashed so folks like China can keep on keeping on?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 15, 2020, 03:28:28 pm
That graph really drives home the point that unless the non advanced countries are part of the solution its pretty much a feel good exercise.   So where again are China and India onthe advanced/non advanced scale?   And why again should the US lifestlye be trashed so folks like China can keep on keeping on?

Then it is for you that i have provided the link...
and it is not wise to compare your country with the one that has done worse - there will always be some.

and

And why again should the US respect human rights so folks like China can keep on keeping on?    makes as much sense as you instance...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 15, 2020, 04:37:30 pm
Then it is for you that i have provided the link...
and it is not wise to compare your country with the one that has done worse - there will always be some.

and

And why again should the US respect human rights so folks like China can keep on keeping on?    makes as much sense as you instance...

Those are the facts you presented.  If you don't like what they say its really not my problem.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 16, 2020, 03:50:27 am
Those are the facts you presented.  If you don't like what they say its really not my problem.

In that you have encapsulated your entire approach to this subject: you don't give a damn either way. Survive or perish, as long as you are not called upon to do anything - cool.

I hope your "freedom of choice of doing nothing" makes your conscience sweet when you look at the kids around you.

That's it for me - I can't show the wider picture to someone who won't look.

Rob
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 16, 2020, 04:00:42 am
He is just punishing us for communists ;)

I note the smiley, but hey, Christ was one of the original communists of this world. Read Him up. It's the part many in the States don't figure on Sunday mornings.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on February 16, 2020, 04:29:23 am
In that you have encapsulated your entire approach to this subject: you don't give a damn either way. Survive or perish, as long as you are not called upon to do anything - cool.

I hope your "freedom of choice of doing nothing" makes your conscience sweet when you look at the kids around you.

That's it for me - I can't show the wider picture to someone who won't look.

Rob

You really didn't read what I have written have you.  I don't espouse doing nothing at all.  In fact I have zero problems with changes that reduce carbon load.  I try and do my part in the ways I can and make sense for me.  I have all high efficiency Appliances, HVAC and water heating.  My home is heavily insulated and has great windows.  We use all led bulbs.  While i have zero problems with E cars, they simply dont make sense for my driving habits or from a cost standpoint. but more power to those who find then useful.  Not only are these some things I CAN do they make financial sense. The market works. 

What we don't need is governments or world bodies telling us what we MUST do.  As a whole the markets ARE working in the US.  Carbon loads are dropping.  Conversions to cleaner sources are happening.  And it can be done without taking a wrecking ball to everything.

Unlike you I don't believe chucking everything in a mad rush to try and "fix" something is the correct solution.  But hey if it floats your boat, by all means keep rowing.  Just don't demand I row with you.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 16, 2020, 08:15:15 am
...Christ was one of the original communists of this world...

A final proof that you crossed to the dark side ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on February 16, 2020, 08:34:44 am
I note the smiley, but hey, Christ was one of the original communists of this world. Read Him up. It's the part many in the States don't figure on Sunday mornings.
;-)

Often these movements start very open, naive and true, but end up as some kind of male religious dictatorship with some pope at the top...
(I have heard saying ; if men really want to impress they put on a dress)

I have seen the original burning bush now fully recovered near the St. Catherine’s Monastery in the Sinai desert.
When you see these early Christian paintings hanging inside, they give you a sense of a young naive still undeveloped movement.
The view from the top of mount Horeb is an ideal place to see a beautiful sunrise over the desert.

on topic
the weather conditions on mount Sinai are good; about 24ºC, not extreme
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 16, 2020, 08:34:55 am
Quote from: Rob C on Today at 04:00:42 am
...Christ was one of the original communists of this world...

A final proof that you crossed to the dark side ;)

President Fidel Castro of Cuba has said Christ was a communist. "Christ chose the fishermen because he was a communist"
Raul Castro, second-in-command in the ruling Communist Party headed by his brother, concurred: "I think that's why they killed Jesus, for being a communist, for doing what Fidel defined as revolution . . . changing the situation."

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/christ-was-a-communist-says-castro-1.292935

And Kris Kristofferson thinks that Jesus was a Capricorn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekFRunqwHEc
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 16, 2020, 08:52:45 am
... President Fidel Castro of Cuba has said Christ was a communist...

I rest my case.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 16, 2020, 10:24:53 am
Quote from: Rob C on Today at 04:00:42 am
...Christ was one of the original communists of this world...

President Fidel Castro of Cuba has said Christ was a communist. "Christ chose the fishermen because he was a communist"
Raul Castro, second-in-command in the ruling Communist Party headed by his brother, concurred: "I think that's why they killed Jesus, for being a communist, for doing what Fidel defined as revolution . . . changing the situation."

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/christ-was-a-communist-says-castro-1.292935

And Kris Kristofferson thinks that Jesus was a Capricorn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekFRunqwHEc
The Castros are just defending their dictatorial rule.  Charity and spirituality are not about sticking a gun up to someone';s head demanding they give.  It's about personal responsibility and commitment. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 16, 2020, 11:58:57 am
I rest my case.

Trouble is, Christ's form of communism isn't what communism is today. Communism, as she is known today, didn't even exist until many, many centuries later. As usual, Man goes off topic and corrupts everything he touches. So every now and then we have to have a great flushing away.

The way we're burning up forests, perhaps there won't be timber enough for a second ark, but never mind, some bright guy will make one out of plastic. There you are: a project for all that money over their safe fifty million that those friendly rich persons can use in the furtherance of a good cause! A far better idea than creating more factories manufacturing more junk nobody needs. And certainly more worthwhile than silly rockets to the Moon or Mars: there's junk up there enough already! Even tossed cameras.

;-)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 16, 2020, 01:22:42 pm
https://www.france24.com/en/live

If this link holds stready, it is an interesting insight into US taxation.


Nope, it didn't hold the subject matter, just went on to continue broadcasting as a straight link.

Sorry. However, it probably will repeat in an hour or so.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 20, 2020, 09:27:41 pm
Apparently warming permafrost won;t cause huge releases of methane warming the climate.

Old carbon reservoirs unlikely to cause massive greenhouse gas release

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-carbon-reservoirs-massive-greenhouse-gas.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 21, 2020, 09:58:45 am
Apparently warming permafrost won;t cause huge releases of methane warming the climate.

Old carbon reservoirs unlikely to cause massive greenhouse gas release

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-carbon-reservoirs-massive-greenhouse-gas.html

Yes, but also from that article:
Quote
Methane hydrates, on the other hand, are mostly found in ocean sediments along the continental margins. In methane hydrates, cages of water molecules trap methane molecules inside. Methane hydrates can only form under high pressures and low temperatures, so they are mainly found deep in the ocean. If ocean temperatures rise, so will the temperature of the ocean sediments where the methane hydrates are located. The hydrates will then destabilize, fall apart, and release the methane gas.

"If even a fraction of that destabilizes rapidly and that methane is transferred to the atmosphere, we would have a huge greenhouse impact because methane is such a potent greenhouse gas," Petrenko says. "The concern really has to do with releasing a truly massive amount of carbon from these stocks into the atmosphere as the climate continues to warm."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 21, 2020, 12:26:37 pm
Well,  there were concerns that warming would release all the permafrost methane.   Apparently, that shouldn't happen. Crying wolf all the time and never correcting errors won't convince skeptics. That's a problem with your side.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 21, 2020, 01:15:22 pm
Crying wolf all the time and never correcting errors won't convince skeptics.
The scientific study referred to in the article corrects the error in belief concerning the release of methane from permafrost. Do you believe the scientific conclusions in this study. If so, why?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 21, 2020, 01:31:12 pm
The scientific study referred to in the article corrects the error in belief concerning the release of methane from permafrost. Do you believe the scientific conclusions in this study. If so, why?

And to add to that, they apparently (after a quick read) studied prior periods of gradual warming (after an Ice-age?), while we are in a period of unprecedented rapid warming after recovery from an Ice-age.  Warming upon warming (so fast that bacteria may be too slow to mitigate some of the outgassing), that's uncharted territory, to say the least ... Also, as oceans heat up, their capacity to absorb CO2 and Methane is reduced.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 21, 2020, 01:31:56 pm
Apparently warming permafrost won;t cause huge releases of methane warming the climate.

Not as much as the livestock farming, but if you combine both these methane sources, it adds up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 21, 2020, 02:44:53 pm
The biggest source of methane may well be from people yapping about climate change.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 21, 2020, 03:48:41 pm
The scientific study referred to in the article corrects the error in belief concerning the release of methane from permafrost. Do you believe the scientific conclusions in this study. If so, why?
I have no idea whether it's accurate or not.  How could I?  I didn't do the study.   What I do know is that the media will ignore these studies because they go against their arguments supporting climate change.  That's the problem I'm highlighting.  That the deck is stacked and the media is bottom dealing.  The public is not getting a fair analysis because there's an agenda.  And that agenda keeps skeptics remaining skeptical.  Of course, most people have already drank the Cool-aide.    So they'll ignore any studies that may question the "common" beliefs. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 21, 2020, 04:04:42 pm
The biggest source of methane may well be from people yapping about climate change.
depends on their diet
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 21, 2020, 04:17:15 pm
The biggest source of methane may well be from people yapping about climate change.


Depends if they are doing the yapping during meals: a recent study that I made reveals that methane output becomes greater when passions rise. That's particularly the case if there is a large bowl of lentejas soup on the go. Yummy!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 21, 2020, 06:54:52 pm
Depends if they are doing the yapping during meals: a recent study that I made reveals that methane output becomes greater when passions rise. That's particularly the case if there is a large bowl of lentejas soup on the go. Yummy!

This phenomenon can demonstrate itself not only with passion, but also with physical exertion. For example, when lifting and transporting the large soup pot from stove to table.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 21, 2020, 07:40:37 pm
Well the methane may or may not be a problem, but the amount of hot air certainly could make a significant contribution to global warming (or "climate change").
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 21, 2020, 11:50:59 pm
Correct, Russ, but it is actually the other way around. Global warming contributes to warmer oceans and that in turn creates more hot air above the water surface. The two charts below demonstrate the rising trends of both the atmospheric CO2 and the air temperature.

Quote
Earth’s ocean has a much higher capacity to store heat than our atmosphere does. Thus, even relatively small exchanges of heat between the atmosphere and the ocean can result in significant changes in global surface temperatures. In fact, more than 90 percent of the extra heat from global warming is stored in the ocean. Periodically occurring ocean oscillations, such as El Niño and its cold-water counterpart, La Niña, have significant effects on global weather and can affect global temperatures for a year or two as heat is transferred between the ocean and atmosphere.

Understanding global temperature trends requires a long-term perspective. An examination of two famous climate records illustrate this point.
The Keeling Curve, a long-term record of global carbon dioxide concentrations is not a straight line: The curve jiggles up and down every year due to the seasonal cycling of carbon dioxide. But the long-term trend is clearly up, especially in recent decades. As countries around the world rapidly develop and gross domestic products increase, human-produced emissions of carbon dioxide are accelerating.

(https://climate.nasa.gov/internal_resources/1857)

(https://climate.nasa.gov/internal_resources/1858)

https://climate.nasa.gov/blog/2893/nope-earth-isnt-cooling/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 21, 2020, 11:53:35 pm
Les, Does Bart know you've been stealing his charts? :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 12:12:21 am
Les, Does Bart know you've been stealing his charts? :)

No, I go directly to the source, the NASA records. I didn't realize Bart posted those charts before. But posting it again won't hurt.
With some audiences, it might help to re-state the facts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 22, 2020, 12:21:14 am
No, I go directly to the source, the NASA records. I didn't realize Bart posted those charts before. But posting it again won't hurt.
With some audiences, it might help to re-state the facts.
Yes, it's one of his most favorite charts.  He's posted updates very often.  I think he owns stock in the equipment company that charts the data.  Even Russ has mentioned how impressed he was with this chart.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 22, 2020, 04:25:31 am
... With some audiences, it might help to re-state the facts.

Les, have you ever set through an annuity presentation (investments). Very persuasive. Because they use charts. Charts where they skillfully select a time period where what they peddle seems so true.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 04:43:20 am
Les, have you ever set through an annuity presentation (investments). Very persuasive. Because they use charts. Charts where they skillfully select a time period where what they peddle seems so true.

Slobodan, I haven't watched lately any investment slide presentations, but I often use the stock performance charts (see below). Similarly to the atmospheric CO2 charts, you can select any date range in their historical database and see it in more detail. Those charts can be quite useful and I often make decisions based on that information.
As to the annuities, they are for sissies.

(https://media.ycharts.com/charts/838c39f014d415fa1f6426ce17767160.png)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 22, 2020, 05:02:55 am
...  Similarly to the atmospheric CO2 charts, you can select any date range in their historical database...

Exactly my point.

In the chart you posted, set the starting point to mid-2012 and see how it looks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 05:46:17 am
Exactly my point.

In the chart you posted, set the starting point to mid-2012 and see how it looks.

That's true, in that time frame the line goes down. But as Warren Buffers advocates, you have to ignore the noise and look at the long term trend.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 22, 2020, 07:11:59 am
That's true, in that time frame the line goes down. But as Warren Buffers advocates, you have to ignore the noise and look at the long term trend.

Which, for the climate, is 5 billion years, not just since 1880 or 1960.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 08:07:51 am
5 billion years is totally unimaginable for me. It's difficult to imagine the world even in the next 100 years. And for most of us, our time frame is shorter still. Quite depressive.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on February 22, 2020, 08:19:40 am
5 billion years is totally unimaginable for me. It's difficult to imagine the world even in the next 100 years. And for most of us, our time frame is shorter still. Quite depressive.

We all get our day in the sun. Until the sun is no more.

Peter
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 22, 2020, 01:49:01 pm
Which, for the climate, is 5 billion years, not just since 1880 or 1960.


There are also those who will tell you that life began no more than six thousand years ago.

Why, then, should one be surprised that others choose to deny the effects of man-made pollution and claim that it makes no difference? To the best of our understanding, nobody before us had gasolene or plastic; I have no idea how badly ty rex farted, and whether he and his pals made up the shortfall. I leave that to those better informed to let us know.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 22, 2020, 02:58:03 pm
Absolutely, Rob. Let's hear from someone who was there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 22, 2020, 06:21:38 pm
Absolutely, Rob. Let's hear from someone who was there.

Humans didn't walk with dinosaurs.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on February 22, 2020, 06:30:11 pm
Humans didn't walk with dinosaurs.
You mean The Flintstones wasn't real?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 22, 2020, 06:50:00 pm
You mean The Flintstones wasn't real?

It may come as a shock, to some, and I hate to be the one breaking the news to you but, they were fictional.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 06:57:14 pm
Can anybody predict the year 2084? What will be the biggest changes compared with today?
And how about 2884?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 22, 2020, 07:03:57 pm
Can anybody predict the year 2084?..

Oh, I can: Democrats would be still blaming Russia for 2016, 2020, 2024, etc. defeats.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on February 22, 2020, 08:02:52 pm
Can anybody predict the year 2084? What will be the biggest changes compared with today?
And how about 2884?

Good question, but we need not wait that long before the shit hits the fan.

The cheapest climate target to hit?
Around 2°C

Action costs money, but so do the consequences of inaction.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/the-cheapest-climate-target-to-hit-around-2c/
Quote
Quantifying the continuing cost of the increasing threat of climate change is, roughly speaking, impossible. Even just focusing on the financial impacts is daunting, much less putting a number on human suffering and species extinctions. But there are still things we can learn in the attempt. For example, some oppose action to reduce emissions as “too expensive.” Is that a good argument?

Building on previous efforts, a new study led by Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research scientists Nicole Glanemann and Sven Willner attempts a full-on cost-benefit calculation. Like a classic optimization problem, their analysis finds the cheapest combination of mitigation costs and damages—and finds that it’s around 2°C warming.

It would be foolish to not act, even when in doubt.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 22, 2020, 08:08:32 pm
Oh, I can: Democrats would be still blaming Russia for 2016, 2020, 2024, etc. defeats.

I was more interested in what kind of animals and vehicles will be roaming the Earth at that time.

As to the US political scene, the Democrats will be by then a harmless fringe party, pushed aside by the coalition of Greens, Muslim Brotherhood and Anti-abortionists.
As to the other developments, foldable 7G iPhone75 with its 8x11 superthin screen will cost $9,995, although you'll be still able to find perfectly working second-hand iPhone 4 and Samsung 5 devices.
The aging Greta Thunberg will be still heading UN which will be located by then in Norway.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 22, 2020, 11:29:20 pm
Good question, but we need not wait that long before the shit hits the fan.

The cheapest climate target to hit?
Around 2°C

Action costs money, but so do the consequences of inaction.
https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/the-cheapest-climate-target-to-hit-around-2c/
It would be foolish to not act, even when in doubt.

Have you installed a sprinkler system in your house?  Do you even have smoke detectors?  Have you acted or are you foolish because you doubt the cost vs. the possible benefit? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: RSL on February 23, 2020, 08:11:21 am
Can anybody predict the year 2084? What will be the biggest changes compared with today?
And how about 2884?

How about next week?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on February 23, 2020, 08:26:55 am
I was more interested in what kind of animals and vehicles will be roaming the Earth at that time.

As to the US political scene, the Democrats will be by then a harmless fringe party, pushed aside by the coalition of Greens, Muslim Brotherhood and Anti-abortionists.
As to the other developments, foldable 7G iPhone75 with its 8x11 superthin screen will cost $9,995, although you'll be still able to find perfectly working second-hand iPhone 4 and Samsung 5 devices.
The aging Greta Thunberg will be still heading UN which will be located by then in Norway.

Just as an aside, I was listening to an interesting podcast on population demographics and growth/decay.  In the USA, progressives and liberals have a birth rate of 1.5, below the minimum of 2.1 to maintain the population.  So, people being raised in a progressive household will decrease over time.  However, conservative and religious peoples have a birth rate of 2.6, a growing population.  On top of that, the vast majority raised in a religious household remain religious later in life. 

In 2084, the USA just may be majority conservative. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on February 23, 2020, 08:33:38 am
... In the USA, progressives and liberals have a birth rate of 1.5...

We certainly want them to implement their own #1 solution for the climate and not have children ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 23, 2020, 10:53:38 am
Just as an aside, I was listening to an interesting podcast on population demographics and growth/decay.  In the USA, progressives and liberals have a birth rate of 1.5, below the minimum of 2.1 to maintain the population.  So, people being raised in a progressive household will decrease over time.  However, conservative and religious peoples have a birth rate of 2.6, a growing population.  On top of that, the vast majority raised in a religious household remain religious later in life. 

In 2084, the USA just may be majority conservative. 
We might not make it to then.  The country is in trouble now.  Huge debt and demands for more and more freebies that push printing of money that causes inflation that devalues currency, savings, salaries, and savings.   Not a good prescription for success.  We might not make it out of the election before recession, certainly something going to happen bad in next four years. 

The founders understood democracy was very dangerous.  Hence, presidents were to be selected by electors and Senators by the state legislatures, the latter changed to popular vote about 80 years ago.  People are foolishly greedy and will demand free schooling and everything else free.  It's already here and will get worse whether Sanders gets elected or not.  Just look at Europe.  Adding a lot more poor people who don;t speak English and have little acceptance of America as their country is not going to help.  Hopefully their children will be more patriotic.  The [problem is the government has to many freebies they give away.  That's why Bernie just won big in Nevada.  Many newly arrived people there expect big handouts and Bernie promises them all in spades. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on February 23, 2020, 12:42:54 pm
I was more interested in what kind of animals and vehicles will be roaming the Earth at that time.

As to the US political scene, the Democrats will be by then a harmless fringe party, pushed aside by the coalition of Greens, Muslim Brotherhood and Anti-abortionists.
As to the other developments, foldable 7G iPhone75 with its 8x11 superthin screen will cost $9,995, although you'll be still able to find perfectly working second-hand iPhone 4 and Samsung 5 devices.
The aging Greta Thunberg will be still heading UN which will be located by then in Norway.

And probably representing nobody but itself.

Europe will be much the same but without the Greens and Liberals. All the Moslems in Europe will have returned to what was Palestine, and find themselves in constant conflict with their neighbours who will always consider them outsiders. (See below.)

The Middle East will, as ever, remain an uneasy compromise between Moslems and Moslems, Israel having been exchanged with the Jews for a newly created state in the US. Bordering US states will keep alive a running feud to regain control of their "stolen" lands, but Trump's Latest New Plan (TLNP) will have been implemented, so waddya gonna do? Whatever you say, the guy was a god, and the money spent in America making it great again and so inclusive.

The two remaining and competing (not really competing) British parties will be the Super Starboards (SS) on the far right and the Communist Reaction Party (CRP) on the left; they will have an agreed pact and change ownership of government every second year thus saving time and money on electioneering. New towns will be built to house prisoners in more humane conditions, and they will be able to earn longer, free stays (that save them from working for a living) by agreeing to submit to medical and dietary experiments.

All natural food will be grown under glass. Fish will be more expensive than diamonds, and passports will be abolished because there will be no way to go anywhere else due to the minefields. European forests will have become more dangerous due to heat-encouraged gigantism that affected colonies of stray cats and dogs, and instead of fleas and ticks people will be dreading the super tarantulas that will have taken over the hedgerows, killing all other life that once flourished there, so relatively quiet and peaceful if you are indeed one of the few still stranded out in the sticks.

Much to which to look forward.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on February 24, 2020, 02:13:35 pm
The recent strong winds in Europe helped to generate more electricity from the wind farms.

Quote
In the past week, more than 69 percent of the total net electricity generation in Germany came from renewable energies, reported by Fraunhofer Institute. That was also a record. The share of wind energy in electricity generation was more than 55 percent.

https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/sturm-yulia-blaest-windstrom-zu-neuem-rekord-a-14cff10f-fa1f-45e9-be17-4f167de04c06
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on February 24, 2020, 03:15:59 pm
The recent strong winds in Europe helped to generate more electricity from the wind farms.

https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/sturm-yulia-blaest-windstrom-zu-neuem-rekord-a-14cff10f-fa1f-45e9-be17-4f167de04c06
If we can do away with night, just think of all the free electricity we could make.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on March 07, 2020, 11:30:47 am
Cities with more people tend to produce less CO2.  Well, maybe.

NASA satellite offers urban carbon dioxide insights
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-nasa-satellite-urban-carbon-dioxide.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on March 07, 2020, 11:38:45 am
Cities with more people tend to produce less CO2.  Well, maybe.

NASA satellite offers urban carbon dioxide insights
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-nasa-satellite-urban-carbon-dioxide.html

If so, that would be offset by a greater production of methane.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on March 08, 2020, 09:24:34 pm
JP Morgan economists are concerned about the Covid-19 crisis, but they worry even more about the effects of global warming.

Quote
The world’s largest financier of fossil fuels has warned clients that the climate crisis threatens the survival of humanity and that the planet is on an unsustainable trajectory.

The JP Morgan report on the economic risks of human-caused global heating said climate policy had to change or else the world faced irreversible consequences.
The study implicitly condemns the US bank’s own investment strategy and highlights growing concerns among major Wall Street institutions about the financial and reputational risks of continued funding of carbon-intensive industries, such as oil and gas.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/21/jp-morgan-economists-warn-climate-crisis-threat-human-race
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on March 17, 2020, 11:38:24 pm
Deutsche Wetter Dienst (German Weather Service or DWD) just finished preparing their climate forecasts for the next ten years.

(https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/f41ab9cc-b2cc-4693-929d-e2d75ac07f17_w948_r1.77_fpx52_fpy50.jpg)

Quote
The calculations conclude that this year Germany-wide could be 1.0 to 1.5 degrees warmer than the average of the reference period between 1981 and 2010. The average temperature in the years 2025 to 2029 will be particularly in the west and East Germany are even 1.5 to 2.0 degrees higher. Globally speaking, the past year was, according to the DWD, the second warmest since global records began in 1850. The decade 2010 to 2019 was therefore the historically warmest.

Drought must be expected in the next five years. The forecasts are particularly important for agriculture and forestry.

"We are the first generation to measure, observe and scientifically analyze the effects of man-made climate change so comprehensively," said Gerhard Adrian, President of the DWD and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). "This knowledge is in the world and can no longer be swept under the table."

Adrian urged more engagement in the fight against climate change. The greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere is still increasing, the global mean temperature continues to rise and the global sea level is increasing. "All the important adjustment screws are still turning in the wrong direction.

https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/klimawandel-deutscher-wetterdienst-legt-erste-klimavorhersage-fuer-zehn-jahre-vor-a-52d54e0e-bb82-44f9-8ed5-255488c3fa06
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on March 20, 2020, 01:12:29 pm
JP Morgan economists are concerned about the Covid-19 crisis, but they worry even more about the effects of global warming.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/21/jp-morgan-economists-warn-climate-crisis-threat-human-race
Les, I hate to say this.  But climate change spending is over.  No one is going to care about it as everyone will be looking for a job.  Government will have no money to spend on alternate resources to carbon fuels.  They'll be spending on Social Security payments and unemployment checks. Paris Accord is over.  Period.  On the good side, with less business, there will be less carbon burning so less CO2. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on March 20, 2020, 01:14:52 pm
Les, I hate to say this.  But climate change spending is over.  No one is going to care about it as everyone will be looking for a job.  Government will have no money to spend on alternate resources to carbon fuels.  They'll be spending on Social Security payments and unemployment checks. Paris Accord is over.  Period.  On the good side, with less business, there will be less carbon burning so less CO2.

I'm willing to bet that they'll still find the money to buy military armaments and hire lobbiests to petition for lower taxes. Always money magically available for that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on March 20, 2020, 01:43:35 pm
I'm willing to bet that they'll still find the money to buy military armaments and hire lobbiests to petition for lower taxes. Always money magically available for that.
I'm talking about all countries, not just the USA. Military spending will decrease too.  EUrope doesn;t want to spend the 2% required by NATO.  With lower GDP's they're going to want to spend even less.  America will pull out of Europe to save money.  ALl sorts of things no one predicted can happen when things go south.  If we don't get back to work, somehow, the cure might be worse than the disease.  Joe is right.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on April 01, 2020, 05:59:02 am
This has nothing to do with weather extremes, but with the forecast difficulties:

Quote
Corona crisis makes weather forecasts more uncertain - translated from an article in German Spiegel.
Because air traffic has largely ceased due to the Corona crisis, weather forecasts and climate observations are becoming more difficult. The weather models lack data that normally comes from sensors on aircraft. "If even less weather data is provided by aircraft and this over a longer period of time, the reliability of weather forecasts is likely to decrease," said Lars Peter Riishojgaard, group leader at the World Weather Organization (WMO), in Geneva. Weather conditions are also more difficult to predict, according to WMO. Above all, this would pose a risk to countries that need to prepare in advance to prepare for weather disasters.

Sensors on around 3,000 specially equipped commercial aircraft usually provide data on temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity and turbulence. This data is now missing. The WMO reports a drastic slump for Europe in March, from more than 700,000 to a few thousand weather data per day.

In addition to airplanes, almost 70 weather satellites and more than 10,000 ground stations provide data, according to the WMO. This is largely automated in industrialized countries - but if the crisis persists, there is a risk that the systems could fail due to lack of maintenance and repair. In developing countries, a lot of measurement data would be recorded manually. These observations have already decreased significantly in the past few weeks.

https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/medizin/coronavirus-news-am-mittwoch-die-wichtigsten-entwicklungen-zu-covid-19-und-sars-cov-2-a-2d217231-0ada-4ea8-b48d-3d04ac53c314
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Slobodan Blagojevic on April 01, 2020, 06:16:10 am
This has nothing to do with weather extremes, but with the forecast difficulties...

Who cares? We are stuck in homes anyway ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on April 01, 2020, 06:25:58 am
Who cares? We are stuck in homes anyway ;)

Yes, I was also stuck at home for most of last week, mainly due to lousy weather, but the current weather forecast (if we can trust the remaining flying sensors) predicts sunny and relatively warm weather for the next 7 days. Optimal for raking the front and back yard, and pruning the bushes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Rob C on April 01, 2020, 06:52:34 am
Whereas I am advised not to do the washing until Saturday, when there is sunshine scheduled. I have 50 - 50 open/covered terrace space, but hanging wet washing is so depressing to look at in bad, grey weather. In Scotland, I can remember my wife smiling as she brought in shirts frozen like scarecrows with their arms stretched out.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on April 01, 2020, 07:53:11 am
Who cares? We are stuck in homes anyway ;)

Poor air quality reduces immunity ..., just saying.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: petermfiore on April 02, 2020, 08:35:07 am
Poor air quality reduces immunity ..., just saying.

So does aging.....
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on April 02, 2020, 08:43:37 am
So does aging.....

Careful, someone might try to make aging illegal.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on April 02, 2020, 11:00:25 am
So does aging.....

It adds up. Average life expectancy is reduced by 13 months in my country, due to Particulate Matter emissions (PM10, and more importantly PM2.5). The number of Asthma cases at young ages is increasing disproportionally.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on April 02, 2020, 03:47:30 pm
It adds up. Average life expectancy is reduced by 13 months in my country, due to Particulate Matter emissions (PM10, and more importantly PM2.5). The number of Asthma cases at young ages is increasing disproportionally.
Fortunately, those thirteen months would have come at the end when you're drooling, pissing in your pants, are impotent, and can't remember anything anyway.  So if you were alive, you'd be thankful you're dead.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on April 03, 2020, 11:30:55 am
Fortunately, those thirteen months would have come at the end when you're drooling, pissing in your pants, are impotent, and can't remember anything anyway.  So if you were alive, you'd be thankful you're dead.

No, the issues develop already from a young age, and affects one's well-being throughout life. Productivity is reduced, people's health is reduced, and it leads to all sorts of deceases like heart problems and kidney failure, to name a few. It also reduces the immune system's ability to fend off or reduce the severity of viruses and bacterial infections.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on April 03, 2020, 12:43:24 pm
No, the issues develop already from a young age, and affects one's well-being throughout life. Productivity is reduced, people's health is reduced, and it leads to all sorts of deceases like heart problems and kidney failure, to name a few. It also reduces the immune system's ability to fend off or reduce the severity of viruses and bacterial infections.
Yes, and we are all going to die! Oops, we are. Come on Bart, a little optimism is something we all can use nowadays.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on April 03, 2020, 01:02:04 pm
No, the issues develop already from a young age, and affects one's well-being throughout life. Productivity is reduced, people's health is reduced, and it leads to all sorts of deceases like heart problems and kidney failure, to name a few. It also reduces the immune system's ability to fend off or reduce the severity of viruses and bacterial infections.
Did you ever get drunk, black out and have a great time you didn't remember?  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on April 05, 2020, 04:34:16 pm
A new study of the common coronaviruses (prior to Covid-19) - HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E - was published last week by scientists at University College London. By analysing samples from multiple years they found high rates of coronavirus infections in winter, while in summer they were very low. Other studies have also shown coronaviruses are seasonal in behaviour in temperate climates. However, they also found that the virus affected also the human immune system. 

Quote
The arrival of spring does not only affect the behaviour of a virus, however. It also produces changes in the human immune system, other researchers point out. “Our immune system displays a daily rhythm, but what is less known is how this varies from season to season,” said immunologist Natalie Riddell at Surrey University.

To find out, Riddell and other researchers at Surrey and Columbia Universities have been studying immune changes in humans at different seasons and different times of day. Biological samples were taken from volunteers at the winter and summer solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes. Initial findings suggest a subset of white blood cells that play a key role in the immune system appear to be elevated at certain times of day, indicating that the system responds differently at varying times. For example, B cells that produce antibodies were found to be elevated at night.

Impact of seasons on cell rhythms is still under investigation, added the study’s leader, Micaela Martinez of Columbia University. Results would be of considerable importance, she added. “Knowing the vulnerabilities of our body to diseases and viruses across the year could inform the timing of vaccination campaigns that will help us eradicate infections.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/scientists-ask-could-summer-heat-help-beat-covid-19
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on April 05, 2020, 09:32:46 pm
A new study of the common coronaviruses (prior to Covid-19) - HCoV-NL63, HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-229E - was published last week by scientists at University College London. By analysing samples from multiple years they found high rates of coronavirus infections in winter, while in summer they were very low. Other studies have also shown coronaviruses are seasonal in behaviour in temperate climates. However, they also found that the virus affected also the human immune system. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/05/scientists-ask-could-summer-heat-help-beat-covid-19

So how much is Covid-19 affected by season?  There are cases in the Southern as well as the Northern Hemisphere where season are opposite one another.
https://www.google.com/covid19-map/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on April 09, 2020, 02:04:47 am
Polluted air causes more Covid-19 deaths. Harvard study, which is still in the peer review process, shows a clear link between pollution and deaths from Covid-19.
The study hypothesises that “because long-term exposure to PM2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) adversely affects the respiratory and cardiovascular system, it can also exacerbate the severity of the COVID-19.

Quote
Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to significantly higher rates of death from Covid-19 according to a new study.

Researchers from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health looked at 3,080 counties in the US and found a 15 per cent increase in the death rate from Covid-19 from an extra 1 microgram per cubic metre of fine particulate matter, known as PM2.5.

It suggests that 248 deaths from the disease in Manhattan in the period until April 4 could have been avoided by a decrease in pollution.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/08/air-pollution-linked-higher-rates-death-covid-19/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on April 09, 2020, 01:51:39 pm
Polluted air causes more Covid-19 deaths. Harvard study, which is still in the peer review process, shows a clear link between pollution and deaths from Covid-19.
The study hypothesises that “because long-term exposure to PM2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) adversely affects the respiratory and cardiovascular system, it can also exacerbate the severity of the COVID-19.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/08/air-pollution-linked-higher-rates-death-covid-19/
So does smoking pot or cigarettes.  Emphysema, COPD etc are bad things to have if you get this disease. It's why they need ventilators to help people breathe.  But even with them, people die from asphyxiation, I guess.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: chez on April 09, 2020, 03:48:59 pm
Polluted air causes more Covid-19 deaths. Harvard study, which is still in the peer review process, shows a clear link between pollution and deaths from Covid-19.
The study hypothesises that “because long-term exposure to PM2.5 (atmospheric particulate matter that have a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers) adversely affects the respiratory and cardiovascular system, it can also exacerbate the severity of the COVID-19.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/08/air-pollution-linked-higher-rates-death-covid-19/

Yes here in BC they are very concerned with the upcoming wild fire season which blankets the people with thick smoke.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on April 09, 2020, 07:25:45 pm
So does smoking pot or cigarettes.  Emphysema, COPD etc are bad things to have if you get this disease. It's why they need ventilators to help people breathe.  But even with them, people die from asphyxiation, I guess.

Ive been reading that it seems the red blood cells are shedding iron and that diminishes the ability of the blood to move oxygen.  One Dr reported that patients appear more like victims of high altitude sickness, with very low blood ox levels, some as low as 70%, but that the lungs were still dealing with the CO2.  I'm doing this from memory so I most likey screwed something up, but I think thats the gist of it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on May 05, 2020, 04:27:05 am
New study by Dutch scientists warns that as the climate continues to warm over the next half-century, up to one-third of the world’s population is likely to live in areas that are considered unsuitably hot for humans. In other words, there will be massive migrations from the hot areas to cooler regions. 

(https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/79ea5c29-466f-4d96-a1a5-7e8439df600d_w948_r1.77_fpx30_fpy55.01.jpg)
Parched earth in South Africa - credit: Mike Hutchings/ REUTERS

Quote
“And it turns out that if climate change remains on the current track, then a lot more will change in the coming 50 years than have changed in the past 6,000.”

“It’s a kind of no-go area to talk about climate migration,” Dr. Scheffer said. But the possibility that hundreds of millions of people may be forced to move to cooler areas means that society “needs to think about how we can accommodate as much as we can.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/climate/heat-temperatures-climate-change.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jim Pascoe on May 05, 2020, 05:22:34 am
Did you ever get drunk, black out and have a great time you didn't remember?  :)

Actually no....... Have I missed out?  :)

Jim

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on May 11, 2020, 11:44:35 am
New study by Dutch scientists warns that as the climate continues to warm over the next half-century, up to one-third of the world’s population is likely to live in areas that are considered unsuitably hot for humans. In other words, there will be massive migrations from the hot areas to cooler regions. 

(https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/79ea5c29-466f-4d96-a1a5-7e8439df600d_w948_r1.77_fpx30_fpy55.01.jpg)
Parched earth in South Africa - credit: Mike Hutchings/ REUTERS

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/climate/heat-temperatures-climate-change.html
Les, you're going to have a lot of new neighbors.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on May 11, 2020, 11:46:28 am
Actually no....... Have I missed out?  :)

Jim


I don't recall.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 08, 2020, 10:57:07 am
This fantastical sea creature helps remove planet-warming gases from the atmosphere
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-07/deep-sea-mucus-larvacean
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on June 08, 2020, 07:11:12 pm
This fantastical sea creature helps remove planet-warming gases from the atmosphere
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-07/deep-sea-mucus-larvacean

Thanks for the link, Alan. I guess this is one of the many ways in which our planet continually makes natural adjustments to create a new balance in response to any change, of climate or other factors. For example, Coral Reefs might die off in one area, but new corals spring up in other parts of the oceans. What a surprise!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on June 08, 2020, 08:37:23 pm
I've just come across a revealing chart which shows that the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has not fallen or slowed down during the past few months as a result of the significant reduction in economic activity.

This implies that the rise in CO2 levels might be mostly due to natural factors rather than human induced emissions from fossil fuels.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on June 08, 2020, 09:00:11 pm
I've just come across a revealing chart which shows that the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has not fallen or slowed down during the past few months as a result of the significant reduction in economic activity.

This implies that the rise in CO2 levels might be mostly due to natural factors rather than human induced emissions from fossil fuels.

That's not what I've been reading.

Quote
Levels of air pollutants and warming gases over some cities and regions are showing significant drops as coronavirus impacts work and travel.

Researchers in New York told the BBC their early results showed carbon monoxide mainly from cars had been reduced by nearly 50% compared with last year.
Emissions of the planet-heating gas CO2 have also fallen sharply.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on June 08, 2020, 09:20:36 pm
I've just come across a revealing chart which shows that the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has not fallen or slowed down during the past few months as a result of the significant reduction in economic activity.

This implies that the rise in CO2 levels might be mostly due to natural factors rather than human induced emissions from fossil fuels.
For balance, I would like to look at data and analysis from someone other than a noted climate change skeptic like Dr. Roy Spencer before drawing a conclusion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Manoli on June 08, 2020, 10:53:53 pm
I've just come across a revealing chart which shows that the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has not fallen or slowed down during the past few months as a result of the significant reduction in economic activity.

That may or may not be true but the same can’t be said for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2).

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on June 09, 2020, 12:46:34 am
That's not what I've been reading.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780

Then you've been reading biased publications, Les. ;)  Do you trust NOAA?

Here's their report on the Moana Loa observations.

"Atmospheric carbon dioxide measured at Mauna Loa Observatory reached a seasonal peak of 417.1 parts per million for 2020 in May, the highest monthly reading ever recorded, scientists from NOAA and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego announced today."

https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2636/Rise-of-carbon-dioxide-unabated
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on June 09, 2020, 12:49:59 am
For balance, I would like to look at data and analysis from someone other than a noted climate change skeptic like Dr. Roy Spencer before drawing a conclusion.

Fair enough! Check out the following report from NOAA.

https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2636/Rise-of-carbon-dioxide-unabated
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on June 09, 2020, 01:07:51 am
I get a sense from some of the replies, that the confusion still continues about the difference between polluting gases and non-polluting gases.

Densely populated areas tend to have much more pollution than remote areas, mainly due to the huge number of polluting vehicles. As a result of the economic slow down resulting from Covid-19 measures, the air in cities has become noticeably cleaner, especially in highly polluted countries such as India where in some places people for the first time can get a clear view of the near-by Himalayan mountains.

However, CO2 is a perfectly clear and odourless gas; not a pollutant at current levels.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Manoli on June 09, 2020, 02:01:04 am
I get a sense from some of the replies, that the confusion still continues about the difference between polluting gases and non-polluting gases.

Ray - If you’re referring to my post, I made the distinction abundantly clear in my single sentence post.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 09, 2020, 09:02:01 am
I've just come across a revealing chart which shows that the rise in atmospheric CO2 levels has not fallen or slowed down during the past few months as a result of the significant reduction in economic activity.

This implies that the rise in CO2 levels might be mostly due to natural factors rather than human induced emissions from fossil fuels.


That's Bart's favorite chart.   :)  Of course, NOAA claims you'd need at least 6 months of lowered CO2 production to see a difference in this measurement.  Very convenient.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 09, 2020, 09:22:24 am
I get a sense from some of the replies, that the confusion still continues about the difference between polluting gases and non-polluting gases.

Densely populated areas tend to have much more pollution than remote areas, mainly due to the huge number of polluting vehicles. As a result of the economic slow down resulting from Covid-19 measures, the air in cities has become noticeably cleaner, especially in highly polluted countries such as India where in some places people for the first time can get a clear view of the near-by Himalayan mountains.

However, CO2 is a perfectly clear and odourless gas; not a pollutant at current levels.
The haze around NYC usually rises to 1000-2000 feet.  It's really noticeable from an airplane seat when you take off and land.  It would be interesting to see what the sky looks now if you could find a plane to fly in. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on June 09, 2020, 09:31:15 am
Unfortunately, there was no decrease in the methane in the air.

Quote
Kayrros estimates that at any given time, there are about 100 high-volume methane leaks around the world. The good news is that once identified, a methane leak is relatively easy to stop. The International Energy Agency estimates that about 75% of current worldwide methane emissions could be avoided—about 40% of that at no net cost. Leaks cost the industry about $30 billion a year in lost revenue, so there are strong incentives for gas companies to detect them early.

Reducing methane emissions by 40% would have an effect in global warming equivalent to the immediate shutdown of 60% of the world’s coal-fired power plants, according to the IEA. “Reducing CO₂ emissions is important for reducing the magnitude of climate change. Reducing methane emissions is important to reduce the rate of climate change."

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-23/as-carbon-recedes-due-to-virus-methane-will-likely-increase

Even worse, in many areas in North America, skunk populations have been lately on increase. Although their gas output doesn't affect the world climate to a large degree, their smell can ruin a walk in the park.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on June 19, 2020, 11:48:12 pm
Siberia has recently experienced record heat waves. The last winter was the hottest in Siberia since records began 130 years ago and the summer temperatures are also breaking all time records.These extreme temperatures affect not only the climate in Siberia, but on the entire planet.

Quote
A prolonged heatwave in Siberia is “undoubtedly alarming”, climate scientists have said. ... On a global scale, the Siberian heat is helping push the world towards its hottest year on record in 2020, despite a temporary dip in carbon emissions owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

Russian towns in the Arctic circle have recorded extraordinary temperatures, with Nizhnyaya Pesha hitting 30C on 9 June and Khatanga, which usually has daytime temperatures of around 0C at this time of year, hitting 25C on 22 May. The previous record was 12C.

In May, surface temperatures in parts of Siberia were up to 10C above average, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). Martin Stendel, of the Danish Meteorological Institute, said the abnormal May temperatures seen in north-west Siberia would be likely to happen just once in 100,000 years without human-caused global heating.

Thawing permafrost was at least partly to blame for a spill of diesel fuel in Siberia this month that led Putin to declare a state of emergency. The supports of the storage tank suddenly sank, according to its operators; green groups said ageing and poorly maintained infrastructure was also to blame.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/17/climate-crisis-alarm-at-record-breaking-heatwave-in-siberia
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on June 21, 2020, 11:41:33 am
Many industrial structures on the north slope in Alaska have foundations of permafrost.  I watched and filmed them mixing just gravel and water and letting it freeze into “concrete” as support for huge buildings.  Crew residences, (some so large they included swimming pools), admin buildings, warehouses, pipelines and storage tanks were built this way.

The day of reckoning has arrived.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on June 21, 2020, 01:01:40 pm
The water temperatures of the nearby lakes in southern Ontario warmed up earlier and are higher this year than in other years.
Below is a June comparison between 2020 and 2019 in Lake Simcoe, a rather large lake north of Toronto.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 21, 2020, 05:47:49 pm
More ticks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on June 21, 2020, 05:57:28 pm
More ticks.
Indeed, the ticks and Lyme disease are spreading out in Ontario, especially in the Thousand Islands area.
Surprisingly, in my neighbourhood we don't have now as many mosquitoes as in the previous summers. Most probably because of the dry hot weather. Could be different in the bush country.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on June 21, 2020, 06:27:39 pm
Indeed, the ticks and Lyme disease are spreading out in Ontario, especially in the Thousand Islands area.
Surprisingly, in my neighbourhood we don't have now as many mosquitoes as in the previous summers. Most probably because of the dry hot weather. Could be different in the bush country.

Tons of mosquitos here in BC...damp June...but no forest fires.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on June 21, 2020, 07:15:49 pm
...but no forest fires.

Spectacularly clear air here in the Kootenays.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on June 22, 2020, 03:04:55 pm
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/12/05/china-used-more-concrete-in-3-years-than-the-u-s-used-in-the-entire-20th-century-infographic/#45e90b004131


Concrete production is extremely CO2 intensive.  China used more concrete in three years than the USA used in the entire 20th century.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 25, 2020, 03:23:51 pm
https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2014/12/05/china-used-more-concrete-in-3-years-than-the-u-s-used-in-the-entire-20th-century-infographic/#45e90b004131


Concrete production is extremely CO2 intensive.  China used more concrete in three years than the USA used in the entire 20th century.
Yet the Paris Accord requires no limitation on China until 2030 although they produce 30% of the world's total CO2. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on June 25, 2020, 03:52:00 pm
This is an interesting time, lapse one hour movie showing the sun through a ten year period.  The 11 year sun cycle is observable.  That brings out an interesting question.  How much does the sun's cycling effect weather and climate.  Are there changes over longer periods than 11 years that are having longer term affects on climate like ice ages and warming periods?

Watch a 10-Year Time Lapse of Sun From NASA’s SDO
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/watch-a-10-year-time-lapse-of-sun-from-nasa-s-sdo
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2020, 12:40:05 am
Extreme temperatures coupled with high humidity flowing from the Gulf of Mexico are coming to the central and southern US. Temperatures in Dallas will be hotter than in Death Valley, California. Dallas reach a heat index of 110 degrees both on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

Quote
The seriousness of excessive heat cannot be overstated. Although hurricanes and tornadoes gain the most notoriety in the world of weather, many are surprised to learn that it is heat that is the top weather killer.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/weather/deadly-heat-forecast-central-us-texas/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on July 02, 2020, 08:36:01 am
Extreme temperatures coupled with high humidity flowing from the Gulf of Mexico are coming to the central and southern US. Temperatures in Dallas will be hotter than in Death Valley, California. Dallas reach a heat index of 110 degrees both on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/01/weather/deadly-heat-forecast-central-us-texas/index.html

It not unusual for Dallas to get really hot.  Temp records by month.

https://vocal.media/wander/hottest-temperature-record-for-each-month-of-the-year-for-dallas-texas
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 02, 2020, 09:02:28 am
I've been to Dallas and Austin in the middle of the summer and it was indeed hot.
But 110-113F temperatures mentioned in your link were the absolute record temperatures which occurred in the last 100 years only a few times. It looks like those records might be exceeded this year.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on July 02, 2020, 11:29:41 am
I've been to Dallas and Austin in the middle of the summer and it was indeed hot.
But 110-113F temperatures mentioned in your link were the absolute record temperatures which occurred in the last 100 years only a few times. It looks like those records might be exceeded this year.

Well thats how weather goes.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 19, 2020, 06:32:26 am
Siberia’s hot 2020 “effectively impossible” without global warming
Rapid analysis shows this event is hard to explain without climate change.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/07/siberias-hot-2020-effectively-impossible-without-global-warming/

Quote
Generally speaking, 2020 has been a hell of a year. But in Siberia, there is an additional reason to make comparisons to the inferno: record-breaking warmth and its consequences. Wildfires have burned about 8,000 square miles, aided by a bumper crop of silk moths consuming the needles off conifers. And slumping permafrost also contributed to a massive diesel spill when a tank on unstable ground burst.

The immediate cause of this extreme year was last winter’s jet stream pattern, which kept Siberia mild from later winter into spring, melting ice and snow early and boosting the warmth further. Then in June, a stubborn high pressure set up, as a northward wiggle of the jet stream brought warmer air from the south into Siberia. It was during this heatwave that the Russian town of Verkhoyansk apparently hit 38°C (100°F)—a first for any station above the Arctic Circle.

As with many extreme weather events in recent years, a team of scientists has completed a rapid analysis of the role of climate change in all this. The scientists analyzed both that record high temperature and the warm January-to-June across the region, concluding “in both cases that this event would have effectively been impossible without human-induced climate change.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 19, 2020, 09:41:39 am
Well thats how weather goes.  :)

Just in the interests of time-saving, Craig, could you please list the areas in which your view differs from Trump's?  Then you won't need to post on any topics other than those, since we already will know your position on the vast majority of issues.

Thanks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 19, 2020, 06:04:04 pm
You can't really discuss the subject intelligently with someone until they have the ability to understand the meaning of words like weather and climate. For those that can't understand words, you can always try using elementary school picture examples... https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/infographic-weather-versus-climate-illustrated-with-clothes.png (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/infographic-weather-versus-climate-illustrated-with-clothes.png)

Sadly, sometimes even that won't help!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 19, 2020, 10:09:46 pm
You can't really discuss the subject intelligently with someone until they have the ability to understand the meaning of words like weather and climate. For those that can't understand words, you can always try using elementary school picture examples... https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/infographic-weather-versus-climate-illustrated-with-clothes.png (https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/infographic-weather-versus-climate-illustrated-with-clothes.png)

Sadly, sometimes even that won't help!

