Climate Change - a poll

[MPH]

1 hour ago, BertFill said:

People who sell limited dirty energy?

 

yeah and that’s a totally valid point. 
 

it doesn’t appear so, at this stage, that the communities for each fuel sector overlap.  I don’t think at this stage the nuclear fusion fuel source is intended for the private transport market.  
 

 

[MPH]

1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

Can I be the really miserable one and point out they'd never used high fuel loads before as they didn't want to irradiate the reactor vessel.  Last ops running so they just slung a load of fuel in.

 

well with every test you do, you then adjust to improve on it. It’s progress, even if it’s progress they have to make adjustments to..

[leicsmac]

WRT current chat elsewhere:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/06/trump-climate-change-fossil-fuels-second-term

 

Yes, it's the Grauniad but the linked sources speak for themselves. A win in November that hamstrings the biggest player on this matter will have consequences for the entire world down the line.

 

The line in the sand is there, the Americans will have to pick their side and be remembered by those who come after them for who they pick.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68253819

 

Some polar bears face starvation as the Arctic sea ice melts because they are unable to adapt their diets to living on land, scientists have found. 

 

The iconic Arctic species normally feed on ringed seals that they catch on ice floes offshore. 

 

But as the ice disappears in a warming world, many bears are spending greater amounts of time on shore, eating bird's eggs, berries and grass.

 

However the animals rapidly lose weight on land, increasing the risk of death.

 

That's not great.

[Sly]

On 13/02/2024 at 18:48, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68253819

 

Some polar bears face starvation as the Arctic sea ice melts because they are unable to adapt their diets to living on land, scientists have found. 

 

The iconic Arctic species normally feed on ringed seals that they catch on ice floes offshore. 

 

But as the ice disappears in a warming world, many bears are spending greater amounts of time on shore, eating bird's eggs, berries and grass.

 

However the animals rapidly lose weight on land, increasing the risk of death.

 

That's not great.

It’s not great at all.

 

https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/

 

The average sea surface temperature is up on last years record high.

 

Analyst are all ready forecasting the warmest February on record. 

 

 

[leicsmac]

2 hours ago, Sly said:

It’s not great at all.

 

https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/sst_daily/

 

The average sea surface temperature is up on last years record high.

 

Analyst are all ready forecasting the warmest February on record. 

 

 

Ah, but apparently it's "all a scam" and/or "nothing to worry about" and the data we get can't be trusted.

 

Apparently.

[leicsmac]

Presented without comment.

[BertFill]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Presented without comment.

How likely do you think it is that the speed with which everything will go completely tits up has been greatly underestimated?

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, BertFill said:

How likely do you think it is that the speed with which everything will go completely tits up has been greatly underestimated?

Difficult to say with much of a degree of certainty tbh.

 

What we do know is that the change in temperature is happening at the upper end of what was predicted, it's going to top out at around 3 degrees C overall increase compared to 1850 within the next few decades and therefore the associated consequences with that will in all likelihood arrive on that timescale too.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68435197

 

England and Wales had their warmest February on record this year, the Met Office said on Friday.

The average temperature for England was 7.5C, with an average of 6.9C in Wales. The UK as a whole saw its second warmest recorded February.

Farmers say they are losing crops to floods while less frost hurts the growth of trees like apples and pears.

The provisional statistics are in line with long-term projections of warmer, wetter winters due to climate change.

 

More record breaking.

[leicsmac]

Putting aside the cause for a moment, what is happening now in Gaza is what happens when a couple of the elements of the bottom tier of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs are not met - almost total rapid social breakdown.

 

Now imagine that on a scale with ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times as many people involved.

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68428348

 

Last month was the world's warmest February in modern times, the EU's climate service says, extending the run of monthly records to nine in a row.

Each month since June 2023 has seen new temperature highs for the time of year.

The world's sea surface is at its hottest on record, while Antarctic sea-ice has again reached extreme lows.

Temperatures are still being boosted by the Pacific's El Niño weather event, but human-caused climate change is by far the main driver of the warmth.

"Heat-trapping greenhouse gases are unequivocally the main culprit," stresses Prof Celeste Saulo, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization.

Carbon dioxide concentrations are at their highest level for at least two million years, according to the UN's climate body, and increased by near-record levels again over the past year.

Those warming gases helped make February 2024 about 1.77C warmer than "pre-industrial" times - before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels - according to the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

This breaks the previous record, from 2016, by around 0.12C.

These temperatures saw particularly severe heat afflict western Australia, southeast Asia, southern Africa and South America.

 

Needle keeps cranking up towards 11.

[pazzerfox]

@leicsmac Is this gentleman speaking any truth?

 

 

[st albans fox]

40 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

@leicsmac Is this gentleman speaking any truth?

 

 

I’ve no idea but perhaps read this 

 

Mining companies

Plimer is the former non-executive director of CBH Resources Limited from 1998 to 2010, former non-executive director of Angel Mining plc from 2003 to 2005, former director of Kimberley Metals Limited from 2008 to 2009, former director of KBL Mining Limited from 2008 to 2009 and former director of Ormil Energy Limited from 2010 to 2011.^[22][10][23]

He is currently the non-executive deputy chairman of KEFI Minerals since 2006,^[24] independent non-executive director of Ivanhoe Australia Limited since 2007,^[25] chairman of TNT Mines Limited since 2010,^[19][26] non-executive director of Niuminco Group Limited (formerly DSF International Holdings Limited) since 2011,^[27][28]and non-executive director of Silver City Minerals Limited since 2011.^{[10][23][29][30][31]} Plimer was appointed director of Roy Hill Holdings and Queensland Coal Investments in 2012.^[32]

According to a columnist in The Age, Plimer earned over $400,000 (AUD) from several of these companies, and he has mining shares and options worth hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars.^[33] Plimer has stated that his business interests do not affect the independence of his beliefs.^[29] He has also warned that the proposed Australian carbon-trading scheme could decimate the Australian mining industry.^[12][34]

[leicsmac]

35 minutes ago, pazzerfox said:

@leicsmac Is this gentleman speaking any truth?