I think the general intelligence of the readers of this forum is greater than you imply with that post. I think most readers, here, understand that climate is a composite of the prevailing weather conditions in a particular region, averaged over a number of years. Such weather conditions consist of temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind, cloudiness, sunshine, and the frequency and severity of certain weather events such as storms, droughts and floods.

Climate is always changing. It always has done in the past, and it will continue to do so in the future. That is certain.

However, what is uncertain is the role that human activity has in the current changing climate. To what degree are we contributing to the current, average warming, and how long will such warming continue, and so on?

Even that politically biased, great authority on climate, the IPCC, admits that predictions of future changes in climate are still an unsolved problem, for the reasons they state in the following article.

"The climate system is particularly challenging since it is known that components in the system are inherently chaotic; there are feedbacks that could potentially switch sign, and there are central processes that affect the system in a complicated, non-linear manner. These complex, chaotic, non-linear dynamics are an inherent aspect of the climate system.

As the IPCC WGI Second Assessment Report (IPCC, 1996) (hereafter SAR) has previously noted, “future unexpected, large and rapid climate system changes (as have occurred in the past) are, by their nature, difficult to predict. This implies that future climate changes may also involve ‘surprises’. In particular, these arise from the non-linear, chaotic nature of the climate system …"


https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/TAR-14.pdf
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 20, 2020, 03:10:06 am
I think the general intelligence of the readers of this forum is greater than you imply with that post.


Maybe

Quote
Even that politically biased, great authority on climate, the IPCC,

Aah - maybe not.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 20, 2020, 05:11:22 am
Maybe

Aah - maybe not.

Which part is 'maybe not'? That the IPCC is a great authority on climate change, or that they are politically biased (to some extent), or both?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 20, 2020, 05:19:05 am
Which part is 'maybe not'? That the IPCC is a great authority on climate change, or that they are politically biased (to some extent), or both?  ;)

The "maybe not" referred to the assumption that members of the forum are intelligent.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 20, 2020, 04:11:26 pm
The "maybe not" referred to the assumption that members of the forum are intelligent.

Yes, that was obvious to most members of the forum, but apparently not all ...  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 20, 2020, 04:19:56 pm
Many intelligent people are very gullible.  They show no discernment. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 20, 2020, 05:07:40 pm
Many intelligent people are very gullible.  They show no discernment.

And some ignorant people try to conceal their ignorance with unfounded scepticism.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 20, 2020, 05:13:19 pm
And some ignorant people try to conceal their ignorance with unfounded scepticism.

“Tell people there's an invisible man in the sky who created the universe, and the vast majority will believe you. Tell them the paint is wet, and they have to touch it to be sure.”
― George Carlin
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 20, 2020, 08:54:01 pm
The "maybe not" referred to the assumption that members of the forum are intelligent.

If that is so, then why not explain why the quoted comment preceding the 'maybe not' statement suggests a lack of intelligence, so we can all benefit from your superior insights?  ;)

Oh! I get it! This is 'climate change', and the last thing we want to do is undermine the 'alarmism' by presenting facts and rational explanations.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 21, 2020, 01:50:09 am
Oh! I get it! This is 'climate change', and the last thing we want to do is undermine the 'alarmism' by presenting facts and rational explanations.  ;D

Facts and rational explanations backed by the continual testing and retesting of theory based on evidence produced by the collection of data from measurement, experiment, and observation is what you get from science and its methods. This applies to all sciences be they climate, medicine, chemistry, physics, biology, etc.

What you don't get from scientific findings is certainty. Science is the exploration of the uncertain and it embraces uncertainty. There is little point in conducting experiments, creating models, or testing theories for that of which you're certain. Scientific theory is the best currently available explanation of something observed in nature that is repeatedly tested and verified by the scientific method using observation, measurement, and evaluation and which builds on accumulated knowledge over time. Scientists provide carefully worded degrees of confidence in their findings not certainty.

Alarmism is what you get from non-experts when scientific consensus and best available evidence does not align with what they wish to believe; as they find evidence contrary to their system of belief, or for some the potential effects on their business interests, quite alarming. When this occurs, the modern game-plan is to plant seeds of doubt based on the inherent nature of scientific uncertainty. Just ask the tobacco industry as they implemented and successfully used this strategy for decades to stave off regulation and keep their customers happily lighting up long after science had shown the connections between smoking and serious diseases.

From the 1954 statement of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee  https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/1954 (https://www.industrydocuments.ucsf.edu/tobacco/docs/#id=jxwb0035)

It is an obligation of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee at this time to remind the public of these essential points:

1. There is no conclusive scientific proof of a link between smoking and cancer.

2. Medical research points to many possible causes of cancer… .

4. In their recent preliminary report to the American Medical Association, the American Cancer Society and its statistical research staff placed careful qualifications and limitations on their findings related to this subject. These qualifying statements should not be overlooked.

*A more detailed analysis of how this type of plan operates to undermine scientific research can be found at NIH here... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/Inventing Conflicts of Interest: A History of Tobacco Industry Tactics (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3490543/)   or from WHO here...  https://www.who.int/tobacco/media/en/TobaccoExplained.pdf (https://www.who.int/tobacco/media/en/TobaccoExplained.pdf)

Placing careful qualifications and limitations on findings is what real science and scientists do. That's how science works. You provide the best available explanation and when new or better data comes along you make revisions and updates.

On the other hand, ideologues and those with vested financial interests, that lack sufficient scientific consensus and evidence to support what they would like to believe, will simply point to lack of conclusive proof and proclaim the science as alarmist, controversial, or unconvincing. This type of anti-science/anti-expert propaganda has helped to produce the current crop of folks opposed to vaccinations, skeptical of climate science, anti-mask protesters, and a whole host of other beliefs from those distrustful of science, experts, and things that are foreign to them or too complex for their understanding.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 09:15:01 am
Scientists aren't economists.  The problem with climate change science and the new problem with coronavirus, is that there are more than one side of the issues.  While scientists can recommend what has to be done to lessen the damage physically and medically, they're not addressing the whole issue.  There are huge economic problems created.  These have to be addressed as well.  For example, if you spend trillions as being recommended in the US now by presidential candidates, you have that much less money to spend on other issues: infrastructure, cancer research, homeless, the poor, etc.  In fact, the more you spend on climate change, the higher fossil prices will go making it even harder for the poor to heat and cool their homes.  Similar issue apply to Covid relief, but that's for a different thread. Unfortunately, little attention is being made on the economic costs and tradeoffs of these issues.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2020, 09:19:17 am
Scientists aren't economists.  The problem with climate change science and the new problem with coronavirus, is that there are more than one side of the issues.  While scientists can recommend what has to be done to lessen the damage physically and medically, they're not addressing the whole issue.  There are huge economic problems created.  These have to be addressed as well.  For example, if you spend trillions as being recommended in the US now by presidential candidates, you have that much less money to spend on other issues: infrastructure, cancer research, homeless, the poor, etc.  In fact, the more you spend on climate change, the higher fossil prices will go making it even harder for the poor to heat and cool their homes.  Similar issue apply to Covid relief, but that's for a different thread. Unfortunately, little attention is being made on the economic costs and tradeoffs of these issues.

I think I have heard this somewhere before.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 21, 2020, 09:21:40 am
I think I have heard this somewhere before.

Only once? Or many times ... ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 21, 2020, 09:26:36 am
While scientists can recommend what has to be done to lessen the damage physically and medically, they're not addressing the whole issue.  There are huge economic problems created. 

Yes there are, but economic problems are a luxury item if you're dead.  Meanwhile nothing gets done because halfwits try to play down the real extent of the global warming issue.

Coronavirus is a perfect metaphor but one you can see play out on a scale of days - the US does nothing while politicians and their stooges yap on about masks and bleach, meanwhile people are dying in their tens of thousands. Wake up!!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 09:27:35 am
Yes there are, but economic problems are a luxury item if you're dead.  Meanwhile nothing gets done because halfwits try to play down the real extent of the global warming issue.

Coronavirus is a perfect metaphor but one you can see play out on a scale of days - the US does nothing while politicians and their stooges yap on about masks and bleach, meanwhile people are dying in their tens of thousands. Wake up!!
How do you earn a living?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on July 21, 2020, 09:32:45 am
How do you earn a living?

What's the Latin name for parsley?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2020, 09:38:18 am
What's the Latin name for parsley?

The Latin word for parsley is apium, so you must be a bee keeper.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on July 21, 2020, 11:52:36 am
  For example, if you spend trillions as being recommended in the US now by presidential candidates, you have that much less money to spend on other issues: infrastructure, cancer research, homeless, the poor, etc.

Alan, that is a false concept.  It may be true for a household budget, but it's not true for governments or their accounting systems.  Your evaluation assumes constant revenue.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 12:22:46 pm
Alan, that is a false concept.  It may be true for a household budget, but it's not true for governments or their accounting systems.  Your evaluation assumes constant revenue.


Than let's print even trillions more and make everyone rich.   That doesn't work.  Printing devalues currency.  That means both people and governments have less to spend as prices eventually go up.  Additional taxes are required putting a burden on the economy.  Jobs are lost.  Earnings and taxes go down.  There's no free lunxh.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2020, 12:39:33 pm
Meanwhile, back on topic, it is really hot here. The heat index is over 100. I'm not planning to go out for the rest of the day. I can't remember if that is because of the heat or the cornonavirus. Doesn't matter really. And now they say that polar bears will go extinct. That is not very cheerful news.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polar-bears-could-disappear-2100-due-melting-ice-climate-change-n1234439
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on July 21, 2020, 12:41:34 pm
Than let's print even trillions more and make everyone rich.   That doesn't work.  Printing devalues currency.  That means both people and governments have less to spend as prices eventually go up.  Additional taxes are required putting a burden on the economy.  Jobs are lost.  Earnings and taxes go down.  There's no free lunxh.

What he was trying to tell you, I think, was that it is not a zero-sum game. It never has been. That is at the heart of Milton Friedman's (and many others') views. Don't you believe Milton?

The environmental conversation, of which climate change is a part, will get nowhere unless we eliminate the absurd and false "environment vs economy" pseudo-debate. Without a sustainable environment there will be NO ECONOMY. The environment is the economy. Approaching this from the viewpoint that the two are in opposition is worse than pointless.

It is not true that environmental regulations harm the economy. That is stupid. Is there any point making cheaper running shoes if part of your population dies from the toxins that are used to make them gets into the water supply? The environmental industry is itself part of the "economy". The people working in those industries, the products they make, that all is part of GDP.

We have had environmental regulations of one sort or another since the 1960s or so. Has the economy collapsed in that time? Has the world ended? I may be wrong but things have been going fairly well the world over during that time.

Don't you like breathing clean air. Don't you think that clean water is important for the "economy".
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 05:49:26 pm
Meanwhile, back on topic, it is really hot here. The heat index is over 100. I'm not planning to go out for the rest of the day. I can't remember if that is because of the heat or the cornonavirus. Doesn't matter really. And now they say that polar bears will go extinct. That is not very cheerful news.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/polar-bears-could-disappear-2100-due-melting-ice-climate-change-n1234439
They'll change their diet and stop eating seals.  That will be good for seals. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 05:53:54 pm
What he was trying to tell you, I think, was that it is not a zero-sum game. It never has been. That is at the heart of Milton Friedman's (and many others') views. Don't you believe Milton?

The environmental conversation, of which climate change is a part, will get nowhere unless we eliminate the absurd and false "environment vs economy" pseudo-debate. Without a sustainable environment there will be NO ECONOMY. The environment is the economy. Approaching this from the viewpoint that the two are in opposition is worse than pointless.

It is not true that environmental regulations harm the economy. That is stupid. Is there any point making cheaper running shoes if part of your population dies from the toxins that are used to make them gets into the water supply? The environmental industry is itself part of the "economy". The people working in those industries, the products they make, that all is part of GDP.

We have had environmental regulations of one sort or another since the 1960s or so. Has the economy collapsed in that time? Has the world ended? I may be wrong but things have been going fairly well the world over during that time.

Don't you like breathing clean air. Don't you think that clean water is important for the "economy".
Let Peter explain what he was saying.  I don't think it has to do with what you said which I wasn't addressing either. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 21, 2020, 06:27:57 pm
They'll change their diet and stop eating seals.  That will be good for seals.

Yeah, the bears should start eating sea weeds. However, a bigger problem would be the increased numbers of seals, which would eat more fish.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 06:35:29 pm
Yeah, the bears should start eating sea weeds. However, a bigger problem would be the increased numbers of seals, which would eat more fish.
My wife would love a seal fur coat. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 21, 2020, 06:44:19 pm
They'll change their diet and stop eating seals.  That will be good for seals.

Actually everything is in nice balance...polar bears have been eating seals for ever and this keeps the seal population in order. Only man thinks he knows better and tries to control nature by shooting wolves from helicopters because there are too many wolves.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2020, 06:46:14 pm
They'll change their diet and stop eating seals.  That will be good for seals.

That's pretty glib. It sounds like you don't give a damn on way or the other.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 07:04:02 pm
That's pretty glib. It sounds like you don't give a damn on way or the other.
First off the so-called study was not based on actual count but rather some formula the scientists made up.  I'd rather accept a previous study where actual counts of polar bear were done.  In that study, only a couple of areas had some decline in population while the rest of the population zones either increased or stayed the same.  Anyone can create an algorithm to prove what you want to prove.  More hype that those pushing climate change want to use..

Here's from the study that the article refers too.  It's a terrible and lazy way to do a study unless you understand their real intent to make it seem the polar bear is declining.

Quote: " Estimating when different subpopulations will likely begin to decline has not been possible to date because data linking ice availability to demographic performance are unavailable for most subpopulations2 and unobtainable a priori for the projected but yet-to-be-observed low ice extremes3. Here, we establish the likely nature, timing and order of future demographic impacts by estimating the threshold numbers of days that polar bears can fast before cub recruitment and/or adult survival are impacted and decline rapidly. Intersecting these fasting impact thresholds with projected numbers of ice-free days, estimated from a large ensemble of an Earth system model4, reveals when demographic impacts will likely occur in different subpopulations across the Arctic." https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0818-9

Second, I'm not being glib.  The idea that bears would disappear because of climate change leaves no room for Darwin.  The bear will find other sources of food.  Maybe they'll migrate back to land where they started from and feed on land prey and survive as a species.  Polar bears are smarter than these scientists.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on July 21, 2020, 07:08:36 pm
Let Peter explain what he was saying.

OK, I will.  It's not a zero sum game.

Like Polar Bears and seaweed, it's a little more complicated.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 21, 2020, 08:02:00 pm
Second, I'm not being glib.  The idea that bears would disappear because of climate change leaves no room for Darwin.
Sure it does. Under Darwin not all species adapt and survive. Some don't adapt and die out. That why they call it survival of the fittest. Why do you believe that polar bears will adapt and survive rather than not adapt and die out, particularly given the time scale involved?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 08:07:50 pm
Sure it does. Under Darwin not all species adapt and survive. Some don't adapt and die out. That why they call it survival of the fittest. Why do you believe that polar bears will adapt and survive rather than not adapt and die out, particularly given the time scale involved?
You're assuming they're dying out.  The study referred to is a farce.  The previous study showed they're doing well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 21, 2020, 08:15:54 pm
However, even if we assume there are changes going on that do effect a species, these have happened all the time while not killing off a species.  Changes in climate, geology, etc, have occured forever.  Species adapt.  The argument about polar bears is false by proven surveys done counting bears in the various zones around the Arctic.  This study justs makes an assumption that arises in the minds of the researchers.  They make no field observations just make assumptions that things will change.   Then they apply a fake algorithm to "prove" their assumption.  That's not science.   They admit to it right in their first paragraph.  But the media doesn;t bother to read it.  Of course, the lame media who wants to believe it repeat their findings and we go off again chasing our tails.  Soon we'll be looking again at that fake picture of the polar bear floating around on an ice flow, something they always did in the best of times.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 21, 2020, 09:24:11 pm
You're assuming they're dying out.  The study referred to is a farce.  The previous study showed they're doing well.

The polar bear populations vary depending on the area. Churchill, Manitoba is one of the most studied geographic regions where polar bears (and tourists) congregate in ice-free periods. That group has been declining in size.

Quote
Today, though, the sea bears’ future around Churchill looks bleak. In Churchill and the surrounding area (called the Western Hudson Bay), the bears’ population is plunging. The last two decades have been particularly harsh. “The population has declined substantially since the late nineties by 30 percent,” said Evan Richardson, a research scientist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, a government agency. What was once a population of 1,200 bears is now 800, and falling.

https://mashable.com/feature/polar-bears-churchill-population-decline/

I'm not sure if the bears could adapt to a different diet. If not, maybe we could replace them with hippos which could adapt to freezing winters by learning the art of hibernation.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 21, 2020, 10:51:34 pm
Facts and rational explanations backed by the continual testing and retesting of theory based on evidence produced by the collection of data from measurement, experiment, and observation is what you get from science and its methods. This applies to all sciences be they climate, medicine, chemistry, physics, biology, etc.

Good attempt, but that's not quite true the way you've expressed it, and your statement is therefore a good example of the general misunderstanding by the 'scientifically illiterate' public, regarding the true nature of science. Such misunderstanding of the scientific process, which is continuously promoted through the media, results in the general public, and especially school children such as Greta Thunberg, becoming very alarmed about the future climate.

I'll rephrase your statement, with changes in bold, which I believe represents a more accurate description of science.

"Facts and rational explanations backed by the continual testing and retesting of theory based on evidence produced by the collection of data from measurement, experiment, and observation is what scientists strive to achieve. This applies to all sciences be they climate, medicine, chemistry, physics, biology, etc."

However, not all subjects or situations lend themselves to this rigorous process of testing and retesting under controlled conditions because of the enormous complexity and chaotic nature of the situation, and/or because of the numerous influencing factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood, and/or because of the long time periods involved before results can be observed.

I'll repeat the IPCC comment on the nature of climate, in case you missed it.

"The climate system is particularly challenging since it is known that components in the system are inherently chaotic; there are feedbacks that could potentially switch sign, and there are central processes that affect the system in a complicated, non-linear manner. These complex, chaotic, non-linear dynamics are an inherent aspect of the climate system.

As the IPCC WGI Second Assessment Report (IPCC, 1996) (hereafter SAR) has previously noted, “future unexpected, large and rapid climate system changes (as have occurred in the past) are, by their nature, difficult to predict. This implies that future climate changes may also involve ‘surprises’. In particular, these arise from the non-linear, chaotic nature of the climate system …"


So what do you think? Do you think 'Climate Change' lends itself to the most rigorous application of the 'methodology of science' with its requirement for continual testing and retesting under controlled conditions and the capacity to create experiments which could 'falsify' a particular hypothesis if the hypothesis were in fact not true, such as the hypothesis that human CO2 emissions are the main driver of the current global warming?

Surely you can understand there is a huge scientific problem here. How can we get political action with such uncertainty?
Here's how. It's very well explained by the lat Professor Stephen Schneider who was Professor of Environmental Biology and Global Change at Stanford University.

"On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but — which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts.

On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we’d like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change.
To do that we need to get some broad based support, to capture the public’s imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This ‘double ethical bind’ we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both."


One very common technique for grabbing the public's attention is to link climate change to extreme weather events. You must have noticed that, surely!  ;D

Hope I've managed to clarify the situation for you.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 22, 2020, 02:18:39 am
Hope I've managed to clarify the situation for you.  ;)

No. But it's fine with me if it makes you feel better to think that you have. Your profound mistrust of science is exceeded only by your misunderstanding of it.

As for climate science and the various fields of scientific research which are incorporated into it, like all fields of science there is much that is unknown and yet to be learned and discovered. That's what makes science so fascinating and exciting for those engaged in it. However, you would be amazed at just how much knowledge has been accumulated and the progress made in the understanding, measuring, and quantifying of anthropogenic and natural attribution of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and their effects relative to other naturaly occurring phenomenon with increasingly high degrees of accuracy and confidence, just as all of the integrated fields have advanced over time. This is all aided by the advances in so many other fields of science which have made possible a variety of new and more accurate measurement capabilities and the ability to process vast amounts of data.

But, science is a balance of accumulated knowledge and new discoveries with the yet unknown and uncertain. Science continually accepts and acknowledges uncertainty. If ones view of it is too narrowly focused on the unknown and uncertain, it's likely much of the knowledge and progress will be under appreciated.

If anyone is interested in the truth about your quote from the 1996 article. Professor Stephen H. Schneider wrote a reply to the publisher complete with footnotes. Since you have attributed a quote to him, it would be useful to have his full thoughts on the matter. It can be found here... https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199608/environmental.cfm (https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199608/environmental.cfm)

A portion of his response to the quote is...

Editor's note: Professor Schneider was offered space to express his views following the publication of an erroneous quote attributed to him in the March issue. The opinions expressed are the author's and not necessarily those of the APS, its elected officers or staff.

Perhaps you shouldn't believe me, at least that is what Julian Simon's characterization of my views of environmental threats would lead you to believe in APS News Back Page article (March 1996, pg. 12). Simon "quotes" me directly, as supposedly saying "Scientists should consider stretching the truth..." to get good publicity for their cause. After the March issue was in print, Simon notified the editor that this false and very damaging statement was incorrect. What he hasn't yet admitted is that even what he states to be the "correct quote" is still an out-of-context misrepresentation of my views, a distortion he persists in perpetuating even months after I personally told him of the context of the original quote.

In November, 1995, I debated Simon on Lateline, the Australian TV equivalent of the US Nightline program, on the issue of the Chronicle bet. In a segment they did not air, Simon charged that I advocate exaggerating science to enhance the appearance of environmental threats. To bolster this charge he resurrected an oft-quoted, but usually out of context partial quote, from a Discover Magazine interview in 1989 in which I decried soundbite science and journalism by pointing out that nobody gets enough time in the media either to cover all the caveats in depth, (i.e., "being honest") or to present all the plausible threats (i.e., "being effective"). During the TV debate, months before Simon's APS News article appeared, I pointed out that he was taking only part of the full quote and that part was seriously out of context - this is the same source he "quoted" in APS News.

* Dr. Stephen H. Schneider died in 2010. Anyone interested in an accurate and undistorted profile of this scientist who served as a consultant to federal agencies and to every President from Nixon to Obama can refer to the biographical memoir published by The National Academy of Sciences... http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/schneider-stephen.pdf (http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/schneider-stephen.pdf)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 22, 2020, 04:58:52 am
However, not all subjects or situations lend themselves to this rigorous process of testing and retesting under controlled conditions because of the enormous complexity and chaotic nature of the situation, and/or because of the numerous influencing factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood, and/or because of the long time periods involved before results can be observed.

If you actually believe that "because of the enormous complexity" a given field of study may have, that it poses a barrier to scientific investigation, knowledge, or understanding; your attitude toward science certainly has more clarity. Do you think that medicine, physics, biology, chemistry, astronomy and other fields of science are suitable because they lack "enormous complexity" and therefore "lend themselves" to a "rigorous process of testing and retesting under controlled conditions"? Do you think that scientists have not often been faced with working to understand the "chaotic nature of the situation" at various points in time in their field of inquiry?

Is it really your desire to imply that there are fields that "because of the numerous influencing factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood, and/or because of the long time periods involved before results can be observed" scientists shouldn't be willing and eager to explore, investigate, and report their findings? There would be no science if that were the case! That's what science is all about! Exploring "the numerous influencing factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood". Inching, progressing, and occasionally leaping forward in better understanding regardless of "the long time periods involved before results can be observed". Searching to understand the "chaotic nature of the situation" when presented. This is what science does.

A scientific field of study often relies on a combination of multiple disciplines. Medicine incorporates biology, chemistry, physics, and more. Each are complex fields of their own and the human body itself is enormously complex in its functioning with "numerous influencing factors". In addition medical science for centuries has pursued the "large and rapid" "system changes" which are "by their nature, difficult to predict" in both cause and effect on the body due to diseases which were "either unknown or not sufficiently understood"; but they have investigated, built better understanding, and we are all the better for it despite the fact that much is still not fully understood. And there are many variables to contend with; a disease may effect one part of the body's system differently than another or to different degrees. It may vary considerably in effect from one person to another or have different progressions. None of these things have prevented medical science from improving and advancing over many years.

Climate science is also made up of various disciplines such as chemistry, geology, physics, and more. Sciences that are reasonably advanced and which will continue to advance. Science has always had skeptics of every field and there are always skeptics of advances within any field. Fortunately, science doesn't rely on anyones belief to advance and will continue to do so.

Well, this is as far down the rabbit hole as I feel like going with you. I'm reasonably satisfied with presenting my point of view at this point and you've added clarity to your attitude along with repetition. So reply if you wish and put a happy grin on it for embellishment, but for me the horse you're riding is dead and doesn't deserve any further beating. And if you wish to congratulate yourself on having insight superior to the worlds leading scientific experts, be my guest as it's a claim I could never make.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 22, 2020, 08:04:56 am
Your profound mistrust of science is exceeded only by your misunderstanding of it.

You've got that the wrong way round. It's precisely because I have a profound faith in the methodology of science that I am deeply disturbed by the dishonest politicization of the science of climate change and the gullibility and scientific illiteracy of so many in the population.

Quote
As for climate science and the various fields of scientific research which are incorporated into it, like all fields of science there is much that is unknown and yet to be learned and discovered. That's what makes science so fascinating and exciting for those engaged in it.

Absolutely! I'm fascinated with many aspects of science. When the scare about the effects of rising emissions of CO2 began to appear in the media, and climate scientists such as Michael Mann, James Hansen and James Lovelock were interviewed by the media, expressing their concerns about the disastrous consequences of climate change if we didn't reduce our CO2 emissions, I accepted such claims. Why would I not? I have a great respect for science, and I knew very little about climatology at that time.

However, as a result of my general interest in science and my great respect for the 'methodology of science', I began doing internet searches to find answers to some puzzling issues that were never raised during the media interviews of climate scientists.

I'll mention just one issue, to keep my post brief, but there are many issues which caused me to change my mind as a result of my own investigations. The first, as I recall, was the scare about ocean acidification. I already understood that CO2 dissolves in water to produce Carbonic Acid, which is a weak acid. Even natural rain contains Carbonic Acid.

But what I didn't know was the average pH of the oceans. Were the oceans neutral, or slightly acidic, or slightly alkaline? I understood quite well that the term 'acidification' meant 'becoming more acidic', and that 'less alkaline' is equivalent to 'more acidic'.

However, I was rather puzzled that prominent scientists, being interviewed to inform the public about the effects of increased CO2 on the oceans, would not even bother to mention such fundamental facts as the estimated pH of the oceans at the starting point of the increase in CO2 emissions, at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and whether the current state of the oceans was acidic, neutral, or alkaline.

After my investigations, including Google Scholar, it became very clear why such scientists never mentioned these fundamental details. To do so would have reduced the alarmism. The average pH of the ocean surfaces, just a few metres in depth, has fallen from just 8.2 to 8.1, during the past 150 years or so. A pH of 7 is neutral. Above 7 is alkaline, and below 7 is acidic.
The pH scale is logarithmic and inversely indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution. A lower pH indicates a higher concentration of hydrogen ions.

What's even more significant is that the pH of the oceans varies by more than 0.1 pH, according to the season of the year and the location of the ocean, and varies by very much more than 0.1 pH according to the depth of the ocean. Ocean waters are continually upwelling and downwelling, causing changes in pH.

Alarmists sometimes respond to such scientific facts by claiming that a reduction of alkalinity from pH 8.2 to pH 8.1 represents a 30% increase in acidity, which sounds alarming of course, and most scientifically illiterate people might assume that means we are almost 1/3rd of the way towards a neutral ocean.

However, a change from a pH of 8.2 to 8.1 is actually a 26% increase in acidity. But let's not quibble about such small differences of 26 or 30%. The main point, which reveals the deception of the alarmists, is that a change in pH from 8.2 to 7.2, which is still slightly alkaline, is represented by a 900% increase in acidity.

Refer attached image from NOAA.

Quote
If anyone is interested in the truth about your quote from the 1996 article. Professor Stephen H. Schneider wrote a reply to the publisher complete with footnotes. Since you have attributed a quote to him, it would be useful to have his full thoughts on the matter. It can be found here... https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/199608/environmental.cfm

I've read the article, and this is what Stephen Schneider said before repeating his full quote.

"During the TV debate, months before Simon's APS News article appeared, I pointed out that he was taking only part of the full quote and that part was seriously out of context - this is the same source he "quoted" in APS News. The full quote follows, where I have italicized what portions of it Simon quoted and bracketed what I did not say but he attributed to me in the APS News article:"

"On the one hand, as scientists we are ethically bound to the scientific method, in effect promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but - which means that we must include all the doubts, the caveats, the ifs, ands, and buts. On the other hand, we are not just scientists but human beings as well. And like most people we'd like to see the world a better place, which in this context translates into our working to reduce the risk of potentially disastrous climatic change. To do that we need [Scientists should consider stretching the truth] to get some broadbased support, to capture the public's imagination. That, of course, entails getting loads of media coverage. So we have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we might have. This 'double ethical bind' we frequently find ourselves in cannot be solved by any formula. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest. I hope that means being both."

This quote, above, minus the part in bold, is the exact quote that I presented in my previous post.

I don't expect you to reply because it's clear I have successfully debunked your alarmists arguments, and it must be very upsetting for you.   :(


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 09:49:40 am
The argument about polar bears is false by proven surveys done counting bears in the various zones around the Arctic.

The scientists are lying to you. Do you really believe scientists were out in the snow freezing their asses off counting bears? They just made up the numbers so they could get back inside where it was warm. They skewed the results so they could make it a feel good story. Everybody loves polar bears. Except the seals of course. But the polar bears are doing something about that. They are going vegetarian. That's what I read anyway. It was on the internet so it must be true.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 11:04:11 am
The scientists are lying to you. Do you really believe scientists were out in the snow freezing their asses off counting bears? They just made up the numbers so they could get back inside where it was warm. They skewered the results so they could make it a feel good story. Everybody loves polar bears. Except the seals of course. But the polar bears are doing something about that. They are going vegetarian. That's what I read anyway. It was on the internet so it must be true.
Well, you're right. Just which scientists should we believe? Mine at least said they counted the bears.  Your's admitted they just made up an algorithm in their heads.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 01:25:28 pm
Well, you're right. Just which scientists should we believe? Mine at least said they counted the bears.

You can trust me. I counted the bears too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 02:55:34 pm
You can trust me. I counted the bears too.
The Myth That the Polar Bear Population Is Declining
The story of a resurgent polar bear population deserves to be told and applauded.
Monday, September 9, 2019
Quote: "Data from conservation groups and the government show that the polar bear population is roughly five times what it was in the 1950s and three or four times what it was in the 1970s when polar bears became protected under international treaty.

In fact, though polar bears were placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 2008 over concerns that its Arctic hunting grounds were being reduced by a warming climate, the polar bear population has been stable for the last three decades."


https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-the-polar-bear-population-is-declining/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 05:00:24 pm
The Myth That the Polar Bear Population Is Declining
The story of a resurgent polar bear population deserves to be told and applauded.
Monday, September 9, 2019
Quote: "Data from conservation groups and the government show that the polar bear population is roughly five times what it was in the 1950s and three or four times what it was in the 1970s when polar bears became protected under international treaty.

In fact, though polar bears were placed under the protection of the Endangered Species Act in 2008 over concerns that its Arctic hunting grounds were being reduced by a warming climate, the polar bear population has been stable for the last three decades."


https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-the-polar-bear-population-is-declining/

So according to the author, what will the effect of climate change be on the polar bear population, if any, at the turn of the century?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 05:15:51 pm
So according to the author, what will the effect of climate change be on the polar bear population, if any, at the turn of the century?
I'd be more concerned about how the human race will be doing around the turn of the century.   I'm sure the bears will be fine. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 05:28:15 pm
I'd be more concerned about how the human race will be doing around the turn of the century.   I'm sure the bears will be fine. :)

You are not very good at hiding the fact that you are not answering the question. But it comes as no great surprise to anyone around here.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 05:31:40 pm
You are not very good at hiding the fact that you are not answering the question. But it comes as no great surprise to anyone around here.
I have no idea what the author thinks about the bear population around the turn of the century.  My view is they'll be fine.  I'd be more concerned with how we'll be doing next year because of Covid 19. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 05:44:41 pm
I have no idea what the author thinks about the bear population around the turn of the century.

Yeah, actually reading the articles you link to is kind of burdensome.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 22, 2020, 06:23:33 pm
I have no idea what the author thinks about the bear population around the turn of the century.  My view is they'll be fine.  I'd be more concerned with how we'll be doing next year because of Covid 19.

If people kept the same social distancing as the bears, Covid-19 wouldn't be a problem.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 07:01:49 pm
Yeah, actually reading the articles you link to is kind of burdensome.
Frank,  I read the article again.  It says nothing about what's going to happen at the turn of the century.  It does say that the polar bears are doing great, have expanded their numbers.  Maybe another read would help you. https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-the-polar-bear-population-is-declining/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 22, 2020, 07:46:46 pm
Frank,  I read the article again.  It says nothing about what's going to happen at the turn of the century.  It does say that the polar bears are doing great, have expanded their numbers.  Maybe another read would help you. https://fee.org/articles/the-myth-that-the-polar-bear-population-is-declining/
Exactly. It is irrelevant to the discussion of the effect of climate change on the polar bear.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 07:56:00 pm
Exactly. It is irrelevant to the discussion of the effect of climate change on the polar bear.
You changed the goal posts.  The argument presented for year since the climate change debate started was that polar bears were already decreasing in population due to global warming.  That's false.  It's lies and hysteria like this that make thinking people doubt the whole argument. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 22, 2020, 08:53:00 pm
Can polar bears contract an infectious disease?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 22, 2020, 09:17:47 pm
I don't expect you to reply because...

Because I'm wholly unimpressed by your assertions...

However, as a result of my general interest in science and my great respect for the 'methodology of science', I began doing internet searches to find answers to some puzzling issues that were never raised during the media interviews of climate scientists.

there are many issues which caused me to change my mind as a result of my own investigations.

and completely underwhelmed by your efforts and findings as a scientific investigator from the University of Google when compared to actual scientists working for years in their fields.

*As an aside, to enhance your credibility, you might want to focus more of your "investigations" on the voluminous reams of data scientists have collected rather than "media interviews of climate scientists" if you intend to undermine their credibility or findings. There are a great many scientists and researchers around the world contributing to the field; few of them do media interviews.

because it's clear I have successfully debunked...

Debunked what? I wrote that science has always had to contend with the same issues that you point to as problematic for climate scientists.


your alarmists arguments

What arguments? I never presented any scientific findings or conclusions. Again, I wrote that science has has always engaged with "enormous complexity", "numerous influencing factors", "chaotic nature", "factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood", and most of all uncertainty. If that's what you consider to be "alarmists arguments", so be it.

and it must be very upsetting for you.   :(

I'm feeling cool, calm, and collected, but your concern is appreciated as always. Although I was a bit disgusted and disappointed by your desire to bolster your argument by attempting to diminish the reputation for honest science and a lifetime of work by a long deceased but distinguished and respected scientist with an isolated quote from an article in the 1980s, which you presented without context from an article in the 90s which ignored the original context in which he was discussing his frustration and distaste for "soundbite science and journalism by pointing out that nobody gets enough time in the media either to cover all the caveats in depth, (i.e., "being honest") or to present all the plausible threats (i.e., "being effective")" and without presenting his reply to the article's author who initially falsely embellished, then retracted, then purposely distorted the original context in his usage of the quote. I understand that you likely will defend the way in which you used it until your last breath and will enjoy the endless repetition of it, but it does you no good service. This type of tactic generally harms the practitioner more than the target in the long run.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 22, 2020, 10:09:33 pm
Because I'm wholly unimpressed by your assertions...

and completely underwhelmed by your efforts and findings as a scientific investigator from the University of Google when compared to actual scientists working for years in their fields.

*As an aside, to enhance your credibility, you might want to focus more of your "investigations" on the voluminous reams of data scientists have collected rather than "media interviews of climate scientists" if you intend to undermine their credibility or findings. There are a great many scientists and researchers around the world contributing to the field; few of them do media interviews.

Debunked what? I wrote that science has always had to contend with the same issues that you point to as problematic for climate scientists.

What arguments? I never presented any scientific findings or conclusions. Again, I wrote that science has has always engaged with "enormous complexity", "numerous influencing factors", "chaotic nature", "factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood", and most of all uncertainty. If that's what you consider to be "alarmists arguments", so be it.

I'm feeling cool, calm, and collected, but your concern is appreciated as always. Although I was a bit disgusted and disappointed by your desire to bolster your argument by attempting to diminish the reputation for honest science and a lifetime of work by a long deceased but distinguished and respected scientist with an isolated quote from an article in the 1980s, which you presented without context from an article in the 90s which ignored the original context in which he was discussing his frustration and distaste for "soundbite science and journalism by pointing out that nobody gets enough time in the media either to cover all the caveats in depth, (i.e., "being honest") or to present all the plausible threats (i.e., "being effective")" and without presenting his reply to the article's author who initially falsely embellished, then retracted, then purposely distorted the original context in his usage of the quote. I understand that you likely will defend the way in which you used it until your last breath and will enjoy the endless repetition of it, but it does you no good service. This type of tactic generally harms the practitioner more than the target in the long run.
You presented no facts in your counter-argument against Ray's factual points and statistics, only insults.  You could do better than that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 22, 2020, 11:23:20 pm
*As an aside, to enhance your credibility, you might want to focus more of your "investigations" on the voluminous reams of data scientists have collected rather than "media interviews of climate scientists" if you intend to undermine their credibility or findings. There are a great many scientists and researchers around the world contributing to the field; few of them do media interviews.

Enhancing my credibility is not my main concern. I'm not a climatologist and do not need to defend my reputation, as Michael Mann did, by taking a critic of his research to court for defamation.

You seem to have misunderstood my position. I no longer rely upon media reports for information about climate issues, although the media, and the interviews of certain scientists, did spark my interest in the subject many years ago.

As I've tried to explain, as a result of my own investigations using the internet, which was initially created so scientists could share their research and avoid unnecessary duplication, it became clear to me that the media was presenting a very biased and one-sided view of the situation.

This is perhaps not surprising. The media has a tendency to focus on bad news because bad news tends to grab people's attention more than good news, and the media are businesses that strive for popularity in order to make a profit, or continue to get government support.

My sources of information on the internet are research articles available through Google Scholar, as well as government sponsored agencies such as BOM, NOAA, and the IPCC.

Everything I know about climate is from scientists working in the field of climatology, either directly or indirectly. I try to consider all points of view or interpretations of the data, which includes the interpretations of extreme skeptics as well as extreme alarmists, and those in between. Got it?  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 22, 2020, 11:25:37 pm
You presented no facts in your counter-argument against Ray's factual points and statistics, only insults.  You could do better than that.

I wasn't making a counterargument. I have no interest in engaging in a rambling discussion of ocean pH levels or a game of my facts are better than your facts, thanks.

All of my responses have been addressed to the broader topic of whether or not science has always had to contend with the same issues that he points to as problematic for climate scientists. Along the lines of my most recent statements which you quoted in your reply...

"Debunked what? I wrote that science has always had to contend with the same issues that you point to as problematic for climate scientists." or "What arguments? I never presented any scientific findings or conclusions. Again, I wrote that science has has always engaged with "enormous complexity", "numerous influencing factors", "chaotic nature", "factors which are either unknown or not sufficiently understood", and most of all uncertainty. If that's what you consider to be "alarmists arguments", so be it."

My most recent reply was largely addressing the last line of his reply to me as shown below.

I don't expect you to reply because it's clear I have successfully debunked your alarmists arguments, and it must be very upsetting for you.   :(

In addition, I included a response to a quote that I felt was misleading and distorted by lack of any context or proper context and which by implication disparaged the lifelong career and honesty of a dedicated and respected scientist who has long since deceased. I did begin with an honest opinion of his scientific investigations relative to those of career scientists.

If you view the entirety of my reply as "only insults" that's naturally up to you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 23, 2020, 01:27:41 am
All of my responses have been addressed to the broader topic of whether or not science has always had to contend with the same issues that he points to as problematic for climate scientists.

The answer is obviously 'no'. The complexity and chaotic nature of climate has always existed, and ancient civilizations were aware of the differences of climate in different regions, but only recently have the causes and drivers of changes in climate been investigated as a major scientific discipline, using numerous other related disciplines and, of course, relying greatly on computer modelling.

Not all issues addressed by science are equally complex. For example, during the times of Galileo, Aristotle's theory that objects fall at a speed proportional to their mass, was generally accepted as true. It is claimed that Galileo 'falsified' this theory by dropping two objects of different weight from the leaning Tower of Pisa, and observing that they both landed on the ground at the same time.

This process of falsification is a very significant part of the 'methodology of science', in order for a high degree of certainty to be achieved. All the products of science which we use with confidence, rely upon this procedure of setting up experiments which can either confirm or falsify the scientific theories used to produce the products.

Are you listening, Greta Thunberg?  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 23, 2020, 07:26:00 pm
Are you listening, Greta Thunberg?  ;D

There is no reason for her to listen to your opinions. She, like everyone else, has access to information from actual scientists working in the field.

Take Dr. Jenkins as an example of where to look for expert opinion and where not... https://undsci.berkeley.edu/us101/balance (https://undsci.berkeley.edu/images/us101/balance.gif)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 23, 2020, 08:00:56 pm
There is no reason for her to listen to your opinions. She, like everyone else, has access to information from actual scientists working in the field.

Take Dr. Jenkins as an example of where to look for expert opinion and where not... https://undsci.berkeley.edu/us101/balance (https://undsci.berkeley.edu/images/us101/balance.gif)
Thinking of depending on experts reminds me of a quotation:


"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

William F. Buckley, Jr.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 23, 2020, 08:20:57 pm
Thinking of depending on experts reminds me of a quotation:


"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

William F. Buckley, Jr.

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to William F. Buckley, Jr."

Me
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 23, 2020, 08:44:21 pm
Got it?  ;)

Oh yeah. I could see where you were coming from and where you were heading from the beginning; as if, you were driving a flaming chariot.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 23, 2020, 09:28:59 pm
"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to William F. Buckley, Jr."

Me
Well, I agree with that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 24, 2020, 04:47:31 pm
Not sure what this means for the current issues regarding CO2. Maybe Ray can add his evaluation.

Historic carbon dioxide decline could hold clues for future climate
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-historic-carbon-dioxide-decline-clues.html

Link to original study in above article:
Article
Published: 20 July 2020
Last glacial atmospheric CO2 decline due to widespread Pacific deep-water expansion

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0610-5
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 25, 2020, 02:21:36 am
Not sure what this means for the current issues regarding CO2. Maybe Ray can add his evaluation.

From the abstract of the nature.com article you linked:

"Ocean circulation critically affects the global climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide through redistribution of heat and carbon in the Earth system. Despite intensive research, the nature of past ocean circulation changes remains elusive."

This is obviously another complex issue which climate scientists struggle to understand. As I understand, the oceans store far more heat and carbon than the atmosphere and the biosphere of the land combined.

What I find fascinating is the estimated number of submarine volcanoes on the ocean floors. The estimates vary from 1 million to 3 million, but we don't really know. Because many of the volcanoes are at great depth in the oceans, there could be half a dozen or more erupting at this very moment, but no-one is aware of the eruptions, not even Greta Thunberg.  ;)

"More than 70 percent of all volcanic eruptions occur underwater and scientists are in the dark when it comes to understanding underwater volcanoes because the eruptions are cloaked from view by thousands of feet of water."

https://ocean.si.edu/holding-tank/vents-volcanoes/mystery-underwater-volcano
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 25, 2020, 11:36:04 am
From the abstract of the nature.com article you linked:

"Ocean circulation critically affects the global climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide through redistribution of heat and carbon in the Earth system. Despite intensive research, the nature of past ocean circulation changes remains elusive."

This is obviously another complex issue which climate scientists struggle to understand. As I understand, the oceans store far more heat and carbon than the atmosphere and the biosphere of the land combined.

What I find fascinating is the estimated number of submarine volcanoes on the ocean floors. The estimates vary from 1 million to 3 million, but we don't really know. Because many of the volcanoes are at great depth in the oceans, there could be half a dozen or more erupting at this very moment, but no-one is aware of the eruptions, not even Greta Thunberg.  ;)

"More than 70 percent of all volcanic eruptions occur underwater and scientists are in the dark when it comes to understanding underwater volcanoes because the eruptions are cloaked from view by thousands of feet of water."

https://ocean.si.edu/holding-tank/vents-volcanoes/mystery-underwater-volcano

Hawaii is probably a main example of underseas volcanoes. Each of the islands is another volcano.  Each were formed in sequence with the Big Island of Hawaii still active and the largest.  There's a new one forming east of it now.  The other Hawaiian Islands like Maui, Oahu, Kauai further west went dormant long ago.  Apparently there's a hot spot in the earth's crust.  As the continental plates move, these islands were formed in sequence.  It was fascinating to visit the volcanoes when my wife and I cruised there. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 25, 2020, 08:03:13 pm
Hawaii is probably a main example of underseas volcanoes. Each of the islands is another volcano.  Each were formed in sequence with the Big Island of Hawaii still active and the largest.  There's a new one forming east of it now.  The other Hawaiian Islands like Maui, Oahu, Kauai further west went dormant long ago.  Apparently there's a hot spot in the earth's crust.  As the continental plates move, these islands were formed in sequence.  It was fascinating to visit the volcanoes when my wife and I cruised there.

What's also interesting is that even when volcanoes appear inactive, they are usually surrounded by fissures and cracks which are continuously emitting CO2. This tends not to be noticed or measured by scientists in the field.

This is also occurring in the oceans to a greater extent because of the greater area of land covered, which is one reason why the pH of the oceans varies considerably according to location and depth.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 25, 2020, 08:09:18 pm
What's also interesting is that even when volcanoes appear inactive, they are usually surrounded by fissures and cracks which are continuously emitting CO2. This tends not to be noticed or measured by scientists in the field.

Says you. And since you are suggesting it's an issue, how much of this affects the atmospheric increase in CO2 concentration?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 25, 2020, 08:52:35 pm
This tends not to be noticed or measured by scientists in the field.

Says you. And since you are suggesting it's an issue, how much of this affects the atmospheric increase in CO2 concentration?

This is what the internet gives us. Spare time web surfing expertise that is believed to be more insightful than that of the actual experts who have invested their lives into work, research, and study.

There are numerous scientists that "notice" and are actively engaged in research. As more is learned, it is incorporated into the body of knowledge created by actual scientists that do real science.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 25, 2020, 09:52:03 pm
This is what the internet gives us. Spare time web surfing expertise that is believed to be more insightful than that of the actual experts who have invested their lives into work, research, and study.

There are numerous scientists that "notice" and are actively engaged in research. As more is learned, it is incorporated into the body of knowledge created by actual scientists that do real science.

Exactly, Real science starts with observations, followed by thorough, peer-reviewed, analysis, AKA "the scientific method". Only too many (anonymous) folks 'observe' (or only read controversial blog posts, or references to those), but real scientists take such clues to do something useful to society,
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2020, 04:48:55 am
Exactly, Real science starts with observations,

All human activity starts with observations, as soon as a child is born, and involves learned interpretations of those observations, whether one is a scientist or not.

Quote
followed by thorough, peer-reviewed, analysis, AKA "the scientific method".

Try being more precise. Sometimes followed by thorough, peer-reviewed analysis, but not always, would be more correct. Scientists are also human, and can be incompetent, biased, and even corrupt, just as non-scientists sometimes are.

Also, when the subject of scientific investigation is complex, non-linear and chaotic, it might not be possible for the the peer-review process to meet those ideal standards of the 'scientific methodology'. The peer reviewer then has the option of either being scientifically honest, or failing to mention the "ifs, buts, and doubts", as Professor Schneider explained.

An example of what can happen when a scientist truthfully expresses what he really thinks about the quality of the research relating to climate, is what happened to Professor Peter Ridd who used to be a Professor of Physics at James Cook University in North Queensland.

Ridd, having a background in Physics, which is one of the 'Hard Sciences' which requires the most rigorous application of the true 'methodology of science', criticized the quality of the research relating to the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. He claimed that much of the research was not being properly checked, tested or replicated through the peer review process.

He was sacked by the university for not toeing the line. So he took the university to court, and won his case. The university was ordered to pay Ridd A$1.2 million in compensation.

However, the university made an appeal to the higher court, and unfortunately for Ridd, won the appeal (which I'm sure will make 'climate alarmist' like you, Bart, very happy   :D  ).

The following Quadrant site addressed this issue, before the court decision was reversed.
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/04/the-ridd-case-much-more-than-just-one-mans-victory/

The following quote represents my own personal view quite well.

"A key factor in the success of science has been the subjection of any important new claims to skepticism and verification. To a large extent in environmental research, such testing has been replaced by claims of authority and consensus. This decidedly anti-scientific perspective has been greatly facilitated by a prevailing acceptance in academia of a postmodern philosophical view which denies the existence of any objective truth.  In its place is the notion of a political correctness deemed self-obvious to all right-thinking persons and which it is “unethical” even to question. From this perspective it is not too difficult to excuse a lie if it supports what is perceived to be a higher truth. To dissent with any of this makes one a “denier” which is seen as intellectually equivalent to believing in a flat Earth and morally equivalent to denying the Holocaust."

Quote
Only too many (anonymous) folks 'observe' (or only read controversial blog posts, or references to those), but real scientists take such clues to do something useful to society.

What do you mean by 'real scientists'? Anyone who has a scientific degree and is working in a laboratory, whether commercially funded or government funded, in order to support his family and children, and/or achieve fame?

On the issue of submarine volcanoes, are the following sites associated with 'real scientists'? Or is it all bunkum?
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/138

"If an estimate of 4,000 volcanoes per million square kilometers on the floor of the Pacific Ocean is extrapolated for all the oceans then there are more than a million submarine (underwater) volcanoes.

If the global estimate of one million submarine volcanoes is correct perhaps many thousands of these volcanoes are active. In contrast, few submarine volcanoes are caught in the process of erupting. Of the nearly 8,000 known volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years only about 300 were submarine. From 1975 to 1985, 160 volcanoes erupted but only 24 of these were submarine. Most of these submarine eruptions were in shallow water."


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0603-4

"The majority of Earth’s volcanic eruptions occur beneath the sea, but the limited number of direct observations and samples limits our understanding of these unseen events."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 26, 2020, 05:13:19 am
Ray, you seem to be dodging the question: How much of this (submarine volcano eruptions) affects the atmospheric increase in CO2 concentration?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2020, 08:28:15 am
Ray, you seem to be dodging the question: How much of this (submarine volcano eruptions) affects the atmospheric increase in CO2 concentration?

Dodging?? If it's not known how many volcanoes on the sea floor are erupting, nor how much CO2 is being emitted from vents and fissures on the ocean floor as well as the dry land, how is it possible to determine the effect of such emissions on atmospheric increases in CO2?

One can only speculate, or hypothesize. However, I do understand that in a warmer climate the sea will tend to absorb less CO2 from the atmosphere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on July 26, 2020, 09:15:11 am
Dodging?? If it's not known how many volcanoes on the sea floor are erupting, nor how much CO2 is being emitted from vents and fissures on the ocean floor as well as the dry land, how is it possible to determine the effect of such emissions on atmospheric increases in CO2?

One can only speculate, or hypothesize. However, I do understand that in a warmer climate the sea will tend to absorb less CO2 from the atmosphere.

"One can only speculate..." ?

No, you can study it. I suspect people already have. The fact that a few readers on this particular forum might not be experts in that field is a measure of nothing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on July 26, 2020, 09:36:45 am
"One can only speculate..." ?

No, you can study it. I suspect people already have.

Don't be silly! One can't study something that hasn't been observed or detected. Read my posts before commenting. Crikey!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 10:00:37 am
Don't be silly! One can't study something that hasn't been observed or detected. Read my posts before commenting. Crikey!

So are you saying that there are now more volcanoes on the ocean floor emitting CO2 than there were during the Ice Age, and that accounts for the rising temperature of the earth, not mankind's activity? If true, it still seems to me a lot easier to shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar than try to figure out how to stopper up all those volcanoes.

One more thing: you keep saying "estimate". When we were talking about polar bears, Alan told me I had to actually count them, not rely on some algorithm a scientist thought up in his head. It seems to me that what goes for polar bears ought to go for volcanoes. You are just going to have to do the heavy lifting and count them. No one said being a scientist was easy.  I just wanted to give you a heads up that you might get some push-back from Alan on this.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 26, 2020, 10:07:35 am
Dodging?? If it's not known how many volcanoes on the sea floor are erupting, nor how much CO2 is being emitted from vents and fissures on the ocean floor as well as the dry land, how is it possible to determine the effect of such emissions on atmospheric increases in CO2?

One can only speculate, or hypothesize. However, I do understand that in a warmer climate the sea will tend to absorb less CO2 from the atmosphere.

Since you brought it up in this "Extreme weather" thread, I had to assume you had something useful to add about the effect from all those underwater volcanoes on Climate change or Extreme Weather. Apparently not, and it looks more like an attempt to cast doubt on the usefulness of science, which is typical for those who think human activity is not the root cause of more Extreme Weather events.

Well, science can give an answer to what causes the rise in CO2 concentration in our atmosphere. Clue, it has to do with measuring the Carbon Isotopes (13-C) that are more present in volcanic emissions. The CO2 in the atmosphere contains very little Carbon 13, so the effect of landbased volcanoes is very small (and they do not cause the rising concentrations, their contribution is rather stable), and it is questionable if those deep water volcanoes add even any CO2 to the atmosphere (because it most likely gets absorbed by the water before it reaches the surface).

Here's a short video (I've shared it before) to refresh our memories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PrrTk6DqzE
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 12:00:21 pm
All human activity starts with observations, as soon as a child is born, and involves learned interpretations of those observations, whether one is a scientist or not.

Try being more precise. Sometimes followed by thorough, peer-reviewed analysis, but not always, would be more correct. Scientists are also human, and can be incompetent, biased, and even corrupt, just as non-scientists sometimes are.

Also, when the subject of scientific investigation is complex, non-linear and chaotic, it might not be possible for the the peer-review process to meet those ideal standards of the 'scientific methodology'. The peer reviewer then has the option of either being scientifically honest, or failing to mention the "ifs, buts, and doubts", as Professor Schneider explained.

An example of what can happen when a scientist truthfully expresses what he really thinks about the quality of the research relating to climate, is what happened to Professor Peter Ridd who used to be a Professor of Physics at James Cook University in North Queensland.

Ridd, having a background in Physics, which is one of the 'Hard Sciences' which requires the most rigorous application of the true 'methodology of science', criticized the quality of the research relating to the effects of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef. He claimed that much of the research was not being properly checked, tested or replicated through the peer review process.

He was sacked by the university for not toeing the line. So he took the university to court, and won his case. The university was ordered to pay Ridd A$1.2 million in compensation.

However, the university made an appeal to the higher court, and unfortunately for Ridd, won the appeal (which I'm sure will make 'climate alarmist' like you, Bart, very happy   :D  ).

The following Quadrant site addressed this issue, before the court decision was reversed.
https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/doomed-planet/2019/04/the-ridd-case-much-more-than-just-one-mans-victory/

The following quote represents my own personal view quite well.

"A key factor in the success of science has been the subjection of any important new claims to skepticism and verification. To a large extent in environmental research, such testing has been replaced by claims of authority and consensus. This decidedly anti-scientific perspective has been greatly facilitated by a prevailing acceptance in academia of a postmodern philosophical view which denies the existence of any objective truth.  In its place is the notion of a political correctness deemed self-obvious to all right-thinking persons and which it is “unethical” even to question. From this perspective it is not too difficult to excuse a lie if it supports what is perceived to be a higher truth. To dissent with any of this makes one a “denier” which is seen as intellectually equivalent to believing in a flat Earth and morally equivalent to denying the Holocaust."

What do you mean by 'real scientists'? Anyone who has a scientific degree and is working in a laboratory, whether commercially funded or government funded, in order to support his family and children, and/or achieve fame?

On the issue of submarine volcanoes, are the following sites associated with 'real scientists'? Or is it all bunkum?
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/138

"If an estimate of 4,000 volcanoes per million square kilometers on the floor of the Pacific Ocean is extrapolated for all the oceans then there are more than a million submarine (underwater) volcanoes.

If the global estimate of one million submarine volcanoes is correct perhaps many thousands of these volcanoes are active. In contrast, few submarine volcanoes are caught in the process of erupting. Of the nearly 8,000 known volcanic eruptions in the last 10,000 years only about 300 were submarine. From 1975 to 1985, 160 volcanoes erupted but only 24 of these were submarine. Most of these submarine eruptions were in shallow water."


https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0603-4

"The majority of Earth’s volcanic eruptions occur beneath the sea, but the limited number of direct observations and samples limits our understanding of these unseen events."

If Newton worked at Cook University, they would have sacked him too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 12:06:34 pm
So are you saying that there are now more volcanoes on the ocean floor emitting CO2 than there were during the Ice Age, and that accounts for the rising temperature of the earth, not mankind's activity? If true, it still seems to me a lot easier to shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar than try to figure out how to stopper up all those volcanoes.

One more thing: you keep saying "estimate". When we were talking about polar bears, Alan told me I had to actually count them, not rely on some algorithm a scientist thought up in his head. It seems to me that what goes for polar bears ought to go for volcanoes. You are just going to have to do the heavy lifting and count them. No one said being a scientist was easy.  I just wanted to give you a heads up that you might get some push-back from Alan on this.

Curious?  Does anyone know how the polar bears survived the last warming period before the last Ice Age? If they did it once, maybe multiple times as there were many warming periods and Ice Ages,  why shouldn't they survive the current warming? After all, they're very smart, adaptable, and I'm sure they haven't eaten seal only throughout their histories.  Maybe they'll move south and eat berries, salmon, and people.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 12:23:42 pm
Curious?  Does anyone know how the polar bears survived the last warming period before the last Ice Age? If they did it once, maybe multiple times as there were many warming periods and Ice Ages,  why shouldn't they survive the current warming? After all, they're very smart, adaptable, and I'm sure they haven't eaten seal only throughout their histories.  Maybe they'll move south and eat berries, salmon, and people.

How hot did it get during the warming periods you are talking about?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on July 26, 2020, 12:30:54 pm
How hot did it get during the warming periods you are talking about?
Just google and you will know. Here's one result: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_temperature_record
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 12:32:47 pm
How hot did it get during the warming periods you are talking about?
I don't know.  Maybe Ray does.  But I found this study how the Antarctic region warmed up in multiples over the rest of the earth.  The study assumes both polar regions warmed similarly.  If so, how did the bears survive before?  There had to be a lot less Arctic sea ice then than now.  Somehow, I think the bears figured it out and managed.  For all we know, the brown bear might just be a former polar bear or vice versa.

During last warming period, Antarctica heated up two to three times more than planet average
Amplification of warming at poles consistent with today's climate change models
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161206111535.htm
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 12:43:57 pm
If so, how did the bears survive before?

Were they even around then? I thought God created the Earth only about 4000 years ago. Which pretty much means this Ice Age and warming period thing is all poppycock. A bunch of left wing scientists. They'll say anything. Certainly the dinosaurs are all fake. There is a whole YouTube channel where it is proved.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYxIsFJNY06h7K7XxK1zDEA

I don't know if Muslims believe in dinosaurs.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 12:44:35 pm
Just google and you will know. Here's one result: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_temperature_record
Here's a graph from that article.  What I find interesting is that there were sudden jumps in temperature in the Antarctic and Greenland around 12,000 years ago, long before the industrial age.  What accounted for that?  Could other natural changes be happening recently that account for the relatively minor blips of rise recently?  What accounts for all the other changes throughout geologic history?  Are there any coincidental changes happening now that are being ascribed to CO2 that are actually caused for other reasons or in addition to CO2 (undersea volcanoes, sun spots, other?)?
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/All_palaeotemps.svg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 02:19:26 pm
Here's a graph from that article.  What I find interesting is that there were sudden jumps in temperature in the Antarctic and Greenland around 12,000 years ago, long before the industrial age.  What accounted for that?  Could other natural changes be happening recently that account for the relatively minor blips of rise recently?  What accounts for all the other changes throughout geologic history?  Are there any coincidental changes happening now that are being ascribed to CO2 that are actually caused for other reasons or in addition to CO2 (undersea volcanoes, sun spots, other?)?

You asked so many questions there it reminds me of the narrator at the end of a Batman episode right before he asks you to tune in tomorrow nigh to find out.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 02:36:11 pm
You asked so many questions there it reminds me of the narrator at the end of a Batman episode right before he asks you to tune in tomorrow nigh to find out.
Well if you don't have the answers, why don't you step aside and let others.  Of course, my question raises doubt about the efficacy of warming due to CO2.  So naturally you make fun of the questions. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 26, 2020, 03:07:28 pm
The peer reviewer then has the option of either being scientifically honest, or failing to mention the "ifs, buts, and doubts", as Professor Schneider explained.

Peer review was not the object of Dr. Stephen H. Schneider's remarks or criticism and you're well aware of that fact. It does fit a well worn pattern of attempting to undermine the credibility of respected scientists by casting doubt and uncertainty on the honesty and integrity of their work, methods, findings, and process. Your characterization and statement are, to be charitable, misleading at best and some might find it downright dishonest.

Dr. Schneider's remarks, which you knowingly misapply to peer review, were directed at how complex science is discussed in popular media. To quote Dr. Schneider again: "I decried soundbite science and journalism by pointing out that nobody gets enough time in the media either to cover all the caveats in depth, (i.e., "being honest") or to present all the plausible threats (i.e., "being effective")."

I suggested to you earlier that endlessly repeating the same quote completely out of context does you no good service. And I will advise again, this type of tactic generally harms the practitioner more than the target in the long run.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 26, 2020, 03:14:20 pm
Curious?  Does anyone know how the polar bears survived the last warming period before the last Ice Age? If they did it once, maybe multiple times as there were many warming periods and Ice Ages,  why shouldn't they survive the current warming? After all, they're very smart, adaptable, and I'm sure they haven't eaten seal only throughout their histories.  Maybe they'll move south and eat berries, salmon, and people.

Forget about polar bears...can humans adapt and survive. It is estimated that climate change will result in a migration of over 140,000,000 people by 2050 from Africa, SEA and Latin America. With countries building walls to keep migrants out...how well do you think humans will fare.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 03:17:36 pm
Well if you don't have the answers, why don't you step aside and let others.  Of course, my question raises doubt about the efficacy of warming due to CO2.  So naturally you make fun of the questions.

Just the number of them. Look, you don't believe scientists or other experts. Supposedly they are all lying. And it is apparently too much trouble to try to look the answers up yourself.  I don't know why you think you are going to get any definitive answers to these kind of questions on a photography forum. Its not like your are asking if you like Canon or Nikon best.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 03:39:11 pm
Just the number of them. Look, you don't believe scientists or other experts. Supposedly they are all lying. And it is apparently too much trouble to try to look the answers up yourself.  I don't know why you think you are going to get any definitive answers to these kind of questions on a photography forum. Its not like your are asking if you like Canon or Nikon best.
I asked a very simple question.  What accounts for the rapid raising of temperatures higher than they are now but 12,000 years ago?  That was long before humans added to the rapid rising of CO2 in the atmosphere due to the industrial revolution of 200 years ago.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 03:44:30 pm
I asked a very simple question.  What accounts for the rapid raising of temperatures higher than they are now but 12,000 years ago?  That was long before humans added to the rapid rising of CO2 in the atmosphere due to the industrial revolution of 200 years ago.

So you believe the information shown in the chart is true and accurate, and not subject to any doubt. I have to ask why.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 03:50:41 pm
So you believe the information shown in the chart is true and accurate, and not subject to any doubt. I have to ask why.
I'll flip that question on you.  Why don't you trust this scientific study but accept others?  If you refuse to accept this one, then you ought to reject all others as questionable as well. 

In any case, my question does not refute your studies.  It raises a specific question about why temperatures went up before the industrial revolution.  It doesn;t question whether CO2 contributes to rising temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.  If there's another reason for the rise 12000 years ago, I'd like to know. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 04:19:25 pm
I'll flip that question on you.  Why don't you trust this scientific study but accept others?  If you refuse to accept this one, then you ought to reject all others as questionable as well.

Of course you will flip the question. It is your MO around here. You never answer a direct question. I guess that is so no one can ever say you are wrong.

Quote
In any case, my question does not refute your studies.


What studies would those be? I don't recall ever doing any climate studies. I am certainly not qualified to do any. I just look stuff up on the internet. Who knows if any of it is true. Except of course the link I gave you that proves the dinosaurs are fake. That's true.

Quote
It raises a specific question about why temperatures went up before the industrial revolution.

I don't know that they did. How did you determine that temperatures went up before the industrial revolution? Oops, a direct question.

Quote
It doesn;t question whether CO2 contributes to rising temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.

Yeah, that's a whole separate question, unless of course the answer to why the temperature went up is that CO2 contributes to rising temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.

Quote
If there's another reason for the rise 12000 years ago, I'd like to know.

I guess we all would. But first things first; I don't know that the temperatures went up 12,000 years ago. Last time I checked (which was just now) the thermometer wasn't even invented until 1714.

I have already ask you why you believe the temperature went up 12,000 years ago. You flipped the question, so it is obvious you don't have any idea either.

Epistemology is kind of tricky sometimes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 04:22:49 pm
Of course you will flip the question. It is your MO around here. You never answer a direct question. I guess that is so no one can ever say you are wrong.
 

What studies would those be? I don't recall ever doing any climate studies. I am certainly not qualified to do any.

I don't know that they did. How did you determine that temperatures went up before the industrial revolution? Oops, a direct question.

Yeah, that's a whole separate question, unless of course the answer to why the temperature went up is that CO2 contributes to rising temperatures due to the greenhouse effect.

I guess we all would. But first things first; I don't know that temperatures went up 12,000 years ago. Last time I checked (which was just now) the thermometer wasn't even invented until 1714.

I have already ask you why you believe the temperature went up 12,000 years ago. You flipped the question, so it is obvious you don't have any idea either.
I'm assuming the chart is accurate.  Stop playing word games and answer the question.  Why did temps go up 12000 years ago suddenly. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 04:52:38 pm
I'm assuming the chart is accurate.

Why? You don't believe anything else the experts tell you. Why is this chart any different? Oops, another direct question.

Quote
Stop playing word games and answer the question.  Why did temps go up 12000 years ago suddenly.

I told you. I don't have any idea why the temperature went up, if it really did. I am sure there are competing theories. Ray seems to like the ocean floor volcano theory. Bart thinks that's bollocks and has a video explaining why. Just pick one that sounds good to you. We'll probably never know for certain anyway. I take that back. Ask Trump. He aced that cognitive ability assessment, so if anyone knows, it will be him.

I am much more interested in polar bears anyway.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 05:23:34 pm
Why? You don't believe anything else the experts tell you. Why is this chart any different? Oops, another direct question.

I told you. I don't have any idea why the temperature went up, if it really did. I am sure there are competing theories. Ray seems to like the ocean floor volcano theory. Bart thinks that's bollocks and has a video explaining why. Just pick one that sounds good to you. We'll probably never know for certain. I take that back. Ask Trump. He aced that cognitive ability assessment, so if anyone knows, it will be him.

I am much more interested in polar bears anyway.
Maybe someone else can provide a coherent, non-gaming playing response.  If temps can go up 12000 years ago for non-human reasons, couldn't the same cause be happening again? No response is require from you, Frank. Take the afternoon off. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 26, 2020, 05:52:02 pm
Maybe someone else can provide a coherent, non-gaming playing response.  If temps can go up 12000 years ago for non-human reasons, couldn't the same cause be happening again? No response is require from you, Frank. Take the afternoon off.

Climate Change -- isn't it natural?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5hs4KVeiAU&list=PL82yk73N8eoX-Xobr_TfHsWPfAIyI7VAP

In general, temperatures are influenced by:
1. Insolation
2. Greenhouse gasses
3. Particulates and aerosols
4. Amplification

I haven't checked your specific 12000 year ago situation, that would take time I do not have right now.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 26, 2020, 06:39:28 pm
I asked a very simple question.  What accounts for the rapid raising of temperatures higher than they are now but 12,000 years ago?  That was long before humans added to the rapid rising of CO2 in the atmosphere due to the industrial revolution of 200 years ago.

Looking at a localized climate does not give you the big picture...it gives you a localized microclimate that can be affected by many different conditions like the ocean currents. If you would look deeper into the entire earths climate over the last 20,000 years, you'd see the temperature change at a very slow rate right until the 19th century when the temperature started to climb at a rate never before and has been accelerating that climb. I'm more personally interested in how the entire earth's temperature is rising, not some isolated region.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 07:09:14 pm
Looking at a localized climate does not give you the big picture...it gives you a localized microclimate that can be affected by many different conditions like the ocean currents. If you would look deeper into the entire earths climate over the last 20,000 years, you'd see the temperature change at a very slow rate right until the 19th century when the temperature started to climb at a rate never before and has been accelerating that climb. I'm more personally interested in how the entire earth's temperature is rising, not some isolated region.
The change I noticed in the above chart shows the temperature being 8 degrees lower than current  20,000 years ago.  In then goes up 8 degrees over about 8000 years and then stay relatively steady at 0 for the last 12000 years.  Why?

Prior to 20,000 years ago, there were 13 degree swings from -8 to +5 above the nominal 0 every 100,000 years?  What caused those swings?   How did the polar bear survive +5 rises above the nominal 0 degrees?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 07:15:22 pm
The change I noticed in the above chart shows the temperature being 8 degrees lower than current  20,000 years ago.  In then goes up 8 degrees over about 8000 years and then stay relatively steady at 0 for the last 12000 years.  Why?

Prior to 20,000 years ago, there were 13 degree swings from -8 to +5 above the nominal 0 every 100,000 years?  What caused those swings?   How did the polar bear survive +5 rises above the nominal 0 degrees?

What is the margin of error for the temperatures in your chart?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 07:37:52 pm
What is the margin of error for the temperatures in your chart?
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/All_palaeotemps.svg)
Direct combination of these interpreted geological temperature records is not necessarily valid, nor is their combination with other more recent temperature records, which may use different definitions. Nevertheless, an overall perspective is useful even when imprecise. In this view time is plotted backwards from the present, taken as 2015 CE. It is scaled linear in five separate segments, expanding by about an order of magnitude at each vertical break. Temperatures in the left-hand panel are very approximate, and best viewed as a qualitative indication only.[9] Further information is given on the graph description page.
Data
Panel 1: 540 to 65 million years ago
The panel 1 data is from stable oxygen isotope measurements from the shells of macroscopic marine organisms, collected by Veizer et al (1999),[1] as re-interpreted by Royer et al (2004).[2] The graph effectively reproduces the upper panel of Royer et al's figure 4, but with an expanded range (see below). The orange band shows the effect of extreme assumptions in application of the GEOCARB reconstruction to interpretation, and is not representative of the full uncertainly (which would be much larger).

Because the Royer and Veizer results are indicative of the temperature of the shallow tropical and subtropical seas where the organisms lived,[2] they are unlikely to be fully representative of global average surface air temperature variation. The anomalies are plotted here expanded by a factor of two, as a very approximate conversion. Multiple confounding factors affect interpretation of samples this old, so panel 1 is best viewed as a qualitative indication of temperature (warmer/colder).[3]

Panel 2: 65 to 5.3 million years ago
This data is from the Hansen et al (2013)[4] interpretation of the global collection of oxygen isotope data from microscopic marine organisms of Zachos et al (2008).[5]

This is a direct estimate of global average sea surface temperature, a close analogue of surface air temperature. Hansen et al describe it as a "first estimate", meaning an approximate one, but limited independent corroboration (e.g. Zachos et al (2006)[6] for the Eocene optimum) indicates that it is substantially more quantitative than panel 1.

Panel 3: 5.3 to 1 million years ago
This data is from the Lisiecki and Raymo (2005)[7][8] global stack of oxygen isotope data from microscopic marine organisms interpreted using the Hansen et al (2013)[4] prescription.

At this scale, the Zachos et al stack (which also covers this interval) is virtually indistinguishable from the Lisiecki and Raymo stack. This is a direct estimate of global average sea surface temperature.

Panel 4: 1 million to 20,000 years ago
Two datasets are plotted:

Lisiecki and Raymo, as in panel 3.
Temperature estimates from stable hydrogen isotope measurements from the EPICA Dome C ice core from central Antarctica[9] These temperature anomaly estimates are polar, not global, and are here divided by a standard polar amplification factor (2.0, as for example in Hansen et al (2013)[4]) to approximately convert them to global estimates.
Panel 5: 20,000 years ago to present (2015)
Five datasets are plotted:

EPICA Dome C, as in panel 4.
Temperature estimates from oxygen isotope measurements on the north Greenland ice core, NGRIP,[10] interpreted using the simple procedure of Johnsen et al (1989).[11] (There are more modern and complex procedures which would yield slightly different interpretations.) Like the EPICA Dome C record, this record is polar, and is shown divided by a polar amplification factor of 2.0. The difference between this and dataset 1. illustrates the polar sea-saw hypothesis.
Global temperature estimates over the ~12,000 years of the Holocene from the multi-proxy collection and interpretation of Marcott et al (2013).[12]
Instrumental (not proxy) data since 1850 from the Berkeley Earth project land-ocean dataset (2014),[13] plotted as decadal means.
Projected temperatures for 2050 and 2100 from the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report's WG1 Summary for Policy Makers (2013)[14] for the RCP8.5 scenario.
See section at bottom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:All_palaeotemps.png#Summary
from the original link that shows this and other charts: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geologic_temperature_record
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 26, 2020, 07:54:15 pm
The change I noticed in the above chart shows the temperature being 8 degrees lower than current  20,000 years ago.  In then goes up 8 degrees over about 8000 years and then stay relatively steady at 0 for the last 12000 years.  Why?

Prior to 20,000 years ago, there were 13 degree swings from -8 to +5 above the nominal 0 every 100,000 years?  What caused those swings?   How did the polar bear survive +5 rises above the nominal 0 degrees?

Again...its a localized climate which is heavily influence by the ocean currents. Maybe the currents changed bringing warm currents to Greenland for a few hundred years, then changed and those warm currents did not reach Greenland. Please look at the entire earth's temperatures and you'll see the drastic increase in temperature the last 100 years, especially the last 20 years has not occurred before.

As far as Polar bears...who knows how they survived. Maybe the rest of the Artctic stayed cold. I'm much more concerned about how humans will adapt. Where will 140,000,000 million migrants go?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 07:56:37 pm
Apparently my "joke" about brown bears and polar nears switching identifties wasn't far off the mark.  It also shows how polar bears survived warming and will survive any curent changes as well.  You have to give a lot of credit to Darwin.

Here's an interesting study.: https://news.ucsc.edu/2013/03/polar-bear-genomics.html
"At the end of the last ice age, a population of polar bears was stranded by the receding ice on a few islands in southeastern Alaska. Male brown bears swam across to the islands from the Alaskan mainland and mated with female polar bears, eventually transforming the polar bear population into brown bears."
"In areas such as western Hudson Bay and the Russian coast, polar bears are spending more time on land in response to climate warming and loss of sea ice, a behavior that could have left polar bears stranded on the ABC Islands at the end of the last ice age."
"Two studies published in 2012 sought to determine when the polar bear lineage diverged from the brown bear lineage using nuclear DNA data. The first, published in April in Science, put the split at 600,000 years ago and concluded that polar bears carry brown bear mitochondrial DNA due to past hybridizations. The second, published in July in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggested that brown bears, black bears, and polar bears diverged around 4 to 5 million years ago, followed by repeated episodes of hybridization between polar bears and brown bears."

This indicates to me that polar bears survived warm periods and all the hypo about them becoming extinct is just trying to scare people to change their attitudes about climate change. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 26, 2020, 08:05:01 pm
Again...its a localized climate which is heavily influence by the ocean currents. Maybe the currents changed bringing warm currents to Greenland for a few hundred years, then changed and those warm currents did not reach Greenland. Please look at the entire earth's temperatures and you'll see the drastic increase in temperature the last 100 years, especially the last 20 years has not occurred before.

As far as Polar bears...who knows how they survived. Maybe the rest of the Artctic stayed cold. I'm much more concerned about how humans will adapt. Where will 140,000,000 million migrants go?

Polar bear body temperature is around 98F (36C). So is their liquid output. The seals get even warmer - up to 100F (38C). Technically, they are contributing also to the warming of the Arctic ocean. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 26, 2020, 08:06:42 pm
Again...its a localized climate which is heavily influence by the ocean currents. Maybe the currents changed bringing warm currents to Greenland for a few hundred years, then changed and those warm currents did not reach Greenland. Please look at the entire earth's temperatures and you'll see the drastic increase in temperature the last 100 years, especially the last 20 years has not occurred before.

As far as Polar bears...who knows how they survived. Maybe the rest of the Artctic stayed cold. I'm much more concerned about how humans will adapt. Where will 140,000,000 million migrants go?
Understanding that polar bears survived high warming periods is very important.  The climate change adherents have pushed the danger of a warming climate by trying to scare people that the cute little bear will become extinct.  They're using fear tactics to get the policy changes they desire.  If they're distorting these things, what else are they embellishing?  Maybe the 140,000,000 number is a lie too.  Maybe the whole thing is a lie.  If scientists start spinning tales to scare people, they're going to lose fair minded people who do want to do the right thing.  But no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 26, 2020, 08:29:14 pm
Understanding that polar bears survived high warming periods is very important.  The climate change adherents have pushed the danger of a warming climate by trying to scare people that the cute little bear will become extinct.  They're using fear tactics to get the policy changes they desire.  If they're distorting these things, what else are they embellishing?  Maybe the 140,000,000 number is a lie too.  Maybe the whole thing is a lie.  If scientists start spinning tales to scare people, they're going to lose fair minded people who do want to do the right thing.  But no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense.

I wouldn't expect anything else from you Alan. You are so paranoid about everything...tell me do you wear an aluminum cone when you go outside. Your mistrust in experts is truly amusing...who the hell do you trust. How do you make daily decisions...just spin the wheel and pray. Everyone seems to be out to screw you.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on July 26, 2020, 09:01:23 pm
They're using fear tactics to get the policy changes they desire.


Why to they desire these policy changes?  Whats's in it for them?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 09:04:37 pm
Understanding that polar bears survived high warming periods is very important.  The climate change adherents have pushed the danger of a warming climate by trying to scare people that the cute little bear will become extinct.  They're using fear tactics to get the policy changes they desire.  If they're distorting these things, what else are they embellishing?  Maybe the 140,000,000 number is a lie too.  Maybe the whole thing is a lie.  If scientists start spinning tales to scare people, they're going to lose fair minded people who do want to do the right thing.  But no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense.

I took a quick look at the chart. It is kind of funky because the Y-axis on the left side is different than the Y-axis on the right side, so comparing graphs between time periods is difficult. You would think it would be an easy fix to use the same scale, but apparently not.  I think you would probably get a few points off in an elementary science fair for doing so, but it has been a long time since I was in elementary school.  Maybe they teach that sort of thing in junior high now.  Fortunately for us, we only have to look at the right side of the graph because the polar bear is only between 150,000 and 600,000 years old depending on who you believe, if anyone. That is why I asked if polar bears were around back then when we were talking before. I mean you need less than half the chart, why not post half the chart? At least you wouldn't have to futz around with the scroll bar thing. It leaves me thinking that perhaps this is not the best chart to use when thinking about polar bears. But what the hell. Alan found it on the internet, so let's go with it.

In the article I read, it said that polar bears have only been living during one or perhaps two of the recent warming periods, neither of  which were as hot as it is projected to be by 2100. Sounds like we don't know whether the polar bears will go extinct by looking exclusively at a temperature chart because they have never been through such a temperature change.

Of course there are a lot of other things in play. Temperature itself may not be the critical factor, except as it may influence other factors. I mean I have been to the zoo in the summer when it was really hot and the polar bears were alive, so it is not just temperature. I am thinking about things like food and habitat. But for someone like me, who only knows that polar bears are white, live in the arctic, and eat seals, there are a lot of unknown unknowns. But I am sure the scientists have thought about all this stuff before, and have taken it into consideration. It is not like some random guy on the internet who likes to take pictures and can't decide whether to buy a Canon or a Nikon is going to solve the mystery.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/sylvia-fallon/polar-bears-older-past-same-future

I am not a scientist. I don't know whether the temperature chart or the article about how long the polar bears have been around are correct. I mean the weatherman can't tell you exactly what the temperature is going to be tomorrow, so I don't know why scientists think they can tell you exactly what the temperature was a million years ago. You also may be able to find contradictory information. In fact I am certain you can. I am just looking at some stuff on the internet, to wit: a temperature chart Alan dredged up from somewhere, and an article about how old the polar bears are I found by Googling "how old are the polar bears?" I am pretty sure that doesn't qualify for the scientific method. And of course if you do not believe experts and think they are all lying to you, none of this stuff makes any difference anyway. Just tell yourself the bears will be okay and be done with it. Don’t think you have to convince me. I shoot Fuji.

Finally, I don't know what Alan is talking about when he says "no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense."  Is he talking about making a contribution to the Society for the Preservation of Polar Bears or what? Because it sure seems like it would be easier just to cut them a $10 check and get a free tote bag with a polar bear on it than go through all this rigamarole.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 26, 2020, 09:19:17 pm
According to the recent records, the bear populations at the far north are doing well, but the ones in southern Arctic regions are experiencing decline. Melting ice causing polar bears to get thinner and have fewer cubs. If the sea ice starts to decline also at the far north, we can expect fewer polar bears to survice.

Quote
“Confusion over polar bear numbers is justified, as some populations are increasing, while others are declining,” said Brandon Laforest, a senior specialist of Arctic species at WWF Canada. “We are seeing a decline in numbers in populations located near Hudson Bay as sea ice completely melts in the summer, and these bears are dependent on sea ice for survival,” said Laforest.

Polar bears near Churchill, Man., are often going hungry or travelling north for a longer seal-hunting season. However, subpopulations farther north are holding steady, with some even reporting an increase in numbers. “With polar bear countries, including Canada, implementing harvest management regimes, we have reports that these populations are going up,” said Geoff York, a director at Polar Bears International.

One key factor in polar bear survival is the presence of sea ice. “We see a very strong correlation between sea ice loss and changes in polar bears’ abundance,” said York.

https://globalnews.ca/news/6590250/polar-bears-climate-change-2020/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on July 26, 2020, 10:03:04 pm
Understanding that polar bears survived high warming periods is very important.  The climate change adherents have pushed the danger of a warming climate by trying to scare people that the cute little bear will become extinct.  They're using fear tactics to get the policy changes they desire.  If they're distorting these things, what else are they embellishing?  Maybe the 140,000,000 number is a lie too.  Maybe the whole thing is a lie.  If scientists start spinning tales to scare people, they're going to lose fair minded people who do want to do the right thing.  But no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense.

Yup, the jig is up. Scientists all over the world are concocting wild-ass theories to scare people for the big money payout they get from doing that. All those gazillions in research grants are up for grabs. I was just speaking to a climate scientist the other day at the Lamborghini dealer. His threw a piston. I was in the showroom to get out of the heat.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 26, 2020, 10:49:17 pm
Yup, the jig is up. Scientists all over the world are concocting wild-ass theories to scare people for the big money payout they get from doing that. All those gazillions in research grants are up for grabs. I was just speaking to a climate scientist the other day at the Lamborghini dealer. His threw a piston. I was in the showroom to get out of the heat.

Yeah, it is always the money. Follow the money. Which begs the question: whose paying Alan to advance the theory that the polar bears are going to be okay? Must be the oil and gas industry. Who else?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on July 26, 2020, 10:56:00 pm
When you start with the supposition that scientists with the greatest expertise in the field are lying to you, it makes sense to get your information by asking strangers with no real experience in obscure corners of the internet. Kind of like learning about sex and where babies come from by asking the other kids on the playground.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 12:46:35 pm

Why to they desire these policy changes?  Whats's in it for them?


Politicians gain more power controlling the economy and government spending.  Companies like Tesla who sell electric cars, power storage batteries, solar cells, etc.  Environmental scientists get grants for research.  How many grants do you think a scientist will get if he suggests that global warming is not due to humans?  (Publish or perish.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 27, 2020, 01:00:55 pm
Politicians gain more power controlling the economy and government spending.  Companies like Tesla who sell electric cars, power storage batteries, solar cells, etc.  Environmental scientists get grants for research.  How many grants do you think a scientist will get if he suggests that global warming is not due to humans?  (Publish or perish.)

And how much oil do you think the big bad oil companies will sell if they suggest global warming is occurring and being caused predominantly by gas powered engines? Who do you think has more muscle...the scientists in their dark labs or the oil executives sitting on wall street?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 01:06:49 pm
How many grants do you think a scientist will get if he suggests that global warming is not due to humans?  (Publish or perish.)

He could always change fields to epidemiology, and publish papers suggesting the cornoavirus will go away by Easter.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:10:41 pm
I took a quick look at the chart. It is kind of funky because the Y-axis on the left side is different than the Y-axis on the right side, so comparing graphs between time periods is difficult. You would think it would be an easy fix to use the same scale, but apparently not.  I think you would probably get a few points off in an elementary science fair for doing so, but it has been a long time since I was in elementary school.  Maybe they teach that sort of thing in junior high now.  Fortunately for us, we only have to look at the right side of the graph because the polar bear is only between 150,000 and 600,000 years old depending on who you believe, if anyone. That is why I asked if polar bears were around back then when we were talking before. I mean you need less than half the chart, why not post half the chart? At least you wouldn't have to futz around with the scroll bar thing. It leaves me thinking that perhaps this is not the best chart to use when thinking about polar bears. But what the hell. Alan found it on the internet, so let's go with it.

In the article I read, it said that polar bears have only been living during one or perhaps two of the recent warming periods, neither of  which were as hot as it is projected to be by 2100. Sounds like we don't know whether the polar bears will go extinct by looking exclusively at a temperature chart because they have never been through such a temperature change.

Of course there are a lot of other things in play. Temperature itself may not be the critical factor, except as it may influence other factors. I mean I have been to the zoo in the summer when it was really hot and the polar bears were alive, so it is not just temperature. I am thinking about things like food and habitat. But for someone like me, who only knows that polar bears are white, live in the arctic, and eat seals, there are a lot of unknown unknowns. But I am sure the scientists have thought about all this stuff before, and have taken it into consideration. It is not like some random guy on the internet who likes to take pictures and can't decide whether to buy a Canon or a Nikon is going to solve the mystery.

https://www.nrdc.org/experts/sylvia-fallon/polar-bears-older-past-same-future

I am not a scientist. I don't know whether the temperature chart or the article about how long the polar bears have been around are correct. I mean the weatherman can't tell you exactly what the temperature is going to be tomorrow, so I don't know why scientists think they can tell you exactly what the temperature was a million years ago. You also may be able to find contradictory information. In fact I am certain you can. I am just looking at some stuff on the internet, to wit: a temperature chart Alan dredged up from somewhere, and an article about how old the polar bears are I found by Googling "how old are the polar bears?" I am pretty sure that doesn't qualify for the scientific method. And of course if you do not believe experts and think they are all lying to you, none of this stuff makes any difference anyway. Just tell yourself the bears will be okay and be done with it. Don’t think you have to convince me. I shoot Fuji.

Finally, I don't know what Alan is talking about when he says "no one wants to be a sucker and spend their hard earned money on nonsense."  Is he talking about making a contribution to the Society for the Preservation of Polar Bears or what? Because it sure seems like it would be easier just to cut them a $10 check and get a free tote bag than go through all this rigamarole.
There's nothing wrong with the graph.  The Y axis values of temperature are consistent throughout.  The left side labels the Y axis in degrees in Centigrade while the right side label is indicated in Fahrenheit.  That's why the numbers seem in conflict.  They aren't.  Note that my earlier posts gave measurements in Fahrenheit. 

The argument made by "experts" is that the polar bear is dying out because they can't  adapt.  The graph show that while polar bears have been on earth, they have gone through many periods when the temperature was a lot hotter than it is now.  Their arguments is not that their extinction would happen at some time in the future assuming it gets that hot.  But rather they are dying now which is false both from a graph point of view and from other studies that have counted the bears.  The scientists were premature in their claims.  While it gets proponents to their side, more astute and skeptical people see it as an attempt to fool the public.  So they lose credibility.  That's not how science should be done.

Finally, your linked article is very interesting. Thanks for posting it.  The main point about how extra hot temperature in the future might wipe out the polar bear is very speculative.  Remember, we're not talking about an individual bear living today that will die in a hundred years.  We're talking about generations of bears that will adapt to changing temperature.  During that period, the fittest will survive who can handle the rising temperatures as any Darwin fan like me knows. They will have progeny who will be able to handle the changes even better.  The other individuals who can't will die out and not have offspring or will have but they will die.  That's how nature works.  A form of "herd immunity" so to speak. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 01:18:50 pm
There's nothing wrong with the graph.  The Y axis values of temperature are consistent throughout.  The left side labels the Y axis in degrees in Centigrade while the right side label is indicated in Fahrenheit.  That's why the numbers seem in conflict.  They aren't.  Note that my earlier posts gave measurements in Fahrenheit. 

The argument made by "experts" is that the polar bear is dying out because they can't  adapt.  The graph show that while polar bears have been on earth, they have gone through many periods when the temperature was a lot hotter than it is now.  Their arguments is not that their extinction would happen at some time in the future assuming it gets that hot.  But rather they are dying now which is false both from a graph point of view and from other studies that have counted the bears.  The scientists were premature in their claims.  While it gets proponents to their side, more astute and skeptical people see it as an attempt to fool the public.  So they lose credibility.  That's not how science should be done.

Finally, your linked article is very interesting. Thanks for posting it.  The main point about how extra hot temperature in the future might wipe out the polar bear is very speculative.  Remember, we're not talking about an individual bear living today that will die in a hundred years.  We're talking about generations of bears that will adapt to changing temperature.  During that period, the fittest will survive who can handle the rising temperatures as any Darwin fan like me knows. They will have progeny who will be able to handle the changes even better.  The other individuals who can't will die out and not have offspring or will have but they will die.  That's how nature works.  A form of "herd immunity" so to speak.

What a bunch of gibberish and nonsense. I am going to make a donation on your behalf to the Society for the Preservation of Polar Bears anyway. Keep an eye out for your tote bag.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:20:18 pm
And how much oil do you think the big bad oil companies will sell if they suggest global warming is occurring and being caused predominantly by gas powered engines? Who do you think has more muscle...the scientists in their dark labs or the oil executives sitting on wall street?
We expect oil companies to lie to protect their bottom line.  Does that justify environmentalists and scientists lying about polar bears and climate change?  Why should the public believe anyone when everyone is lying?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2020, 01:25:20 pm
A general reminder when talking about temperature differences or emission increases, it's one thing to look at the absolute differences, it's another thing if we look at the rate of change. The current increases in Greenhouse gasses and the temperature increase are occurring at an unprecedentedly fast pace.

Nature is having a hard time to keep up with the speed at which things are changing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:28:35 pm
What a bunch or gibberish and nonsense. I am going to make a donation on your behalf to the Society for the Preservation of Polar Bears anyway. Keep an eye out for your tote bag.
Frank, you were the one who didn't understand the graph.  But I appreciate the tote bag.  I hope it's got a cute little baby polar bear on it. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:31:23 pm
A general reminder when talking about temperature differences or emission increases, it's one thing to look at the absolute differences, it's another thing if we look at the rate of change. The current increases in Greenhouse gasses and the temperature increase are occurring at an unprecedentedly fast pace.

Nature is having a hard time to keep up with the speed at which things are changing.
So far, the polar bear is doing OK.  So that argument is just speculative.  [Some=edit] scientists have been saying the polar bear is already declining.  That isn't true. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2020, 01:41:18 pm
So far, the polar bear is doing OK.  So that argument is just speculative.  [Some=edit] scientists have been saying the polar bear is already declining.  That isn't true.

Alan,

you are just thinking so. The bears are doing OK only in the far north where there is still enough ice. In the southern regions of Arctic with less ice in the winter, polar bears are on decline. In Churchill, Manitoba the Polar bear population has been reduced by 30%. I quoted the source in my previous post. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:47:14 pm
Alan,

you are just thinking so. The bears are doing OK only in the far north where there is still enough ice. In the southern regions of Arctic with less ice in the winter, polar bears are on decline. In Churchill, Manitoba the Polar bear population has been reduced by 30%. I quoted the source in my previous post. 
Maybe the 30% moved to colder areas?  Just like there won't be as many Canadians going to Florida as it warms up north.  Miamians will be complaining, "Where are the Canadians?" :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 01:48:51 pm
I can just see the headlines in the Miami Herald:  "Canadian Population Decreases 30% due to Global Warming")
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on July 27, 2020, 02:01:50 pm
Maybe the 30% moved to colder areas?  Just like there won't be as many Canadians going to Florida as it warms up north.  Miamians will be complaining, "Where are the Canadians?" :)

Not so much due to the warming trends in the north as to growth of Covid-19 in the south.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on July 27, 2020, 02:09:03 pm
So far, the polar bear is doing OK.

Because we stopped hunting them for pleasure, they have been recovering slowly.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 02:25:59 pm
The argument made by "experts" is that the polar bear is dying out because they can't  adapt.  The graph show that while polar bears have been on earth, they have gone through many periods when the temperature was a lot hotter than it is now.  Their arguments is not that their extinction would happen at some time in the future assuming it gets that hot.  But rather they are dying now which is false both from a graph point of view and from other studies that have counted the bears.  The scientists were premature in their claims.  While it gets proponents to their side, more astute and skeptical people see it as an attempt to fool the public.  So they lose credibility.  That's not how science should be done.

You place great emphasis on the temperature graph. In fact, it is central to your argument. At the same time, you say that all the scientists are lying. Why aren't the scientists lying about the temperatures in the chart? I have asked you this a couple of times and you haven't answered.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 27, 2020, 03:06:19 pm
We expect oil companies to lie to protect their bottom line.  Does that justify environmentalists and scientists lying about polar bears and climate change?  Why should the public believe anyone when everyone is lying?

But which group has the most clout and money to promote their cause? Who would you believe...the executive from an oil company that flys around on their personal jets or the scientist that eats at McDonald's and works 80 hours a week. I know where I'd put my money.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 03:12:39 pm
We expect oil companies to lie to protect their bottom line.  Does that justify environmentalists and scientists lying about polar bears and climate change?  Why should the public believe anyone when everyone is lying?
So the oil companies are saying everything is okay, but they are lying, which means everything is not okay, which is what the scientists are saying. So how are the scientist lying? Seems like you have a little bit of an internal inconsistency there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:13:47 pm
Because we stopped hunting them for pleasure, they have been recovering slowly.
They seem more allergic to lead than CO2.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:16:12 pm
You place great emphasis on the temperature graph. In fact, it is central to your argument. At the same time, you say that all the scientists are lying. Why aren't the scientists lying about the temperatures in the chart? I have asked you this a couple of times and you haven't answered.
I trust the chart.  The analysis and conclusions are mine.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:18:17 pm
But which group has the most clout and money to promote their cause? Who would you believe...the executive from an oil company that flys around on their personal jets or the scientist that eats at McDonald's and works 80 hours a week. I know where I'd put my money.
So I should trust poor people who lie?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:20:04 pm
So the oil companies are saying everything is okay, but they are lying, which means everything is not okay, which is what the scientists are saying. So how are the scientist lying? Seems like you have a little bit of an internal consistency there.
They're both lying or embellishing.  You have to use discernment. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 27, 2020, 03:33:59 pm
So I should trust poor people who lie?

Alan you made it very clear...you trust no one...oh maybe only the orange man. And only maybe the person who supports your biases.

If you have to trust someone, who would it be...the billionaire oil executive which has multi billions at stake or the scientist who works with facts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:36:33 pm
Alan you made it very clear...you trust no one...oh maybe only the orange man. And only maybe the person who supports your biases.

If you have to trust someone, who would it be...the billionaire oil executive which has multi billions at stake or the scientist who works with facts.
People tend to believe the last thing they read.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 03:45:47 pm
I trust the chart.

Actually, the question was not did you trust the chart. We know that. It is central to your argument. The question was why do you trust the chart. It directly contradicts your belief that all scientist are lying.

Is this like Schrödinger’s cat where something can be true and not true at the same time. It just seems to me that if it is the case that the temperatures in the chart could be true and not true at the same time, the proposition that polar bears might go extinct if it gets too hot could be true and not true at the same time. That way we wouldn’t have to say the oil companies and the scientists are lying. We could say the oil companies and scientists are just saying things which are true and not true at the same time. It would just depend on you quantum state at that moment. Nah.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 03:48:53 pm
Actually, the question was not did you trust the chart. We know that. It is central to your argument. The question was why do you trust the chart. It directly contradicts your belief that all scientist are lying.

Is this like Schrödinger’s cat where something might be true and not true at the same time. It just seems to me that if it is the case that the temperatures in the chart could be true and not true at the same time, the proposition that polar bears might go extinct if it gets too hot could be true and not true at the same time. That way we wouldn’t have to say the oil companies and the scientists are lying. We could just say the oil companies and scientists are just saying things which are true and not true at the same time. It would just depend on you quantum state at that moment. Nah.

When did I say all scientists are lying?  I never said that.  I do use discernment when anyone tells me something.  Do you believe a Nikon guy when he tells you that Nikon is the best camera?  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 27, 2020, 03:56:45 pm
When did I say all scientists are lying?  I never said that.  I do use discernment when anyone tells me something.  Do you believe a Nikon guy when he tells you that Nikon is the best camera?  :)

Ok...what makes you believe this one scientist and not believe all the others?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 04:00:57 pm
I do use discernment when anyone tells me something.

In the religious or secular sense? I ask because it seems to me you are usually using it in the religious sense. For example. I ask why you trust the chart, and you answer that you trust the chart. Since you can't answer why, it seems like you are just accepting it on faith. So your arguments remind me of those videos I linked to that explain why the dinosaurs are fake and the scientists are all lying.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 27, 2020, 05:17:00 pm
Do you believe a Nikon guy when he tells you that Nikon is the best camera?

Sometimes. It depends on how good his argument is. If I ask him why he believes Nikon is the best camera and his response is that he trusts Nikon, it usually isn’t very convincing. I think he is a fanboy and seek other opinions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 27, 2020, 06:15:37 pm
Ok...what makes you believe this one scientist and not believe all the others?
All I'm trusting is the chart.  It seems to be have assembled from different sources.  My opinion about the bears was based on my observation of the chart.  The scientists who prepared the study said nothing about what I said.  It was my own conclusions based on the chart.  I discerned my conclusion from it and did not draw on any conclusions the scientists made in their study.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 27, 2020, 07:34:33 pm
All I'm trusting is the chart.  It seems to be have assembled from different sources.  My opinion about the bears was based on my observation of the chart.  The scientists who prepared the study said nothing about what I said.  It was my own conclusions based on the chart.  I discerned my conclusion from it and did not draw on any conclusions the scientists made in their study.