 

 

Firstly, thank you for asking me directly.

 

Secondly, putting aside the particular audience this professor is addressing and his links to fossil fuel industries, the answer is no, he's not speaking any truth because he's not substantiating it in a way that can be reviewed by his peers - as any reputable scientist would.

 

I've said this before but I'll say it again - beware mavericks swimming against the tide, they're almost always swimming against it for a reason. And even if there wasn't a much certainty about human emissions causing climate change as there is, it would still be foolhardy to dismiss it as a problem because of the sheer scale of the consequences it could engender. The magnitude of bad it can deliver demands attention.

 

It is a betrayal of future generations to treat this issue the way this man does. But then CPAC all over the world have never been about anything other than short term self interest.

[leicsmac]

Further to the above:

 

The background extinction rate of species over the last few thousand years is actually higher than any other mass extinction event in history. Higher even than in the aftermath of the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs.

 

Either that is a ridiculous coincidence that it is happening just as human industry skyrockets... or our species is directly responsible, through many mechanisms, for it.

[st albans fox]

39 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Firstly, thank you for asking me directly.

 

Secondly, putting aside the particular audience this professor is addressing and his links to fossil fuel industries, the answer is no, he's not speaking any truth because he's not substantiating it in a way that can be reviewed by his peers - as any reputable scientist would.

 

I've said this before but I'll say it again - beware mavericks swimming against the tide, they're almost always swimming against it for a reason. And even if there wasn't a much certainty about human emissions causing climate change as there is, it would still be foolhardy to dismiss it as a problem because of the sheer scale of the consequences it could engender. The magnitude of bad it can deliver demands attention.

 

It is a betrayal of future generations to treat this issue the way this man does. But then CPAC all over the world have never been about anything other than short term self interest.

Even if you accept that volcanic activity is responsible for the majority of co2 emissions into the system, we can’t regulate that so surely it’s sensible to try and regulate what we’re repsonsible for to try and exert whatever controls that we can 

[leicsmac]

35 minutes ago, st albans fox said:

Even if you accept that volcanic activity is responsible for the majority of co2 emissions into the system, we can’t regulate that so surely it’s sensible to try and regulate what we’re repsonsible for to try and exert whatever controls that we can 

Right, and even if that were true about the volcanoes (and it isn't), the rapidly rising carbon dioxide and commensurate temperature increases should concern anyone sane and want to at least sort mitigation and resilience measures rather than dismissing the problem out of hand.

[WigstonWanderer]

4 hours ago, pazzerfox said:

@leicsmac Is this gentleman speaking any truth?

 

 

Opinion appears to be divided

 

 

[leicsmac]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68575271

 

Heat pumps are still too expensive and too few people know about them, the government has been warned.

Despite its target, only 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2022. Sales must increase dramatically, said the UK's spending watchdog.

To meet UK climate change targets, the government wants to install 600,000 low-carbon heat pumps annually by 2028.

The government told the BBC it was "helping rather than forcing families to install heat pumps".

The National Audit Office (NAO) said ministers were optimistic to think that target could be reached by 2028.

It urged the government to increase public awareness of the green technology and work to reduce costs.

 

[.....]

In its report, the NAO said that the main reasons for the low uptake are:

• limited public awareness of the technology
• the higher costs relative to gas boilers
• the lack of long-term financial support for households

 

Well, yeah. Not everyone has the ability or inclination to see the long game here, so it really should be the job of central government to step in and provide the necessary information and support. That's what they're for; to ensure what needs to get done gets done when the individual or small group can't.

 

And this is most definitely at least part of what needs to get done.

[Robo61]

2 hours ago, leicsmac said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68575271

 

Heat pumps are still too expensive and too few people know about them, the government has been warned.

Despite its target, only 55,000 heat pumps were sold in the UK in 2022. Sales must increase dramatically, said the UK's spending watchdog.

To meet UK climate change targets, the government wants to install 600,000 low-carbon heat pumps annually by 2028.

The government told the BBC it was "helping rather than forcing families to install heat pumps".

The National Audit Office (NAO) said ministers were optimistic to think that target could be reached by 2028.

It urged the government to increase public awareness of the green technology and work to reduce costs.

 

[.....]

In its report, the NAO said that the main reasons for the low uptake are:

• limited public awareness of the technology
• the higher costs relative to gas boilers
• the lack of long-term financial support for households

 

Well, yeah. Not everyone has the ability or inclination to see the long game here, so it really should be the job of central government to step in and provide the necessary information and support. That's what they're for; to ensure what needs to get done gets done when the individual or small group can't.

 

And this is most definitely at least part of what needs to get done.

It used to be what Government was for, but since 2010 we have only had governments who have seen their purpose as simply making money for them and their mates.

[leicsmac]

A lot more reports about flooding in various areas of the UK these days.

[Parafox]

 

A temporary statue in Berlin in 2011 depicting politicians discussing climate change gradually becoming more submerged as water levels rise.

[leicsmac]

 

Oooof.

[David Hankey]

6 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

 

Oooof.

Very colourful. Thanks for sharing.