How quickly did the other "heat spells" in Greenland take to materialize? This current earth warming jumped in the last 20 years and has been accelerating. Do you think changes that take hundreds ( maybe thousands ) of years differ than changes that take 20 years. Do you feel the polar bear can adapt better if climate change takes hundreds of years versus 20 years?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2020, 12:42:30 am
How quickly did the other "heat spells" in Greenland take to materialize? This current earth warming jumped in the last 20 years and has been accelerating. Do you think changes that take hundreds ( maybe thousands ) of years differ than changes that take 20 years. Do you feel the polar bear can adapt better if climate change takes hundreds of years versus 20 years?
I'm not a polar bear, so I can't say for sure.  But,  yes, I think they can adapt if the temperatures continue to escalate. Keep in mind that the temperature has gone up about 1 degree in a hundred or two hundred years, I believe, not 20 years.  That's many generations. 

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 28, 2020, 09:02:36 am
I'm not a polar bear, so I can't say for sure.

Finally an honest answer.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on July 28, 2020, 09:12:21 am
All I'm trusting is the chart.  It seems to be have assembled from different sources.  My opinion about the bears was based on my observation of the chart.  The scientists who prepared the study said nothing about what I said.  It was my own conclusions based on the chart.  I discerned my conclusion from it and did not draw on any conclusions the scientists made in their study.

Alan, you do realize that everything to the left of the "historical observations" is based on a scientist's theory and not direct measurement of the temperature ?

There is no absolute "proof" that it is correct.

So what evidence do you use to trust that theory and group of scientists and not others ?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on July 28, 2020, 10:42:58 am
I'm not a polar bear, so I can't say for sure.  But,  yes, I think they can adapt if the temperatures continue to escalate. Keep in mind that the temperature has gone up about 1 degree in a hundred or two hundred years, I believe, not 20 years.  That's many generations.

In the last 20 years it has escalated to very troubling rates. How do you think polar bears can adapt?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on July 28, 2020, 10:55:16 am
Alan, you do realize that everything to the left of the "historical observations" is based on a scientist's theory and not direct measurement of the temperature?  There is no absolute "proof" that it is correct.

I mentioned to Alan that the thermometer was not invented until 1714, but it didn't seem to phase him. He still believes the temperatures in the chart going back millions of years are true and accurate. At the same time, he said I had to actually count the polar bears to know how many there are. Go figure.

One of the problems with physically counting polar bears is that they live great distances apart, which means it takes time, so that when you have finished counting them, you don't know if the ones you first counted are still alive, or whether idiots like Don Jr. have gone up there, rented snowmobiles, hunted them down, and shot them for rugs in their living rooms. It's also cold. At least for the time being.

If the polar bears survive global warming, it will take all the fun out of shooting them because you won't get to ride around on snowmobiles. It might even be the real reason polar bears survive global warming. I am going to try to find a chart about that on the internet. If I do, it will prove I'm right.

Did I mention those videos that prove dinosaurs are fake? No question about it. It is a sad day when you find out that the Flintstones weren't real.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on July 28, 2020, 11:51:08 am
I'm not a polar bear, so I can't say for sure.  But,  yes, I think they can adapt if the temperatures continue to escalate. Keep in mind that the temperature has gone up about 1 degree in a hundred or two hundred years, I believe, not 20 years.  That's many generations.

Tell that to the citizens of Verkhoyansk, where recent temperatures were 38C.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on July 28, 2020, 02:07:18 pm
You fellers seem to be playing a "gotcha" game with me regarding my belief system regarding scientists and scientific studies.  So let me put that to rest.

First, I never said I don't believe in them.  For the most part, I believe that the results are mainly honest, well researched within the limits of their studies, upfront, and unbiased.  However, I don't take everything I read at face value.  I'm not a fool.  Studies are distorted by media who do have an agenda.  Often scientists have agendas too.  I've followed the climate issue a lot.  I feel much of it has been hyped because important data has not been included, the results spun, or the media has just plain lied about it.  It seems the scales have been tipped to present it a certain way. 

Regarding the graph and temperature, let's not get into that fact that temperatures can be read other ways beside a thermometer. We'll all know that,  Trying to make it seem I only believe in thermometers and a fool just shows your ignorance of what I know.  Readers understand you're attacking me personally.  You're not presenting any counter arguments.  But that's OK.  I'll continue to present arguments based on reason while you continue with personal attacks and lose the argument because of your discourteousness and apparent inability to debate thoughtfully.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 01, 2020, 10:39:32 am
I've been questioning whether there are changes occuring by causes we haven't identified yet?  So it seems here is now another one for cooling that seems to have been identified.  How will all of these beside CO2 affect the future climate?  How wrong are the current algorithms?


Texas cave sediment upends meteorite explanation for global cooling
"This research underscores that extreme climate variability since the last ice age is attributed to unique Earth-bound drivers rather than extraterrestrial mechanisms. Such insights are important guidance for building better models of past and future climate change."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 01, 2020, 11:54:21 am
I've been questioning whether there are changes occuring by causes we haven't identified yet?  So it seems here is now another one for cooling that seems to have been identified.  How will all of these beside CO2 affect the future climate?  How wrong are the current algorithms?


Texas cave sediment upends meteorite explanation for global cooling
"This research underscores that extreme climate variability since the last ice age is attributed to unique Earth-bound drivers rather than extraterrestrial mechanisms. Such insights are important guidance for building better models of past and future climate change."


I haven't heard the theory that a meteor caused the earth to cool 13,000 years ago. I thought the meteor theory was that it cooled the earth 65,000,000 years ago killing off the dinosaurs. Is a meteor the go to explanation for stuff scientists can't otherwise explain?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 01, 2020, 01:46:21 pm
the cooling period 13,000 years ago was not explained with any accuracy. A number of theories were proposed including meteorite impact ( dust, aerosols, etc) and volcanic action ( single massive, multiple over time, etc) and others. What this field work accomplished is pushing the theories more to the multiple volcanic action events over a relatively short period as a more likely major contributor along with ocean heat content changes. A modern example is from when Pinatubo blew a couple decades ago and the climate cooled nearly a degree (best i recall) for a year or so. All of the aerosols in the upper atmosphere made for some spectacular sunsets at 35,000 ft. if you were flying during that period.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 02, 2020, 06:44:45 pm
I've followed the climate issue a lot.  I feel much of it has been hyped because important data has not been included, the results spun, or the media has just plain lied about it.  It seems the scales have been tipped to present it a certain way. 

Several times you have been asked WHY "the scales have been tipped a certain way".  You've never provided an answer.

There are a lot of them, apparently. WHO precisely has this agenda and WHY are they promoting it so assiduously? 

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 02, 2020, 11:53:48 pm
Several times you have been asked WHY "the scales have been tipped a certain way".  You've never provided an answer.

There are a lot of them, apparently. WHO precisely has this agenda and WHY are they promoting it so assiduously? 


I have discussed it.  I guess you missed it.  Check my previous posts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 03, 2020, 09:40:50 am
Several times you have been asked WHY "the scales have been tipped a certain way".  You've never provided an answer.

There are a lot of them, apparently. WHO precisely has this agenda and WHY are they promoting it so assiduously?

I'll provide an answer, but it's rather long.

There are both good and bad aspects to many activities.

There is no doubt that we are polluting the land, oceans and atmosphere as a result of our industrial activities which provide the prosperous lifestyle we enjoy.

There is no doubt that burning fossil fuels without adequate emission controls results in smog and haze consisting of high levels of particulate carbon, and toxic chemicals such as Sulphur Dioxide, Mercury, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide, Arsenic, Lead, and other toxic heavy metals.

There's no doubt that such toxic emissions have health consequences for those who are most exposed to such pollution, such as people living in cities who are also exposed to the additional pollution from petrol and diesel vehicles.

There are obviously major environmental problems that should be addressed. The question is, what is likely to be the most effective way of addressing such problems?

The history of mankind suggests that one cannot expect whole populations to do the right thing simply because it's sensible and rational. Many people are driven by greed for wealth and power, and others for basic necessities in order to survive. Corruption in politics and business is entrenched, world-wide, although it's worse in some countries than others. The Volkswagen scandal, using "defeat devices" to reduce emissions during testing, is a case in point.

Imagine if Nuclear Power became the norm in all countries, including undeveloped countries. Imagine the consequences of safety measures being compromised in order to reduce costs.

About 50 years ago when China began developing its economy, it wasn't interested in building the more expensive, 'state-of-the-art', coal-fired power stations with good emission controls for the 'real' pollutants. It built the cheapest power stations, to produce the cheapest energy, so it could produce the cheapest products to flood the world market and expand its economy.
As a result, the haze, smog and pollution in its cities was horrendous, and it is still unacceptable today despite improvements in technology. In India, it's even worse.

However, Carbon Dioxide, which is by far the major gas emitted from coal-burning and other fossil fuels, is the most expensive and difficult emission to control or sequester. However, CO2 is not a pollutant. It's a clear, odourless gas which is essential for all life, and current increases, as a result of the industrial revolution, have been enormously beneficial for plant growth and food production, world-wide.

This benefit of increased atmospheric CO2 levels is of course denied by 'AGW Alarmists'. They concentrate on the very uncertain negative consequences of increased warming due to the very uncertain effects of tiny increases in the percentage of CO2 in the atmosphere, pretending that the uncertainties do not exist, or are insignificant.

Their plan is to create the maximum alarm about the dangers of CO2 emissions in order to encourage the transition to renewables such as solar and wind and electric vehicles, which do not emit the real and harmful polluting gases, even in countries with high levels of corruption and/or incompetent management.

That approach might seem justified, and was supported by the late Professor Stephen Schneider. I would also support that approach if the exaggerations were confined to the 'real' threats to human health.

For example, I recall watching a video, many years ago, of Stephen Schneider answering questions from an audience of journalists and skeptics, about the exaggeration of the effects of CO2 emissions in the scientific reporting.
His answer made sense. His analogy was, if you want to discourage people from taking up smoking cigarettes, and/or encourage them to give up smoking, it might not be sufficiently effective to provide the precise scientific data that indicates there is, say, a 20% increase in the risk of getting lung cancer, according to the statistical analysis of those in hospitals with lung cancer.

Many people might think, I'll take the risk if it's only 20%. Exaggerating the risk to, say, 75%, will be more effective, and that benefit to the population at large could perhaps justify the scientific dishonesty.

Unfortunately, this analogy breaks down when applied to CO2 emissions because the scare about CO2 is not confined to lung problems due to the other, 'real' pollutants.
The scare about CO2 emissions is mainly focused on an increase in devastating extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, heat waves, forest fires, and so on, which are all natural events that have occurred frequently in the past, and sometimes destroyed entire civilizations.

Reducing our CO2 emissions in the expectation that such extreme weather events will decrease in the future, could be disastrous. We already have the knowledge and technology to protect ourselves from such extreme weather events, but we continue to build inadequate houses in known flood plains and areas that experience a severe hurricane or cyclone every 20 years or so.

In order to maintain the scare about CO2, the media so often describes such events as 'unprecedented', but anyone who takes the trouble to investigate the historical record should find that such extreme weather events are very rarely unprecedented. They will usually find a record of a greater flood or hurricane or drought in their area even before CO2 levels began rising.

Over the years, thousands of lives will be lost and trillions of dollars worth of damage to property will occur because of the emphasis on the reduction of CO2 emissions, instead of organizing and shaping our suburbs, cities and landscape with the expectation that previous extreme weather events, unconnected with mankind's CO2 emissions, will continue to occur. This is why I'm deeply concerned about the issue. Okay?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on August 03, 2020, 10:00:38 am
...
Over the years, thousands of lives will be lost and trillions of dollars worth of damage to property will occur because of the emphasis on the reduction of CO2 emissions, instead of organizing and shaping our suburbs, cities and landscape with the expectation that previous extreme weather events, unconnected with mankind's CO2 emissions, will continue to occur. This is why I'm deeply concerned about the issue. Okay?
I don't see any reason to address both issues at the same time.

In the Netherlands we try to reduce CO2 ( we are behind schedule) and at the same time we build our dikes higher to be certain rising sealevels will not hurt us.
It is becoming obvious however that some changes are really difficult to stop or address: for instance.

The extreme windforce of hurricanes; very difficult to built strong enough.
The defrosting of the soil in the Siberian region and the enormous bush fires in that region;. Adding to the release of CO2 through the fire and liberated methane gase from the defrozen soil.
etc.
These processes might speed up the problems we are already facing. So trying to put out less CO2 ourselves seems a sensible approach.
Our gas atmosphere is a very delicate system with relatively small amounts of material ( atoms) that can be influenced rather easy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 03, 2020, 10:49:31 am
I'll add that the huge costs to limit CO2 reduces financial resources that could be spent on feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, curing the sick, medical research to cure cancer and other diseases. 

There's never a solution to a problem, only a tradeoff.  Unfortunately, no one talks about tradeoffs.  Maybe with the economies of the world in dire straits due to the virus, we're going to find out just how limited those resources are.  When people are starving and government is issuing credits for unemployment, there won't be any money left for climate control.  Of course government, for political reasons, will foolishly continue to spend and allocate limited funding to allow grandchildren to live by the beaches 60 years from now while people are starving today. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 03, 2020, 12:36:03 pm
I'll provide an answer, but it's rather long.
...
Over the years, thousands of lives will be lost and trillions of dollars worth of damage to property will occur because of the emphasis on the reduction of CO2 emissions, instead of organizing and shaping our suburbs, cities and landscape with the expectation that previous extreme weather events, unconnected with mankind's CO2 emissions, will continue to occur. This is why I'm deeply concerned about the issue. Okay?

Sorry, but that was a non-answer.  I didn't ask why you were "deeply concerned about the issue". My question was "who's tipping the scales, and why"?  You avoided answering either component.

Please don't respond with the tired trope that "It's the scientists looking for more career-advancing funding for climate research". That response has zero credibility. 

The 97% of scientists who agree that CO2 is forcing global heating are demonstrably more interested in science than notoriety or money. If they were fame and money-driven, they'd be in politics, and not in the notoriously underfunded business of science.

So, I'll ask again.  "What's in it for science to promote AGW"?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 03, 2020, 12:42:49 pm
Sorry, but that was a non-answer.  I didn't ask why you were "deeply concerned about the issue". My question was "who's tipping the scales, and why"?  You avoided answering either component.

Please don't respond with the tired trope that "It's the scientists looking for more career-advancing funding for climate research". That response has zero credibility. 

The 97% of scientists who agree that CO2 is forcing global heating are demonstrably more interested in science than notoriety or money. If they were fame and money-driven, they'd be in politics, and not in the notoriously underfunded business of science.

So, I'll ask again.  "What's in it for science to promote AGW"?

For the same reason [virologists =edit]scientists promote shutting down the economy because of Covid 19.  They want to stop the spread of the disease. They're concerned with the science and don't consider the economics.  Finance isn't their field.  The fact that spending to reduce CO2 takes funding away from other important needs, doesn't enter their thinking.  That's why we need broad based experts including economists to be included when figuring out policy.  There are tradeoffs.  It's like spending all your money on the best camera and have no money left for printing the photos. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 03, 2020, 01:07:36 pm
For the same reason [virologists =edit]scientists promote shutting down the economy because of Covid 19.  They want to stop the spread of the disease. They're concerned with the science and don't consider the economics.  Finance isn't their field.  The fact that spending to reduce CO2 takes funding away from other important needs, doesn't enter their thinking.  That's why we need broad based experts including economists to be included when figuring out policy.  There are tradeoffs.  It's like spending all your money on the best camera and have no money left for printing the photos.

I thought you said that all of the scientists are lying about anthropogenic global warming (AGW), and that the temperature rise was due to natural forces and beneficial to man, so we didn't need to do anything, in which case, you don't even need the economists since you won't be spending any money. So the question that all you AGW deniers won't answer is why the scientists and the media lying about all this. What is in it for them?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 03, 2020, 01:27:26 pm
So the question that all you AGW deniers won't answer is why the scientists and the media lying about all this. What is in it for them?

An even more interesting question is "Why won't the AGW deniers answer this question?"
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 03, 2020, 01:59:59 pm
First, I'm not a denier.  I just have my doubts.  Also, the facts are distorted so you only hear one side of the story.  They focus on the negative aspects without mentioning the positive aspect such as more farmland, expanding habitable land for all species, greater growth of food due to increased CO2, longer growing seasons, etc.  Also, my concern is tradeoffs.  No one mentions how other importants things we need to pay for are reduced or eliminated like cancer research, homing the homeless, etc. 

Many scientists and media get caught up in the bandwagon effect and copy what others are saying.  Many scientists need grants for their research projects.  If they promote no climate change research, they won't get funding.  Publish or perish is their byword.  Media goes where the money is.  Disaster movies sell better.  So all the nature programs talk about how man is horrible and wants to destroy nature.  It's just hype to sell products.  Companies like Tesla, windmills for power, solar companies, etc promote their non-carbon products and get government to support their industries with rebates.  It reminds me of when the government poverty programs came out in the 1960's.  A reporter asked one of the CEO's of the companies involved why there was so much interest.  He responded gleefully, "Well, there a lot of money to be made in poverty."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 03, 2020, 02:28:42 pm
First, I'm not a denier.  I just have my doubts.  Also, the facts are distorted so you only hear one side of the story.  They focus on the negative aspects without mentioning the positive aspect such as more farmland, expanding habitable land for all species, greater growth of food due to increased CO2, longer growing seasons, etc.  Also, my concern is tradeoffs.  No one mentions how other importants things we need to pay for are reduced or eliminated like cancer research, homing the homeless, etc. 

Many scientists and media get caught up in the bandwagon effect and copy what others are saying.  Many scientists need grants for their research projects.  If they promote no climate change research, they won't get funding.  Publish or perish is their byword.  Media goes where the money is.  Disaster movies sell better.  So all the nature programs talk about how man is horrible and wants to destroy nature.  It's just hype to sell products.  Companies like Tesla, windmills for power, solar companies, etc promote their non-carbon products and get government to support their industries with rebates.  It reminds me of when the government poverty programs came out in the 1960's.  A reporter asked one of the CEO's of the companies involved why there was so much interest.  He responded gleefully, "Well, there a lot of money to be made in poverty."

It doesn't sound like you have your doubts. It sounds like you are describing a conspiracy, and everyone is in on it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on August 03, 2020, 02:57:50 pm
I'll add that the huge costs to limit CO2 reduces financial resources that could be spent on feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, curing the sick, medical research to cure cancer and other diseases. 
..
Lets us start with the billonaires that say we need to pay more taxes... and than the scrape some budget of the defense department...for even with half the budget the US will remain the last nation to attack.
You can grow your economy on selling oil and gas, meanwhile polluting your soil and the landscape, but if you don't include the pollution costs it is bringing water to the sea.
Netto growth has to include these aspects as well.
I am sure somebody gets rich by polluting the land, but for a whole, for the society, it may have a negative impact on the medium to long term that can or cannot be corrected by the state ( taxpayer).

Then i also think you deny that the world is at a new revolution of using non emission clean energy.
With an attitude like you have The US will miss the opportunity to make profit from that transmission.
Use an electric car and you will conclude it is already the better way to drive; simpler, silent, more clever and on top of that ; zero emission.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 03, 2020, 04:05:20 pm
Lets us start with the billonaires that say we need to pay more taxes... and than the scrape some budget of the defense department...for even with half the budget the US will remain the last nation to attack.
You can grow your economy on selling oil and gas, meanwhile polluting your soil and the landscape, but if you don't include the pollution costs it is bringing water to the sea.
Netto growth has to include these aspects as well.
I am sure somebody gets rich by polluting the land, but for a whole, for the society, it may have a negative impact on the medium to long term that can or cannot be corrected by the state ( taxpayer).

Then i also think you deny that the world is at a new revolution of using non emission clean energy.
With an attitude like you have The US will miss the opportunity to make profit from that transmission.
Use an electric car and you will conclude it is already the better way to drive; simpler, silent, more clever and on top of that ; zero emission.
I have no problem with companies selling clean energy products such as Tesla.  I just object to the government paying for it with my tax money.  Why should I give rich people $7500 rebate on $100,000 Teslas?  If they have that kind of money to buy a $100K car, they don't need my money.  If you want to contribute, why don't you sent the rich guy a check?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 03, 2020, 04:30:16 pm
I have no problem with companies selling clean energy products such as Tesla.  I just object to the government paying for it with my tax money.  Why should I give rich people $7500 rebate on $100,000 Teslas?  If they have that kind of money to buy a $100K car, they don't need my money.  If you want to contribute, why don't you sent the rich guy a check?

I don't think you get a tax credit for buying a Tesla anymore. They sold their 200,000th car a couple of years ago.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 03, 2020, 04:38:53 pm
I don't think you get a tax credit for buying a Tesla anymore. They sold their 200,000th car a couple of years ago.
I believe you're right.  So let's see.  200,000 x $7500= $1.5 billion dollars.  I didnlt know you had that much money to give.  :)

By the way.  Kandi, a Chinese company just opened in America to sell their electric cars.  Quote: "The K27 starts at $20,499, and is eligible for the $7,500 federal income tax credit. That would put the K27 at just under $13,000, "

So now we're going to subsidize Chinese manufacturers with our taxes.  At least Tesla was American.  We need Trump to stop this because Biden will probably increase the rebate to $10,000.  How dumb can you get?
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/30/americas-cheapest-electric-vehicles-are-coming-courtesy-of-chinese-automaker-kandi/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALdDMDvkVmLCfzvdowmyEBs5w1A0J7DmbOOP9aPq1w_6rYelmqtG_4wjMB30pUt18Qb5dfT7UpzQgt5-TS9NUQxNu_rY1FF5YrB82eWdGfh1KjfgLfPw9F_tnITgp44yIpDTuf6RLWxkpVgyYXv1XS_kds1umyZtQZN3bT6pJm9Z
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 03, 2020, 04:50:19 pm
I believe you're right.  So let's see.  200,000 x $7500= $1.5 billion dollars.  I didnlt know you had that much money to give.  :)

By the way.  Kandi, a Chinese company just opened in America to sell their electric cars.  Quote: "The K27 starts at $20,499, and is eligible for the $7,500 federal income tax credit. That would put the K27 at just under $13,000, "

So now we're going to subsidize Chinese manufacturers with our taxes.  At least Tesla was American.  We need Trump to stop this because Biden will probably increase the rebate to $10,000.  How dumb can you get?
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/30/americas-cheapest-electric-vehicles-are-coming-courtesy-of-chinese-automaker-kandi/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALdDMDvkVmLCfzvdowmyEBs5w1A0J7DmbOOP9aPq1w_6rYelmqtG_4wjMB30pUt18Qb5dfT7UpzQgt5-TS9NUQxNu_rY1FF5YrB82eWdGfh1KjfgLfPw9F_tnITgp44yIpDTuf6RLWxkpVgyYXv1XS_kds1umyZtQZN3bT6pJm9Z

I don't know why the Republicans didn't address that when they had majorities in both the House and Senate.  They could have eliminated the credit in the 2018 tax reform bill. I guess Trump just didn't provide the leadership necessary to get that done. No reason to expect that he would do so now. He has all but given up doing anything at all. He played golf yesterday. I don't know what he is up to today.

Edit: Trump got dressed this afternoon and came down to the White House press room to read some stuff out of a notebook. An electric performance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on August 03, 2020, 05:42:15 pm

Their plan is to create the maximum alarm about the dangers of CO2 emissions in order to encourage the transition to renewables such as solar and wind and electric vehicles, which do not emit the real and harmful polluting gases, even in countries with high levels of corruption and/or incompetent management.

That approach might seem justified, and was supported by the late Professor Stephen Schneider. I would also support that approach if the exaggerations were confined to the 'real' threats to human health.

For example, I recall watching a video, many years ago, of Stephen Schneider answering questions from an audience of journalists and skeptics, about the exaggeration of the effects of CO2 emissions in the scientific reporting.
His answer made sense. His analogy was, if you want to discourage people from taking up smoking cigarettes, and/or encourage them to give up smoking, it might not be sufficiently effective to provide the precise scientific data that indicates there is, say, a 20% increase in the risk of getting lung cancer, according to the statistical analysis of those in hospitals with lung cancer.

Many people might think, I'll take the risk if it's only 20%. Exaggerating the risk to, say, 75%, will be more effective, and that benefit to the population at large could perhaps justify the scientific dishonesty.

Your repeated attempts to smear the late Dr. Stephen H. Schneider have become so pathetic that I almost feel sorry for you.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 03, 2020, 06:45:20 pm
Your repeated attempts to smear the late Dr. Stephen H. Schneider have become so pathetic that I almost feel sorry for you.

I'm not smearing him. I'm praising him for being honest about the deception. I feel sorry that you seem unable to comprehend that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 03, 2020, 07:11:58 pm
Sorry, but that was a non-answer.  I didn't ask why you were "deeply concerned about the issue". My question was "who's tipping the scales, and why"?  You avoided answering either component.

I thought the following statement in my post at least provided part of the answer. There is rarely one simple answer to complex issues.

Quote
The history of mankind suggests that one cannot expect whole populations to do the right thing simply because it's sensible and rational. Many people are driven by greed for wealth and power, and others for basic necessities in order to survive. Corruption in politics and business is entrenched, world-wide, although it's worse in some countries than others. The Volkswagen scandal, using "defeat devices" to reduce emissions during testing, is a case in point.

In other words, creating fear and anxiety in the population, about the disastrous effects on climate from CO2 emissions from fossil fuels, will hopefully be more effective in reducing the 'real' pollutants from fossil fuels, by encouraging the transition to renewables. Simply expecting governments, especially governments in developing countries, to ensure best-practice emission controls are used in all coal-fired power plants and vehicles, in order to reduce the health problems from the 'real' pollutants, will not be as effective.

There is also another major issue involved; a likely scarcity of fossil fuels in the future as undeveloped countries become more developed and consume huge amounts of energy because of their large populations, like India and China are already doing.
Energy supplies are fundamental to everyone's prosperity. The more sources of energy, the better.
I have no objection to the development of alternative sources of energy, as long as it's done sensibly without causing disruption to electricity supplies, without increasing energy costs, without causing environmental damage, and most importantly, without deluding people into believing they will be safe from extreme weather events if CO2 levels are reduced.

Quote
The 97% of scientists who agree that CO2 is forcing global heating are demonstrably more interested in science than notoriety or money.

Wow!! How did you manage to interview all those scientists to determine that 97% of them agree that CO2 is forcing global warming?  ;D

Oh! You got it from the media. Right?  ;D

Did you ever investigate the scientific procedure that was used to arrive at that figure?
The following article addresses the process. The attached image from the article summarizes that process. In other words, that 97% figure applies only to those scientists who were willing to express a definite opinion on the role of CO2, in the abstracts of their peer-reviewed papers on climate that were examined. Two thirds of the abstracts expressed no view. It seems that most scientists understand that the role of human emissions of CO2 in warming the climate cannot be accurately quantified and is largely guesswork.
https://judithcurry.com/2015/12/20/what-is-there-a-97-consensus-about/


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on August 03, 2020, 07:13:21 pm
I'm not smearing him. I'm praising him for being honest about the deception. I feel sorry that you seem unable to comprehend that.

I comprehend precisely what you're doing. It's transparently absurd and as I said... pathetic.

Perhaps you could provide a link to that video that you "recall watching... many years ago, of Stephen Schneider" saying anything remotely resembling your statement. Yeah, I didn't think so.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 03, 2020, 08:23:05 pm
I thought the following statement in my post at least provided part of the answer. There is rarely one simple answer to complex issues.

"The history of mankind suggests that one cannot expect whole populations to do the right thing simply because it's sensible and rational. Many people are driven by greed for wealth and power, and others for basic necessities in order to survive. Corruption in politics and business is entrenched, world-wide, although it's worse in some countries than others. The Volkswagen scandal, using "defeat devices" to reduce emissions during testing, is a case in point."

So greed for wealth and power, and corruption in politics and business explain why scientists believe in AGW and the media promotes it? Is that your thesis? Sounds pretty vague to me. More like a conspiracy theory.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 07, 2020, 06:10:07 am
The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed, losing more than 40% of its area in just two days at the end of July,

Quote
The Milne Ice Shelf is at the fringe of Ellesmere Island, in the sparsely populated northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. “Above normal air temperatures, offshore winds and open water in front of the ice shelf are all part of the recipe for ice shelf break up,” the Canadian Ice Service said on Twitter when it announced the loss on Sunday.

“Entire cities are that size. These are big pieces of ice,” said Luke Copland, a glaciologist at the University of Ottawa who was part of the research team studying the Milne Ice Shelf.
The shelf’s area shrank by about 80 square kilometers. By comparison, the island of Manhattan in New York covers roughly 60 square kilometers. “This was the largest remaining intact ice shelf, and it’s disintegrated, basically,” Copland said.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-canada/canadas-last-fully-intact-arctic-ice-shelf-collapses-idUSKCN2523JH
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 10:25:59 am
The last fully intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic has collapsed, losing more than 40% of its area in just two days at the end of July,

I wonder how many polar bears were on the ice shelf before it collapsed and floated out to sea. I am concerned that they will not have time to adapt by developing flippers and gills before the ice melts from beneath their feet and they are swallowed up. Maybe Alan could email them that temperature chart to reassure them that everything will be okay.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2020, 10:34:54 am
I'll provide an answer, but it's rather long.

It’s  a clear, odourless gas which is essential for all life, and current increases, as a result of the industrial revolution, have been enormously beneficial for plant growth and food production, world-wide.


Proof, please.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 07, 2020, 01:21:14 pm
Proof, please.

Proof? Farmers have been injecting CO2 into their Greenhouses for many decades, in order to increase crop growth. Didn't you know that?  ;D

Here are some studies explaining the process.

https://www.noaa.gov/news/study-global-plant-growth-surging-alongside-carbon-dioxide.

"Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It turns out the answer is Yes – in a big way. A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth."


https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2357&context=usdaarsfacpub

"Plant growth is influenced by above-and below-ground environmental conditions and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
(CO2) concentrations enhances growth and yield of most agricultural crops."


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212982015000074

"Here, we analyzed 188 articles on gaseous CO2 fertilization technology in China published from 1982 to 2010. We found that gaseous CO2 fertilizers enhanced the yield of representative fruit vegetable (i.e., cucumber, tomato, chili, zucchini, eggplant, and strawberry) by 33.31% over the past three decades. In addition, crop maturity also advanced (by an average of 6.87 days) and crop resistance to diseases and pests was enhanced."

https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/greenhouse-carbon-dioxide-supplementation.html

"An increase in ambient CO2 to 800-1000 ppm can increase yield of C3 plants up to 40 to 100 percent."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 07, 2020, 01:35:07 pm
Your claim was "current increases, as a result of the industrial revolution, have been enormously beneficial for plant growth and food production, world-wide.".  That claim is not addressed by the articles you quote.  ( Clue: impact of CO2 increase on some plants in a localised area is not proof of worldwide food production benefit. )
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 01:41:17 pm
Proof? Farmers have been injecting CO2 into their Greenhouses for many decades, in order to increase crop growth. Didn't you know that?  ;D

Here are some studies explaining the process.

https://www.noaa.gov/news/study-global-plant-growth-surging-alongside-carbon-dioxide.

"Has plant growth increased alongside rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
It turns out the answer is Yes – in a big way. A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth."


https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2357&context=usdaarsfacpub

"Plant growth is influenced by above-and below-ground environmental conditions and increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
(CO2) concentrations enhances growth and yield of most agricultural crops."


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212982015000074

"Here, we analyzed 188 articles on gaseous CO2 fertilization technology in China published from 1982 to 2010. We found that gaseous CO2 fertilizers enhanced the yield of representative fruit vegetable (i.e., cucumber, tomato, chili, zucchini, eggplant, and strawberry) by 33.31% over the past three decades. In addition, crop maturity also advanced (by an average of 6.87 days) and crop resistance to diseases and pests was enhanced."

https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/greenhouse-carbon-dioxide-supplementation.html

"An increase in ambient CO2 to 800-1000 ppm can increase yield of C3 plants up to 40 to 100 percent."

So who is paying whom to suppress these articles so that nobody knows the benefits of increasing CO2?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 07, 2020, 03:32:27 pm
Your claim was "current increases, as a result of the industrial revolution, have been enormously beneficial for plant growth and food production, world-wide.".  That claim is not addressed by the articles you quote.  ( Clue: impact of CO2 increase on some plants in a localised area is not proof of worldwide food production benefit. )

Correct. While CO2 can benefit plant (and weed) growth (of biomass), the resulting (global warming and extreme weather) climate effects will shift climate zones instead of only adding areas that produce more biomass. Biomass alone also doesn't say much about the usefulness (e.g. as a food crop). In addition to CO2, plants also need the right amount of sunlight and water with nutrients. This is not a simple process of adding only one component, CO2. There are many climate zones that will become unsuited to produce food due to the rising temperatures (and lack of water).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2020, 03:46:24 pm
Additional CO2 not only expands plant growth.  It expands land areas so they can support thousands of species including fauna and animals that were not able to be supported before.    Unfortunately, the public only hears the bad news.  How can decision makers, the public, and politicians make informed decisions when they only get half the facts?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 03:55:45 pm
Additional CO2 not only expands plant growth.  It expands land areas so they can support thousands of species including fauna and animals that were not able to be supported before.    Unfortunately, the public only hears the bad news.  How can decision makers, the public, and politicians make informed decisions when they only get half the facts?

Can’t they look up the other half of the facts on the internet just like you?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2020, 04:01:11 pm
Can’t they look up the other half of the facts on the internet just like you?
Honest appraisal should be made in the media.  Unfortunately, they're in the tank for distorted news.  Bad news sells better than good news. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 04:20:30 pm
Honest appraisal should be made in the media.  Unfortunately, they're in the tank for distorted news.  Bad news sells better than good news.

As usual, you didn't answer the question, and as usual, it is always the media's fault. Is there no longer any personal responsibility?

It seems to me what you are saying is the public and the politicians are too lazy to look up the other half of the facts on the internet, so they just go by what's on TV. Or perhaps they are just not that interested one way or the other, and would rather spend their time playing golf.

Or maybe the public and the politicians have analyzed the available information and a majority simply don't agree with your conclusion. You could be wrong, you know. I'm not sure why you think you've got an exclusive on what's true and what's not, just because you have read a couple of articles on the internet.

By the way, do you have an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the sciences? I am trying to decide how much weight I should give your opinion on this matter. It's not like I am asking you whether you prefer Canon or Nikon.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2020, 04:59:36 pm
As usual, you didn't answer the question, and as usual, it is always the media's fault. Is there no longer any personal responsibility?

It seems to me what you are saying is the public and the politicians are too lazy to look up the other half of the facts on the internet, so they just go by what's on TV. Or perhaps they are just not that interested one way or the other.

Or maybe the public and the politicians have analyzed the available information and a majority simply don't agree with your conclusion. You could be wrong, you know. I'm not sure why you think you've got an exclusive on what's true and what's not, just because you have read a few articles on the internet.

By the way, do you have an undergraduate or graduate degree in one of the sciences? I am trying to decide how much weight I should give your opinion on this matter. It's not like I am asking you whether you prefer Canon or Nikon.


The media presents distorted news.  I'm sorry if you can't see it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 05:06:26 pm
The media presents distorted news.  I'm sorry if you can't see it.

If you think the media presents distorted news, then don't watch it. It will free up more time for photography.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 07, 2020, 05:13:43 pm
If you think the media presents distorted news, then don't watch it. It will free up more time for photography.
You can't trust photography anymore either what with cloning and photoshop.  :)  It's not real like your stuff. Maybe we all should stick to shooting.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 07, 2020, 05:44:49 pm
You can't trust photography anymore either what with cloning and photoshop.  :)  It's not real like your stuff. Maybe we all should stick to shooting.

It's more fun to do the manipulation in Photoshop than behind the camera.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 05:58:45 pm
It's more fun to do the manipulation in Photoshop than behind the camera.

Photographers have been manipulating images since the days of Fox Talbot and Daguerre. Only the technology has changed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 07, 2020, 06:44:16 pm
The media presents distorted news.  I'm sorry if you can't see it.

What media did you get your distorted information from?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 07, 2020, 06:45:19 pm
You can't trust photography anymore either what with cloning and photoshop.  :)  It's not real like your stuff. Maybe we all should stick to shooting.

Careful...in the states shooting has a few meanings.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 07, 2020, 09:30:15 pm
Your claim was "current increases, as a result of the industrial revolution, have been enormously beneficial for plant growth and food production, world-wide.".  That claim is not addressed by the articles you quote.  ( Clue: impact of CO2 increase on some plants in a localised area is not proof of worldwide food production benefit. )

Of course it is addressed. Do you have a reading problem, or a problem with logic?   :o

From the first article I quoted:

"A new study published in the April 6 edition of the journal Nature concludes that as emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels have increased since the start of the 20th century, plants around the world are utilizing 30 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2), spurring plant growth."

From the last article I quoted:

"An increase in ambient CO2 to 800-1000 ppm can increase yield of C3 plants up to 40 to 100 percent."

Current CO2 levels are around 416 ppm. CO2 levels are fairly evenly distributed in the lower part of the atmosphere. If CO2 levels were to double during the next century, one could predict with reasonable confidence that plant growth, on average, around the world, would increase significantly, excluding unpredictable events, of course, such as massive volcanic eruptions or meteorite strikes, or abrupt changes in the behaviour of the sun, and other unexpected influences that scientists do not currently understand.

Most plants, world-wide, and most food crops are of the C3 type.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 07, 2020, 09:48:32 pm
Correct. While CO2 can benefit plant (and weed) growth (of biomass),

CO2 definitely does benefit plant growth. It's a scientifically proven fact. 'No CO2' equates to 'no plant growth' which equates to 'no life'.

Quote
the resulting (global warming and extreme weather) climate effects will shift climate zones instead of only adding areas that produce more biomass.

Those of us who are not 'Climate Change Deniers' understand that climate is always changing for whatever reasons. That's the nature of climate. 10,000 to 6,000 years ago, the Sahara Desert was a rich grassland. It didn't become a desert as a result of rising CO2 levels.

Also, rising levels of CO2 have the greatest benefit in water-stressed conditions. In optimal conditions, with adequate water and soil nutrients, where a doubling of CO2 concentrations results in, say, a 40% increase in plant growth, that increase could rise to 65% in drier conditions, compared to the same plants grown in the same dry conditions but without the doubling of CO2.

Quote
Biomass alone also doesn't say much about the usefulness (e.g. as a food crop). In addition to CO2, plants also need the right amount of sunlight and water with nutrients. This is not a simple process of adding only one component, CO2. There are many climate zones that will become unsuited to produce food due to the rising temperatures (and lack of water).

Biomass alone says an awful lot about the usefulness of a food crop. No biomass equates to no food. You die.  :(

However, it must be obvious to everyone (even Greta Thunberg), that plants do not grow on CO2 alone. Of course water, and sunlight, and soil nutrients are also essential.

The nutritional quality of the food we eat varies considerably, according to soil quality and modern farming practices which tend to gradually deplete the health and quality of the soil over time. That's another issue.

I think perhaps we need a new term for 'Climate Change Alarmist'. How about, 'Benefits of CO2 Denier'.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 07, 2020, 09:53:43 pm
So this explains kudzu?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2020, 12:03:48 am
CO2 definitely does benefit plant growth. It's a scientifically proven fact. 'No CO2' equates to 'no plant growth' which equates to 'no life'...

Please spare us that tired old trope.  You and Alan have been huckstering high CO2 levels as a benefit to mankind since forever. It's a lame and valueless argument.

Also, I don't recall anyone recommending we reduce atmospheric CO2 to zero.

Quote
The nutritional quality of the food we eat varies considerably, according to soil quality and modern farming practices which tend to gradually deplete the health and quality of the soil over time. That's another issue.

That's true. Nutritional value varies considerably for many complex reasons.  And it's recently been discovered that crops grown in high CO2 environments (rice, specifically) while higher in biomass, are lower in nutritional value.  More money for the corporations, less value for the consumers.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 08, 2020, 01:40:38 am
Please spare us that tired old trope.  You and Alan have been huckstering high CO2 levels as a benefit to mankind since forever. It's a lame and valueless argument.

Not true. It's a very valid argument. I only began mentioning that increased CO2 levels have an increased benefit for plant growth after I'd come across the research that indicates it is a fact. Before I began to do my own investigations, I tended to believe the biased stories and interviews about AGW, presented by the media, as many people apparently still do today.  :(

Quote
Also, I don't recall anyone recommending we reduce atmospheric CO2 to zero.

Of course not. That would be absolutely silly. But even if it were possible to reduce CO2 levels to the pre-industrial levels of 280 ppm, that would significantly reduce world food production, in the absence of expensive counter measures such as increased water supply and increased application of artificial fertilizers.

Quote
That's true. Nutritional value varies considerably for many complex reasons.  And it's recently been discovered that crops grown in high CO2 environments (rice, specifically) while higher in biomass, are lower in nutritional value.  More money for the corporations, less value for the consumers.

All crops grown in poor soils will tend to have poor nutritional value. Brazil nuts are a recommended source of Selenium, but studies show that the amount of Selenium per mass of nut varies enormously, depending on where the tree was grown. If there's very little Selenium in the soil, there will be very little Selenium in the nut. Other factors such as the pH of the soil will also affect the uptake of Selenium through the tree roots.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 08, 2020, 04:38:11 am
Of course it is addressed. Do you have a reading problem, or a problem with logic?   :o


Neither, thanks. I  gave you a clue in my last posting. To spell things out wastes a good learning opportunity, but you might like to consider the additional efects of increased CO2, such as changes in temperature, and in distribtion of agricultural land due to such factors as desertification and flooding.

Now, run along and have another go.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 08, 2020, 08:55:08 am
Neither, thanks. I  gave you a clue in my last posting. To spell things out wastes a good learning opportunity, but you might like to consider the additional efects of increased CO2, such as changes in temperature, and in distribtion of agricultural land due to such factors as desertification and flooding.

I find it rather amazing that you might think I have not considered those additional effects such as changes in temperature, desertification and flooding, etc; because I have already stated that I initially accepted the biased, media-promoted scare about a future catastrophic climate change due to anthropogenic emissions of CO2.

Interviews of famous scientists in the media sparked my interest in the subject, so I began investigations on the internet, and on Google Scholar, to find the answers to puzzling issues that were never raised during media interviews.
As a result of those investigations, it became clear that the media, or at least major sections of the media, were following the advice of the late Professor Stephen Schneider. You can read his relevant advice which I quoted in 'Reply #1792' in this thread.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 10:26:26 am
Polar bears are doing fine.
(https://polarbearscience.files.wordpress.com/2019/09/kaktovik-ak-fat-adult-male-polar-bear-mid-september-2019_ed-boudreau-photo-permission-to-use-e1569820166992.jpg?w=500)
Polar bear survival contradictions: sea ice decline vs. documented harm
https://polarbearscience.com/tag/predictions/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 08, 2020, 11:53:53 am
Polar bears are doing fine.

According to a blog by someone who writes: "I am a different kind of polar bear expert than those that study bears in the field but having a different background means I know things they do not and this makes my contribution valuable and valid."...

No, having a different background doesn't. Being peer reviewed and referenced a lot by important contributors in the field of interest would, but alas.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 11:59:42 am
Polar bears are doing fine.

So if I posted a picture of an obese American eating an ice cream cone with the title "Virus? Virus? What Virus?" the pandemic would magically disappear?

Here's more of our ongoing segment "If it is on the internet, it is real."

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/10/forensic-expert-says-bigfoot-is-real/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 12:06:56 pm
So if I posted a picture of an obese American eating an ice cream cone with the title "Virus? Virus? What Virus?" the pandemic would magically disappear?
My post is no different than those pictures showing a polar bear on an ice flow with the claim that polar bears are starving because the flows are melting.  So I'm showing a fat bear that shows they're eating fine. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 12:22:36 pm
Alan, as mentioned several times in this thread, the polar bears in the northern part of Arctic with enough ice are doing fine, whereas the polar bears in the southern Arctic are on decline because of shorter winter season and less sea ice. They bears can fatten up only when there is enough sea ice from where they can hunt the seals.
It's basic biology - mammals with an easy access to food will gain weight, whereas stressed and hungry individuals die from malnourishment.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 12:39:58 pm
Alan, as mentioned several times in this thread, the polar bears in the northern part of Arctic with enough ice are doing fine, whereas the polar bears in the southern Arctic are on decline because of shorter winter season and less sea ice. They bears can fatten up only when there is enough sea ice from where they can hunt the seals.
It's basic biology - mammals with an easy access to food will gain weight, whereas stressed and hungry individuals die from malnourishment.
Recent surveys have show polar bears increasing overall.  Their demise has been hyped.  Certainly changes in the environment have always occurred even before any man-made changes assuming that's what is happening.  So increases and decreases in population density naturally changes from area to area.

It's interesting that you mentioned that fat bears occur in rich feeding grounds.  Of course, my photograph is biasing the reportage.  I did that deliberately to make a point.  No one ever mentions that polar bears on small ice flows is a naturally occurring event. The photo however is erroneously used as a prop to promote climate change politics. It doesn't indicate that the climate change is damaging their environment.  It's important that media, scientists, nature programs, and photographers caption their photographs with proper reporting   You can deceive on either side. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2020, 12:49:39 pm
It was you that suggested zero CO2.
Quote
CO2 definitely does benefit plant growth. It's a scientifically proven fact. 'No CO2' equates to 'no plant growth' which equates to 'no life'.


All crops grown in poor soils will tend to have poor nutritional value. Brazil nuts are a recommended source of Selenium, but studies show that the amount of Selenium per mass of nut varies enormously, depending on where the tree was grown. If there's very little Selenium in the soil, there will be very little Selenium in the nut. Other factors such as the pH of the soil will also affect the uptake of Selenium through the tree roots.

We don't need a high school lecture in plant nutrition, thank you very much.  This part of the discussion was related to CO2, not selenium or soil nutrients.

Rice, grown in relatively unchanging conditions year to year (ie absent radical changes in selenium or whataboutism) shows decreased nutritional value in higher CO2 conditions.

viz: 

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-co2-levels-rise-rice-becomes-less-nutritious/#:~:text=The%20results%20of%20a%20major,important%20B%20vitamins%20all%20decline.

Like your other arguments, the idea that increasing CO2 is good for us all is old, tired and false.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 08, 2020, 12:55:02 pm
...I'm showing a fat bear that shows they're eating fine.

It does not.  It shows that THIS polar bear is apparently doing fine.

It could be from the Calgary Zoo for all we know.

.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 12:55:38 pm
Recent surveys have show polar bears increasing overall. Their demise has been hyped.  Certainly changes in the environment have always occurred even before any man-made changes assuming that's what is happening.  So increases and decreases in population density naturally changes from area to area.

It's interesting that you mentioned that fat bears occur in rich feeding grounds.  Of course, my photograph is biasing the reportage.  I did that deliberately to make a point.  No one ever mentions that polar bears on small ice flows is a naturally occurring event. The photo however is erroneously used as a prop to promote climate change politics. It doesn't indicate that the climate change is damaging their environment.  It's important that media, scientists, nature programs, and photographers caption their photographs with proper reporting   You can deceive on either side.

Not according to my sources.

(https://arcticwwf.org/site/assets/files/1302/polarbearpopulationupdates-dec2019.png)

BTW, polar bears don't hunt from the small floes, the floes are used only for travel and other recreational purposes. They pounce on the seals through the holes in the ice or wait for seals to come to the surface of sea ice to breathe. When the seal nears the surface, the polar bear will bite or grab the seal and pull it onto the ice.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 12:55:41 pm
NASA article shows CO2 greening the earth.

Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 01:00:36 pm
...
BTW, polar bears don't hunt from the small floes, the floes are used only for travel and other recreational purposes. They pounce on the seals through the holes in the ice or wait for seals to come to the surface of sea ice to breathe. When the seal nears the surface, the polar bear will bite or grab the seal and pull it onto the ice.

Interestingly, when it is too cold, bears do pretty bad too.  The ice is best when it's melting.  That allow seals to migrate and come up through the ice to breathe.  When it's too cold, the ice freezes so hard, seals abandon those areas.  So the bears have no seals to feed on and starve. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 01:02:31 pm
Interestingly, when it is too cold, bears do pretty bad too.  The ice is best when it's melting.  That allow seals to migrate and come up through the ice to breathe.  When it's too cold, the ice freezes so hard, seals abandon those areas.  So the bears have no seals to feed on and starve.

Yes, the key is the fine balance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 01:10:33 pm
NASA article shows CO2 greening the earth.

Carbon Dioxide Fertilization Greening Earth, Study Finds
From a quarter to half of Earth’s vegetated lands has shown significant greening over the last 35 years largely due to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Climate Change on April 25.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/carbon-dioxide-fertilization-greening-earth

From the article you cited:

Quote
While rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the air can be beneficial for plants, it is also the chief culprit of climate change. The gas, which traps heat in Earth’s atmosphere, has been increasing since the industrial age due to the burning of oil, gas, coal and wood for energy and is continuing to reach concentrations not seen in at least 500,000 years. The impacts of climate change include global warming, rising sea levels, melting glaciers and sea ice as well as more severe weather events.

The beneficial impacts of carbon dioxide on plants may also be limited, said co-author Dr. Philippe Ciais, associate director of the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences, Gif-suv-Yvette, France. “Studies have shown that plants acclimatize, or adjust, to rising carbon dioxide concentration and the fertilization effect diminishes over time.”
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 01:39:13 pm
From the article you cited:

I'm all in favor of balance in articles and studies that present all the facts.  My problem with climate change "science" as mainly presented by scientists, media, and politicians, is that it's been biased and lopsided.  How can people and politicians make informed decisions without having the facts on all sides?  While CO2 has been presented as being "bad", there are good points about it as well.  Increased warming does cause melting ice raising sea levels.  But warmer climes in general make farm land more productive.  It helps civilization as shown by the fact we're the largest now due to warming as well as other factors.  Other species do better mainly because of warming climes as well.  Their populations expand and are better supported with more nourishment made more generally available by higher temperatures and precipitation.

Also, the other issue is that a "solution" to warming is not a solution but a tradeoff.  Spending money on reducing change, takes resources away from other important things.  Reducing money for researching diseases, feeding the poor, homing the homeless, etc. occurs if you spend it on new technologies, reducing heating and CO2, etc. Again, no one talks about the tradeoffs.  We can only do so much.  The loss of resources for other important things are ignored.  So we might make decisions that hurt us worse.  At least we should be making informed choices.  That isn’t happening because of the biased agenda. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 02:13:23 pm
I'm all in favor of balance in articles and studies that present all the facts.  My problem with climate change "science" as mainly presented by scientists, media, and politicians, is that it's been biased and lopsided.  How can people and politicians make informed decisions without having the facts on all sides?  While CO2 has been presented as being "bad", there are good points about it as well.  Increased warming does cause melting ice raising sea levels.  But warmer climes in general make farm land more productive.  It helps civilization as shown by the fact we're the largest now due to warming as well as other factors.  Other species do better mainly because of warming climes as well.  Their populations expand and are better supported with more nourishment made more generally available by higher temperatures and precipitation.

Also, the other issue is that a "solution" to warming is not a solution but a tradeoff.  Spending money on reducing change, takes resources away from other important things.  Reducing money for researching diseases, feeding the poor, homing the homeless, etc. occurs if you spend it on new technologies, reducing heating and CO2, etc. Again, no one talks about the tradeoffs.  We can only do so much.  The loss of resources for other important things are ignored.  So we might make decisions that hurt us worse.  At least we should be making informed choices.  That isn’t happening because of the biased agenda.

Anything else besides the biased media? 

You said that with the media there is more money in selling bad news than good news. So just how much money is the media earning by claiming climate change is adversely affecting polar bears? And who is paying the media to claim climate change is adversely affecting polar bears? Seems to me like Peter Jennings would be happy to do a segment on the nightly news proclaiming that new research shows that climate change does not adversely affect polar bears. I mean that would be a great feel good story to do at the end of the show. Is someone paying NBC not to do that.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 02:18:28 pm
Anything else besides the biased media?
Anything else besides the biased media?
I said scientists and politicians are biased as well.  I could have added green manufacturers and corporations, nature organizations, film makers, nature programs, Hollywood movies, TV programs, schools and universities, professors, government agencies, teachers, and others. It's a huge industry.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 02:22:25 pm
Recent surveys have show polar bears increasing overall.  Their demise has been hyped.  Certainly changes in the environment have always occurred even before any man-made changes assuming that's what is happening.  So increases and decreases in population density naturally changes from area to area.

It's interesting that you mentioned that fat bears occur in rich feeding grounds.  Of course, my photograph is biasing the reportage.  I did that deliberately to make a point.  No one ever mentions that polar bears on small ice flows is a naturally occurring event. The photo however is erroneously used as a prop to promote climate change politics. It doesn't indicate that the climate change is damaging their environment.  It's important that media, scientists, nature programs, and photographers caption their photographs with proper reporting   You can deceive on either side.

Sure they've been on the increase once we stopped slaughtering them for fun. They've been on the decline at their southern locations such as Churchill. Studies have shown less days on the ice as the ice melts sooner, more days on the land without food, lower pregnancy ratios than before, bears are much thinner when the winter ice does finally arrive. This has lead the Bears to move further north. As the ice starts to melt further north...the Bears will continue to migrate north, over populate and area and start to die.

Estimates of 30% of the Bears gone by 2050.

You say they can adapt...but they are adapting by migrating to where they can eat what they always ate, seals. Once that ice is gone...what do you think the bears will eat?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 02:23:29 pm
I said scientists and politicians are biased as well.  I could have added green manufacturers and corporations, nature organizations, film makers, nature programs, Hollywood movies, TV programs, schools and universities, professors, government agencies, teachers, and others. It's a huge industry.

Not to forget people named Alan.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 02:29:28 pm
Sure they've been on the increase once we stopped slaughtering them for fun. They've been on the decline at their southern locations such as Churchill. Studies have shown less days on the ice as the ice melts sooner, more days on the land without food, lower pregnancy ratios than before, bears are much thinner when the winter ice does finally arrive. This has lead the Bears to move further north. As the ice starts to melt further north...the Bears will continue to migrate north, over populate and area and start to die.

Estimates of 30% of the Bears gone by 2050.

You say they can adapt...but they are adapting by migrating to where they can eat what they always ate, seals. Once that ice is gone...what do you think the bears will eat?
They'll migrate to where the seals relocate. Or they'll start hunting other land animals or more salmon.   If your farmland soils gave out, you move to another area where it could grow food.  Bears are just as smart we are.  Maybe they'll start eating Alaskans. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 02:48:43 pm
I said scientists and politicians are biased as well.  I could have added green manufacturers and corporations, nature organizations, film makers, nature programs, Hollywood movies, TV programs, schools and universities, professors, government agencies, teachers, and others. It's a huge industry.

They are all getting paid to claim that climate change is adversely affecting polar bears? Just making shit up for money? Who is laying out all this money. Can you provide a link to anything that corroborates this?

I am especially surprised by the mention of Hollywood movies. Gosh, people won't watch Old Yeller because the dog dies in the end. Who's going to watch a Hollywood movie where all the polar bears die in the end?

And teachers? Whose paying teachers to ruin the childrens' day by telling them all the polar bears are going to die?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 02:59:55 pm
They are all getting paid to claim that climate change is adversely affecting polar bears? Just making shit up for money? Who is laying out all this money. Can you provide a link to anything that corroborates this?
Just look around.  When you watch any nature program, they feel obligated to tell us how bad humans are and how man is messing up nature.  If a nature photographer made a movie that showed good things that corporations do about the environment, he'd never sell the film.  Producers look for what's selling.  Researchers looking for grants know they have a better chance touting the correct line. Green companies are trying to sell their products.  Right now it's that man is bad.  It's propaganda.  We're raising generations of people who are not discerning.  They can't separate the wheat from the chaff.  They believe everything they watch or hear.  They don't know how to think independently.  They don't know how to ask questions.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 03:04:47 pm
Just look around.  When you watch any nature program, they feel obligated to tell us how bad humans are and how man is messing up nature.  If a nature photographer made a movie that showed good things that corporations do about the environment, he'd never sell the film.  Producers look for what's selling.  Researchers looking for grants know they have a better chance touting the correct line. Green companies are trying to sell their products.  Right now it's that man is bad.  It's propaganda.  We're raising generations of people who are not discerning.  They can't separate the wheat from the chaff.  They believe everything they watch or hear.  They don't know how to think independently.  They don't know how to ask questions.

So everybody is lying about the polar bears and getting rich, and we are raising a generation of imbeciles. Anything else?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 03:30:20 pm
They'll migrate to where the seals relocate. Or they'll start hunting other land animals or more salmon.   If your farmland soils gave out, you move to another area where it could grow food.  Bears are just as smart we are.  Maybe they'll start eating Alaskans.

They'll have to fight the grizzly's and black bears for the salmon...it's already very crowded. They are not adapted to hunt fast land mammals...waste more energy than what they gain.

Funny...if it's that simple, why do we care the Pandas diet of bamboo shoots...they can just adapt to other things. Same with the orca whales diet of Salmon...they can maybe forge along the coastline on crabs and starfish.

Unfortunately, life is not that simple.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 03:32:54 pm
So everybody is lying about the polar bears and getting rich, and we are raising a generation of imbeciles. Anything else?

And here I spend my life working hard and investing in the stock market. Hell if I knew I could make my millions telling everyone polar bears are dying...I'd be on a beach at one of my many beach homes around the world.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 03:57:14 pm
And here I spend my life working hard and investing in the stock market. Hell if I knew I could make my millions telling everyone polar bears are dying...I'd be on a beach at one of my many beach homes around the world.

And according to Alan everyone is in on it so you would have a wide range of vocations to chose from. Where do I sign up?

Seriously, I don't know why there wouldn't be a thriving market for stuff about the polar bears are going to be okay, if it were true?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 03:57:36 pm
They'll have to fight the grizzly's and black bears for the salmon...it's already very crowded. They are not adapted to hunt fast land mammals...waste more energy than what they gain.

Funny...if it's that simple, why do we care the Pandas diet of bamboo shoots...they can just adapt to other things. Same with the orca whales diet of Salmon...they can maybe forge along the coastline on crabs and starfish.

Unfortunately, life is not that simple.
You quote Darwin but don't believe in Darwin.  The fast polar bears will survive and have baby polar bears.  The slow ones will die off.   Orca whales just don;t eat salmon.  Many eat seals, sharks, other fish.  If the salmon runs out, which is unlikely in all areas, they'll move to areas where salmon still run.  Or they'll learn to eat other prey.  They're even smarter than polar bears. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 04:03:04 pm
And according to Alan everyone is in on it so you would have a wide range of vocations to chose from. Where do I sign up?

Seriously, I don't know why there wouldn't be a thriving market for stuff about the polar ears are going to be okay, if it were true?
No one says certain species aren't under threat.  But the polar bear numbered less then 10,000 30 years ago and now they're over 25,000 maybe even 50,000.  True, making polar bear hunting illegal has stopped the decrease.  But if they were dying out because of climate change, their numbers wouldn't be increasing. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 05:02:47 pm
You quote Darwin but don't believe in Darwin.  The fast polar bears will survive and have baby polar bears.  The slow ones will die off.   Orca whales just don;t eat salmon.  Many eat seals, sharks, other fish.  If the salmon runs out, which is unlikely in all areas, they'll move to areas where salmon still run.  Or they'll learn to eat other prey.  They're even smarter than polar bears.

That simple...just go elsewhere and eat other food. Is that why the resident what'd population off the BC coast is on the decline? Happens that salmon is also in a decline. Stupid whales...maybe they should hunt polar bears...after all the Bears will be swimming once all that ice is gone up north.

Alan...i really don't think you know what you are talking about here.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 05:07:12 pm
No one says certain species aren't under threat.  But the polar bear numbered less then 10,000 30 years ago and now they're over 25,000 maybe even 50,000.  True, making polar bear hunting illegal has stopped the decrease.  But if they were dying out because of climate change, their numbers wouldn't be increasing.

They are moving north to where there is more ice longer...that's a fact. The ice is melting sooner and staying away longer, even up north...that's a fact. Polar bears hunt seals from the ice...that's a fact. Polar bears are having fewer hunting days a year as the ice breaks up sooner...that's a fact. Polar bears stay on land without eating longer waiting for the winter ice...that's a fact. Polar bears are getting thinner each year as they spend more time on land not eating...that's a fact.

Put these facts together and what is the result?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 05:11:28 pm
None of that means anything because the population is increasing overall.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 05:20:18 pm
You quote Darwin but don't believe in Darwin.  The fast polar bears will survive and have baby polar bears.  The slow ones will die off.   Orca whales just don;t eat salmon.  Many eat seals, sharks, other fish.  If the salmon runs out, which is unlikely in all areas, they'll move to areas where salmon still run.  Or they'll learn to eat other prey.  They're even smarter than polar bears.

I don't believe you understand Darwin. According to Darwin, some species adapt and survive, but others do not adapt and go extinct. I am not sure why you think polar bears are the ones that are going to adapt and survive, rather than not adapt and go extinct. Seen any woolly mammoths lately?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 05:30:38 pm
I don't believe you understand Darwin. According to Darwin, some species adapt and survive, but others do not adapt and go extinct. I am not sure why you think polar bears are the ones that are going to adapt and survive, rather than not adapt and go extinct. Seen any woolly mammoths lately?
Well, woolly mammoths shouldn't have been burning fossil fuels if they wanted to survive. All that heat wiped them out.  :)

I understand that some species go extinct.  But in the case of polar bears, their population has increased since the climate has warmed up in the last thirty years or so.  Even with banning hunting, if the ice melting was affecting their population overall, it would be going down, not up.  Now it could have gone up faster without warming. I don;t know the answer to that.  But to argue they're going extinct when their population is increasing is incorrect.  It could happen I suppose.  But there's no evidence of it yet.  Only suppositions and propaganda.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 05:35:47 pm
None of that means anything because the population is increasing overall.

Short sited view. Anytime habitat is reduced for a species...nothing good comes from it. With the ice receding due to climate changes, the polar bear habitat is shrinking and more importantly the time a polar bear spends on the ice eating is being reduced. Sure the reduction of hunting has given life to the species...but it now is dealing with a much bigger issue, one that cannot be turned off at the drop of a hat like hunting was.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 05:45:40 pm
Well, woolly mammoths shouldn't have been burning fossil fuels if they wanted to survive. All that heat wiped them out.  :)

I understand that some species go extinct.  But in the case of polar bears, their population has increased since the climate has warmed up in the last thirty years or so.  Even with banning hunting, if the ice melting was affecting their population overall, it would be going down, not up.  Now it could have gone up faster without warming. I don;t know the answer to that.  But to argue they're going extinct when their population is increasing is incorrect.  It could happen I suppose.  But there's no evidence of it yet.  Only suppositions and propaganda.

Studies show the Bears are thinner than before and their reproduction rates are starting to decrease. Wipe out of species does not happen overnight, but once the ball gets rolling, it's hard to stop it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 05:47:10 pm
But in the case of polar bears, their population has increased since the climate has warmed up in the last thirty years or so.  Even with banning hunting, if the ice melting was affecting their population overall, it would be going down, not up.  Now it could have gone up faster without warming. I don;t know the answer to that.  But to argue they're going extinct when their population is increasing is incorrect.  It could happen I suppose.  But there's no evidence of it yet.  Only suppositions and propaganda.

Is the population increasing?

http://www.sej.org/publications/alaska-and-hawaii/magic-number-a-sketchy-fact-about-polar-bears-keeps-goingand-going-an
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 06:43:53 pm
You quote Darwin but don't believe in Darwin.  The fast polar bears will survive and have baby polar bears.  The slow ones will die off.   Orca whales just don;t eat salmon.  Many eat seals, sharks, other fish.  If the salmon runs out, which is unlikely in all areas, they'll move to areas where salmon still run.  Or they'll learn to eat other prey.  They're even smarter than polar bears.

Yes, polar bears can adapt. Occasionally, bears in southern Arctic regions eat sled dogs. Other reports from Arctic describe polar bears pulling out people from tents.

Quote
A father in Canada’s far north says he was barely able to keep his tent closed against a polar bear that was trying to break in for food.
“This polar bear nearly killed me and my two boys,” Issiah Oyukuluk said on Facebook after the terrifying encounter.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/another-close-encounter-with-polar-bear-nearly-adds-to-deadly-statistics/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/19/polar-bear-attack-sleeping-czech-tourist
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 07:50:06 pm
Short sited view. Anytime habitat is reduced for a species...nothing good comes from it. With the ice receding due to climate changes, the polar bear habitat is shrinking and more importantly the time a polar bear spends on the ice eating is being reduced. Sure the reduction of hunting has given life to the species...but it now is dealing with a much bigger issue, one that cannot be turned off at the drop of a hat like hunting was.
It survived numerous warnings hotter than now after every Ice Age ended.  How do you know that the warmer periods before the first Ice age wasn't the normal times for it and the colder Ice Age periods were the rarer and tougher times when it was forced to prey on seals?  Getting warmer may place it back in time when it did better.  Most species do better when it warms up.  There's usually more prey to support it.  The problem is we humans assume that the current period we live in is the normal period because that's what we're use too.  Well, what is the normal period for the earth?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 07:53:29 pm
Is the population increasing?

http://www.sej.org/publications/alaska-and-hawaii/magic-number-a-sketchy-fact-about-polar-bears-keeps-goingand-going-an
You're showing an old study from 2008.  Recent studies have shown the polar bear population multiple times larger than they were from 30 years ago.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 07:54:38 pm
Yes, polar bears can adapt. Occasionally, bears in southern Arctic regions eat sled dogs. Other reports from Arctic describe polar bears pulling out people from tents.

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/another-close-encounter-with-polar-bear-nearly-adds-to-deadly-statistics/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/19/polar-bear-attack-sleeping-czech-tourist

I understand they're really fond of Canadians.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 08:26:37 pm
  Well, what is the normal period for the earth?

One which humans don't f*ck it up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 08:37:47 pm
You're showing an old study from 2008.  Recent studies have shown the polar bear population multiple times larger than they were from 30 years ago.

You keep quoting old reports. This one is from 2019:

Quote
Today, though, the sea bears’ future around Churchill looks bleak. In Churchill and the surrounding area (called the Western Hudson Bay), the bears’ population is plunging. The last two decades have been particularly harsh. “The population has declined substantially since the late nineties by 30 percent,” said Evan Richardson, a research scientist for Environment and Climate Change Canada, a government agency. What was once a population of 1,200 bears is now 800, and falling.

https://mashable.com/feature/polar-bears-churchill-population-decline/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 08, 2020, 08:45:01 pm
You're showing an old study from 2008.  Recent studies have shown the polar bear population multiple times larger than they were from 30 years ago.

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say you took one look at the date and dismissed the article without reading it, because if you did read it and that was your takeaway your reading comprehension is such that nothing you have to say about the polar bears has the least bit of credibility.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 08, 2020, 08:46:59 pm
I understand they're really fond of Canadians.

In the second case, it was a plump Czech photographer.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 08:53:56 pm
You keep quoting old reports. This one is from 2019:

https://mashable.com/feature/polar-bears-churchill-population-decline/
Les, the report I read covered the entire range not just Churchill.  The overall population of the bear has increased at least three fold in thirty years.  I think we need to get off the polar bear.  If that's the main reason to spend 2 trillion dollars as Biden suggests on "Green", it would be cheaper to just kill a bunch of seals and helicopter drop them for the bears to eat. 

I know where we can get them.  Cape Cod.  Apparently, in caring so much for seals there, we outlawed killing them for food or fur.  So now, there's a huge influx of white sharks there to feed on the seals.  Apparently, they've mistaken some of our neighbors for the furry pinnipeds, and have been chomping on our relatives as well.  It's screwing up people's vacations.  The store owners, like in Jaws, are complaining that they got to get rid of the sharks which is apparently worse then COvid 19. No one wants to vacation there anymore if they need to swim with a shark cage. So I propose that we kill the seals and ship them north to feed the polar bears.  The sharks will leave, the vacationers will come back to Cape Cod, and the bears will stuff themselves.  Then I can keep my SUV and keep polluting the atmosphere without guilt. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 08, 2020, 09:50:55 pm
Les, the report I read covered the entire range not just Churchill.  The overall population of the bear has increased at least three fold in thirty years.  I think we need to get off the polar bear.  If that's the main reason to spend 2 trillion dollars as Biden suggests on "Green", it would be cheaper to just kill a bunch of seals and helicopter drop them for the bears to eat. 

I know where we can get them.  Cape Cod.  Apparently, in caring so much for seals there, we outlawed killing them for food or fur.  So now, there's a huge influx of white sharks there to feed on the seals.  Apparently, they've mistaken some of our neighbors for the furry pinnipeds, and have been chomping on our relatives as well.  It's screwing up people's vacations.  The store owners, like in Jaws, are complaining that they got to get rid of the sharks which is apparently worse then COvid 19. No one wants to vacation there anymore if they need to swim with a shark cage. So I propose that we kill the seals and ship them north to feed the polar bears.  The sharks will leave, the vacationers will come back to Cape Cod, and the bears will stuff themselves.  Then I can keep my SUV and keep polluting the atmosphere without guilt.

Humans think they can manage things better than Mother Nature. It's been proven time and again we humans are lousy at dealing with nature.

As a good example, rats came on board ships to the Hawaiian Islands and with no predictors, they ravished. Human's great idea...lets get some mongoose onto the island...they love rats. Well the rats were under control, but the mongoose with no natural predator roams freely devastating things.

If humans just leave things alone, things will work themselves out.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 08, 2020, 11:41:32 pm
Man is part of nature. It uses nature for its advantages just like all other species.  Nature is not threatened by man. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 06:40:01 am
The overall population of the bear has increased at least three fold in thirty years.

Again, that's because we've stopped hunting them.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 09, 2020, 06:44:58 am
Man is part of nature. It uses nature for its advantages just like all other species.  Nature is not threatened by man.

In the larger sense, that's true. Nature will carry on, even if it means making humans extinct. Nature will carry on just fine without us, we are just one particular adaption. We don't try to preserve nature because nature needs the help, we preserve it because WE need it to survive. This is basic, why does it need repeating.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 07:47:46 am
In the larger sense, that's true. Nature will carry on, even if it means making humans extinct. Nature will carry on just fine without us, we are just one particular adaption. We don't try to preserve nature because nature needs the help, we preserve it because WE need it to survive. This is basic, why does it need repeating.

Indeed.

New research has found that the models used to estimate the rising temperatures that cause climate change as a result of human activity are honing in on a narrower (with less uncertainty), but also a somewhat higher side of the range. Do note that this new publication needs to be peer-reviewed.

An assessment of Earth's climate sensitivity using multiple lines of evidence
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2019RG000678
Quote
Plain Language Summary
Earth's global “climate sensitivity” is a fundamental quantitative measure of the susceptibility of Earth's climate to human influence. A landmark report in 1979 concluded that it probably lies between 1.5‐4.5°C per doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide, assuming that other influences on climate remain unchanged. In the 40 years since, it has appeared difficult to reduce this uncertainty range. In this report we thoroughly assess all lines of evidence including some new developments. We find that a large volume of consistent evidence now points to a more confident view of a climate sensitivity near the middle or upper part of this range. In particular, it now appears extremely unlikely that the climate sensitivity could be low enough to avoid substantial climate change (well in excess of 2°C warming) under a high‐emissions future scenario. We remain unable to rule out that the sensitivity could be above 4.5°C per doubling of carbon dioxide levels, although this is not likely. Continued research is needed to further reduce the uncertainty and we identify some of the more promising possibilities in this regard.

Also, in the Netherlands, last night we had a record hottest night since official recording started in 1901, and we're in a 'Code Orange' warning situation in parts of the country (temperature of 35+ °C, 95+ degrees Fahrenheit), which is unusual at our approx. 52 degrees North latitude and bordering the sea. We're in a heatwave situation that started 2 days ago and will last a week before returning to more normal (but rising) levels.

A major water provider is cautioning to use less water for spraying gardens or filling backyard pools, and to shorten the time we spend under the shower. Otherwise they will be forced to lower the water pressure, which might even lead to no drinking/tapwater in certain areas. This is something new for a country that is very good at getting rid of the water from our partly below sea-level living conditions. Now we need to also buffer more water for the more frequently hot and dry periods. This is at least the third year in a row that we suffer an annual water deficit, nature is drying up, foodproduction is under stress, and the risk of wildfires is increasing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 08:36:24 am
In Ontario, July 2020 was the hottest July in Toronto since Environment Canada began data collection 84 years ago.

Quote
“It was excruciatingly hot,” David Phillips, a climatologist at Environment and Climate Change Canada, told the Star. “No doubt about it, this was the warmest July.”
Phillips calculated that the average temperature for the month of July was 25 C, which beat the previous July record of 24.4 C set in 2011.
This July also saw an average daytime high of 30.3 C, which comes within spitting distance of the record set in 1951 of 30.3 C.

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/07/30/hottest-july-in-84-years-environment-canada.html

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 11:32:03 am
Again, that's because we've stopped hunting them.
The media has been reporting the polar bear population has been decreasing.  That's not true.  It's tripled, at least in the last 30 years. If global warming is wiping them out, the numbers would still decrease.  The news is phony.  The only argument they could make is that if it warms up more, then it's possible it may reverse and start losing population.  But that's not their argument.  They've argued it's already decreasing and that's a lie. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 09, 2020, 11:55:16 am
The media has been reporting the polar bear population has been decreasing.  That's not true.  It's tripled, at least in the last 30 years. If global warming is wiping them out, the numbers would still decrease.  The news is phony.  The only argument they could make is that if it warms up more, then it's possible it may reverse and start losing population.  But that's not their argument.  They've argued it's already decreasing and that's a lie.

The studies showing an increase in polar bears are hoaxes. Climate charge deniers are funding them. Of course this is America, so you can believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is false.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 12:33:27 pm
The media has been reporting the polar bear population has been decreasing.

Reputable media? Then maybe they are correct.

FWIW, I don't even need the media to tell me that at the current rate of warming nature cannot adapt fast enough without making casualties. It can be observed when you open your eyes. In my country we are getting insects that have before only occurred in the Mediterranean. Some of those insects can move fast enough to follow the climate, but the indigenous insects/plants/animals have no defense against those invasive species. The polar regions are warming even faster which also affects foodsources of species that live there and have nowhere to migrate.

Attached the thermometer reading of this afternoon on my balcony (that's showing about 129 Fahrenheit).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on August 09, 2020, 12:45:47 pm
"Attached the thermometer reading of this afternoon on my balcony (that's showing about 129 Fahrenheit)." In full sunlight. Come on now, Bart, you should know better. And don't tell me I don't know about the weather in the Netherlands. I may have move away a long time ago, but I keep in touch with my relatives and friends there.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 12:47:36 pm
The studies showing an increase in polar bears are hoaxes. Climate charge deniers are funding them. Of course this is America, so you can believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is false.
The studies showing an decrease in polar bears are hoaxes. Climate charge supporters are funding them. Of course this is America, so you can believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is false.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 12:50:54 pm
Reputable media? Then maybe they are correct.

FWIW, I don't even need the media to tell me that at the current rate of warming nature cannot adapt fast enough without making casualties. It can be observed when you open your eyes. In my country we are getting insects that have before only occurred in the Mediterranean. Some of those insects can move fast enough to follow the climate, but the indigenous insects/plants/animals have no defense against those invasive species. The polar regions are warming even faster which also affects foodsources of species that live there and have nowhere to migrate.

Attached the thermometer reading of this afternoon on my balcony (that's showing about 129 Fahrenheit).
I hope you don't keep your film in the sun too.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 12:59:49 pm
"Attached the thermometer reading of this afternoon on my balcony (that's showing about 129 Fahrenheit)." In full sunlight. Come on now, Bart, you should know better. And don't tell me I don't know about the weather in the Netherlands. I may have move away a long time ago, but I keep in touch with my relatives and friends there.

Yes, in the sunshine. I need a new thermometer with a higher range.

Large parts of the cities do not have enough shade. Customers are avoiding shops, unless they sell essentials like food or have good cooling (which is costing the shops lots of extra money). And those relatives can tell you that the official KNMI weather-stations have at around the same time reported 32.3 Celsius (air temperature at 1.5 meters above the ground in a meadow) in the center of the country, which is where I live. And it's cooler today than it was yesterday.

(https://cdn.knmi.nl/system/data_center_discover_blocks/image1s/000/000/315/large/heatindex.png?1502456661)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 09, 2020, 01:10:48 pm
The studies showing an increase in polar bears are hoaxes. Climate charge deniers are funding them. Of course this is America, so you can believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is false.

The studies showing an decrease in polar bears are hoaxes. Climate charge supporters are funding them. Of course this is America, so you can believe whatever you want to believe, even if it is false.

This is what happens when non-scientists read stuff, say about climate change, on the internet and make judgments based on it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on August 09, 2020, 01:13:17 pm
Man is part of nature. It uses nature for its advantages just like all other species.  Nature is not threatened by man.

Tell that to the dodo.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 01:40:39 pm
Man is part of nature. It uses nature for its advantages just like all other species.  Nature is not threatened by man.

On the contrary. The nature is threatened by man, and man can be threatened by nature (especially by hungry bears).
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 02:02:01 pm
Yes, in the sunshine. I need a new thermometer with a higher range.

Large parts of the cities do not have enough shade. Customers are avoiding shops, unless they sell essentials like food or have good cooling (which is costing the shops lots of extra money). And those relatives can tell you that the official KNMI weather-stations have at around the same time reported 32.3 Celsius (air temperature at 1.5 meters above the ground in a meadow) in the center of the country, which is where I live. And it's cooler today than it was yesterday.

...
I've got an awning over my back patio.  Maybe we can put one over the Earth and solve the global warming crisis?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 02:05:55 pm
Tell that to the dodo.

Jeremy
They weren't very smart.  That's why they called them the dodo.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 02:08:18 pm
I've got an awning over my back patio.  Maybe we can put one over the Earth and solve the global warming crisis?

Or reduce the build-up of CO2 (which causes an amplifying build-up of watervapor, and Methane, other greenhouse gasses).
Prevention seems more realistic than your cure.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 02:14:03 pm
On the contrary. The nature is threatened by man, and man can be threatened by nature (especially by hungry bears).
Who do you think has a better chance of surviving?  Man or bear?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypy4zHxeCCw
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 02:15:25 pm
Or reduce the build-up of CO2 (which causes an amplifying build-up of watervapor, and Methane, other greenhouse gasses).
Prevention seems more realistic than your cure.
That's not going to happen.  We need to think out of the box.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 02:58:28 pm
Who do you think has a better chance of surviving?

Cockroaches and ants.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 03:16:27 pm
Who do you think has a better chance of surviving?  Man or bear?

This is a win-loose thinking. Try to come up with a win-win scenario.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 03:35:16 pm
This is a win-loose thinking. Try to come up with a win-win scenario.
Smokey Bear.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 09, 2020, 03:43:55 pm
Who do you think has a better chance of surviving?  Man or bear?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypy4zHxeCCw

Cockroaches. They've been around before the dinosaurs.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 09, 2020, 03:53:04 pm
Tell that to the dodo.

Jeremy

And canis lupus, *recently* hunted to absolute extinction in the USA. Thanks, ranchers lobby.
Recently re-introduced to America with wolves from Canada.  Yer welcome.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 03:57:52 pm
And canis lupus, *recently* hunted to absolute extinction in the USA. Thanks, ranchers lobby.
Recently re-introduced to America with wolves from Canada.  Yer welcome.


The same was done with bison from the Bronx Zoo.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 09, 2020, 04:02:58 pm
Speaking of which: bugs.  Living on the same 30 acres of rural land in SE British Columbia, I learned that I could tell what non-winter week it was by what kinds of bugs were about.

Now?  None.  For the last two years, there are virtually no bugs here at all, save mosquitoes and a few domestic honey bees, and even those are scarce. Grasshoppers and crickets, a sure harbinger of August, are totally absent. Dragonflies, which eat bugs, are completely gone, too. As are nearly all the birds. The corvids remain, but they'll eat anything.

I regularly drive across the province and my decidedly unscientific research proves that my local observations are valid from here to Vancouver.  My windshield is the measurement tool.  It acquires a quarter of the windshield deaths that it did in previous years.

Something has radically changed in the insect world in my part of the world and it's scary.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 04:35:46 pm
Peter, I've noticed that here in New Jersey. There seems to be less bugs and mosquitoes.  When you drive, the headlights don't seem to illuminate many bugs on the road than when I was younger.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 09, 2020, 04:39:22 pm
Peter, I've noticed that here in New Jersey. There seems to be less bugs and mosquitoes.  When you drive, the headlights don't seem to illuminate many bugs on the road than when I was younger.

It is climate change. Who wants to expend energy flying into windshields in this heat?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 09, 2020, 04:42:48 pm
Anybody else noticed this where they live?  Fewer insects?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 09, 2020, 04:55:07 pm
Anybody else noticed this where they live?  Fewer insects?

I'm tempted to say the same for here in Ottawa area, but I'm not sure I'm driving enough this year anyway. Don't trust my observations.

Local woods seemed full of deer flies 3-4 weeks ago but fewer mosquitoes than I expected. However, it was midday and very hot, something mosquitoes stay away from. I wasn't out in the bush much this spring so don't know what black fly season was like.

I used to volunteer at car rallies, often at the Rally of Tall Pines held in late November in the Bancroft area. It used to be considered a winter rally but it does not reliably get snow or even cold any more in the last 10 years. It's a shock to see deer flies and mosquitoes in the woods in late November.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 04:59:10 pm
My biggest concern however is ticks, Lyme infected.  The disease has grown immensely and certainly there is no decrease in ticks.  I try to put on my Permethrin treated clothes when I'm photographing in the woods or even on grass off the side of roads.   Maybe the ticks are eating the other bugs. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on August 09, 2020, 05:21:36 pm
Anybody else noticed this where they live?  Fewer insects?

While not a scientific study, this year I've had hardly any mosquitoes disturb me in my sleep. The Tiger mosquito has been inadvertently introduced and is spreading in parts of the country.

There is an increase in the number of ticks that carry Lyme disease. We've also had an increase of monster ticks, that actively hunt their prey. Last year we've had an invasion of oak procession caterpillars, but this year the massive placements of nesting houses for great tits might have had the intended effect. They have learned how to eat them, by hitting them on branches to lose the hairs that cause serious irritation.

There has been an explosion of Mediterranean (wiggle butt) ant colonies that do not have a single queen but 10,000 queens, and their nests can spread below several street blocks, and they invade houses. No natural predator or effective cure has been found yet.

From others, I've heard about the declining number of various bee populations (due to pesticides and mites), despite efforts by my municipality to keep a lot of blooming grasses and wildflowers standing, and not cutting them until after they have bloomed.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 05:25:34 pm
My biggest concern however is ticks, Lyme infected.  The disease has grown immensely and certainly there is no decrease in ticks.  I try to put on my Permethrin treated clothes when I'm photographing in the woods or even on grass off the side of roads.   Maybe the ticks are eating the other bugs. :)

I agree on the ticks, there are making serious inroads to the northern regions. So far, I haven't picked up any yet. Also japanese beetles are on increase in Ontario, maybe they don't have any natural enemies here. They eat voraciously leaves on raspberries, blackberries, currants and some other leafy plants, and the leafless plants die after two or three such seasons. Around my backyard and in the city parks I noticed this year fewer mosquitoes, maybe due to the long heat wave we have had this summer, but out in the country the flies and mosquitoes are still prospering.  I don't see as many bees, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies as in the previous years.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 09, 2020, 05:30:48 pm
I don't see as many bees, wasps, butterflies and dragonflies as in the previous years.

We have three hives, so lots of bees. Butterflies are down this year, though it still may a little early. It is just so damn hot. I think all the usual summer things are moving into the fall.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 09, 2020, 08:01:36 pm
Speaking of which: bugs.  Living on the same 30 acres of rural land in SE British Columbia, I learned that I could tell what non-winter week it was by what kinds of bugs were about.

Now?  None.  For the last two years, there are virtually no bugs here at all, save mosquitoes and a few domestic honey bees, and even those are scarce. Grasshoppers and crickets, a sure harbinger of August, are totally absent. Dragonflies, which eat bugs, are completely gone, too. As are nearly all the birds. The corvids remain, but they'll eat anything.

I regularly drive across the province and my decidedly unscientific research proves that my local observations are valid from here to Vancouver.  My windshield is the measurement tool.  It acquires a quarter of the windshield deaths that it did in previous years.

Something has radically changed in the insect world in my part of the world and it's scary.

I remember driving through the Okanagan during early evenings from Penticton to Midway and having to stop in Osoyoos to clean the windshield from all the bug guts. No such thing now. Definitely the bugs have bugged out.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Frans Waterlander on August 09, 2020, 08:20:56 pm
I remember driving through the Okanagan during early evenings from Penticton to Midway and having to stop in Osoyoos to clean the windshield from all the bug guts. No such thing now. Definitely the bugs have bugged out.

And maybe that's a good thing!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 08:35:45 pm
I remember driving through the Okanagan during early evenings from Penticton to Midway and having to stop in Osoyoos to clean the windshield from all the bug guts. No such thing now. Definitely the bugs have bugged out.

Could be due also to more aerodynamic shapes of the cars.

Quote
The RSPB’s State of Nature study suggests there has been a 59 per cent decline in insects in the UK since 1970.
While experts say the phenomenon is “near impossible” to prove, the changing shape of cars and increase in traffic on the roads could also be to blame.
Motors are now more aerodynamic, meaning fewer insects are likely to hit the windshield.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/4338549/this-is-why-your-car-windscreen-is-no-longer-covered-in-dead-insects/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 09, 2020, 09:09:51 pm
Maybe insects are getting smarter and just avoiding cars.  Darwin at work. Those that are drawn to the headlamps die.  Those that avoid the headlamps survive and have offspring who also avoid the lamps.  They're off in the woods biting photographers.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 09, 2020, 09:55:13 pm
Could be due also to more aerodynamic shapes of the cars.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/4338549/this-is-why-your-car-windscreen-is-no-longer-covered-in-dead-insects/

My car hasn't changed the last 10 years. The number of bugs splats has.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 09, 2020, 09:55:43 pm
Maybe insects are getting smarter and just avoiding cars.  Darwin at work. Those that are drawn to the headlamps die.  Those that avoid the headlamps survive and have offspring who also avoid the lamps.  They're off in the woods biting photographers.

Paradoxically, number of pedestrians hit by car in USA is increasing. Could it be also due to Darwin law? Or maybe due to the advances in the telephone technology.

Quote
The Governors Highway Safety Administration calculates that there were 6590 pedestrian fatalities in 2019 after making a preliminary analysis of the available data.
If that estimate holds when numbers are released later this year, that would mark a 60 percent increase in fatalities since 2009.
Meanwhile, all other traffic deaths only rose 2 percent between 2009 and 2018.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a31136893/pedestrian-deaths-increase-2019/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20according%20to%20GHSA,Brake%20it%20Down!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 09, 2020, 11:41:56 pm
. Those that are drawn to the headlamps die.  Those that avoid the headlamps survive and have offspring who also avoid the lamps.


I seldom drive mountain highways at night.  My trips to Vancouver are nearly all mountainous and I do them in daylight.  The bugs count on my windshield is not night-dependent.

The drive from Penticton to Osoyoos is a little over an hour.  That's how long it took to clog hogloff's windshield. The drive from my place to Vancouver takes 9 hours.  Previously, I'd stop several times to clean the windshield.  Now, not once.

Like I said:  "scary".
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2020, 01:09:24 am
Maybe the bugs are even smarter than I thought.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 10, 2020, 09:28:03 am
Maybe the bugs are even smarter than I thought.

Your comments about Darwinian selection when it comes to bears and insects amuse me. Keeping Easter Island in mind, what would be your attitude be toward the human race contributing to its own extinction by our profligate behaviour. Or do you think that whatever we do is fine. (I'll leave undefined who "we" is because the entire human race rarely rarely acts in concert.)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2020, 10:13:49 am
Your comments about Darwinian selection when it comes to bears and insects amuse me. Keeping Easter Island in mind, what would be your attitude be toward the human race contributing to its own extinction by our profligate behaviour. Or do you think that whatever we do is fine. (I'll leave undefined who "we" is because the entire human race rarely rarely acts in concert.)
We should be good stewards of the environment.   But it's ok to use nature too.  Common sense and balance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 10, 2020, 10:18:41 am
We should be good stewards of the environment.   But it's ok to use nature too.  Common sense and balance.

So you ARE a secret environmentalist then. It's ok to be out.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2020, 10:24:53 am
I subscribe to New York State Conservationist and get their magazines monthly. . I enjoy breathing fresh air and drinking clean water. I also enjoy owning and driving cars.  I also try to use common sense and believe In truth. And a lot of environmental stuff we get today is just a lot of political nonsense.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2020, 12:09:53 pm
Satellite Study Reveals Enormity of Melting Ice Shelves in Antarctica

https://www.wsj.com/articles/satellite-study-reveals-enormity-of-melting-ice-shelves-in-antarctica-11597071600

Fortunately, polar bears don't live in the Antarctic, but penguins do. Everyone loves penguins. You missed out on the ivory-billed woodpecker; don't miss out on the penguins. Book your photography workshop trip to the Antarctic now before it's too late.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 10, 2020, 12:47:50 pm
Satellite Study Reveals Enormity of Melting Ice Shelves in Antarctica

https://www.wsj.com/articles/satellite-study-reveals-enormity-of-melting-ice-shelves-in-antarctica-11597071600

Fortunately, polar bears don't live in the Antarctic, but penguins do. Everyone loves penguins. You missed out on the ivory-billed woodpecker; don't miss out on the penguins. Book your photography workshop trip to the Antarctic now before it's too late.
I don't subscribe and can't read the article.  What does "enormity" mean from a consequence standpoint?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2020, 12:49:34 pm
I don't subscribe and can't read the article.  What does "enormity" mean from a consequence standpoint?

I don't subscribe to the WSJ and was able to read the article. There is no benefit to discussing the article with you if you haven't read it. It would be as pointless as discussing Trump's behavior at the press conference you didn't watch.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on August 10, 2020, 01:36:58 pm
I don't subscribe to the WSJ and was able to read the article. There is no benefit to discussing the article with you if you haven't read it. It would be as pointless as discussing Trump's behavior at the press conference you didn't watch.

The link asks me to subscribe or sign in...
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 10, 2020, 01:40:57 pm
The link asks me to subscribe or sign in...

I am sorry you can’t read it. No real loss though. I just thought it was an interesting article, and a diversion from the on-going discussion of polar bears. I'll refrain from posting articles from the WSJ in the future.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 13, 2020, 07:25:22 pm
I had never heard of woolly rhinos.

Ancient genomes suggest woolly rhinos went extinct due to climate change, not overhunting

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-ancient-genomes-woolly-rhinos-extinct.html

I don't know much about the source of the article. Perhaps it is a website run by a bunch of radical left wing scientists who have been bought off by whomever it is that is supposed to be buying off radical left wing scientists to say that woolly rhinos went extinct because of climate change. It could have been one of those mass suicide things because the woolly rhinos were so distraught over the demise of their pals the woolly mammoths. We'll probably never know for sure.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 14, 2020, 11:23:12 pm
Due to Tropical Storm Isaias that rolled through NJ last week, we lost power for 4 days.  So now we're investigating backup natural gas operated electric generators.  But I was thinking about solar panels combined with storage batteries with maybe a smaller emergency generator instead of just a larger generator with no solar panels. Does anyone know of that kind of a setup?

I don't think I can get enough storage for night time use.  But is anyone working in Europe or elsewhere on better performance or different methods?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 01:16:58 am
Death Valley soars to 130 degrees, potentially Earth’s highest temperature since at least 1931
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/16/death-valley-heat-record/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 17, 2020, 02:04:02 am
Death Valley soars to 130 degrees, potentially Earth’s highest temperature since at least 1931
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/08/16/death-valley-heat-record/

From the article:

"As it stands, if Sunday’s 130-degree reading is confirmed, it would be the world’s highest temperature officially recorded since 1931, and the third-highest since 1873."

So it seems there might have been a higher temperature way back in 1873 at the beginning of the current warm period when atmospheric CO2 levels were much lower and were close to pre-industrial levels. I guess we can all relax.   ;D

If we had accurate temperature records going back a 1,000 years or more, this current reading of 130 degrees F could be the 50th-highest in the world, or even the 100th-highest.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 07:28:31 am
If we had accurate temperature records going back a 1,000 years or more, this current reading of 130 degrees F could be the 50th-highest in the world, or even the 100th-highest.  ;)

Check with Alan. He has accurate temperature records going back several hundred million years. He even has a chart.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 08:51:24 am
Check with Alan. He has accurate temperature records going back several hundred million years. He even has a chart.
Well, Death Valley hasn't seen any polar bears in years.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 02:15:42 pm
Well, Death Valley hasn't seen any polar bears in years.  :)

The radical left-wing scientists have been bought off by whomever is suppose to be buying off radical left-wing scientists to say that polar bears don't live in Death Valley. Otherwise, their argument that polar bears will go extinct due to climate change falls apart. The people who have been trying to film Sasquatch in the wilds of Canada have given up, and have now set up filming in Death Valley. We should have evidence of polar bears living in Death Valley on YouTube any day now. I don't know how hard it is to spray paint a black bear white.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 03:07:15 pm
The radical left-wing scientists have been bought off by whomever is suppose to be buying off radical left-wing scientists to say that polar bears don't live in Death Valley. Otherwise, their argument that polar bears will go extinct due to climate change falls apart. The people who have been trying to film Sasquatch in the wilds of Canada have given up, and have now set up filming in Death Valley. We should have evidence of polar bears living in Death Valley on YouTube any day now. I don't know how hard it is to spray paint a black bear white.

A white black bear is called a spirit bear and they roam the coastline of the Great Bear Rainforest.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 17, 2020, 03:17:15 pm
The radical left-wing scientists have been bought off by whomever is suppose to be buying off radical left-wing scientists to say that polar bears don't live in Death Valley. Otherwise, their argument that polar bears will go extinct due to climate change falls apart. The people who have been trying to film Sasquatch in the wilds of Canada have given up, and have now set up filming in Death Valley. We should have evidence of polar bears living in Death Valley on YouTube any day now.

Speaking of deaths, wild animals and warm valleys,

Quote
More than 200 reindeer have been found dead this summer in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard -- and climate change appears to be the killer, researchers say.
The reindeer likely starved to death after being unable to find food to graze on, according to scientists at the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI), a federal scientific research agency that monitors the wild reindeer population.

(https://imagevars.gulfnews.com/2019/07/27/Dead-deer_16c33e82f4f_large.jpg)

https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/europe/norway-reindeer-dead-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 04:03:30 pm
Les:  The article states: "The relatively large number of calves born last year exacerbated the problem. The youngest and weakest animals are often the first to die in harsh conditions like these, according to the Institute." 

High offspring rates means that the feeding the previous year was good.  So there was plenty of food then.  MAybe caused by warmer weather and CO2 that grows more food for grazing. There may not have been enough grazing areas the following year which is natural for whitetail deer here in the US as well.  What happens is over a number of good years, the herds expand tremendously.  Hunting doesn't deplete them enough.  Then, the deer suffer deaths with a 50% reduction in one bad winter because the deer can't get to the food or there's not enough to go around.  But this is normal.  It doesn;t mean we're have another ice age. 

Likewise, are the scientists jumping to conclusions about the reindeer?  Similar things could be happening there from time to time.  Populations expand and contract, yes, especially due to changes in the environment and weather.  So what? 

Also, I'd like to know how many deer expanded because the higher CO2 and warmth gave them better grazing in the good years.  The greater population would have set them up for a bad year this year.  Did the scientists investigate that aspect? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 04:35:50 pm
Les:  The article states: "The relatively large number of calves born last year exacerbated the problem. The youngest and weakest animals are often the first to die in harsh conditions like these, according to the Institute." 

High offspring rates means that the feeding the previous year was good.  So there was plenty of food then.  MAybe caused by warmer weather and CO2 that grows more food for grazing. There may not have been enough grazing areas the following year which is natural for whitetail deer here in the US as well.  What happens is over a number of good years, the herds expand tremendously.  Hunting doesn't deplete them enough.  Then, the deer suffer deaths with a 50% reduction in one bad winter because the deer can't get to the food or there's not enough to go around.  But this is normal.  It doesn;t mean we're have another ice age. 

Likewise, are the scientists jumping to conclusions about the reindeer?  Similar things could be happening there from time to time.  Populations expand and contract, yes, especially due to changes in the environment and weather.  So what? 

Also, I'd like to know how many deer expanded because the higher CO2 and warmth gave them better grazing in the good years.  The greater population would have set them up for a bad year this year.  Did the scientists investigate that aspect?

I guess it is theoretically possible that the scientists overlooked all of those considerations.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 04:57:37 pm
I guess it is theoretically possible that the scientists overlooked all of those considerations.
If they didn't include it in their report, then yes, they overlooked them. I didn't read the report.  So the question is did they report on the number of reindeer population for the past few years?  They did mention there was a large birthrate the previous year.  Did they explain what effect that has?  People, yes scientists, are always blaming climate change.  But changes in the weather happen regularly enough to effect huge die offs in animal population. These may or may not have to do with climate change.  Speculating isn't science.  How did they arrive at their conclusions?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 05:02:03 pm
If they didn't include it in their report, then yes, they overlooked them. I didn't read the report.  So the question is did they report on the number of reindeer population for the past few years?  They did mention there was a large birthrate the previous year.  Did they explain what effect that has?  People, yes scientists, are always blaming climate change.  But changes in the weather happen regularly enough to effect huge die offs in animal population. These may or may not have to do with climate change.  Speculating isn't science.  How did they arrive at their conclusions?

You'd have to read the report to find out. In the meantime, just assume they are dishonest, or at least incompetent, scientists.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 17, 2020, 05:16:57 pm
In the meantime, Trump approved oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That should improve the living conditions for the polar bears.

(https://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/assets/images/20200817/20200817_2665425020200817161147.jpg)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 05:19:04 pm
I checked another article to get more information. It says there are 22,000 reindeer on Svalbard ISland where the death occurred.  200 dead out of 22,000 is nothing.  Especially because they were the vulnerable old and young.  The article also says:

" The elderly and young are the first to die as the rest continue on to try and find an area to graze. The bodies of over 200 skinny and malnourished reindeer were found by scientists performing an annual census of the wild reindeer population...

The institute believes there are 22,000 reindeer in Svalbard, but that number could start to decline drastically if the temperatures continue to rise."
https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/200-dead-reindeer/

Another article claims the regular population to be around 10,000.  If true, the 22,000 currently could confirm my point about overpopulation.  There's just too many of them to be supported when the weather changes.  These could be just natural processes happening unrelated to global warming.
https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/spitsbergen-information/wildlife/svalbard-reindeer.html#:~:text=Miscellaneous%3A%20The%20size%20of%20the,designated%20areas%20in%20Nordenski%C3%B6ld%20Land.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 05:21:44 pm
You'd have to read the report to find out. In the meantime, just assume they are dishonest, or at least incompetent, scientists.
Maybe the media is pushing the climate change angle in their reports because that's what they do. Instead of reporting and asking the right questions as I have, they focus on climate change because that's what their readers want to read.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 17, 2020, 05:28:01 pm
I checked another article to get more information. It says there are 22,000 reindeer on Svalbard ISland where the death occurred.  200 dead out of 22,000 is nothing.  Especially because they were the vulnerable old and young.  The article also says:

" The elderly and young are the first to die as the rest continue on to try and find an area to graze. The bodies of over 200 skinny and malnourished reindeer were found by scientists performing an annual census of the wild reindeer population...

The institute believes there are 22,000 reindeer in Svalbard, but that number could start to decline drastically if the temperatures continue to rise."
https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/200-dead-reindeer/

Another article claims the regular population to be around 10,000.  If true, the 22,000 currently could confirm my point about overpopulation.  There's just too many of them to be supported when the weather changes.  These could be just natural processes happening unrelated to global warming.
https://www.spitsbergen-svalbard.com/spitsbergen-information/wildlife/svalbard-reindeer.html#:~:text=Miscellaneous%3A%20The%20size%20of%20the,designated%20areas%20in%20Nordenski%C3%B6ld%20Land.

I have been reading up a lot on climate change since the lock down, and I have come to the conclusion that most of the hysteria sold by the left on climate issues are nonsense.  Although it is an issue in some very localized places in the world, most of the time what is attributed to climate change is often the result of other things. 

Another good one is for the left to blame the drastic increase in damage from hurricanes being from climate change making hurricanes stronger.  There has been some pretty great research showing hurricanes have been more or less the same for the last few centuries. 

We are just building drastically more in hurricane prone areas due to the federal government backing flood insurance private insurance companies use to not provide for those areas because of the hurricanes.  This caused a building boom (everyone loves water front property), which in turn causes more damage from hurricanes. 

I was once told by the daughter of a farmer to never buy a house on what use to be a pig farm.  Cows' hooves rot in wet soil, whereas pigs' hooves do not, and that's the only reason to raise pigs when beef sells for so much more.  If you do buy there, dont be surprised when your basement floods.  Same thing here; if you buy a house in an hurrcane prone area dont be surprised when a hurricane destroys your home.  It wasn't climate change, just you being a jack ass. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 05:28:25 pm
In the meantime, Trump approved oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That should improve the living conditions for the polar bears.

(https://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/assets/images/20200817/20200817_2665425020200817161147.jpg)
That's speculation.  Maybe you're opposed because as a Canadian you'll have more American competition for oil up north.  Of course, if we pump it through piping, it would go through Canada so you would get a fee for that.  Beneficial for both of our countries.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 05:52:40 pm
Maybe the media is pushing the climate change angle in their reports because that's what they do. Instead of reporting and asking the right questions as I have, they focus on climate change because that's what their readers want to read.

Ah yes, the media.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 05:54:38 pm
That's speculation.  Maybe you're opposed because as a Canadian you'll have more American competition for oil up north.

Not sure that would have been my first guess, but it fits a pattern. I'm not sure why the media would post a picture of some healthy polar bears to accompany this story. They must be slipping. I mean wouldn’t they photoshop in some emaciated bears near a drilling rig?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 17, 2020, 05:58:02 pm
Ah yes, the media.

Frank, I don't see how you can have any trouble with this.  The media needs to sell headlines, which means sensationalizing stories.  Climate change is an easy target, therefore it gets sensationalized and overblown. 

Trump used to great effect in 2016.  He did act after act that were easy to sensationalize, getting him free press since he knew they would not be able to resist. 

Here's a good review of what Trump does.  How Trump Manipulates The Media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IctC0Quf8zc)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 17, 2020, 06:08:58 pm
Frank, I don't see how you can have any trouble with this.  The media needs to sell headlines, which means sensationalizing stories.  Climate change is an easy target, therefore it gets sensationalized and overblown. 

Trump used to great effect in 2016.  He did act after act that were easy to sensationalize, getting him free press since he knew they would not be able to resist. 

Here's a good review of what Trump does.  How Trump Manipulates The Media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IctC0Quf8zc)

It is just that I don't immediately disbelieve everything I read, and attribute dishonesty or incompetence to those involved in the article and its publication. And I am pretty cynical.

For example, my question about the article was not the same as Alan's about dishonesty in the media. When I looked at the picture I asked myself: if the reindeer died of starvation, why would they all die, young and old, at the same place at the same time?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 17, 2020, 06:21:52 pm
It is just that I don't immediately disbelieve everything I read, and attribute dishonesty or incompetence to those involved in the article and its publication. And I am pretty cynical.

For example, my question about the article was not the same as Alan's about dishonesty in the media. When I looked at the picture I asked myself: if the reindeer died of starvation, why would they all die, young and old, at the same place at the same time?

Sounds fair.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on August 17, 2020, 07:08:39 pm
I have been reading up a lot on climate change since the lock down, and I have come to the conclusion that most of the hysteria sold by the left on climate issues are nonsense. 

Please share with us what you've been reading that has led you to that conclusion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 07:50:51 pm
I guess it is theoretically possible that the scientists overlooked all of those considerations.

Or maybe not after all many of these scientists live and breath this stuff everyday and there are many armchair quarterbacks that think they know better than people who have devoted their lives to this stuff.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 07:54:27 pm
If they didn't include it in their report, then yes, they overlooked them. I didn't read the report.  So the question is did they report on the number of reindeer population for the past few years?  They did mention there was a large birthrate the previous year.  Did they explain what effect that has?  People, yes scientists, are always blaming climate change.  But changes in the weather happen regularly enough to effect huge die offs in animal population. These may or may not have to do with climate change.  Speculating isn't science.  How did they arrive at their conclusions?

Alan...you've made it very clear in numerous posts you don't trust scientist, doctors and financial advisors. But please stop insulting their intelligence over and over again. Many of these scientists have devoted their entire lives to their science and rather than coming down hard on these people that live a meager life...maybe for once you should praise the work they do.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 07:55:10 pm
You'd have to read the report to find out. In the meantime, just assume they are dishonest, or at least incompetent, scientists.

Yes, Alan has issues with experts in their fields.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 07:57:21 pm
That's speculation.  Maybe you're opposed because as a Canadian you'll have more American competition for oil up north.  Of course, if we pump it through piping, it would go through Canada so you would get a fee for that.  Beneficial for both of our countries.

Good luck getting a pipeline approved through any native terrirory...especially if it's totally foreign interests.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 17, 2020, 08:02:52 pm
Please share with us what you've been reading that has led you to that conclusion.

I just gave you an example.  The left here likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change.  Hurricanes have been fairly stable in strength going back a few centuries.  The increase n damage is from building more in hurricane prone areas. 

Like I said, I do feel in certain areas climate change is an issue, but that is mainly at the polls and low islands.  But the constant hysteria is just not true and uncalled for. 

I am a strong environmentalist btw, but have found right wing environmentalism to be more likely to cause change due to the exceptance of fact over hysteria.  Another issue that has pushed in this direction, the left hysteria towards nuclear, which is the only alternate viable power source to fossil fuels. 

As Elon Musk recently put it, the left is losing the center, and that includes me (albeit center right). 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 17, 2020, 08:15:31 pm
if the reindeer died of starvation, why would they all die, young and old, at the same place at the same time?

Exactly what I thought.  How come they're all piled up there on top of each other? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 17, 2020, 08:16:35 pm
Yes, Alan has issues with experts in their fields.

Especially since he appears to be an expert in nearly ALL fields.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 08:25:05 pm
Good luck getting a pipeline approved through any native terrirory...especially if it's totally foreign interests.
Didn't Trump approve your Canadian Keystone pipeline through the US after Obama stopped it? Don;t you owe him a debt of gratitude? Can't native territory be skirted?  What if the pipeline company paid the native people a fee for every barrel sent through their territory.  Do you think the natives might change their minds?  What if they threw in a gambling casino? ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 17, 2020, 08:29:54 pm
The left here likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change.
Why is it "the left here" who likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change. Why do you attach this opinion to "the left"?  Do you have any data on this?

 
Quote
Hurricanes have been fairly stable in strength going back a few centuries.  The increase n damage is from building more in hurricane prone areas.

Those hurricane intensity data going back a few centuries:  how were they obtained?


Quote

Like I said, I do feel in certain areas climate change is an issue, but that is mainly at the polls and low islands.  But the constant hysteria is just not true and uncalled for. 

Which polls are you referencing?

Quote
Another issue that has pushed in this direction, the left hysteria towards nuclear, which is the only alternate viable power source to fossil fuels. 

The "only viable alternate"?  Really? 

1) Precisely zero of the electrical power I consume is from fossil fuels or nuclear. And I use a LOT.  I live in a relatively hostile climate.

2) There exists a substantial industry called "photovoltaics" and another one related to groups of large propellers on pylons, both generating many many GW of energy, none of which comes from fossil fuels.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 08:34:01 pm
Not sure that would have been my first guess, but it fits a pattern. I'm not sure why the media would post a picture of some healthy polar bears to accompany this story. They must be slipping. I mean wouldn’t they photoshop in some emancipated bears near a drilling rig?
You missed the garbage dump behind the bears.  Obviously they're getting fat eating junk food.  :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 08:42:40 pm
...

The "only viable alternate"?  Really? 

1) Precisely zero of the electrical power I consume is from fossil fuels or nuclear. And I use a LOT.  I live in a relatively hostile climate.

2) There exists a substantial industry called "photovoltaics" and another one related to groups of large propellers on pylons, both generating many many GW of energy, none of which comes from fossil fuels.


You're fortunate to live in an area that is windy and maybe sunnier than many areas.  Solar needs storage batteries to operate at night.  Wind generation needs, well, wind.  The point about nuclear, is that like fossil fuel, it can provide continuous high electric output any time of the day or night.  Except when a tree crashes on the wires like it did here in NJ last week during Isaia and we had to eat cold sandwiches for 4 days because the fridge went kaput and sweat because our AC went kaput too.   :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 17, 2020, 08:48:42 pm
You're fortunate to live in an area that is windy and maybe sunnier than many areas.

Actually, neither pertains.

Quote
  Solar needs storage batteries to operate at night.  Wind generation needs, well, wind.
Thanks for keeping us up to date on this.

 
Quote
The point about nuclear, is that like fossil fuel, it can provide continuous high electric output any time of the day or night.
And that's its only important characteristic?  There are other power sources that provide identical reliability.  I'm connected to one.
 
Quote
  Except when a tree crashes on the wires like it did here in NJ last week during Isaia and we had to eat cold sandwiches for 4 days because the fridge went kaput and sweat because our AC went kaput too.   :)

How awful for you.  And no pizza, either.

We should notice that "a tree crashing on the wires" will interrupt any power supply, regardless of its political provenance.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 17, 2020, 09:06:17 pm
Why is it "the left here" who likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change. Why do you attach this opinion to "the left"?  Do you have any data on this?

 
Those hurricane intensity data going back a few centuries:  how were they obtained?


Which polls are you referencing?

The "only viable alternate"?  Really? 

1) Precisely zero of the electrical power I consume is from fossil fuels or nuclear. And I use a LOT.  I live in a relatively hostile climate.

2) There exists a substantial industry called "photovoltaics" and another one related to groups of large propellers on pylons, both generating many many GW of energy, none of which comes from fossil fuels.

I was using "here" as in "in this example," not  on this site. 

Green energy (wind and solar) is massively expensive and inefficient.  On top of that, we past the point of diminishing returned years ago, so any progress will be minimal.  Add to that all of the other issues, and it is a pipe dream.  Nuclear is the only we choice we have.  We may go down a wind/solar rabbit hole and waste tons of money in the process, but rest assure, Nuclear will be the power the source of the future. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 09:09:41 pm
Didn't Trump approve your Canadian Keystone pipeline through the US after Obama stopped it? Don;t you owe him a debt of gratitude? Can't native territory be skirted?  What if the pipeline company paid the native people a fee for every barrel sent through their territory.  Do you think the natives might change their minds?  What if they threw in a gambling casino? ;)

Many natives have higher standards than being bought out by big business. Sometimes the environment is much more important than the mighty buck.

Your comment about casinos is very disturbing.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 09:15:41 pm
I was using "here" as in "in this example," not  on this site. 

Green energy (wind and solar) is massively expensive and inefficient.  On top of that, we past the point of diminishing returned years ago, so any progress will be minimal.  Add to that all of the other issues, and it is a pipe dream.  Nuclear is the only we choice we have.  We may go down a wind/solar rabbit hole and waste tons of money in the process, but rest assure, Nuclear will be the power the source of the future. 
France has invested heavily in nuclear, what about 80-90% and successfully?   Of course, with all the regulations here in America, law suits, liability risk, insurance, and high construction costs, companies have been hesitant to go that way. It's so politically tenuous, no one wants to invest.  Maybe we will be able to build it safely on the moon and run a couple of wires.   :)

Also, the cost of natural gas, oil and coal are very cheap.  There's a glut.  Of course, if Biden gets in, we'll wind up spending trillions to switchover to renewables going into debt even more. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 09:30:21 pm
Many natives have higher standards than being bought out by big business. Sometimes the environment is much more important than the mighty buck.

Your comment about casinos is very disturbing.
Being bought out has a negative connotation.  They may decide that having extra money for their communities is really helpful.  Better schools and hospitals, housing, benefits, educations, better schools, etc.  They'll have extra money to take care of their land.  The mosse doesn;t seen any worse for the pipeline.

Why is my comment about casinos disturbing.  MAny Indian tribes here in the US have become very rich opening casinos on their land.  No one's twisting their arms.  The can decide to do it or not.  Of course, I don;t know the situation with gaming in Canada, legality, etc. I know Niagara Falls has gaming.  I went there and lost.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKjfUWxUEAAD5je.jpg
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 17, 2020, 09:40:48 pm
Being bought out has a negative connotation.  They may decide that having extra money for their communities is really helpful.  Better schools and hospitals, housing, benefits, educations, better schools, etc.  They'll have extra money to take care of their land.  The mosse doesn;t seen any worse for the pipeline.

Why is my comment about casinos disturbing.  MAny Indian tribes here in the US have become very rich opening casinos on their land.  No one's twisting their arms.  The can decide to do it or not.  Of course, I don;t know the situation with gaming in Canada, legality, etc. I know Niagara Falls has gaming.  I went there and lost.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CKjfUWxUEAAD5je.jpg

But for many natives, the environment is the most important. Something money cannot buy because once sold it can never be purchased again...no matter how much money is involved.

i tend to agree with the natives as prestige wilderness is priceless. Have you ever wandered off into wilderness that takes your breath away...and a week later you are back to your dog eat dog New Jersey world? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 17, 2020, 09:55:50 pm
But for many natives, the environment is the most important. Something money cannot buy because once sold it can never be purchased again...no matter how much money is involved.

i tend to agree with the natives as prestige wilderness is priceless. Have you ever wandered off into wilderness that takes your breath away...and a week later you are back to your dog eat dog New Jersey world? 
I understand.  I'm retired here in NJ but in horse and farm country.  The developers buy up farms and build homes.  I hate it.  I lived in crowded NYC all my life and enjoy the relative openness now.  On the other hand, I'm financially secure for the most part.  The Indians may feel differently and need the money.  I have no idea. Of course, I respect it's their decision.  It has nothing to do with us and what we do in America.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 17, 2020, 11:17:02 pm
Since you avoided answering any of my questions, I'll ask them again:

Quote
The left here likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change.

Why do you attach this opinion to "the left"?  Do you have any data on this?

 
Quote
Hurricanes have been fairly stable in strength going back a few centuries.  The increase n damage is from building more in hurricane prone areas.

Those hurricane intensity data going back a few centuries:  how were they obtained?

Quote
Like I said, I do feel in certain areas climate change is an issue, but that is mainly at the polls and low islands.  But the constant hysteria is just not true and uncalled for.
Which polls are you referencing?

Quote
Another issue that has pushed in this direction, the left hysteria towards nuclear, which is the only alternate viable power source to fossil fuels.

The "only viable alternate"?  Really?

1) Precisely zero of the electrical power I consume is from fossil fuels or nuclear. And I use a LOT.  I live in a relatively hostile climate.

2) There exists a substantial industry called "photovoltaics" and another one related to groups of large propellers on pylons, both generating many many GW of energy, none of which comes from fossil fuels.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jim Pascoe on August 18, 2020, 05:29:09 am
I just gave you an example.  The left here likes to blame the increase in hurricane damage to stronger hurricanes caused by climate change.  Hurricanes have been fairly stable in strength going back a few centuries.  The increase n damage is from building more in hurricane prone areas. 

Like I said, I do feel in certain areas climate change is an issue, but that is mainly at the polls and low islands.  But the constant hysteria is just not true and uncalled for. 

I am a strong environmentalist btw, but have found right wing environmentalism to be more likely to cause change due to the exceptance of fact over hysteria.  Another issue that has pushed in this direction, the left hysteria towards nuclear, which is the only alternate viable power source to fossil fuels. 

As Elon Musk recently put it, the left is losing the center, and that includes me (albeit center right).

I only dip into these forums now and then - but for some reason whichever contentious issue I stumble upon there is always somebody (usually a select few names keep coming up) who has to bring everything down to Left or Right.  Even weather.  I can hardly believe what I read.  Lucky you don't have to live in the UK because you would have to drive on the left.  And I bet you are right-handed, sleep on the right side of the bed, and probably always right..... :)
This is said with a smile on my face by the way - but really, is everything in your world a matter of Left or Right.  Be honest.

Jim
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on August 18, 2020, 06:23:37 am
Where i live the wind always blows from the right... ;) As a result all the trees bend over to the left.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 18, 2020, 06:34:31 am
When the wind is blowing from behind, it blows my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXDzXL5z00g
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: hogloff on August 18, 2020, 12:17:01 pm
Where i live the wind always blows from the right... ;) As a result all the trees bend over to the left.

Actually there has been a lot of hot wind blowing from the right lately.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 18, 2020, 12:33:42 pm
Actually there has been a lot of hot wind blowing from the right lately.

Good point. :)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 18, 2020, 03:32:29 pm
Actually there has been a lot of hot wind blowing from the right lately.

Especially from Mr Kitchen, who pointedly avoids answering questions about his assertions.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 19, 2020, 08:53:13 am
Especially from Mr Kitchen, who pointedly avoids answering questions about his assertions.

Believe it or not, I do have a life, and cant respond all the time.  I also sleep, crazy right? 

But anyway, Bjorn Lomborg has done a lot of great analysis on climate change and how almost every possible outcome pushed by the left leaning environmentalists is nothing but hysteria.  He also feels it is a great injustice we are doing for children, teaching them to live constant fear.  The reality of what would happen is significantly less than what the left says, and not something to lose our minds over. 

Also, the cost analysis shows it is not as dire as many say. 

Essentially the cost of climate change will be 3 to 4% of GDP in 80 years if we went on the projection we are right now.  If we took all of the mitigation efforts the left says we should, the cost to our current GDP would be anywhere from 16% to 32% every year for the foreseeable future.  We would be destroying ourselves if we did this, and developing nations more then likely would be thrust back into abject poverty.  This is because in order to come out of poverty, a country needs to acquire an energy source more powerful then wood, peat, dung, wind, etc., that is affordable to them.  Fossil fuels are the only resource that fits this bill, with nuclear, solar and modern wind being way too expensive. 

Sorry guys, but you on the left have lost me.  Your arguments are so asinine and call for action so draconian they will never happen or last more then an election cycle.  I'd much rather work with the right on environmental issues, who are much more pragmatic and sensible. 

Going back to the hurricane debate, the the UN Climate Panel found in its report last year (I believe) that hurricanes haven’t increased.  However, if you look at population expansion in the hurricane prone areas, the population has grown by a factor of 67.   That is reason for increased damage from hurricanes. 

This is almost always the case with much of the hysteria of climate change thrown to environmental events.  It  is largely explained by something completely different with much great logic. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 19, 2020, 10:25:30 am
the left leaning environmentalists

Quote
mitigation efforts the left says we should

Quote
you on the left have lost me. 

Zzzzzz....
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 19, 2020, 10:37:44 am
But anyway, Bjorn Lomborg has done a lot of great analysis on climate change and how almost every possible outcome pushed by the left leaning environmentalists is nothing but hysteria.  He also feels it is a great injustice we are doing for children, teaching them to live constant fear.

Well, by all means, if Bjorn Lomborg has done a great analysis, let's just go with what he says.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 19, 2020, 10:41:26 am
Well, by all means, if Bjorn Lomborg has done a great analysis, let's just go with what he says.

Sometimes the one man against all others is right.  Churchill was derided over his views in Hitler. 

Anyway, let me say I do not blame the scientist, but the media (who benefit from sensationalizing things) and politicians who stand to gain from doing the same.  So often the scientist  put forth reasonable analysis with a range of projections, and the media and politicians just insist on taking the most dire (even if stated unlikely) and run with it.  That is what we see, and that is what people are insisting we make policy off of, not the work of scientists. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 19, 2020, 11:00:48 am
Sometimes the one man against all others is right.  Churchill was derided over his views in Hitler. 

I guess it is impossible to have a discussion on the internet without bringing up Hitler.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 19, 2020, 11:57:26 am
I guess it is impossible to have a discussion on the internet without bringing up Hitler.

But I have not called anyone Hitler, that's the difference. 

Listen, I heard about climate change in 6th grade and it kind of scared me, and I developed my overall sense of environmentalism on it.  Then, over the years, the predictions from the media and Democrats have gotten more and more dire and hysterical, while most never actually even coming close to happening with the rest being explained by very logical alternatives.  Alternativs like what I listed above about moving into hurricane prone areas.  Another being the Smokey Bear Effect is almost certainly the reason why we are having more wildfires then usually, but still less then what historically happened pre-1850s. 

The left has lost me.  These hysterical reactions I give no credence to what so ever. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 19, 2020, 11:59:17 am
Believe it or not, I do have a life, and cant respond all the time. 

This despite the fact that you've frequently posted loquaciously elsewhere in the interim.




Since you seem to enjoy wild-ass generalizations and unverifiable statements, here are a few more:

Doing nothing about climate change will make everything else irrelevant.

Fossil fuels are not the solution to our energy needs.  Fossil fuels are the problem.  The oil and gas industry recognized the issue of CO2 pollution back in the sixties.  They hid the research. 

Fossil fueled energy production at scale is clearly unsustainable.

Renewable energy sources are not "more expensive".  They're the only responsible alternative.

Uranium-sourced fission energy has no viable future.

Bill Gates and some others (TerraPower) were close to building a LFTR when their research project was blocked by a politician.  Anyone want to guess who?  Or why?

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 19, 2020, 12:06:44 pm
This despite the fact that you've frequently posted loquaciously elsewhere in the interim.




Since you seem to enjoy wild-ass generalizations and unverifiable statements, here are a few more:

Doing nothing about climate change will make everything else irrelevant.

Fossil fuels are not the solution to our energy needs.  Fossil fuels are the problem.  The oil and gas industry recognized the issue of CO2 pollution back in the sixties.  They hid the research. 

Fossil fueled energy production at scale is clearly unsustainable.

Renewable energy sources are not "more expensive".  They're the only responsible alternative.

Uranium-sourced fission energy has no viable future.

Bill Gates and some others (TerraPower) were close to building a LFTR when their research project was blocked by a politician.  Anyone want to guess who?  Or why?

Yawn.  Like I said before, the left's hysterical nature around this issue has pushed me, and so many more who started out very concerned about this issue at a younger age, away.  Continue the hysteria if you want; you're just going to push more away. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 19, 2020, 12:09:29 pm
Disprove my hysteria, please.  Point by point.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on August 19, 2020, 12:51:14 pm
But I have not called anyone Hitler, that's the difference.
The left has lost me.  These hysterical reactions I give no credence to what so ever.

Oh. Okay. I guess so.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 19, 2020, 01:36:15 pm
Yawn.  Like I said before, the left's hysterical nature around this issue has pushed me, and so many more who started out very concerned about this issue at a younger age, away.  Continue the hysteria if you want; you're just going to push more away. 
Like they say. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 19, 2020, 02:45:45 pm
Like they say. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Or with a putrified apple.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on August 19, 2020, 07:13:38 pm
hysteria sold by the left
constant hysteria is just not true

the left hysteria towards nuclear
nothing but hysteria.

the hysteria of climate change
more dire and hysterical,

These hysterical reactions
Yawn.  Like I said before, the left's hysterical nature

Continue the hysteria if you want

Yawn. I guess hysteria is in the eye of the beholder.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 20, 2020, 03:23:17 am
Yawn. I guess hysteria is in the eye of the beholder.

Maybe it leaked over from the Covid thread ...

Sensible chap. I can barely believe the hysteria I see represented on this thread.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2020, 11:18:56 am
So sea levels haven't risen because dams have been holding the water back. I wonder if they have anything to do why temperatures have not increased or as fast as they should have?

Climate change: Dams played key role in limiting sea level rise
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 20, 2020, 11:57:55 am
So sea levels haven't risen because dams have been holding the water back. I wonder if they have anything to do why temperatures have not increased or as fast as they should have?
How fast should they have risen?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/20/greenland-ice-sheet-lost-a-record-1m-tonnes-of-ice-per-minute-in-2019
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 20, 2020, 01:45:01 pm
So sea levels haven't risen because dams have been holding the water back. I wonder if they have anything to do why temperatures have not increased or as fast as they should have?

Climate change: Dams played key role in limiting sea level rise
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018

Gee, so maybe man IS affecting the climate.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 20, 2020, 04:23:03 pm
Gee, so maybe man IS affecting the climate.
My second sentence was satire. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 21, 2020, 05:15:16 am
So sea levels haven't risen because dams have been holding the water back. I wonder if they have anything to do why temperatures have not increased or as fast as they should have?

Climate change: Dams played key role in limiting sea level rise
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53836018

A relevant quote from that article is as follows:

"The study finds that overall sea level has risen by approximately 1.56mm per year between 1900 and 2018.
Over this whole period, the authors believe that sea level would have been around 12% higher without the influence of dams and reservoirs."


So let's do a bit of calculation. 1.56mm per year over a century equals 156mm, which is a little over 6 inches. Without dams, the sea level rise would have been about 6.75 inches. Wow!!  ;D That is so terrifying, especially for those suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).  ;)

Let's consider the past history of sea level rise since the beginning of human civilization. Around 20,000 years ago, sea levels were about 130 metres lower than today. This period is known as the Last Glacial Maximum. Since then, sea levels have been rising at varying rates. However, 20,000 years is 200 centuries. Dividing 130 metres by 200 for an average rate of seal level rise per century, we get 650mm, which is far greater than the current rise of 156mm during the last century since industrialization.

From the following Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_sea_level#:~:text=Sea%20level%20rise%20since%20the%20last%20glacial%20maximum,-Further%20information%3A%20Early&text=During%20deglaciation%20between%20about%2019,of%20the%20Antarctic%20ice%20sheet.

"At the onset of deglaciation about 19,000 years ago, a brief, at most 500-year long, glacio-eustatic event may have contributed as much as 10 m to sea level with an average rate of about 20 mm/yr. During the rest of the early Holocene, the rate of sea level rise varied from a low of about 6.0–9.9  mm/yr to as high as 30–60  mm/yr during brief periods of accelerated sea level rise."

The last time sea levels were higher than today, by maybe just a few metres, is thought to have been around 130,000 years ago. However, between 70,000 and 60,000 years ago there was a cold spell when sea levels were around 60 to 70 metres below current levels. This would have allowed the earliest Homo Sapiens to migrate out of Africa and the first Australian Aboriginal settlers to walk across from 'what is now' New Guinea to 'what is now' the northern coast of the island/continent of Australia, surrounded by sea.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 06:17:06 am
Quote
Re: Extreme weather
« Reply #2119 on: Today at 05:15:16 am »
...

Let's consider the past history of sea level rise since the beginning of human civilization. Around 20,000 years ago, sea levels were about 130 metres lower than today. This period is known as the Last Glacial Maximum. Since then, sea levels have been rising at varying rates. However, 20,000 years is 200 centuries. Dividing 130 metres by 200 for an average rate of seal level rise per century, we get 650mm, which is far greater than the current rise of 156mm during the last century since industrialization.

From the following Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_sea_level#:~:text=Sea%20level%20rise%20since%20the%20last%20glacial%20maximum,-Further%20information%3A%20Early&text=During%20deglaciation%20between%20about%2019,of%20the%20Antarctic%20ice%20sheet.

"At the onset of deglaciation about 19,000 years ago, a brief, at most 500-year long, glacio-eustatic event may have contributed as much as 10 m to sea level with an average rate of about 20 mm/yr. During the rest of the early Holocene, the rate of sea level rise varied from a low of about 6.0–9.9  mm/yr to as high as 30–60  mm/yr during brief periods of accelerated sea level rise."

The last time sea levels were higher than today, by maybe just a few metres, is thought to have been around 130,000 years ago. However, between 70,000 and 60,000 years ago there was a cold spell when sea levels were around 60 to 70 metres below current levels. This would have allowed the earliest Homo Sapiens to migrate out of Africa and the first Australian Aboriginal settlers to walk across from 'what is now' New Guinea to 'what is now' the northern coast of the island/continent of Australia, surrounded by sea.
Maybe the warming going on now and still rising sea levels are a continuation of the end of the last glacial ice age.  In a few thousand years, experts will be warning us how we have to do something to prevent cooling and the fall of sea levels when the situation reverses again and we enter another Ice Age.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: dreed on August 21, 2020, 08:06:38 am
Maybe the warming going on now and still rising sea levels are a continuation of the end of the last glacial ice age.  In a few thousand years, experts will be warning us how we have to do something to prevent cooling and the fall of sea levels when the situation reverses again and we enter another Ice Age.

The problem is not change, it is the rate of change.

If you put a cake in the oven at 150, it'll cook slowly. If you put it in the oven at 250, it'll cook too quickly and burn.

Over a sustained period of time, the sum output of human change in the biosphere is such that it is turning the oven up.

Unlike being able to turn the oven down in your kitchen and maybe save the cake, humans do not possess the technology to undo the damage that has been done to the biosphere.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 08:14:15 am
The problem is not change, it is the rate of change.

If you put a cake in the oven at 150, it'll cook slowly. If you put it in the oven at 250, it'll cook too quickly and burn.

Over a sustained period of time, the sum output of human change in the biosphere is such that it is turning the oven up.

Unlike being able to turn the oven down in your kitchen and maybe save the cake, humans do not possess the technology to undo the damage that has been done to the biosphere.
Damage and change are different results.  When beavers dam up a stream and flood a valley, that's a major change.  No one would consider it damage even though many individual animals and plants will be destroyed.  Man is part of nature as well.  Certainly many of his activities change the environment and even damage it or parts of it.  But calling adding a couple of degrees and a few feet of sea water damage rather than change is in the eye of the beholder. Nature will go on as it does in the beaver's flooded valley.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 21, 2020, 08:17:46 am
Maybe the warming going on now and still rising sea levels are a continuation of the end of the last glacial ice age.  In a few thousand years, experts will be warning us how we have to do something to prevent cooling and the fall of sea levels when the situation reverses again and we enter another Ice Age.

Maybe you could publish a peer-reviewed paper describing the work you did to substantiate this theory?

Or maybe you could just continue making stuff up.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 21, 2020, 08:25:52 am
The problem is not change, it is the rate of change.

Didn't you read my post?

According to the geological evidence, the rate of change and the rate of sea level rise has been been much more rapid in the past. In some centuries, the rise has been as high as 4 to 6 metres in just one century, compared with a trivial 156mm during the last century of so-called, potentially, catastrophic warming due to CO2 emissions..

Who are the 'Climate Change Deniers'? Certainly not the skeptics. Must be the 'Alarmists'.  :(

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 08:26:01 am
Maybe you could publish a peer-reviewed paper describing the work you did to substantiate this theory?

Or maybe you could just continue making stuff up.
There are many peer-reviewed studies that show ice ages repeat.  So it will start cooling off again. I'm buying extra down coats now to prepare for it.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: dreed on August 21, 2020, 08:42:00 am
Certainly many of his activities change the environment and even damage it or parts of it.  But calling adding a couple of degrees and a few feet of sea water damage rather than change is in the eye of the beholder.

The impact of a couple of degrees warmer is a lot more than just s few feet of sea water.

https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F

The rate of change is such that nature does not have the time it requires to adapt. Whereas where warming may take centuries or millenia to happen naturally, allowing animals to slowly adapt (Darwinism), the rate of change here is so quick as to prevent life from adapting.

This isn't like your bevar's dam, this is much worse. This is a feedback loop.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 08:50:53 am
The impact of a couple of degrees warmer is a lot more than just s few feet of sea water.

https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/What+is+Ocean+Acidification%3F

The rate of change is such that nature does not have the time it requires to adapt. Whereas where warming may take centuries or millenia to happen naturally, allowing animals to slowly adapt (Darwinism), the rate of change here is so quick as to prevent life from adapting.

This isn't like your bevar's dam, this is much worse. This is a feedback loop.
There may be some displacements in certain areas.  But there have been no major baleful results yet. Nature adapts a lot quicker than you think.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 21, 2020, 09:12:02 am
There may be some displacements in certain areas. But there have been no major baleful results yet. Nature adapts a lot quicker than you think.

Very true! Because we are just on the beginning of the curve. Once the curve starts to steepen up, it will be too late to reverse the slope.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 09:40:28 am
Very true! Because we are just on the beginning of the curve. Once the curve starts to steepen up, it will be too late to reverse the slope.
So based on possible baleful results, that haven't happened and may happen in 50 years, we are to turn our economies topsy turvy and go into debt for trillions of dollars at a time when economies are failing due to a virus.  Where is the money support to come from? I've asked this question many times before here.  America for one is printing money at an amount greater than our GDP.  Can your Canada afford it?  Europe?  China who produces a third of the world's CO2? Should we spend that money on climate to reduce sea levels by 4 inches 50 years from now or provide unemployment insurance so people can eat today? 

It's become a political issue in the current American presidential campaigns.  Probably this should be discussed in the other thread.  But it also has to do with weather and climate control.  How do we afford all these things?  I was watching TV yesterday.  They had a show on that shows Germany is reducing the number of wind generators.  They're already replacing many of the existing one with "better" models too.  Where are they getting all this money what with Covid 19? I'll bet climate control plans will be put on hold by most countries.  When parliaments and legislatures have to decide whether to pay for health and food for people, programs for climate will take a back seat.  The climate doesn't vote.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 21, 2020, 09:53:39 am
Nature may be taking care of the reefs affected by warming,  Giant volcanic pumice fields floating across the ocean to reseed the Great Barrier Reef.

A Stupendously Huge Raft of Volcanic Rock Has Floated Across The Ocean to Australia
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-gigantic-raft-of-volcanic-rock-drifted-across-the-ocean-all-the-way-to-australia
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 23, 2020, 06:03:44 pm
Our grandchildren will have to worry about solar panel toxic trash as well as rising seas 30 years from now.  What's needed now is Paris Accord II.

Solar Panels Are Starting to Die, Leaving Behind Toxic Trash
Photovoltaic panels are a boon for clean energy but are tricky to recycle. As the oldest ones expire, get ready for a solar e-waste glut.

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-are-starting-to-die-leaving-behind-toxic-trash/
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 23, 2020, 06:41:33 pm
Our grandchildren will have to worry about solar panel toxic trash as well as rising seas 30 years from now.  What's needed now is Paris Accord II.

Solar Panels Are Starting to Die, Leaving Behind Toxic Trash
Photovoltaic panels are a boon for clean energy but are tricky to recycle. As the oldest ones expire, get ready for a solar e-waste glut.

https://www.wired.com/story/solar-panels-are-starting-to-die-leaving-behind-toxic-trash/

Good thing to point out the future problems with recycling. Since we'll have to live with the solar panels, they should be designed for easy recycling.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 23, 2020, 07:10:01 pm
They're already destroying wind generators in Germany as they upgrade to newer models.  What are they doing with all that crap?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on August 23, 2020, 08:34:41 pm
They're already destroying wind generators in Germany as they upgrade to newer models.  What are they doing with all that crap?

Recycling wind turbines is not easy, but it can be done.

Quote
They don't have to go into landfill, according to Don Lilly, chief executive of Global Fiberglass Solutions in Bellevue, Washington.
Mr Lilly has been transforming fibreglass composites into small pellets he calls EcoPoly.
The pellets can then be turned into injectable plastics, or highly waterproof boards that can be used in construction, he says.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51325101
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 23, 2020, 10:47:43 pm
Recycling wind turbines is not easy, but it can be done.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51325101

Quote
They don't have to go into landfill, according to Don Lilly, chief executive of Global Fiberglass Solutions in Bellevue, Washington.
Mr Lilly has been transforming fibreglass composites into small pellets he calls EcoPoly.
The pellets can then be turned into injectable plastics, or highly waterproof boards that can be used in construction, he says.

We have the technology, or can develop the technology, to address most environmental problems and threats to our security. For example, as a result of a history of earthquakes occurring in Japan, the Japanese have developed the technology and put in place strict building regulations to ensure that modern buildings are very resistant to earthquakes. Older buildings are not so resistant.
https://www.realestate-tokyo.com/news/earthquake-resistance-of-buildings-in-japan/

In Northern Australia, a Category 4 Cyclone demolished the city of Darwin on Christmas Day 1974. The devastation was so great, it was initially though by some officials that there was no point in rebuilding the city, which is in an isolated part of Australia. Why not just abandon it, because the risk of another cyclone destroying the rebuilt city at some future date was quite high. Cyclones are a quite common occurrence in that part of Australia.

However, it was decided to rebuild the city with stricter and more appropriate building regulations to ensure resistance to a future cyclone. Technology makes that possible.

The major problem in addressing all these environmental issues, is not so much the lack of technology and know-how, but the immediate cost, in the present, of applying that known technology and enforcing the application and management of that technology through government regulation and constant monitoring to ensure the regulations are adhered to.

This problem is widespread and applies to both the fossil fuels industries and the renewable energy industries.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 23, 2020, 11:20:07 pm
So first we force free people to buy more expensive green energy generators.  Then we force these formerly free people to spend more money disposing of the green generators. How do we buy back our freedom? How much will that cost?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 24, 2020, 06:31:35 am
So first we force free people to buy more expensive green energy generators.  Then we force these formerly free people to spend more money disposing of the green generators. How do we buy back our freedom? How much will that cost?

Impossible to calculate the cost accurately because there are so many related issues which are complex and uncertain.
For example, if we did an energy-cost comparison between the latest Ultra-Supercritical coal-fired power station, which included the use of state-of-the-art emission controls which of course adds to the cost, and the latest Solar Panel system with the latest battery storage to ensure there's no interruption of supply, the energy from the coal-fired power station would probably be significantly cheaper, excluding the cost of removing all emissions of CO2 which is not a pollutant and is beneficial for plant growth.

However, to get a more accurate over all cost, we have to consider the related costs of the mining of coal, such as the health effects on people living in the area if the mine is open-cut, the health effects on the miners underground, the effects on agriculture when fertile areas suitable for growing crops are used for mining coal, and the cost of rehabilitating the environment after the coal mining ceases.

If we add these related costs, the energy from coal would not be cheaper. However, if we also add the related costs to the production of renewable energy, which of course we should, then the energy from coal could still be cheaper. The cost of recycling windmills and solar panels is one of those costs which is not included in the energy price. Another is the cost of depriving farmers of fertile land to grow crops, by covering the ground with solar panels. Another is the degradation of the environment due to the mining of Lithium and other metals necessary for batteries.

"The Chilean Atacama region has been exploited for its rich mineral deposits, including copper, gold, silver, molybdenum and lithium. On one hand, lithium mining brings revenues to the State coffer and profits for national and foreign companies. On the other hand, these economic benefits have come with social and environmental costs. The mining industry is extracting a large amount of groundwater in one of the driest desert regions in the world. As the mining sites overlap with nature conservation areas, mining activities have been responsible for ecosystem degradation. The process of forced migration of populations from villages and the abandonment of ancestral settlements has been precipitated by water scarcity and an increasingly erratic water supply."

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae9b1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 24, 2020, 08:54:38 am
So first we force free people to buy more expensive green energy generators.  Then we force these formerly free people to spend more money disposing of the green generators. How do we buy back our freedom? How much will that cost?

It may be cheaper than the alternative.

It doesn't mean anything that the way it was done in the past is cheaper. Everything technology becomes cheaper as it matures and costs are amortized over longer time frames. What else is new.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 24, 2020, 11:09:35 am
One thing I've learned on this forum is that Ray just absolutely LOVES using the word "Ultra-Supercritical".
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 24, 2020, 11:49:39 am
So first we force free people to buy more expensive green energy generators.  Then we force these formerly free people to spend more money disposing of the green generators. How do we buy back our freedom? How much will that cost?
This question had nothing to do with the cost of green energy.  It was a rhetorical question about the cost of liberty.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: jeremyrh on August 24, 2020, 04:15:11 pm
This question had nothing to do with the cost of green energy.  It was a rhetorical question about the cost of liberty.

Our childrens' lives, apparently.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 24, 2020, 11:08:56 pm
One thing I've learned on this forum is that Ray just absolutely LOVES using the word "Ultra-Supercritical".

No. You got it wrong. I absolutely love using the correct terminology when discussing scientific and technological matters. Poetry and politics, on the other hand, do not require that. What I dislike is the distortion of the truth, such as calling CO2 a pollutant.

The broad term used to describe the latest, most efficient coal-fired power plants is HELE, which stands for 'High Energy Low Emissions'. The old coal-fired power plants that are the least efficient and emit the most pollutants, which were the major cause of the smog in Chinese and Indian cities, are described as 'subcritical' plants. The next stage in development is described as 'supercritical', which is more efficient with lower emissions. The stage after that is described as 'ultra-supercritical', which is even more efficient with even lower emissions, and the latest development in coal-fired power is described as 'advanced ultra-supercritical'.

My understanding is that the improvement in the method of burning the coal, using much higher temperatures and pressure, reduces emissions, including CO2, mainly because less coal is burned to get the same amount of energy. The efficiency of the Subcritical plants is around 34%, whereas the efficiency of the Ultra-Supercritical plant is around 45% and will possibly reach 50% in the near future.

However, without the additional, add-on emission controls, which increases the cost, the Ultra-Supercritical plants will still emit at least some pollutants which could cause at least some harm to human health. The Advanced Ultra-Supercritical technology includes the latest emission controls which reduce the toxic emissions to negligible amounts. However CO2 emissions still occur, which must be very alarming for those who believe CO2 is a pollutant.  ;)

"Advanced ultra-supercritical technology

Combined with advanced emission controls equipment that can remove local pollutants such as NOx, SO2, and particulate matter, GE’s USC coal power plant can deliver more power with a lower environmental impact."


https://www.ge.com/power/steam/steam-power-plants/advanced-ultra-supercritical-usc-ausc
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 25, 2020, 12:09:05 am
So first we force free people to buy more expensive green energy generators.  Then we force these formerly free people to spend more money disposing of the green generators. How do we buy back our freedom? How much will that cost?

Alan,
You need to be more specific about the meaning of 'freedom'. In all societies, people are subject to rules and regulations. Some societies have horrible rules based on religion, and other societies have more sensible rules which contribute more towards the prosperity and well-being of the citizens.

In a sense, everyone is free to do whatever they like. But if they break the rules, they will suffer the consequences, if they are caught. So the real issue is, 'are the rules and regulations fair and sensible'?

We have speeds limits on roads in order to reduce accidents and save lives. That's sensible. We have rules and regulations to limit the emissions of toxic chemicals from car exhausts and power plants. That's sensible.

We have rules, at least in Australia, forbidding the dumping of rubbish in the natural environment, outside of the specific areas designated as rubbish dumps. Also, in Australia we have regulations that forbid anyone to discard their empty beer can or coke bottle on the road side, such as throwing it out of the car window. Anyone who is caught doing this, on a CCTV camera, or through the reporting of any concerned citizen who witnesses the event, will be subject to a fine. However the fine is different in different states.

https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/illicit-pubs-needle-audit-review-toc~illicit-pubs-needle-audit-review-leg~illicit-pubs-needle-audit-review-leg-lit

"In this Act: litter includes any solid or liquid waste, whether domestic or commercial, and also includes, for example—any glass, metal, cigarette butt, plastic, paper, fabric, wood, food, abandoned vehicle and vehicle part, construction or demolition material, garden remnants and clippings, soil, sand or rocks; and any material, substance or thing deposited at a place if its size, shape, nature or volume makes the place untidy or adversely affects the proper use of the place."

Do you want freedom to litter, Alan?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 25, 2020, 06:49:19 am
Laws against littering its one thing.  Spending trillions of scarce resources on green energy reducing money available to cure diseases,  feed the poor, and house the homeless is another.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: kers on August 25, 2020, 07:47:26 am
Laws against littering its one thing.  Spending trillions of scarce resources on green energy reducing money available to cure diseases,  feed the poor, and house the homeless is another.
Spending trillions of scarce resources to counteract pollution by the ancient carbon burning economy is another.
Spending trillions of scarce resources on Defense that already is by far the largest in the world, and by its necessary exports fuels the wars in many countries like Jemen, only killing people an destroying ancient culture , is another.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 25, 2020, 08:01:53 am
Laws against littering its one thing.  Spending trillions of scarce resources on green energy reducing money available to cure diseases,  feed the poor, and house the homeless is another.

Very true. But what are the scarce resources you are referring to? Surely we all know that fossil fuels are a limited resource, but not scarce at present or in the near future. I don't think it would be sensible to allow the billions of people in undeveloped countries to become totally reliant upon fossil fuels as they continue to increase their prosperity with increasing use of fossil fuels.

It would be very difficult to begin development of alternative energy supplies in say 50 years time when coal, oil and gas became scarce and ridiculously expensive. Surely it's far better to prepare for the future now, whilst fossil fuels are abundant, and develop the alternative energy supplies from the sun, using solar panels and battery storage, so that we don't have to face a catastrophic energy crisis in the future, with devastating effects on the economy.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 25, 2020, 10:21:36 am
By scarce resources I was referring to money not oil and gas.  Sorry for the confusion.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 25, 2020, 10:29:28 am
No. You got it wrong. I absolutely love using the correct terminology when discussing scientific and technological ...

Me, I prefer using “unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine”.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 25, 2020, 11:48:54 am
By scarce resources I was referring to money not oil and gas.  Sorry for the confusion.

Money is not a resource, although it's supposed to represent a resource. It's basically a system of exchanging goods and services, and those goods and services are totally dependent on energy resources.

Energy supplies are the foundation of all activity in a modern society. No energy, whether from fossil fuels, solar power, or whatever, means 'back to the stone age'. Even if you are a billionaire, if there's no energy supplies, your money is worthless.

Providing a good living standard and at least moderate prosperity for the 7.8 billion people on Earth, will require huge amounts of energy, much more than is currently being used. We can't rely upon fossil fuels forever, but we can rely upon the sun, until it disappears. If it does disappear, then so does all life on Earth. Nothing we can do about that, at least in the near future.  ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 25, 2020, 12:00:14 pm
Money is not a resource, although it's supposed to represent a resource. It's basically a system of exchanging goods and services, and those goods and services are totally dependent on energy resources.

Energy supplies are the foundation of all activity in a modern society. No energy, whether from fossil fuels, solar power, or whatever, means 'back to the stone age'. Even if you are a billionaire, if there's no energy supplies, your money is worthless.

Providing a good living standard and at least moderate prosperity for the 7.8 billion people on Earth, will require huge amounts of energy, much more than is currently being used. We can't rely upon fossil fuels forever, but we can rely upon the sun, until it disappears. If it does disappear, then so does all life on Earth. Nothing we can do about that, at least in the near future.  ;)

We cant rely upon the sun outside of what energy is needed for nature!  It is way too dilute and way too inconsistent. 

In order to make electricity cheap, you need to have a modern electrical grid that carries the exact amount of energy that is needed at any one time, can fluctuate based upon usage at a particular time, and involves as little energy transfers as possible (since this always loses energy in the process). 

Neither solar nor wind can make energy on demand and therefore would not be able to fluctuate (unless by pure chance), they can not fully supply an electrical grid without taking over an immense part of the country, and excess energy produced either goes unused or is transferred into a battery before being transferred back into the grid, adding two additional energy transfers that are not used in fossil fuel or nuclear. 

Solar and wind are pipe dreams, and a return to primitive energy sources.  (Windmills have been around for centuries.)  The fact is that we can not advance as a society by reverting back to less energy dense options.  A great example of this is that it has been shown the industrial revolution in Britain could not have happened by relying on wood.  Coal, even though it is only about 2 to 3 times more energy dense, is what powered the revolution.  We should not be going backwards, but looking forward to nuclear. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 25, 2020, 01:23:04 pm
Solar and wind are pipe dreams, and a return to primitive energy sources. 

What! You think the sun is more primitive than coal? Without the sun the coal would not exist. The sun is by far the most powerful and influential force on our planet. No sun means no life.

Developing technology which can efficiently capture the energy from the sun and efficiently store that energy, is a great idea and will be a tremendous boon for humanity in the future.

What I object to, is building solar farms on fertile soil that could be used for agriculture or planting forests. I also object to windmills that involve cutting down forests to create tracks for access to the windmills, and the massive amounts of concrete used for the base of the windmills, and the damage they do to birds that get smashed by the spinning blades, and the visual destruction of what would otherwise be an appealing landscape, and so on.

However, solar panels can be constructed on areas that are not used for other purposes, such as all the roofs of all buildings, and solar farms can be built in deserts and arid regions where the sunlight is greatest and the land is useless for other purposes.

Some time ago I came across a calculation of the amount of energy that could be created if the whole of the uninhabited part of the Sahara Desert were covered with modern solar panels. The energy was about 20 times what the whole world currently uses, converting all forms of energy use into kilowatt equivalence.

There are also various types of solar paint that are under development, that can be applied to sold surfaces, such as house walls.
https://gemmill.com.au/blog/how-to-use-solar-paint-to-power-your-house/#:~:text=Developed%20by%20researchers%20at%20the,created%20in%20a%20liquid%20form.&text=The%20separated%20hydrogen%20is%20then%20utilised%20for%20power%20cells

Nuclear power is certainly a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but unfortunately the general public is aware of the severity of the disasters when things go wrong, for whatever reason. The Chernobyl disaster was apparently due to old technology and mismanagement, and the Fukushima disaster was due to a Tsunami which is beyond the control of mankind, although the authorities who approved the construction of the Fukushima reactor should have been aware that the area had a history of Tsunami events.

It would be very scary if nuclear power were to replace fossil fuels across the world, including less developed countries where corruption, incompetence and mismanagement are more prevalent.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 25, 2020, 02:21:09 pm
Solar paint is interesting.  But the article doesn't go into how much electricity it can produce for a typical home or how to collect the hydrogen that is produced by the paint.  Nor does it provide the cost for converting hydrogen to electricity.

There are many ways to produce electricity that are too expensive and impractical.   Even solar and wind has cause the price of electricity in Germany to escalate to 2 1/2 times that of America.  That makes it impractical for poor countries.  For all its problems, coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and hydro are still the most practical and cost efficient methods.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 25, 2020, 03:40:49 pm
Solar paint is interesting.  But the article doesn't go into how much electricity it can produce for a typical home or how to collect the hydrogen that is produced by the paint.  Nor does it provide the cost for converting hydrogen to electricity.

There are many ways to produce electricity that are too expensive and impractical.   Even solar and wind has cause the price of electricity in Germany to escalate to 2 1/2 times that of America.  That makes it impractical for poor countries.  For all its problems, coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear, and hydro are still the most practical and cost efficient methods.

Germany pays almost twice as much as France and produces 10 times the emissions. 

Yep, all that solar and wind are paying off in spades.  France needs to get with the program and drop nuclear.   ;D ;D ;D

Powering the world off of solar and wind is nothing but romance, and I get it, living in harmony with nature.  Only problem is, it has never worked and does not here, unless you want to go back to hunter gatherer living. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 25, 2020, 03:55:03 pm
Germany pays almost twice as much as France and produces 10 times the emissions. 

Meaningless rhetoric without attribution.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on August 25, 2020, 04:38:51 pm
Meaningless rhetoric without attribution.

Okay, well lets see.  They have a 51% capacity from solar and wind, but have never broken a 20% threshold of actual electricity used from those sources.  So, to make up for the inconsistency of solar and wind, they build coal fire plants like it going out of style, which is what leads to their emissions. 

France on the other hand just uses nuclear, which can produce energy in demand, so no need to supplemental plants of any kind, leading to lower emissions. 

As I said, solar and wind is nothing but a high school romance you still can got over losing in your 50s. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on August 25, 2020, 07:37:32 pm
Before Covid caused NYS to lose $30 billion in taxes and not be able to afford anything, Democrat Governor Cuomo of Covid nursing home fame passed through about $2 billion dollars for off-shore electric wind generators.  Of course they didn't mention the billions more they need to supplement them with new fossil fuel generation plants when the wind isn't blowing.  The whole cost will be subsidized in higher electric charges to New Yorkers.  However, the cost will not be specifically itemized in their bills.  They'll just bury it in the overall cost per KWH so no one will know how expensively stupid the whole plan is.

Pretty soon we'll be like Germany.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on August 25, 2020, 10:10:35 pm
Me, I prefer using “unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine”.

That’s one way to get moving in the morning  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on August 25, 2020, 11:44:25 pm
Powering the world off of solar and wind is nothing but romance, and I get it, living in harmony with nature.  Only problem is, it has never worked and does not here, unless you want to go back to hunter gatherer living.

I'm surprised that a photographer would have such a troglodyte attitude, considering how remarkably fast the technological improvement of digital cameras has been since the 1980's and 1990's, and how much the cost of each new generation of digital cameras has fallen in tandem with increased efficiency and sophistication.

When I first came across this site, Michael Reichmann was praising the 3mp Canon D30 which he claimed could produce an image equal to the quality of 35mm film on an A4 size print. For prints larger than A4, 35mm film still had the edge.

I was interested, but the price was too high. I waited until the 6mp Canon D60 came out, and ever since then I've been gradually upgrading as sensor quality improved and prices fell. My latest purchase, the Nikon Z50 with the two kit lenses, is an absolute bargain, about 10x the quality and sophistication of the original Canon D30 and a fifth of the price.  ;)

If there's a will to continue developing solar technology, the degree of improvement, from this point on, could be similar to the degree of improvement in digital camera technology over the past two decades.

We all know that the sun shines intermittently in any given location, and even if it usually shines all day in the desert, it doesn't shine at night. However, there are obvious solutions which you seem to ignore. Battery storage is currently too expensive for a household to become totally self-sufficient at a reasonable price, but as battery technology develops, as digital cameras have developed, there will be a point in the future (most probably) when solar panels and solar paint, on roofs, walls and windows, in conjunction with advanced battery storage, provide very cheap and affordable energy, especially when one includes the benefit of recharging one's Electric Vehicle at no extra cost. How much does the average person spend on gasoline for their car each year?

There is also the option of including a 'Virtual Power Plant' within a suburban community of households with battery storage, where the excess power in one household is distributed to another household with a shortage of supply.

"A VPP is a collection of home solar batteries that provide on-demand battery power in order to support the electricity grid in times of need. This type of power plant helps stabilize the grid and prevent blackouts while also lowering overall electricity costs but it is typically overlooked when solutions are more broadly considered."

Another much broader solution is to connect numerous areas around the world with 'High Voltage Direct Current' transmission lines, preferably underground or accompanying long distance water pipes, or placed under the sea bed. HVDC transmission lines can transmit electricity over thousands of kilometres, with relatively little loss of energy. There are already a many such lines installed across Europe. Refer attached image from Wikipedia.

Regarding Nuclear Power, I agree that it is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but there is a huge problem with the nuclear waste and the decommissioning of Nuclear Plants that have served their purpose. We've already discussed the future problems of recycling millions of solar panels, and that this future cost should be included in the cost of electricity generated from those solar panels.

Imagine if there were tens of thousands of nuclear power plants around the world. What would be the cost of successfully disposing of the waste without environment harm? How often would we experience a terrible disaster like Chernobyl and Fukushima?

Here's an article which addresses the problems that France faces.

"Most fuel unloaded from nuclear reactors in France is reprocessed; however, due to its excessive heat it first has to be cooled in 4m-deep ‘pools’ of water for several years.
This process generates intermediate and high-level waste.
The latter, also known as long-lived waste, is vitrified. This generates immense heat and requires the spent fuel to be cooled for several decades before it can be permanently stored and disposed of. Intermediate-level waste follows a similar treatment process.
After decades of cooling, France, like most other nuclear power generating countries, has no long-term solution in place for high and intermediate spent fuel waste disposal.
For now there is no rush at least, as Hoorelbecke says the disposal of high-level waste being produced at present will only happen around 2080, more than five to eight decades after reprocessing."


https://www.power-technology.com/features/managing-nuclear-waste-france-long-short-game/

Here's another article which addresses the problems of decommissioning.

"How much have France, Germany and UK set aside for decommissioning?
Whereas Germany has set aside €38 billion to decommission 17 nuclear reactors, and the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estimates that clean-up of UK’s 17 nuclear sites will cost between €109‒250 billion over the next 120 years, France has set aside only €23 billion to decommissioning its 58 reactors. To put this in context, according to the European Commission,
Soon EDF will have to start the biggest, most complex and costliest nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme on earth."


https://energypost.eu/how-much-will-it-really-cost-to-decommission-the-aging-french-nuclear-fleet/

I hope you can see, Joe, that I have completely demolished your argument, and I hope you are honest enough to admit it.  :D

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Peter McLennan on August 28, 2020, 08:07:12 pm
Okay, well lets see.  They have a 51% capacity from solar and wind, but have never broken a 20% threshold of actual electricity used from those sources.  So, to make up for the inconsistency of solar and wind, they build coal fire plants like it going out of style, which is what leads to their emissions. 

France on the other hand just uses nuclear, which can produce energy in demand, so no need to supplemental plants of any kind, leading to lower emissions. 

As I said, solar and wind is nothing but a high school romance you still can got over losing in your 50s.

At the risk of repeating myself: "meaningless rhetoric without attribution."
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Craig Lamson on August 28, 2020, 08:56:24 pm
At the risk of repeating myself: "meaningless rhetoric without attribution."

Try google....
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 09, 2020, 08:06:42 am
I'm surprised that a photographer would have such a troglodyte attitude, considering how remarkably fast the technological improvement of digital cameras has been since the 1980's and 1990's, and how much the cost of each new generation of digital cameras has fallen in tandem with increased efficiency and sophistication.

When I first came across this site, Michael Reichmann was praising the 3mp Canon D30 which he claimed could produce an image equal to the quality of 35mm film on an A4 size print. For prints larger than A4, 35mm film still had the edge.

I was interested, but the price was too high. I waited until the 6mp Canon D60 came out, and ever since then I've been gradually upgrading as sensor quality improved and prices fell. My latest purchase, the Nikon Z50 with the two kit lenses, is an absolute bargain, about 10x the quality and sophistication of the original Canon D30 and a fifth of the price.  ;)

If there's a will to continue developing solar technology, the degree of improvement, from this point on, could be similar to the degree of improvement in digital camera technology over the past two decades.

We all know that the sun shines intermittently in any given location, and even if it usually shines all day in the desert, it doesn't shine at night. However, there are obvious solutions which you seem to ignore. Battery storage is currently too expensive for a household to become totally self-sufficient at a reasonable price, but as battery technology develops, as digital cameras have developed, there will be a point in the future (most probably) when solar panels and solar paint, on roofs, walls and windows, in conjunction with advanced battery storage, provide very cheap and affordable energy, especially when one includes the benefit of recharging one's Electric Vehicle at no extra cost. How much does the average person spend on gasoline for their car each year?

There is also the option of including a 'Virtual Power Plant' within a suburban community of households with battery storage, where the excess power in one household is distributed to another household with a shortage of supply.

"A VPP is a collection of home solar batteries that provide on-demand battery power in order to support the electricity grid in times of need. This type of power plant helps stabilize the grid and prevent blackouts while also lowering overall electricity costs but it is typically overlooked when solutions are more broadly considered."

Another much broader solution is to connect numerous areas around the world with 'High Voltage Direct Current' transmission lines, preferably underground or accompanying long distance water pipes, or placed under the sea bed. HVDC transmission lines can transmit electricity over thousands of kilometres, with relatively little loss of energy. There are already a many such lines installed across Europe. Refer attached image from Wikipedia.

Regarding Nuclear Power, I agree that it is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, but there is a huge problem with the nuclear waste and the decommissioning of Nuclear Plants that have served their purpose. We've already discussed the future problems of recycling millions of solar panels, and that this future cost should be included in the cost of electricity generated from those solar panels.

Imagine if there were tens of thousands of nuclear power plants around the world. What would be the cost of successfully disposing of the waste without environment harm? How often would we experience a terrible disaster like Chernobyl and Fukushima?

Here's an article which addresses the problems that France faces.

"Most fuel unloaded from nuclear reactors in France is reprocessed; however, due to its excessive heat it first has to be cooled in 4m-deep ‘pools’ of water for several years.
This process generates intermediate and high-level waste.
The latter, also known as long-lived waste, is vitrified. This generates immense heat and requires the spent fuel to be cooled for several decades before it can be permanently stored and disposed of. Intermediate-level waste follows a similar treatment process.
After decades of cooling, France, like most other nuclear power generating countries, has no long-term solution in place for high and intermediate spent fuel waste disposal.
For now there is no rush at least, as Hoorelbecke says the disposal of high-level waste being produced at present will only happen around 2080, more than five to eight decades after reprocessing."


https://www.power-technology.com/features/managing-nuclear-waste-france-long-short-game/

Here's another article which addresses the problems of decommissioning.

"How much have France, Germany and UK set aside for decommissioning?
Whereas Germany has set aside €38 billion to decommission 17 nuclear reactors, and the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estimates that clean-up of UK’s 17 nuclear sites will cost between €109‒250 billion over the next 120 years, France has set aside only €23 billion to decommissioning its 58 reactors. To put this in context, according to the European Commission,
Soon EDF will have to start the biggest, most complex and costliest nuclear decommissioning and radioactive waste management programme on earth."


https://energypost.eu/how-much-will-it-really-cost-to-decommission-the-aging-french-nuclear-fleet/

I hope you can see, Joe, that I have completely demolished your argument, and I hope you are honest enough to admit it.  :D

Sorry Ray, but you are pushing an impossible dream.  Probably the most damning evidence against solar and wind is from a german study publish in the last year that looks at energy return from various  sources of power vs energy put into producing those sources. 

What I mean by this if you add up all of the energy to build a plant (from mining to production to construction to usage), how many more times of energy do you get out? 

For coal, it is about 30 times more.  For hydroelectric, it is about 36 times more.  Oil and natural gas is roughly 65 and 80 times more, respectively.  Nuclear is over 200 times more. 

Wind and solar is 1.9 to 3.6 times more.  Burning coal to make electricity is, on average, 15 times more efficient. 

Now you (and others may be thinking), whats the big deal, we are still getting a positive return, so it is a good thing right?  Well, not really. 

A modern economy consumes at least 10 times more energy then the energy the economy puts into producing it.  All forms of energy but wind and solar are over that threshold.  Wind and solar are far below it, which means wind and solar acts as a leech on the system.  That is why prices skyrocket when wind and solar start becoming a sizable part of the grid. 

Now, insofar as conservation, what is your response to the fact that wind and solar farms kill large predator birds?  And don't give me the cats kill many more birds bull shit.  Cats kill small birds that reproduce in the dozens.  Large birds, being killed by these farms, reproduce much slower and will have less offspring over their course of lives. 

It is even theorized that the great decrease in insects in Germany could be caused by the drastic increase in wind turbines.  They are constantly cleaning insect bio-mass off of the blades. 

Now, in response to your point about the increases in digital camera technology and juxtaposing that with solar, we are now far past the point of deminishing returns on digital cameras, just like with solar.  Really, can you name a ground breaking advancement in image quality in the last 5 or 6 years?  Not user features, but actual IQ?  To be honest, I cant, except for acute angle response, but that is only for the benefit of an extremely small number of photographers.  Sure, there are incremental steps, but that's it, and more then likely the way it will be from now on.  Every scientist who takes a cold hard look at solar, pretty much says the same thing for it. 

Total solar efficiency increases in the last 10 years was just 2%.  That's it, even with all of the money Obama and others poored into it, only a 2% increase.  Battery tech, which you point to will only make things more expensive.  You have to convert the energy into the battery and than convert it back out, which wastes energy every time.  This is why battery tech will never be adopted, it is just too expensive even if the batteries were free, which they are not.  And not mention you have to the worse kind of mining to get the raw supplies.  What happened to conserving the environment? 

If France reduces it nuclear supply, they will see their prices rise just like Germany and CA.  CA energy prices are 6 times the national average and their emissions are not any less. 

It's a romance from high school that you still have not gotten over yet.   

The only way to make energy cheap is by having base load power sources that can produce energy on demand, and electrify the grid, on a changing basis, to the exact needs at any one time with as little energy conversions as possible.  Wind and solar cant do this. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on September 10, 2020, 05:07:26 am
Those suckers from Califronia. Liberals who dwell on stupid shit like climate change and eat their babies.

What a valuable contribution to the thread. If you can't do better than that, be quiet.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 10, 2020, 07:18:56 am
Yeah, well, when Trump's DOE had to fly in on Sept. 6th for "the rare but drastic action" to save the day in California, I think it's pretty obvious Californians are doing something wrong.

DOE Issues Emergency Order to Alleviate California Power Crisis (https://www.powermag.com/doe-issues-emergency-order-to-alleviate-california-power-crisis/)

You know with the information technology economy and the sudden increase in work from home, having rolling black outs will severely limit CA ability to compete in the future.  This would be especially the case for servers that have a max temperature limit of 90 degrees when it is 110+ degrees outside.  These kind of power issues are just not acceptable in a modern economy. 

CA has had a net loss of population every year over the last 10, and now with Elon Musk (probably the world's current greatest innovator) leaving, I suspect it will only get worse. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 10, 2020, 10:26:02 am
Sorry Jeremy,  I shouldn't of said that.  Here is an interesting article about myths of fire.  As I write this it is literally raining ash outside from the massive Creek Fire that is only 10 miles from Yosemite.  This may become the largest wildfire in California history. 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181113-five-myths-about-wildfires?fbclid=IwAR2XXNDKxMYxnXCkLfkL9vUTQnX33DYwxomww6tW9pCoazNqLEsPgAA40Ks
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 10, 2020, 12:31:14 pm
Sorry Jeremy,  I shouldn't of said that.  Here is an interesting article about myths of fire.  As I write this it is literally raining ash outside from the massive Creek Fire that is only 10 miles from Yosemite.  This may become the largest wildfire in California history. 

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20181113-five-myths-about-wildfires?fbclid=IwAR2XXNDKxMYxnXCkLfkL9vUTQnX33DYwxomww6tW9pCoazNqLEsPgAA40Ks

Scientists who specialize in forests would have issue with #3. 

How The Smokey Bear Effect Led To Raging Wildfires (https://www.npr.org/2012/08/23/159373691/how-the-smokey-bear-effect-led-to-raging-wildfires)

Scientists blame Smokey Bear for making U.S. forests less resilient (https://news.mongabay.com/2016/03/scientists-blame-smokey-bear-for-making-u-s-forests-less-resilient/)

From Smokey Bear to climate change: the future of wildland fire management (https://theconversation.com/from-smokey-bear-to-climate-change-the-future-of-wildland-fire-management-45082)

Our fire management system invariably leads managers to attempt suppression of nearly all wildland fires despite the natural, beneficial role of “good” fires. Ironically, our firefighting system is very efficient at extinguishing such “good” fires while, by default, creating the “bad” fires that have no historic precedents and create great losses.

Furthermore, if you do any kind of research into this, you'll read it takes around a 100 years, or more, for bad fire conditions to come to fruition, which could be the main reason why we did not see as many fires between 1930 and 1980.  The conditions on the ground probably were not yet at the point to produce a "crown fire," allowing us to easily extinguish them.  However, post 1980, conditions needed for crown fires have been produced by the slow gradual build up of dead branches and leaves.  #3 does not even mention this. 

On top of that, many forest scientists also suggest the increase in the number of people living in or near forests as another reason we are seeing more fires, another point #3 does not even mention.  This is similar to the fact that we have more property damage from hurricanes due to people building more in hurricane prone areas, not climate change. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 11, 2020, 10:46:17 pm
Sorry Ray, but you are pushing an impossible dream.  Probably the most damning evidence against solar and wind is from a German study publish in the last year that looks at energy return from various  sources of power vs energy put into producing those sources. 

What I mean by this if you add up all of the energy to build a plant (from mining to production to construction to usage), how many more times of energy do you get out? 

For coal, it is about 30 times more.  For hydroelectric, it is about 36 times more.  Oil and natural gas is roughly 65 and 80 times more, respectively.  Nuclear is over 200 times more. 

Wind and solar is 1.9 to 3.6 times more.  Burning coal to make electricity is, on average, 15 times more efficient. 

Total solar efficiency increases in the last 10 years was just 2%.  That's it, even with all of the money Obama and others poured into it, only a 2% increase.   rise just like Germany and CA.  CA energy prices are 6 times the national average and their emissions are not any less. 

It's a long post, Joe, so I'll address just a few points at a time. The following 'scientific' article addresses the fall in the production cost, the increase in efficiency, and the fall in the price of solar panels between 1975 and 2012, in terms of cost and price per watt.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518305196?via%3Dihub

Refer attached image from the article, of a graph which shows the module costs (in orange), and the price (in purple).

Since 2012, where this graph ends, there have been further, significant reductions in manufacturing costs, although such reports I've found on the internet are from sites that are promoting the use of 'green energy' so one would expect a certain degree of bias.
However, here's one such site: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/06/03/solar-costs-have-fallen-82-since-2010/

"The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency."

The efficiency of the conversion from light to electricity, is only one aspect of the over all increase in efficiency. One cannot have any production process which is 100% efficient. That would be equivalent to 'perpetual motion'. However, if one halves the production, installation and maintenance costs of the solar panels, over a period of time, that represent a 100% increase in the 'cost efficiency'. If one also doubles the durability of the panels over the same period of time, then that represents an increase in cost efficiency of 400% in relation to the starting point. Don't you agree?

Quote
Now, in response to your point about the increases in digital camera technology and juxtaposing that with solar, we are now far past the point of diminishing returns on digital cameras, just like with solar.  Really, can you name a ground breaking advancement in image quality in the last 5 or 6 years?  Not user features, but actual IQ?

Technology usually progresses gradually and continuously. The 8k video capability of the Canon 5R, the 5 to 8 stops of image stabilization of mirrorless cameras with IBIS used in conjunction with lens IS or VR, the lighter weight of mirrorless cameras including the lenses designed for them, the remarkable dynamic range of Nikon cameras in general, and the increase in pixel count to 45mp for 35mm full frame, and up to 32mp for Canon APS-C, might not be considered ground breaking within the last 5 or 6 years. However, if you add up all these improvements that have taken place during the last 10 to 20 years, plus many more I haven't mentioned, it's the equivalent of a massive ground-breaking improvement. Wouldn't you agree?  ;)

There are also rumors that Canon  has been developing, for some time now, a 100mp and even a 150mp 35mm full frame. That would certainly be possible, but whether or not there is a market demand for such a product is another issue.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 13, 2020, 12:23:33 pm
It's a long post, Joe, so I'll address just a few points at a time. The following 'scientific' article addresses the fall in the production cost, the increase in efficiency, and the fall in the price of solar panels between 1975 and 2012, in terms of cost and price per watt.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518305196?via%3Dihub

Refer attached image from the article, of a graph which shows the module costs (in orange), and the price (in purple).

Since 2012, where this graph ends, there have been further, significant reductions in manufacturing costs, although such reports I've found on the internet are from sites that are promoting the use of 'green energy' so one would expect a certain degree of bias.
However, here's one such site: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/06/03/solar-costs-have-fallen-82-since-2010/

"The levelized cost of energy generated by large scale solar plants is around $0.068/kWh, compared to $0.378 ten years ago and the price fell 13.1% between 2018 and last year alone, according to figures released by the International Renewable Energy Agency."

The efficiency of the conversion from light to electricity, is only one aspect of the over all increase in efficiency. One cannot have any production process which is 100% efficient. That would be equivalent to 'perpetual motion'. However, if one halves the production, installation and maintenance costs of the solar panels, over a period of time, that represent a 100% increase in the 'cost efficiency'. If one also doubles the durability of the panels over the same period of time, then that represents an increase in cost efficiency of 400% in relation to the starting point. Don't you agree?

Technology usually progresses gradually and continuously. The 8k video capability of the Canon 5R, the 5 to 8 stops of image stabilization of mirrorless cameras with IBIS used in conjunction with lens IS or VR, the lighter weight of mirrorless cameras including the lenses designed for them, the remarkable dynamic range of Nikon cameras in general, and the increase in pixel count to 45mp for 35mm full frame, and up to 32mp for Canon APS-C, might not be considered ground breaking within the last 5 or 6 years. However, if you add up all these improvements that have taken place during the last 10 to 20 years, plus many more I haven't mentioned, it's the equivalent of a massive ground-breaking improvement. Wouldn't you agree?  ;)

There are also rumors that Canon  has been developing, for some time now, a 100mp and even a 150mp 35mm full frame. That would certainly be possible, but whether or not there is a market demand for such a product is another issue.

Okay, so the cost per KWh hour is going down ... when the plant is actually producing energy.  But the majority of the time, the plant is not producing any energy.  Remember, the best solar farm in the world (insofar as what percentage of the time it is producing power) in NV only produces energy 33% of the time.  The mean 67% of the time it is sitting ideal not doing anything, but we dont get our money back that we spent on raw materials and construction during them time. 

So we need to look at the overall cost including when no energy is being produced, which is why the German study I sited showing energy return given energy used to produce is much better. 

Additionally, like I stated so many times before, the only way to produce cheap electricity is by have a modern grid with the exact amount of energy in it needed at the time with as little energy conversions as possible.  Solar can not produce energy on demand, which means you need to store the energy to retrieve it later, adding two more energy conversions and wasting energy in the process.  This greatly increases the cost without even accounting for the cost of the batteries. 

This alone makes solar a pipe dream. 

And last, what say you about the shear amount of large birds both wind and solar farms kill?  Should we just extinct eagles and hawks for your romance?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 14, 2020, 10:03:04 am
Okay, so the cost per KWh hour is going down ... when the plant is actually producing energy.  But the majority of the time, the plant is not producing any energy.  Remember, the best solar farm in the world (insofar as what percentage of the time it is producing power) in NV only produces energy 33% of the time.  The mean 67% of the time it is sitting ideal not doing anything, but we dont get our money back that we spent on raw materials and construction during them time. 

So we need to look at the overall cost including when no energy is being produced, which is why the German study I sited showing energy return given energy used to produce is much better. 

Additionally, like I stated so many times before, the only way to produce cheap electricity is by have a modern grid with the exact amount of energy in it needed at the time with as little energy conversions as possible.  Solar can not produce energy on demand, which means you need to store the energy to retrieve it later, adding two more energy conversions and wasting energy in the process.  This greatly increases the cost without even accounting for the cost of the batteries. 

This alone makes solar a pipe dream. 


C'mon now, Joe. Surely you know that the sun has always shined on our planet 24 hours a day if one includes the numerous different locations on our planet at any given time.

I mentioned in a previous post the benefits of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission which is a much more efficient method of transmitting power over long distances than High Voltage Alternating Current.

The following article addresses the situation.
https://www.powermag.com/benefits-of-high-voltage-direct-current-transmission-systems/

“AC systems have lower capital costs, but a much steeper line slope as you increase the distance. Along the length, they need compensation, especially at high voltages, because they require what we call VAR [volt-ampere reactive] support.” “HVDC systems have a much higher capital cost, but as the distance increases the slope of the line is flatter. So, there is a point where these two lines intersect, and that’s your break-even point—that’s a function of distance, voltage, and power transfer.”

"You can also run longer DC lines underground. So, there can be a big advantage to DC where permitting and visual impact is a concern.”


If we combine the long-distance transmission benefits of HVDC with advanced battery storage, which will inevitably improve as technology progresses, then it's technologically feasible and cost-effective to power the entire world economy on solar power alone.

However, I do understand that there are always major, initial, costs involved when a society changes a paradigm. The installation of hundreds of thousands of kilometres of under-sea and underground HVDC cables is a very expensive initial capital cost, and that initial cost can be a major obstacle, which is why this paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewables will take, and should take, a long time.

Since I'm not at all worried about the climate consequences of minuscule amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere, I don't care how long it takes, as long as we continue to make progress. The source of energy from fossil fuels is always a major expense involving the mining, storage and transporting of the coal and oil. However, the source of energy from the sun, and its transportation, is totally free.  ;)

Quote
And last, what say you about the shear amount of large birds both wind and solar farms kill?  Should we just extinct eagles and hawks for your romance?

Probably not as serious an issue as the oils spills that affect the life in the oceans, the accidents that coal miners sometimes experience, as well as the lung problems due to coal dust, and of course the terrible conditions that prevail in undeveloped countries that mine the various metals used in solar panels and batteries, often involving the employment of under-aged children.

Environmental issues related to toxic waste and a lack of recycling, has always been a problem throughout the world, and this will continue to be an increasing problem in the future if it is not addressed.

Solar panels and batteries must be recycled after they have served their purpose, and how to do this efficiently should be the subject of further research, and appropriate regulations enforced.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on September 14, 2020, 05:47:44 pm
There is a report of damage accelerating in two major Antarctic glaciers.  It is published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science:  https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/08/1912890117  The investigators do not predict what this might mean for sea level rise but that it is worrying as glaciers lose stability pieces can break off and lead to melting.  The paper has some nice images and graphs.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 15, 2020, 05:06:39 am
There is a report of damage accelerating in two major Antarctic glaciers.  It is published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science:  https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/08/1912890117  The investigators do not predict what this might mean for sea level rise but that it is worrying as glaciers lose stability pieces can break off and lead to melting.  The paper has some nice images and graphs.

If the glaciers slip into the sea, it will be an opportunity for Australia and other countries to tow the icebergs to their coastline for irrigation purposes.  ;)

Regarding the amount of sea ice around the Antarctic, it fluctuates according to the seasons, with the minimum occurring during the Southern Hemisphere summer in February. During the past 40 years, the lowest level was in 2017. The minimum level has been rising since then, during the summer peak. Nothing to worry about, Alan, unless one is suffering from OCD.  ;D

Refer attached graph.

"As it does in the Arctic, the surface of the ocean around Antarctica freezes over in the winter and melts back each summer. Antarctic sea ice usually reaches its annual maximum extent in mid- to late September, and reaches its annual minimum in late February or early March. The 2020 minimum extent (February 20–21, 2020) was below the 1981–2010 climatological average but well above the record low recorded in 2017."

"Since satellite-based measurements began in the late 1970s, Antarctic sea ice extent has shown high year-to-year variability. The overall trend is nearly flat."


https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/understanding-climate-antarctic-sea-ice-extent
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Goldhammer on September 15, 2020, 08:45:54 am
If the glaciers slip into the sea, it will be an opportunity for Australia and other countries to tow the icebergs to their coastline for irrigation purposes.  ;)
This is not a new idea as I saw some papers on this back in the early 1980s.  The did a cost analysis considering the energy needed to move the ice as well as how much would be lost to melting during transit.  It was not an economically viable proposition for the US but given the closeness of Australia, it just might be!
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on September 15, 2020, 12:40:31 pm
Following Trump's news conference yesterday, the National Review posted an editorial promoting forest management as the way to control forest fires in California. Last time I saw a figure for the devastation so far is 3.3 million acres burned. Has anyone calculated the number of people and time frame required, and the total cost of clearing brush from 3.3 million acres? From all of the forest area in California, Oregon, and Washington? I am trying to get a feel for the size and scope of the suggested project. I have been to several of the national and state parks in California and it sure looks like a big job.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/california-forest-mismanagement-a-disaster/#slide-1
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on September 15, 2020, 02:49:08 pm
Longtime Climate Science Denier Hired At NOAA

David Legates, a University of Delaware professor of climatology who has spent much of his career questioning basic tenets of climate science, has been hired for a top position at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Neither Legates nor NOAA representatives responded to questions about Legates' specific responsibilities or why he was hired. The White House also declined to comment.

In 2007, Legates was one of the authors of a paper that questioned previous findings about the role of climate change in destroying the habitat of polar bears. That research was partially funded by grants from Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute lobbying group and ExxonMobil, according to InsideClimate News.

Legates also appeared in a video pushing the discredited theory that the sun is the cause of global warming. In testimony before the U.S. Senate in 2014, Legates argued that a climate science report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change erroneously stated that humans are causing global warming.

Legates is a professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences at the University of Delaware. He is also affiliated with the Heartland Institute, a think tank that has poured money into convincing Americans that climate change is not happening and that the scientific evidence — including evidence published by the agency that now employs Legates — is uncertain or untrustworthy.

Advocates who reject mainstream climate science, such as those at Heartland, have had a leading role in shaping the Trump administration's response to global warming, including the decision to exit the Paris climate accord.

But climate researchers slammed NOAA's decision to appoint Legates to a key scientific position.

"He's not just in left field — he's not even near the ballpark," says Jane Lubchenco, a professor of marine biology at Oregon State University and head of NOAA under President Barack Obama.

Contrarians in science are welcome, Lubchenco says, but their claims have to be scientifically defensible. That's why official groups like the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change review the entire range of scientific research before reaching a conclusion.

Over the last 20 years, in his work and public statements, Legates has rejected the overwhelming peer-reviewed research that shows human activity is the main driver of a dangerously changing climate.

Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, says in an email to NPR that Legates has, throughout his career, "misrepresented the science of climate change, serving as an advocate for polluting interests as he dismisses and downplays the impacts of climate change."

Mann adds: "At a time when those impacts are playing out before our very eyes in the form of unprecedented wildfires out West and super-storms back East, I cannot imagine a more misguided decision than to appoint someone like Legates to a position of leadership at an agency that is tasked with assessing the risks we face from extreme weather events."

More at...

https://www.npr.org/2020/09/12/longtime-climate-science-denier-hired-at-noaa (https://www.npr.org/2020/09/12/912301325/longtime-climate-science-denier-hired-at-noaa)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 04:33:32 pm
C'mon now, Joe. Surely you know that the sun has always shined on our planet 24 hours a day if one includes the numerous different locations on our planet at any given time.

I mentioned in a previous post the benefits of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission which is a much more efficient method of transmitting power over long distances than High Voltage Alternating Current.

The following article addresses the situation.
https://www.powermag.com/benefits-of-high-voltage-direct-current-transmission-systems/

“AC systems have lower capital costs, but a much steeper line slope as you increase the distance. Along the length, they need compensation, especially at high voltages, because they require what we call VAR [volt-ampere reactive] support.” “HVDC systems have a much higher capital cost, but as the distance increases the slope of the line is flatter. So, there is a point where these two lines intersect, and that’s your break-even point—that’s a function of distance, voltage, and power transfer.”

"You can also run longer DC lines underground. So, there can be a big advantage to DC where permitting and visual impact is a concern.”


If we combine the long-distance transmission benefits of HVDC with advanced battery storage, which will inevitably improve as technology progresses, then it's technologically feasible and cost-effective to power the entire world economy on solar power alone.

However, I do understand that there are always major, initial, costs involved when a society changes a paradigm. The installation of hundreds of thousands of kilometres of under-sea and underground HVDC cables is a very expensive initial capital cost, and that initial cost can be a major obstacle, which is why this paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewables will take, and should take, a long time.

Since I'm not at all worried about the climate consequences of minuscule amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere, I don't care how long it takes, as long as we continue to make progress. The source of energy from fossil fuels is always a major expense involving the mining, storage and transporting of the coal and oil. However, the source of energy from the sun, and its transportation, is totally free.  ;)

Probably not as serious an issue as the oils spills that affect the life in the oceans, the accidents that coal miners sometimes experience, as well as the lung problems due to coal dust, and of course the terrible conditions that prevail in undeveloped countries that mine the various metals used in solar panels and batteries, often involving the employment of under-aged children.

Environmental issues related to toxic waste and a lack of recycling, has always been a problem throughout the world, and this will continue to be an increasing problem in the future if it is not addressed.

Solar panels and batteries must be recycled after they have served their purpose, and how to do this efficiently should be the subject of further research, and appropriate regulations enforced.

You are still not addressing the heart of the issue that I mentioned a couple times. 

We need at least 10 times the amount of energy produced than what we put into producing it for our economy to thrive. 

Solar and wind gives us just a 1.9 to 3.6 return. 

It's a pipe dream, that's it.  That's why CA cant provide the amount of energy it needs, why they had to implement rolling blackouts and why they are extending the shut down of other types of plants.  It will never work. 

Nuclear is the only option to get us off of fossil fuels. 


But anyway, it great to see you guys go full on paganism with your climate change rhetoric over the last few days.  It's amazing how climate change can be used as cover for all of the left's incompetence, such as horrible forest management.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 05:03:48 pm
Quote
But anyway, it great to see you guys go full on paganism with your climate change rhetoric over the last few days.  It's amazing how climate change can be used as cover for all of the left's incompetence, such as horrible forest management.   

Joe, we embrace and love you as well.  Sorry, this is about someone who is just not an authority on the statements he makes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3foXJfWlgoM
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 05:11:20 pm
Joe, we embrace and love you as well.  Sorry, this is about someone who is just not an authority on the statements he makes. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3foXJfWlgoM

LOL Hugh!  Neither are you, yet you write on the subject here as well.  However, at least I dont give into religious fervor that forces me to blame everything on the almighty boogie man Climate change, while ignoring everything else.

How about Standford University, are they out of their element? 

Setting fires to avoid fires: Stanford study outlines approaches to enable more prescribed burns (https://news.stanford.edu/2020/01/20/setting-fires-avoid-fires/)

"To put a meaningful dent in wildfire numbers, California needs fuel treatments – whether prescribed burns or vegetation thinning – on about 20 million acres or nearly 20 percent of the state’s land area, according to the researchers."

Another in peer reviewed journal Nature Sustainability. 

Barriers and enablers for prescribed burns for wildfire management in California (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0451-7)

But keep on pushing your Climate Change paganism and ignoring actual science Hugh.  By the way, what was the scientific credentials on the article you posted earlier from the BBC?  I don't remember the BBC being peer reviewed or associated with an accredited university. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 05:26:18 pm
Just to point out the goofy logic of the left's solution to controlling forest fires through climate change mitigation, all available science shows that any efforts we take to control climate change (no matter how draconian) will not result in the earth cooling.  Regardless of what we do, the earth will continue to increase in temperature, albeit perhaps slower.  And even if we did do the most draconian corse of action, it still would take a 100 years for us to feel the effects of it. 

So, how does this help us now?

Regardless of what we do, the temperatures will continue to increase, making the problem worse (according to the left) for at least a 100 years, more then enough time to burn CA to a crisp, twice.

Given that unavoidable conclusion, what is wrong with controlled burns and doing something today that would help that all specialists in the field agree on? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Chris Kern on September 15, 2020, 05:27:23 pm
Andy Borowitz, satirist-in-chief of The New Yorker, reports that a renowned stable genius has developed a remarkably clever way to deal with global warming (https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-says-earth-will-cool-down-if-everyone-just-turns-on-air-conditioning?utm_source=onsite-share&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=the-new-yorker).

Quote
Blasting “dumb scientists for not thinking of this before,” Donald J. Trump said that the planet would cool down “right away” if everyone would just turn on the air-conditioning.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 05:31:33 pm
Post one peer reviewed paper from a scientific journal. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 05:41:55 pm
Post one peer reviewed paper from a scientific journal.

Well, I must say that although Nature Sustainability is partially peer-reviewed, the article I posted is not.  I just checked.  However, I have sited a few articles written by scientists and/or universities discussing controlled burns. 

I would like to add that that the Stanford article I posted came from the Woods Institute (as is woods or forests), an institution dedicated to studying forests.  Like I said, I am siting specialists, not generalists. 

You have not posted any actual rebuttals to these points, only ad hoc articles written in general media (BBC) and engage in ad homonym attacks on me (albeit mild enough this time around). 

I am addressing your argument whereas you are choosing to ignore mine since your "religious faith" in the matter refuses to allow you to. 

I am waiting to hear your actual rebuttal on how controlled burns will not help reduce crown fires that kill forests, and/or how the build up of fuel on the ground that we allowed to happen does not help to produce crown fires.   
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 05:45:53 pm
Have you read this?  By the I have known this individual for many years and have great respect for his research. https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Californias-Ecosystems-Jan-Wagtendonk/dp/0520286839
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 05:49:57 pm
I spent years studying the effects of fire in Yellowstone National Park.  You did not. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 05:51:45 pm
Have you read this?  By the I have known this individual for many years and have great respect for his research. https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Californias-Ecosystems-Jan-Wagtendonk/dp/0520286839

First, since when have you been able to rent books on amazon? 

Second, no I have not and thanks for sharing.  Looks interesting and I skimmed through the first three paragraphs in the forward.  It does mention the benefits of fire in those first paragraphs, albeit it could be a lead up to argue against it.  I'll have to look into this more. 

But anyway, let me say this in closing to this argument. 

I am very much about preserving natural lands and wildlife habitat.  This is one main reason why I am against wind and solar, it takes up too much land.  This is the main reason I am against the border wall, because it screws with the natural habitat of wildlife that roam back and froth across the border.  I dont want to see forests killed in crown fires.  Lofty climate change goals are noble, but they do nothing for us now.  Like I said, CA could burn twice by the time any of these efforts take effect. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 05:52:24 pm
The sad part is you really are a hippy liberal.  It just that the check boxes are different where you live. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 06:00:59 pm
Quote
I dont want to see forests killed in crown fires.

None of us do unless it it is the right place at the right time.  The problem is you don't understand the science or the ecology.  But we do agree that fire should be fought by fire.  But, making the acertation that we just need to pick up sticks in the forest is not based on any science. I could also argue that you are a crazy pagan, but that would just be hurtful.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 06:10:48 pm
But you can write more than me and you are a wonderful speller.  PS.  I like your socks.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 06:16:51 pm
But you can write more than me and you are a wonderful speller.  PS.  I like your socks.

I never claimed to win any spelling bees as a kid.  BTW ...

 Judging a person on their spelling and grammar reveals more about you than it does about them (https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/spelling-grammar-judge-literacy-privilege-elitism-a9213516.html)

It's not peered reviewed, but gives you a good idea of what I think on the subject. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 15, 2020, 06:23:06 pm
None of us do unless it it is the right place at the right time.  The problem is you don't understand the science or the ecology.  But we do agree that fire should be fought by fire.  But, making the acertation that we just need to pick up sticks in the forest is not based on any science. I could also argue that you are a crazy pagan, but that would just be hurtful.

Were not talking about picking up sticks, that would take too long.  Controlled burns would not. 

But since you are so well versed in the science, perhaps you could explain why you are right and Stanford is wrong?  Or maybe you have written an article that you could link to and give a summary of the pertinent points? 

I'm not going to hold my breath just so you know.  But with out providing a more detailed rebuttal (not just a link to a book that I cant read in a few minutes), I am just not going to consider you to be a serious person on the matter.  Up until now, you have shown yourself to be nothing more then someone interested in trying to talk down people who disagree with you without arguments to back you up. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on September 15, 2020, 06:38:09 pm
Following Trump's news conference yesterday, the National Review posted an editorial promoting forest management as the way to control forest fires in California. Last time I saw a figure for the devastation so far is 3.3 million acres burned. Has anyone calculated the number of people and time frame required, and the total cost of clearing brush from 3.3 million acres? From all of the forest area in California, Oregon, and Washington? I am trying to get a feel for the size and scope of the suggested project. I have been to several of the national and state parks in California and it sure looks like a big job.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/california-forest-mismanagement-a-disaster/#slide-1

Forest management seems like a good idea. What sort of manpower, time, and money are we talking about to solve the problem?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 06:43:31 pm
Quote
Stanford is wrong?
Because standford has done so little research regarding this topic! 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 06:44:07 pm
Joe, What paper?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: John Camp on September 15, 2020, 06:54:36 pm
Following Trump's news conference yesterday, the National Review posted an editorial promoting forest management as the way to control forest fires in California. Last time I saw a figure for the devastation so far is 3.3 million acres burned. Has anyone calculated the number of people and time frame required, and the total cost of clearing brush from 3.3 million acres? From all of the forest area in California, Oregon, and Washington? I am trying to get a feel for the size and scope of the suggested project. I have been to several of the national and state parks in California and it sure looks like a big job.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/09/california-forest-mismanagement-a-disaster/#slide-1

The acreage burned so far is about the size of the state of Connecticut.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 07:18:54 pm
Quote
Forest management seems like a good idea. What sort of manpower, time, and money are we talking about to solve the problem?

More rakes?  We might as well start a religion thread. The problem is that over the last 20 years there has been a huge amount of trees killed due to beetle infestations attributed to the increasingly dry conditions.  The biomass combined with increasingly hot summers has resulted in these huge fires.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 07:20:55 pm
Until we can agree upon what is science and what is not we can't have this conversation. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 08:02:34 pm
Anderson J.E. 1995 Regeneration of lodgepole pine influenced by site factors and burn intensity in the Great Yellowstone Area. Final Report,Agreement  No. INT-90491-RJVA, Inermountain Reasearch Station, USDA Forest Service, Ogden Utah.

Knight, D. H. and L. L. Wallace. 1989. The Yellowstone Fires: issues in landscape ecology. Bioscience, 39:700-706.

Romme, W.H. and D. G. Despain. 1989. HIstorical perspectives on the Yellowston Fires of 1988. Bioscience, 695-699. 

van Wagtendonk, J. W. 1985. Fire suppression effects on fuels and succession in short-fire-interval wilderness ecosystems. In Proceed-
ings, Symposium and workshop on wilderness fire, technical coordi- nation by J. E. Lotan, B. M. Kilgore, W. C. Fischer, and R. W. Mutch, 119-26. General Technical Report INT-182. Ogden, UT: U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.
-.
sium on fire in wilderness and park management, technical coordina- tion by J. K. Brown, R. W. Mutch, C. W. Spoon, and R. H. Wakimoto, 113-16. General Technical Report INT-GTR-320. Ogden, UT: U.S. Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station.
1995. Large fires in wilderness areas. In Proceedings: Sympa-
 -.
treatments. In Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Con- gress, vol. II, chap. 43. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources.
1996. Use of a deterministic fire growth model to test fuel
 Weatherspoon, C. P., 1996. Fire-silviculture relationships in Sierra forests. In Sierra Nevada Ecosystem Project: Final report to Congress, vol. II, chap. 44. Davis: University of California, Centers for Water and Wildland Resources.
I can go on and on. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 15, 2020, 09:44:13 pm

 Fire Intervals in Yellowstone National Park (Yes, I now live in Yosemite National Park):

From approximately 1700 to 1900, lodgepole pine stands in the study area were characterized, for the most part, as young to middle successional staged. Such stands are typically less flammable than older, more mature stands. On the basis of stand age alone, could have potentially burned after about 1930 when late and middle successional staged stands were dominant, yet climatic conditions were not optimal for extensive fires until the summer of 1988.

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 16, 2020, 12:53:45 am
You are still not addressing the heart of the issue that I mentioned a couple times. 

We need at least 10 times the amount of energy produced than what we put into producing it for our economy to thrive. 

Solar and wind gives us just a 1.9 to 3.6 return. 

It's a pipe dream, that's it.  That's why CA cant provide the amount of energy it needs, why they had to implement rolling blackouts and why they are extending the shut down of other types of plants.  It will never work. 

Nuclear is the only option to get us off of fossil fuels. 



Would you care to explain how these calculations of 1.9 to 3.6 return are obtained, Joe? Surely you know that I'm not the sort of person who blindly accepts a statement that supports a particular view, simply because it's linked to some study which is probably biased. Are these figures from the German study you referred to in a previous post, but didn't provide the link to? Were the figures calculated decades ago when the manufacturing costs of solar panels were much higher?

There are frequent claims from 'climate alarmists' that the cost of electricity from solar and wind is now cheaper than the the same amount of electricity produced from fossil fuels, but those of us who are objective and unbiased realize that such calculations tend to ignore the additional costs of providing a continuous supply of electricity in regions where the sun is not shining, or the wind not blowing, at a particular time when the electricity is needed.

However, as I've mentioned before, there are solutions to these problems that don't require expensive fossil-fuel back-up. These solution are HVDC transmission lines and battery storage. Research into these solutions continues, and I see no reason why eventually solar power alone, without subsidies, will be cheaper than the current energy from fossil fuels and nuclear power plants, taking everything into consideration, including the cost of recycling solar panels and the cost of safely disposing of the waste from nuclear power plants, and so on.

The following article provides an overview of HVDC.
https://medium.com/predict/future-of-electricity-transmission-is-hvdc-9800a545cd18

"HVDC lines always deliver more of the power put into them regardless of the distance that the electricity travels, which is a significant factor in and of itself. But the big reason this is important is that it’s cheaper at longer distances over land and at very short distances underwater and underground. This means that it’s very useful for bringing electricity long distances from renewable locations, connecting islands to the mainland and even continents to one another potentially."

This aspect of HVDC transmission being cheaper, even at short distances when underground, appeals to me greatly because of my appreciation of the beauty of the natural landscape. Overhead power lines are an eyesore, as well as windmills. I'd prefer a future which relies mainly upon solar power from rooftops and deserts.

Many houses in the suburbs of Australia have solar panels installed on their roofs, but usually only a fraction of one side of the roof is covered, representing one quarter of the total roof area, more or less.
There's no technological reason why future houses could not be designed with the entire roof area covered with solar panels. Refer attached images.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-version-3-of-teslas-new-solarglass-roof-tiles/

Imagine a future where it becomes the norm to include solar technology in the entire roof area of each and every building on the planet, and all solar farms are located in arid or desert regions where the land cannot be used for agriculture, and where the sun shines on most days. The power generated from such farms can be efficiently transported to the cities and other countries via underground HVDC cables that are not an eyesore.

It's not a pipe 'dream', Joe. The pipes are already a reality, containing HVDC transmission lines.  ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 16, 2020, 01:10:53 pm
Until we can agree upon what is science and what is not we can't have this conversation.

Another very merry unserious post from a very merry unserious poster. 

Hey Hugh ... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdsZT7WKjW8)

FYI, I call dibs on being the hatter. 

But getting back to the point at hand, and the question you ignored, if climate change is the main issue and any mitigation efforts will take a 100 years to produce results, enough time for CA to burn to a crisp, what is wrong with discussing solutions that could help us now, not a century from now? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: JoeKitchen on September 16, 2020, 01:13:04 pm

Would you care to explain how these calculations of 1.9 to 3.6 return are obtained, Joe? Surely you know that I'm not the sort of person who blindly accepts a statement that supports a particular view, simply because it's linked to some study which is probably biased. Are these figures from the German study you referred to in a previous post, but didn't provide the link to? Were the figures calculated decades ago when the manufacturing costs of solar panels were much higher?

There are frequent claims from 'climate alarmists' that the cost of electricity from solar and wind is now cheaper than the the same amount of electricity produced from fossil fuels, but those of us who are objective and unbiased realize that such calculations tend to ignore the additional costs of providing a continuous supply of electricity in regions where the sun is not shining, or the wind not blowing, at a particular time when the electricity is needed.

However, as I've mentioned before, there are solutions to these problems that don't require expensive fossil-fuel back-up. These solution are HVDC transmission lines and battery storage. Research into these solutions continues, and I see no reason why eventually solar power alone, without subsidies, will be cheaper than the current energy from fossil fuels and nuclear power plants, taking everything into consideration, including the cost of recycling solar panels and the cost of safely disposing of the waste from nuclear power plants, and so on.

The following article provides an overview of HVDC.
https://medium.com/predict/future-of-electricity-transmission-is-hvdc-9800a545cd18

"HVDC lines always deliver more of the power put into them regardless of the distance that the electricity travels, which is a significant factor in and of itself. But the big reason this is important is that it’s cheaper at longer distances over land and at very short distances underwater and underground. This means that it’s very useful for bringing electricity long distances from renewable locations, connecting islands to the mainland and even continents to one another potentially."

This aspect of HVDC transmission being cheaper, even at short distances when underground, appeals to me greatly because of my appreciation of the beauty of the natural landscape. Overhead power lines are an eyesore, as well as windmills. I'd prefer a future which relies mainly upon solar power from rooftops and deserts.

Many houses in the suburbs of Australia have solar panels installed on their roofs, but usually only a fraction of one side of the roof is covered, representing one quarter of the total roof area, more or less.
There's no technological reason why future houses could not be designed with the entire roof area covered with solar panels. Refer attached images.

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/09/11/everything-you-need-to-know-about-version-3-of-teslas-new-solarglass-roof-tiles/

Imagine a future where it becomes the norm to include solar technology in the entire roof area of each and every building on the planet, and all solar farms are located in arid or desert regions where the land cannot be used for agriculture, and where the sun shines on most days. The power generated from such farms can be efficiently transported to the cities and other countries via underground HVDC cables that are not an eyesore.

It's not a pipe 'dream', Joe. The pipes are already a reality, containing HVDC transmission lines.  ;D

Wow, they look like nice roofs.  Too bad we are trending towards urbanization living in apartment buildings throughout the world, making solar roofs a moot point.  I also would like to point out it is twice as expensive to produce electricity from solar roofs, which is largely subsidized, as it is from farms.  Fact is, without any subsidizes, solar power would not be possible.  Fossil fuels, hydro-electric and nuclear would all continuing to operate, albeit slightly more expensive. 

Plus, the idea of connecting the entire world through one grid would not only be nearly impossible and extremely costly, but from a national security perspective foolish and would leave us open to being vulnerable to enemies. 

It's a pipe dream. 

But anyway, I promise to supply that paper I referenced by the end of the day.  I have to look it up; it is in German FYI. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: HSakols on September 16, 2020, 07:41:27 pm
Again this is a video of someone who is out of their element. I am the walrus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS8X2Qp_6aA
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 17, 2020, 08:08:49 am
Wow, they look like nice roofs.  Too bad we are trending towards urbanization living in apartment buildings throughout the world, making solar roofs a moot point.   

In Australia we used to have a dream of owning a house on a quarter acre block. Many homes where I live, on the outskirts of Brisbane, are on blocks of land ranging from 1/2 an acre to 10 acres.

However, you are right that there is a general movement towards homes in apartments, but in Australia, the vast majority of the population still live in separate houses. As the population expands, an increasing proportion of them choose to live in an apartment, but the number of separate houses is still expanding, but not art the same rate as apartment-dwelling.

If the entire roof of a separate house is covered with solar panels, the electricity generated will be more than the household needs. The excess energy can be transmitted to apartment dwellers where the roof of the apartment building is not large enough to meet the electricity requirements of all the inhabitants.

From the 2016 Australian Census:

"Separate houses continued to account for the largest proportion of Australian homes. However, separate houses decreased from 76% of households in 2011 to 73% in 2016. Semi-detached, row housing, town houses, flats and apartments increased to make up just over one-quarter of housing (26%)."

When considering the over all efficiency and cost of a particular type of energy supply, one should consider the impact and costs of all related issues.
For example, the 'true', over all cost of burning coal, must include the damage to the environment of mining the coal, which includes the cost of rehabilitation of the environment after the mining ceases, the damage to the health of the miners, and the damage to the general health of the population in the vicinity of the mining and in the vicinity of the coal-fired plants where a certain amount of 'real' pollutants will usually be emitted.

When new technology is developed to reduce toxic emissions from coal-burning, one must also consider the additional cost of including the emission controls in the construction of the plant, and the regulatory cost of ensuring that such emission controls are always switched on, which requires frequent visits from the inspectors and their employment costs.

Quote
I also would like to point out it is twice as expensive to produce electricity from solar roofs, which is largely subsidized, as it is from farms.  Fact is, without any subsidizes, solar power would not be possible.  Fossil fuels, hydro-electric and nuclear would all continuing to operate, albeit slightly more expensive.

Not necessarily, if you take all factors into consideration. The advantage of roof-top solar is that no additional land is taken up that could be used for other productive purposes. I've seen quite a few solar farms located in fertile areas that could be used for growing food or creating recreational nature reserves. That cost should be included.

If one locates the solar farm in a remote desert or arid region, then one has to include the cost of very long HVDC transmission lines.

Subsidies are a necessary incentive to increase demand for solar panels, unlike cameras which have their own, innate attraction. As the manufacturing costs of solar panels decrease, the subsidies will also decrease.

Quote
Plus, the idea of connecting the entire world through one grid would not only be nearly impossible and extremely costly, but from a national security perspective foolish and would leave us open to being vulnerable to enemies.

Not necessarily. It will often be a two-way process where two connected countries with different time zones provide energy to the other whenever the sun shines in their own country. Since the two countries, and other connected countries, will rely upon each other for a regular supply of energy, which is a fundamental requirement for all prosperity, this two-way reliance will reduce the likelihood of any future conflict.

Do you still have a leg to stand on?  ;D

Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2020, 10:59:00 am
Ray, Using someone else's solar panels when it's dark in your area would require double the number of sensors.  After all, when it sunny in their area, they want power for their needs as well. Ditto with wind generators. That's why you need fossil fuel secondary plants to providee energy when its dark or calm.

Batteries would help.  But we're a long way from making them with enough storage at reasonable cost.  The Tesla plant in the USA is the largest in the world.  It would take them 300 years to make enough batteries to store power needs for the world for just one days use. 

Then think of all the manufacturing environmental issues created.  What about disposal when they;re done in a  few years?  Germany is already replacing their wind generators. Although they have 50% or more power generated from green, their energy cost per KWH are 2 1/2 times America's.
Then you have mining operations, tractors, fossil fuel to mine and manufacturer solar and wind, etc.  What do you do with all the plastic in the wind propellers? 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on September 17, 2020, 11:37:06 am
Batteries would help.  But we're a long way from making them with enough storage at reasonable cost.  The Tesla plant in the USA is the largest in the world.  It would take them 300 years to make enough batteries to store power needs for the world for just one days use. 

 What do you do with all the plastic in the wind propellers?

Next week, on September 22, Tesla will make an important announcement about their new batteries. That may make them feasible also for residential and industrial use.

As to the recycling of wind turbines, this will be a new industry. Until now, there were no decommisioned turbine blades but soon there will be enough supply to start recycling. Already now, there are several companies and universities researching such technologies.

https://www.re-wind.info/product/2020/8/28/reuse-and-recycling-of-decommissioned-composite-material-wind-turbine-blades
https://www.windtech-international.com/product-news/university-of-tennessee-receives-funding-to-recycle-wind-turbine-blades
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 17, 2020, 12:33:24 pm
Regarding recycling of plastics, we have that where I live in New Jersey.  There's a separate garbage can just for plastics.  Problem is I learned a couple of days ago is that most plastics cannot be recycled.  It was pushed as something to make plastics seem more acceptable.  So everyone who makes plastics, puts that triangle on their containers to say they're recyclable.  They're not.  Only plastic types that are used in milk and soda bottles are.  That means that the plastics have to be sorted.  Do they really do that?  Or do they just dump everything in the the dump anyway along with the trash in the other garbage can?  The only thing good about the extra can I have to put in the street for garbage pickup is that it forces me to do some exercise. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 18, 2020, 10:39:43 pm
Ray, Using someone else's solar panels when it's dark in your area would require double the number of sensors.  After all, when it sunny in their area, they want power for their needs as well. Ditto with wind generators. That's why you need fossil fuel secondary plants to providee energy when its dark or calm.

Alan, when it's dark in your area, your demand for electricity might be less. Demand fluctuates all the time, throughout the day and throughout the seasons. The most efficient power plants, whether coal or nuclear, are 'base load', that is, they produce electricity at their maximum efficiency all the time. If production is scaled down because of lower demand during certain periods of the day or night, the efficiency of the power plant, during those times, is reduced.

We live in a world where hardly anything is used continuously at the same rate. Your car probably sits in the garage or a car park most of the time. Your house is empty whenever you are away. A fruit tree produces its fruit only once a year, but fortunately, because of international trade, you can probably eat any fruit you desire at any time of the year. Consider the long, underground HVDC power lines, as trade routes for energy supplies.

Quote
Batteries would help.  But we're a long way from making them with enough storage at reasonable cost.  The Tesla plant in the USA is the largest in the world.  It would take them 300 years to make enough batteries to store power needs for the world for just one days use.

We know from the history of technological development that products are continually improving whenever there is a will to improve them or a demand for the product. Rocket technology began with the Germans during WWII and progressed to landing men on the moon in 1969. The first digital cameras in the 1980's were often less than 1mp and very expensive. Look at them now.  ;D

https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/kodak-professional-dcs

Quote
Then think of all the manufacturing environmental issues created.  What about disposal when they;re done in a  few years?  Germany is already replacing their wind generators. Although they have 50% or more power generated from green, their energy cost per KWH are 2 1/2 times America's.
Then you have mining operations, tractors, fossil fuel to mine and manufacturer solar and wind, etc.  What do you do with all the plastic in the wind propellers?

Environmental issues and disposal of waste have always been a problem. The mining of metals to produce solar panels is not necessarily a greater problem than the mining of coal and oil, and the mining of metals to build the coal power plants and oil storage tanks, and build the lorries, trains and ships to transport the coal and oil from the mines to the power plants, and then dispose of them later, after they've served their purpose.

It might well be the case that the recycling of windmills and solar panels in the future will not be properly addressed, due to government incompetence and a lack of planning, but that's another issue that applies to the waste disposal of all products.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 19, 2020, 02:43:24 am
Alan, when it's dark in your area, your demand for electricity might be less. Demand fluctuates all the time, throughout the day and throughout the seasons. The most efficient power plants, whether coal or nuclear, are 'base load', that is, they produce electricity at their maximum efficiency all the time. If production is scaled down because of lower demand during certain periods of the day or night, the efficiency of the power plant, during those times, is reduced.

We live in a world where hardly anything is used continuously at the same rate. Your car probably sits in the garage or a car park most of the time. Your house is empty whenever you are away. A fruit tree produces its fruit only once a year, but fortunately, because of international trade, you can probably eat any fruit you desire at any time of the year. Consider the long, underground HVDC power lines, as trade routes for energy supplies.

We know from the history of technological development that products are continually improving whenever there is a will to improve them or a demand for the product. Rocket technology began with the Germans during WWII and progressed to landing men on the moon in 1969. The first digital cameras in the 1980's were often less than 1mp and very expensive. Look at them now.  ;D

https://www.digitalkameramuseum.de/en/cameras/item/kodak-professional-dcs

Environmental issues and disposal of waste have always been a problem. The mining of metals to produce solar panels is not necessarily a greater problem than the mining of coal and oil, and the mining of metals to build the coal power plants and oil storage tanks, and build the lorries, trains and ships to transport the coal and oil from the mines to the power plants, and then dispose of them later, after they've served their purpose.

It might well be the case that the recycling of windmills and solar panels in the future will not be properly addressed, due to government incompetence and a lack of planning, but that's another issue that applies to the waste disposal of all products.
Maximum load for a local area will be the hottest minute of the worse day of the summer.  The grid has to be able to supply that period even if it's only for minutes.  So on those hot minutes, let's say in north America, the entire continent will need maximum supply.  Everyone pretty much will be using all their air conditioners, offices in cities will be filled, etc.  It's at that time that all the solar cells will be maxed out for their local use.  Unless they over-designed the quantity of cells and wind for other regions, there won't be anything left for the other regions.  So you'd have to overbuild all the non-fossil fuel generation.

Of course even if you could over-design and double up on the cells at great cost, the other factors are not in place and are impractical as well.  Where would you run cables?  From Europe?  The entire northern hemisphere will be maxed out. Arguing that we might have efficient batteries in enough quantities in the future isn't practical either.  In any case, they don't exist.  So my point is still true.  You need fossil fuel plants to back up solar and wind.  If not to 100%, then to still a very large percentage.  Or you'd have to double up green supply to provide power to other areas even if it was capable of transmitting power that far.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 19, 2020, 02:46:05 am
One clarification.  You don't need fossil fuel backup.  Of course you could use nuclear, water, hydro, etc as well as fossil fuel to back up green.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 19, 2020, 11:38:26 am
Maximum load for a local area will be the hottest minute of the worse day of the summer.  The grid has to be able to supply that period even if it's only for minutes.  So on those hot minutes, let's say in north America, the entire continent will need maximum supply. 

Wow! So when it's hot in North America, it's hot over the entire North American continent at the same time. That should make it easier to plan for such conditions.  ;)

Isn't there a 3 hour time difference between the West coast and East coast of North America? When everyone is cooking their evening dinner at 6pm-7pm on the East coast, in homes and restaurants, it should be 3 to 4pm on the West coast when the sun is still shining bright and delivering power along the HVDC lines from West to East to meet the increased demand in the East. Likewise, when everyone is cooking breakfast on the West coast at 6 to 7am, it should be 9 to 10am on the East Coast when everyone has finished breakfast and is travelling to work in their electric car, or train or bus.

Whilst it's true that battery storage is currently expensive, hydro power is very efficient. Using the excess power in the grid from all sources, including wind and solar, to pump water back into the dam, is an excellent way of efficiently storing energy to meet peak demand.

The technology of HVDC transmission is also improving. The latest technology is described as UHVDC (Ultra-High-Voltage).

"China currently leads in the construction of HVDC transmission lines in the world today. China has also successfully implemented ultra‐high‐voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission lines in recent years (rated at 800 kV and above).

China is currently planning to build the Changji‐Guquan UHVDC link between Xinjiang regions in the northwestto Anhui province in the eastern region of China. The UHVDC line is expected to be rated at 1100 kVvoltage, 3000 km in length, and 12 gigawatt (GW) of transmission capacity. When completed, this project is expected to set world records for HVDC lines in terms of voltage level, transmission capacity, and line length." 


https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/electricity/hvdctransmission/pdf/transmission.pdf
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 19, 2020, 11:57:52 am
Wow! So when it's hot in North America, it's hot over the entire North American continent at the same time. That should make it easier to plan for such conditions.  ;)

Isn't there a 3 hour time difference between the West coast and East coast of North America? When everyone is cooking their evening dinner at 6pm-7pm on the East coast, in homes and restaurants, it should be 3 to 4pm on the West coast when the sun is still shining bright and delivering power along the HVDC lines from West to East to meet the increased demand in the East. Likewise, when everyone is cooking breakfast on the West coast at 6 to 7am, it should be 9 to 10am on the East Coast when everyone has finished breakfast and is travelling to work in their electric car, or train or bus.


Whilst it's true that battery storage is currently expensive, hydro power is very efficient. Using the excess power in the grid from all sources, including wind and solar, to pump water back into the dam, is an excellent way of efficiently storing energy to meet peak demand.

The technology of HVDC transmission is also improving. The latest technology is described as UHVDC (Ultra-High-Voltage).

"China currently leads in the construction of HVDC transmission lines in the world today. China has also successfully implemented ultra‐high‐voltage direct current (UHVDC) transmission lines in recent years (rated at 800 kV and above).

China is currently planning to build the Changji‐Guquan UHVDC link between Xinjiang regions in the northwestto Anhui province in the eastern region of China. The UHVDC line is expected to be rated at 1100 kVvoltage, 3000 km in length, and 12 gigawatt (GW) of transmission capacity. When completed, this project is expected to set world records for HVDC lines in terms of voltage level, transmission capacity, and line length." 


https://www.eia.gov/analysis/studies/electricity/hvdctransmission/pdf/transmission.pdf
You're picking the wrong times by using 7AM times in the early morning when it's cooler and nobody's at work yet. Change that to the worse time for electricity needs. When it's noon in California on the west coast, it's 3pm on the East Coast.  That's the hottest parts of the day when air conditioners will be maxed out.  There's no reserve.  Look at California now.  They're having blackouts because it's so hot.  Because they've shut down many fossil fuel plants in an ill advised action to go green, they've starved their own grid. Where would the energy come for them to ship electricity to the East Coast when they don't even have enough for their own use?

Sure, some electricity is moved around on non-extreme days and times. But to have the kind of spare capacity to ship to other areas on the worse day and worse time of that day means duplicating power sources.  That means providing more solar and wind plants above those needed locally. Or duplicating power from fossil.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 19, 2020, 08:47:17 pm
Dear me! The Canadian prairies have been getting colder during the past 30 years, by a whopping 2 Degrees Centigrade, which is greater than the claimed rise in average global temperatures since the industrial revolution.  :o

"During the grain growing months of May-July, the mean temperature on the Canadian prairies has cooled down by 2ºC in the last 30 years. The cooling appears to be most certainly linked to diminishing solar activity as the Sun approaches a Grand Solar Minimum in the next decade or so. This cooling has led to a reduction in Growing Degree Days (GDDs) and has also impacted the precipitation pattern. The GDDs in conjunction with mean temperature and precipitation are important parameters for the growth of various grains (wheat, barley, canola etc.) on the prairies."

https://www.opastonline.com/storage/2020/09/is-diminishing-solar-activity-detrimental-to-canadian-prairie-agriculture-eesrr-20-.pdf

Didn't President Trump say recently, “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch.”   ;D
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 20, 2020, 12:15:03 am
You're picking the wrong times by using 7AM times in the early morning when it's cooler and nobody's at work yet.

I was merely giving an example of the fluctuation in electricity demand across large areas which have different time zones.

Quote
Change that to the worse time for electricity needs. When it's noon in California on the west coast, it's 3pm on the East Coast.  That's the hottest parts of the day when air conditioners will be maxed out.


Okay, I will. Give or take up to 3 hours difference, the greatest demand for electricity occurs during the main part of the day when most people are sitting in air-conditioned office, or retirement homes, or working in factories.
To meet this demand in a reliable way, one builds hundreds of baseload coal-fired, gas-fired, or nuclear power plants. Unfortunately, during the night very little power is needed. Gas-fired power plants can more easily be switched on and off according to demand for electricity, but coal-fired and nuclear can't. The power output can be scaled down, but the plants are still running.

My impression is, from various reports I've read, most coal-fired and nuclear power plants tend to run at an average of 50% capacity during each 24 hour period. What a waste! You complain about the necessity to have double the quantity of solar panels to meet peak demand, yet ignore the inefficient idleness of baseload power plants during the night.

The way forward is to develop an integrated grid system across the country and into other countries, which is regulated by modern communication technology. This is sometimes referred to as a 'smart grid'. From Wikipedia:

"A smart grid is an electrical grid which includes a variety of operation and energy measures including smart meters, smart appliances, renewable energy resources, and energy efficient resources."

As you know, I'm not concerned about the effects of rising CO2 levels on climate. I suspect that any negative effects, which cannot be accurately quantified because of the chaotic nature of climate, are outweighed by the positive effects which can be quantified, such as the greening of the planet.

However, I am very concerned about pollution in general and the degradation of the environment. The energy from the sun is totally free. Call it a gift from God, if you like.  ;D

How we harness and use that energy is up to us. We can apply modern research techniques and technology to harness and distribute that energy from the sun and wind more efficiently, or we can remain stuck in our old ways, relying upon the limited resources of coal and oil until the entire world economy begins to collapse due to a lack of energy supplies.

Quote
There's no reserve.  Look at California now.  They're having blackouts because it's so hot.  Because they've shut down many fossil fuel plants in an ill advised action to go green, they've starved their own grid. Where would the energy come for them to ship electricity to the East Coast when they don't even have enough for their own use?

You're confusing political and administrative incompetence with rational, scientific arguments. If they can't ship energy to the East coast, then other areas will ship energy to California. That is the purpose of an integrated, 'Smart' grid system.
Fires in California are not a new phenomenom. Haven't they always occurred in the past? They certainly have in Australia.

This is the major problem as I see it. In order to persuade people to change their old-fashioned habits, and progress towards developing new, cleaner, and unlimited supplies of energy, one has to create the maximum scare about the harmful effects of the old technology. This appears to be working, in the sense that solar energy is becoming cheaper by the decade.

However, in order to create this scare, a lot of misinformation has to be broadcast through the media, such as attributing every extreme weather event, and every major forest fire, to global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of CO2.

One can't have it both ways. A government can't, on the one hand, create a scare about the adverse effects of CO2 on climate, and on the other hand, point out that extreme weather events in the past have been just as severe, when CO2 levels were lower, and that we should spend more money in preparing for a recurrence of such events which are completely natural.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2020, 09:25:51 am
Ray, I don't disagree with most of what you say.  yY original point was only that you won't get people to personally pay for more solar cells than they need to supply their own homes.  So when they're using them to supply electricity for their own homes, there probably won't be anything left to send elsewhere.  I was watching YouTube.  There was a guy with a small farm who was into his 12th year of solar panels.  He still had another 12 years to go to break even.  Frankly, he'll never break even because his system wonl;t last 25 years. And he sells electricity back into the grid to offset his costs.  So that might be an example of how like you say, solar can be distributed to others.  But that means he's only doing it when he's not using it.  I'm not sure how that alleviates the total requirements as Germany has proven with its higher costs for power.

After losing power for 4 days a few weeks ago due to a storm that rolled through here in New Jersey, I'm investigating installing a 22KW natural gas generator.  It would cover just about everything for the house.  I was trying to figure out if it made sense to put in solar instead so I can gain from its use during normal times.  But the solar would have to work at night as well if I lose grid power.  I could add batteries for the solar, but I don't think you can put in enough to run stuff all night.  Otherwise there's no point to put in solar instead of a gas fired emergency generator as far as I can figure.  Any ideas?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on September 20, 2020, 09:44:14 am

After losing power for 4 days a few weeks ago due to a storm that rolled through here in New Jersey, I'm investigating installing a 22KW natural gas generator.  It would cover just about everything for the house.  I was trying to figure out if it made sense to put in solar instead so I can gain from its use during normal times.  But the solar would have to work at night as well if I lose grid power.  I could add batteries for the solar, but I don't think you can put in enough to run stuff all night.  Otherwise there's no point to put in solar instead of a gas fired emergency generator as far as I can figure.  Any ideas?

It's a multi-variable analysis that changes with time. It depends at least on the price of gasoline and the efficiency/cost of solar, both of which change with time. There is availability of gasoline, solar repair facilities, where you live, etc. These are all decisions that are different for different people in different locations. I don't see the point of being doctrinaire about it.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2020, 09:49:23 am
It's a multi-variable analysis that changes with time. It depends at least on the price of gasoline and the efficiency/cost of solar, both of which change with time. There is availability of gasoline, solar repair facilities, where you live, etc. These are all decisions that are different for different people in different locations. I don't see the point of being doctrinaire about it.
Thanks for your ideas.  The reason I'm thinking of solar, is because an emergency generator is very expensive.  But it sits there doing nothing except when you lose grid power.  If I'm going to spend so much, solar seems good except it won't work at night without a lot of batteries which is what I would need if I lose grid power. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on September 20, 2020, 11:58:49 am
Or do what we always do when we loose power during a hurricane for a few weeks here in the swamps .... put screens in the windows, open them, use a hand fan, and persist. Very low cost, very energy efficient, and very reliable !
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on September 20, 2020, 12:35:53 pm
Ray, I don't disagree with most of what you say.  yY original point was only that you won't get people to personally pay for more solar cells than they need to supply their own homes.  So when they're using them to supply electricity for their own homes, there probably won't be anything left to send elsewhere.  I was watching YouTube.  There was a guy with a small farm who was into his 12th year of solar panels.  He still had another 12 years to go to break even.  Frankly, he'll never break even because his system wonl;t last 25 years. And he sells electricity back into the grid to offset his costs.  So that might be an example of how like you say, solar can be distributed to others.  But that means he's only doing it when he's not using it.  I'm not sure how that alleviates the total requirements as Germany has proven with its higher costs for power.

Alan, I have a small PVP system on my roof, covering about 1/8th of the total roof area. It was installed 11 years ago. The incentive was a very generous feed-in tariff which unfortunately will end for me in 2028. The initial installation cost of $3,500 has probably been repaid twice over by now, as a result of my significantly reduced electricity bills, which have sometimes been in credit.

If I had covered my entire roof with solar panels, 11 years ago, I would have made a substantial profit by now. However, the state government no longer provides such a generous feed-in tariff to new installers of solar panels, because so many people were installing more panels than they needed and, in effect, making a good profit by selling electricity at the inflated price of the feed-in tariff, resulting in higher electricity prices for those who did not have solar panels installed.

Quote
After losing power for 4 days a few weeks ago due to a storm that rolled through here in New Jersey, I'm investigating installing a 22KW natural gas generator.  It would cover just about everything for the house.  I was trying to figure out if it made sense to put in solar instead so I can gain from its use during normal times.  But the solar would have to work at night as well if I lose grid power.  I could add batteries for the solar, but I don't think you can put in enough to run stuff all night.  Otherwise there's no point to put in solar instead of a gas fired emergency generator as far as I can figure.  Any ideas?

Since my solar panels are connected to the grid, they don't produce power if there is a grid failure. The following article explains why.

"From a technical standpoint, the electricity generated by your solar panels isn't constant and varies depending on things like time of day, shade and so forth. Similarly, your power needs aren't constant, and will change as you switch appliances on and off.
With the grid active and working, this isn't a problem. The energy from your solar panels combines with energy from the reservoir of the power grid to supply a steady level of power to suit your needs. With the grid off, this isn't possible, so your solar panels shut off automatically to avoid delivering too much or too little power and damaging the electronics in your house."


https://www.finder.com.au/solar-panels-power-outage#:~:text=Only%20solar%20panels%20that%20are,will%20work%20during%20an%20outage.

A bank of back-up batteries would solve the problem, but they are still too expensive. If there is a breakthrough in battery technology, resulting in significantly cheaper, lighter, and more durable batteries, with greater storage capacity, then so many problems with renewables and intermittent energy supplies will be solved.


Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2020, 02:01:57 pm
Or do what we always do when we loose power during a hurricane for a few weeks here in the swamps .... put screens in the windows, open them, use a hand fan, and persist. Very low cost, very energy efficient, and very reliable !
\Convince my wife.   ::)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2020, 02:11:01 pm
Alan, I have a small PVP system on my roof, covering about 1/8th of the total roof area. It was installed 11 years ago. The incentive was a very generous feed-in tariff which unfortunately will end for me in 2028. The initial installation cost of $3,500 has probably been repaid twice over by now, as a result of my significantly reduced electricity bills, which have sometimes been in credit.

If I had covered my entire roof with solar panels, 11 years ago, I would have made a substantial profit by now. However, the state government no longer provides such a generous feed-in tariff to new installers of solar panels, because so many people were installing more panels than they needed and, in effect, making a good profit by selling electricity at the inflated price of the feed-in tariff, resulting in higher electricity prices for those who did not have solar panels installed.

Since my solar panels are connected to the grid, they don't produce power if there is a grid failure. The following article explains why.

"From a technical standpoint, the electricity generated by your solar panels isn't constant and varies depending on things like time of day, shade and so forth. Similarly, your power needs aren't constant, and will change as you switch appliances on and off.
With the grid active and working, this isn't a problem. The energy from your solar panels combines with energy from the reservoir of the power grid to supply a steady level of power to suit your needs. With the grid off, this isn't possible, so your solar panels shut off automatically to avoid delivering too much or too little power and damaging the electronics in your house."


https://www.finder.com.au/solar-panels-power-outage#:~:text=Only%20solar%20panels%20that%20are,will%20work%20during%20an%20outage.

A bank of back-up batteries would solve the problem, but they are still too expensive. If there is a breakthrough in battery technology, resulting in significantly cheaper, lighter, and more durable batteries, with greater storage capacity, then so many problems with renewables and intermittent energy supplies will be solved.



The same problem with rebate costs being passed along to grid users occurs here as well.  People generally richer than others get taxpayers to pay for their installations.  Then the additional cost is passed along to poor grid users.  Totally unfair.  It's like what happen with Tesla electric cars.  Affluent people were purchasing $100,000 Tesla cars with taxpayer rebates paid by poorer taxpayers.  So the poor pay for green.  The rich pay less for energy.  Totally upside down policy.

You just reminded me that Generac who makes emergency generators that I'm considering for my home, does have battery backup to a certain extent.  But only to handle a three ton AC.  Mine is 4 ton.   It would be great to purchase one system that would give me solar plus be able to backup for nighttime use so I can operate off grid.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Bart_van_der_Wolf on September 20, 2020, 06:11:57 pm
The same problem with rebate costs being passed along to grid users occurs here as well.  People generally richer than others get taxpayers to pay for their installations.  Then the additional cost is passed along to poor grid users.  Totally unfair.  It's like what happen with Tesla electric cars.  Affluent people were purchasing $100,000 Tesla cars with taxpayer rebates paid by poorer taxpayers.  So the poor pay for green.  The rich pay less for energy.  Totally upside down policy.

Then maybe elect a better functioning government? I know this thread is not about politics, but what you are referring to is local/national energy policy. Change it, before it ruins your current and future life.

Quote
You just reminded me that Generac who makes emergency generators that I'm considering for my home, does have battery backup to a certain extent.  But only to handle a three ton AC.  Mine is 4 ton.   It would be great to purchase one system that would give me solar plus be able to backup for nighttime use so I can operate off grid.

Try reducing your nightly power requirements ...

It's always more efficient to reduce the need for energy, than to reduce the effects of overconsumption. Prevention is better than cure.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: degrub on September 20, 2020, 07:46:03 pm
\Convince my wife.   ::)

Easy. Your job is to fan her  ;D ;)
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on September 20, 2020, 11:21:54 pm
Then maybe elect a better functioning government? I know this thread is not about politics, but what you are referring to is local/national energy policy. Change it, before it ruins your current and future life.

Try reducing your nightly power requirements ...

It's always more efficient to reduce the need for energy, than to reduce the effects of overconsumption. Prevention is better than cure.
First, the government should drop all rebate plans.  If Biden becomes President, we'll have more not less and the cost of energy is sure to go up.

Second, the only point of getting an emergency generator is when you lose grid power.  If you don't have enough emergency generator power to run an AC in hot and humid New Jersey should the power fail in the summer, then there's no point getting one.  Might as well save money on the generator and drive to a motel that has power and air conditioning and check in until the grid power is restored.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Ray on October 02, 2020, 08:49:36 am
Oh! My gosh! Italy has experienced its coldest September in 50 years. It must be due to global warming.  :D

"Italy's incessant rain and sudden drop in temperature in recent days have resulted in the country's coldest September for 50 years, reports Italian media."

https://www.wantedinmilan.com/news/italys-coldest-september-in-50-years.html
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Robert Roaldi on October 02, 2020, 10:17:55 am
First, the government should drop all rebate plans.


Including gifts to Big Corn and Big Oil and relocation incentives to Amazon et al.  GREAT idea! Sign me up. Nothing worse than corporate socialism, especially when they hand out taxpayer money to people who are ALREADY rich and successful. We see eye to eye on this on.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 02, 2020, 12:24:44 pm
Including gifts to Big Corn and Big Oil and relocation incentives to Amazon et al.  GREAT idea! Sign me up. Nothing worse than corporate socialism, especially when they hand out taxpayer money to people who are ALREADY rich and successful. We see eye to eye on this on.

Some House member was grilling a Big Pharma CEO at a hearing on drug prices the other day. She asked him what exactly he did that was worth his 125 million dollar a year salary. He said it wasn't out of line with the salaries of other Big Pharma CEOs. I forget her zinger back at him but it was pretty good. He is just fortunate she did not ask him if he expensed his haircuts.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 02, 2020, 01:45:54 pm
Including gifts to Big Corn and Big Oil and relocation incentives to Amazon et al.  GREAT idea! Sign me up. Nothing worse than corporate socialism, especially when they hand out taxpayer money to people who are ALREADY rich and successful. We see eye to eye on this on.
Special Federal government favors and tax incentives to big oil and corn should be dropped too. We agree there. Playing favorites is bad as it distorts the free market.  You have good money chasing bad ideas.

 However, incentives for Amazon were offered by various states, not the Federal government.   Generally I'm opposed to making such deals.  However, each has to decide what makes sense for their state and residents.  And there's competition among the states to get the companies to move to their state.  Amazon brings huge advantages to the states they work in.   How can you argue when a state makes a deal that comes out positive for them on the bottom line with taxes and more jobs after the cost of incentives are deducted?  Don't people invest in companies to see gains from dividends later on?  Well, it's similar with states.

 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 21, 2020, 08:01:33 am
Journal "Nature Geoscience" published a description of the largest mass extinctions in the history of the earth 252 million years ago.

Quote
"Extinction Rebellion", in German "Rebellion against extinction", is the name of a climate activist group that calls for radical climate protection in Europe with civil disobedience. The more CO₂ gets into the atmosphere and heats up climate change, it is assumed, the more likely a massive extinction of species on earth is.
An enormous increase in CO₂ in the atmosphere once triggered a mass extinction of animals and plants. Researchers have reconstructed the disaster - and are drawing worrying conclusions about the current climate crisis.

According to the researchers' findings, the causes of the mass extinction were gigantic volcanic activities in what is now Siberia. The volcanic eruptions that lasted for several thousand years threw huge amounts of carbon into the air. In total, almost 360,000 billion tons of CO₂ were released into the atmosphere, according to the study authors. "That is more than 40 times the amount of carbon that has been burned since the industrial revolution, and also of the fossil fuels that are still in the ground," says lead author Hana Jurikova from the Geomar Center in Kiel.

That would have led to the reproduction of certain plants and in turn boosted photosynthesis. As a result, the oxygen content in the sea has dropped significantly - similar to strong algae growth in a lake after a hot summer. But there is no life without oxygen - many animals and plants died. The acidification did the rest and destroyed coral reefs and decimated shellfish populations.

According to the study, the massive CO₂ emissions from volcanoes have led to a strong greenhouse effect, which has led to extreme warming and acidification of the oceans. These effects are also occurring in the current climate crisis - albeit in a much weaker manner. Today's CO₂ increase happens much faster. The chain of disasters is quite detailed, but devastating: Due to the high CO₂ content in the atmosphere and acid rain, rocks and stones, for example, are weathered more quickly. Their remains were washed into the oceans and rivers faster and would have brought in more nutrients such as phosphates and nitrates.

https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/die-bisher-letzte-klimaapokalypse-und-was-wir-daraus-lernen-koennen-a-e41e887a-b050-4533-9307-c4415f37e15b

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00646-4
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 21, 2020, 08:28:31 am
Journal "Nature Geoscience" published a description of the largest mass extinctions in the history of the earth 252 million years ago.

https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/natur/die-bisher-letzte-klimaapokalypse-und-was-wir-daraus-lernen-koennen-a-e41e887a-b050-4533-9307-c4415f37e15b

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00646-4

I am relieved that all of that happened before the polar bears came on the scene.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 21, 2020, 10:22:55 am
I am relieved that all of that happened before the polar bears came on the scene.
Maybe humans were all here back then and God gave us a second chance?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 21, 2020, 10:27:45 am
Maybe humans were all here back then and God gave us a second chance?

You have been reading too much New Testament. It warps your views. Stick with the original.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 10:23:17 am
For the first time since records began, the Laptev Sea in northern Siberia has not begun to freeze by late October.

(https://www.economist.com/img/b/1000/590/90/sites/default/files/20201031_WOC015.png)

Quote
In the last 40 years, multi-year ice has shrunk by about half. At some time in the next few decades, scientists expect the world will see an ice-free Arctic Ocean throughout the summer, with worrying consequences for the rest of the climate system. That prospect got much closer in 2020, due in part to the exceptional summer heatwave that roiled the Russian Arctic.

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/28/more-bad-news-for-the-arctic-the-laptev-sea-hasnt-frozen
https://theconversation.com/arctic-ocean-why-winter-sea-ice-has-stalled-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-the-world-148753
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 10:39:59 am
For the first time since records began, the Laptev Sea in northern Siberia has not begun to freeze by late October.

(https://www.economist.com/img/b/1000/590/90/sites/default/files/20201031_WOC015.png)

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/28/more-bad-news-for-the-arctic-the-laptev-sea-hasnt-frozen
https://theconversation.com/arctic-ocean-why-winter-sea-ice-has-stalled-and-what-it-means-for-the-rest-of-the-world-148753

In the last 40 years, multi-year ice has shrunk by about half. At some time in the next few decades, scientists expect the world will see an ice-free Arctic Ocean throughout the summer, with worrying consequences for the rest of the climate system. That prospect got much closer in 2020, due in part to the exceptional summer heatwave that roiled the Russian Arctic.


Wouldn't it be fair to include the positive effects of an ice free Arctic as well so the public can fairly assess both the good as well as the bad consequences?   These include the huge fish populations now available to feed the world, mineral exploration, and the ability of ships to sail the northern route eliminating thousands of miles of transit, reducing sailing time by weeks and months, and wasteful oil use and pollution and CO2 to power those ships. 

This has been the whole problem with the climate change movement.  They have their finger on the scale and many people have grown wary of their arguments.  It also sets us up to make incorrect decisions on a public and governmental basis.  It would be like knowing what aperture to use but not the shutter speed. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 11:30:39 am
I don't think it would be fair. It is a major disruption to the world climate, and we are now only in the early warming stage.
Trying to find something positive about the warming would be akin to justification of bringing the rabbits to Australia and pointing out the benefits to hunters and gun sellers in that country. Or bringing the rats to Hawaii and gloating about the enrichment of the fauna there.

Quote
Rabbits were introduced to Australia with the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788.[2] A population of 24 rabbits released near Geelong in 1859 to be hunted for sport. Within 50 years rabbits had spread throughout the most of the continent with devastating impact on indigenous flora and fauna.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_plagues_in_Australia
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 11:59:08 am
Wouldn't it be fair to include the positive effects of an ice free Arctic as well so the public can fairly assess both the good as well as the bad consequences?

Sure, when you do the charts you can put whatever you want in them. Perhaps you could save yourself some trouble and go out on the internet and find some charts you like better. In fact, post them, and we can do the Hegel Dialectic dance and figure out a synthesis we can both live with. A lot of people don't like Hegel all that much any more, but he had some pretty good ideas. I mean you don't have to agree with all of his ideas. It sure beats having to figure out the phenomenologists. We'd never figure out the charts with those guys.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 12:15:29 pm
I don't think it would be fair. It is a major disruption to the world climate, and we are now only in the early warming stage.
Trying to find something positive about the warming would be akin to justification of bringing the rabbits to Australia and pointing out the benefits to hunters and gun sellers in that country. Or bringing the rats to Hawaii and gloating about the enrichment of the fauna there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_plagues_in_Australia
Where you live, in Canada, you need some more heat.  How many Canadians are going to complain if its a little warmer? You'll save on winter coats and be able to canoe more.  At your age, you shouldn't  be shoveling snow anyway. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 12:18:13 pm
Sure, when you do the charts you can put whatever you want in them. Perhaps you could save yourself some trouble and go out on the internet and find some charts you like better.
I don't need charts. I gave the reasons why less ice in the Arctic Sea is good.  Apparently you missed it.  Let me repeat it again here.

These include the huge fish populations now available to feed the world, mineral exploration, and the ability of ships to sail the northern route eliminating thousands of miles of transit, reducing sailing time by weeks and months, and wasteful oil use and pollution and CO2 to power those ships.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 01:42:30 pm
Where you live, in Canada, you need some more heat.  How many Canadians are going to complain if its a little warmer? You'll save on winter coats and be able to canoe more.  At your age, you shouldn't  be shoveling snow anyway.

Sadly, the warm weather would ruin the market for seal fur coats.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 02:10:54 pm
I don't need charts. I gave the reasons why less ice in the Arctic Sea is good.  Apparently you missed it.  Let me repeat it again here.

These include the huge fish populations now available to feed the world, mineral exploration, and the ability of ships to sail the northern route eliminating thousands of miles of transit, reducing sailing time by weeks and months, and wasteful oil use and pollution and CO2 to power those ships.


Well, do up some charts to prove it. Do you think anybody will believe you just because you say it?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 02:20:22 pm
Well, do up some charts to prove it. Do you think anybody will believe you just because you say it?
Yes.  Reasonable people who don't have an ax to grind will see my point as rather logical.  Charts won't change the minds of others who are obsessive over climate change.  They'd follow their beliefs blindly to the gates of hell, where it's rather warm as well. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: TechTalk on October 29, 2020, 02:27:00 pm
USA TODAY - February 28, 2019

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news//2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide/3018540002/)

Farewell, fish-and-chips? Atlantic cod, many other fish dwindling as globe warms

Fish in the Northeast Atlantic – including cod, the prime ingredient in fish-and-chips – saw a dramatic drop of 34 percent in the past several decades as the Earth warmed.

And it's not only cod: many other species of fish are in hot water – literally.

Warming oceans from human-caused climate change has shrunk the populations of many fish species around the world, according to the study released Thursday.

Looking ahead, "future fisheries production may be at even greater risk considering that, owing to (human-caused) climate change, the oceans are continuing to warm even faster than originally predicted," said Australian scientist Éva Plagányi in a commentary that accompanied the study.

Additionally, the study only looked at how warming oceans affect fish and did not take into account other climate-driven impacts, such as ocean acidification, which can also lead to marine populations declines. The world's seas are becoming increasingly acidic because of the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 02:30:55 pm
Yes.  Reasonable people who don't have an ax to grind will see my point as rather logical.

Where is the emoticon for eyes rolling?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 02:33:51 pm
USA TODAY - February 28, 2019

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news//2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide/3018540002/)

Farewell, fish-and-chips? Atlantic cod, many other fish dwindling as globe warms

Fish in the Northeast Atlantic – including cod, the prime ingredient in fish-and-chips – saw a dramatic drop of 34 percent in the past several decades as the Earth warmed.

And it's not only cod: many other species of fish are in hot water – literally.

Warming oceans from human-caused climate change has shrunk the populations of many fish species around the world, according to the study released Thursday.

Looking ahead, "future fisheries production may be at even greater risk considering that, owing to (human-caused) climate change, the oceans are continuing to warm even faster than originally predicted," said Australian scientist Éva Plagányi in a commentary that accompanied the study.

Additionally, the study only looked at how warming oceans affect fish and did not take into account other climate-driven impacts, such as ocean acidification, which can also lead to marine populations declines. The world's seas are becoming increasingly acidic because of the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

Do you ever feel like Sisyphus?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 02:53:28 pm
USA TODAY - February 28, 2019

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news//2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/02/28/climate-change-shrinking-fish-population-worldwide/3018540002/)

Farewell, fish-and-chips? Atlantic cod, many other fish dwindling as globe warms

Fish in the Northeast Atlantic – including cod, the prime ingredient in fish-and-chips – saw a dramatic drop of 34 percent in the past several decades as the Earth warmed.

And it's not only cod: many other species of fish are in hot water – literally.

Warming oceans from human-caused climate change has shrunk the populations of many fish species around the world, according to the study released Thursday.

Looking ahead, "future fisheries production may be at even greater risk considering that, owing to (human-caused) climate change, the oceans are continuing to warm even faster than originally predicted," said Australian scientist Éva Plagányi in a commentary that accompanied the study.

Additionally, the study only looked at how warming oceans affect fish and did not take into account other climate-driven impacts, such as ocean acidification, which can also lead to marine populations declines. The world's seas are becoming increasingly acidic because of the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

The world's human population is at 7 1/2 billion and growing. We're eating them all. We're like sharks. I'm surprised you missed that statistic.  You're usually very thorough. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 02:54:33 pm
Yes.  Reasonable people who don't have an ax to grind will see my point as rather logical.  Charts won't change the minds of others who are obsessive over climate change.  They'd follow their beliefs blindly to the gates of hell, where it's rather warm as well.

Reasonable people can observe the available facts and project into the future.
Less reasonable people look at a snapshot in time and don't project the current trends into the future. One such example is the uncontrolled spread of the new virus. Early this year,  somebody said: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."  Then one month later, as the  U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus pandemic might stay with the country for some time, that person said a "miracle" might make the coronavirus pandemic "disappear." "It's going to disappear. One day — it's like a miracle — it will disappear," he said. "And from our shores, we — you know, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows." Contrary to those predictions, the virus has killed in the meantime over 225,000 people - just in US.

To sum it up, reasonable people observe, think and prepare. When required and possible, they take an action to reverse a bad trend.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 02:58:30 pm
Reasonable people can observe the available facts and project into the future.

Right, facts. Not the ramblings of some random guy on the internet.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 03:00:19 pm
The world's human population is at 7 1/2 billion and growing. We're eating them all. We're like sharks. I'm surprised you missed that statistic.  You're usually very thorough.

So it is even worse than we thought. The population is increasing and the number of fish to eat is going down.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 03:06:08 pm
So it is even worse than we thought. The population is increasing and the number of fish to eat is going down.

Indeed. In addition to the increase of human population, the populations of other predators, such as sharks and seals in warmer waters are also increasing. That depletes the fish stocks even more.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 03:08:04 pm
Reasonable people can observe the available facts and project into the future.
Less reasonable people look at a snapshot in time and don't project the current trends into the future. One such example is the uncontrolled spread of the new virus. Early this year,  somebody said: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It's going to be just fine."  Then one month later, as the  U.S. health officials warned that the coronavirus pandemic might stay with the country for some time, that person said a "miracle" might make the coronavirus pandemic "disappear." "It's going to disappear. One day — it's like a miracle — it will disappear," he said. "And from our shores, we — you know, it could get worse before it gets better. It could maybe go away. We'll see what happens. Nobody really knows." Contrary to those predictions, the virus has killed in the meantime over 225,000 people - just in US.

To sum it up, reasonable people observe, think and prepare. When required and possible, they take an action to reverse a bad trend.
I never said we should not prepare.  What I said is we have to have all the facts, good as well as bad,  to prepare well.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 03:09:55 pm
Right, facts. Not the ramblings of some random guy on the internet.
That's just an insult.  Are you rambling?
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 03:13:16 pm
Indeed. In addition to the increase of human population, the populations of other predators, such as sharks and seals in warmer waters are also increasing. That depletes the fish stocks even more.
You do believe in Darwin?  Nature balances these things out.  Somehow it's managed for billions of years.  By the way, a shark is a fish.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 03:16:07 pm
That's just an insult.  Are you rambling?

Yes, I am just some random guy on the internet rambling like everyone else, trying not to take myself too seriously.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 03:42:04 pm
You do believe in Darwin?  Nature balances these things out.  Somehow it's managed for billions of years.  By the way, a shark is a fish.

Yes, shark is also a fish, but a bad actor. A bully and operating on the extreme fringes.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 04:00:11 pm
You do believe in Darwin?  Nature balances these things out.  Somehow it's managed for billions of years.  By the way, a shark is a fish.

Darwin has his critics, but by and large he offers a plausible explanation that most people generally go along with.  But there are people, notably the creationists, that don't believe in Darwin. They offer an alternate explanation. Different people believe different things. I don't know if nature balances things out. I am not even sure what that means. By the way, he didn't say that a shark isn't a fish. He said that a shark is a predator.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 04:08:04 pm
Darwin has his critics, but by and large he offers a plausible explanation that most people generally go along with.  But there are people, notably the creationists, that don't believe in Darwin. They offer an alternate explanation. Different people believe different things. By the way, he didn't say that a shark was a fish. He said that a shark is a predator.
Yes, a shark is a predator, but it's also a fish.  So we trade a bunch of little fishies for one large fishie. It's like trading off 15o McDonald's hamburgers for one fat human. 
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 05:26:35 pm
Yes, a shark is a predator, but it's also a fish.  So we trade a bunch of little fishies for one large fishie. It's like trading off 15o McDonald's hamburgers for one fat human.

I think I ate some shark when I was in St. Thomas years ago. I wouldn't swear to it. Sometimes restaurants take liberties in how they describe the food on their menus.  If it were shark, I can think of several kinds of smaller fish I would prefer. I haven't eaten a McDonalds hamburger in a long time. There is a McDonalds nearby, but I really haven't had any interest in going over there to get one. Of course, like they say, your mileage may vary.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: LesPalenik on October 29, 2020, 06:37:52 pm
[irrelevant post deleted by moderator]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 06:46:57 pm
[response to irrelevant post also deleted]
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: faberryman on October 29, 2020, 08:06:26 pm
I just remembered I definitely didn't eat shark when I was in Iceland a couple of years ago. It looked even worse than the following description from Wikipedia:

Hákarl (Icelandic pronunciation: ​ [ˈhauːkʰartl̥]; an abbreviation of kæstur hákarl, referred to as fermented shark in English) is a national dish of Iceland consisting of a Greenland shark or other sleeper shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 10:09:00 pm
[and another]

To the three posters: do not stray into irrelevant politics again.

Jeremy
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Alan Klein on October 29, 2020, 10:10:19 pm
I just remembered I definitely didn't eat shark when I was in Iceland a couple of years ago. It looked even worse than the following description from Wikipedia:

Hákarl (Icelandic pronunciation: ​ [ˈhauːkʰartl̥]; an abbreviation of kæstur hákarl, referred to as fermented shark in English) is a national dish of Iceland consisting of a Greenland shark or other sleeper shark which has been cured with a particular fermentation process and hung to dry for four to five months.
That's why they're so plentiful.
Title: Re: Extreme weather
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on November 04, 2020, 04:06:15 am
It's 4th November. Political discussion (including of climate change) on this site is now banned, save for the Bear Pit thread which I shall open.

See here (https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=136535.0) for more information.

Jeremy