CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Stanley]

I had an encounter at second hand with a dead mouse in a water tank at Bunbury on the West Coast. The effects lasted for 4 weeks and I never want to experience them again!

[Tizer]

This will help us spot the worst offenders and identify where we can make the most effective changes. That NASA false colour CO2 map of the world is good - it shows how most of the CO2 is in the northern hemisphere. That's where most of the land is and therefore most of the people, industry, vehicles etc. Something it misses is the indirect contribution to CO2 emissions - Australia hardly shows up because it doesn't directly release much CO2 due to low population and less density of industry but it's a major contributor indirectly (coal exports) to that red area over China.
`Carbon Mapper satellite network to find super-emitters' LINK

[plaques]

Quote ...
The most common HFC found in domestic fridges is HFC-134a, which has a global warming potential 3,400 times that of carbon dioxide. ... In the European Union, already requires HFC gases to be recovered at end of life to prevent them from leaking into the atmosphere.

I have read that America stopped manufacture of HFC's but continues to use them. The unintended consequence is that they now have enormous black market in smuggled HFC's second next to drugs.
Now we are out of the EU will we still continue with their rules?

[Stanley]

"Now we are out of the EU will we still continue with their rules?"
On present evidence Ken it's doubtful. We even seem to be breaking some of the ones we suggested in the 'negotiations'.
See THIS Report of the funeral of the Okjokull glacier which actually died a decade ago. But Iceland decided to hold the funeral for the deceased ice mass now — it’s first to go extinct from rising temperatures.

[Tizer]

I have read that America stopped manufacture of HFC's but continues to use them. The unintended consequence is that they now have enormous black market in smuggled HFC's second next to drugs. Now we are out of the EU will we still continue with their rules?

The EU has an HFC smuggling problem....
`'Biggest crime nobody has heard of': Smugglers bring illegal HFCs into EU that emit as much as Denmark: Major environmental crime being ignored because of lax border checks, experts warn' Telegraph
`A thriving black market in chemical compounds for refrigerators and air conditioning in Europe is releasing greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual output of a small country, with experts warning that a major environmental crime is being ignored....'.

The US still has to stop manufacturing and using HFCs because Trump wouldn't sign the Kigali Agreement...
`The United States may finally ratify the Kigali Amendment' Georgetown Uni

[Stanley]

Trump... The evil that men do lives after them.

[Tizer]

I hope we'll see some action and not just words. I get the impression the government thinks we can solve our problems with carbon capture and storage but that's not as easy as it seems and has its own set of problems...
`Climate change: UK to speed up target to cut carbon emissions' LINK

[Stanley]

True, and at the same time they dither over coal mining and spend money on more roads.

[Tizer]

Thank goodness they got rid of Trump and Biden's pushing ahead on climate issues...
`Climate change: Biden summit to push for immediate action' LINK

[Stanley]

At the same time I think this guarantees pressure being brought to bear on India, China and Australia on coal usage and mining.

[Stanley]

See THIS Report on the latest research into the overall emissions of CO2 from the Amazon rain forest. Despite the government denials it seems obvious that the Bolsonaro regime is not funding the environment police and covertly encouraging the loggers and farmers who are actually destroying the forest.

[chinatyke]

An example of the scale of the problem:

At 3:50 pm on April 26, a truck [train] loaded with more than 3,700 tons of thermal coal passed through the Nali Station along the Nankun Railway and drove into the exclusive use [site] of Aluminum Corporation of China Guangxi Branch (hereinafter referred to as "Pingguo Aluminum"). This is the third coal truck [train] that entered Pingguo Aluminum that day.
Almost all of this coal will be used to meet the electricity consumption of Pingguo aluminum production.
Pingguo City, Guangxi is a city prospered by aluminum, and is known as the "Southern Aluminum Capital".
There are more than 20 kinds of mineral deposits in the county, including aluminum, manganese, and gold. The proven bauxite reserves reach 290 million tons, accounting for 17% of the national reserves.
Relying on Nankun railway transportation, Pingguo Aluminum was able to go from deep mountains to the world. Pingguo's economy was rapidly rising under the strong drive of Pingguo Aluminum. The total industrial output value of Pingguo Aluminum industry has increased from 173 million yuan in 1997 (RMB, the same below) Development to 27.885 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of more than 160 times.

(Xing Xing Song Sili Zi Yin Produced by Wang Jiayi)
Editor in charge: [Lu Yan]
Source: chinanews

That is over 11000 tonnes of coal delivered on that particular day to feed the local power station that supplies the aluminium industry. Mind-boggling!

[Tizer]

There's a vicious circle in the aluminium/energy issue- we need to switch to green energy to power aluminium smelting, but building green technology requires more aluminium metal. This is copied from the China Dialogue site...
`Growth in green sectors was an important driver for output of industrial products. Aluminium, for example, is used in solar and wind power, electric vehicles and ultra-high-voltage power transmission. An all-electric or hybrid passenger vehicle is estimated to use 15.8% or 45.2% more of the metal than a traditional equivalent. An all-electric bus uses 230% as much aluminium as a traditional one. It takes 32 tonnes of it to build a megawatt of solar power capacity. Wind power needs much less of the metal, at 0.56 tonnes per megawatt, but that is still more than traditional power sources. Much of the sudden growth in aluminium output last year went to feed emerging green sectors. (From: `Aluminium: A barometer for China’s green recovery' China Dialogue )

[Stanley]

Those two posts illustrate the frightening scale of the problems facing the world and are almost never mentioned. Think of the number of other similar problems that exist and you can see why so many believe we have passed the 'tipping point'.

[plaques]

Having just purchased some LED bulbs in my feeble attempt to reduce global warming I currently have the pleasure in paying 2.7% import duty and 20 VAT. If the government were really serious in reducing the warming effect both these charges should be abolished.

[chinatyke]

Having just purchased some LED bulbs in my feeble attempt to reduce global warming I currently have the pleasure in paying 2.7% import duty and 20 VAT. If the government were really serious in reducing the warming effect both these charges should be abolished.

You're right about abolishing the taxes. Never mind, your LED bulbs will drastically reduce your energy consumption. One unintended consequence of using LED bulbs is that because they are so cheap to use I don't bother switching off unnecessary lights like I used to do.

[Stanley]

"One unintended consequence of using LED bulbs is that because they are so cheap to use I don't bother switching off unnecessary lights like I used to do."
China, I suspect you are not alone. There are houses near me that are permanently lit up like Xmas trees.

[plaques]

Mrs P likes bright lights in her kitchen. The LED's we bought had the biggest rating available. The lights are now so bright she switches them off to avoid the glare. A saving by unintended consequences.

[Stanley]

I think my kitchen LEDs are quite powerful but no problem with glare as there are no highly reflective surfaces.

[Stanley]

See THIS for evidence that some things don't change. Bolsonaro is continuing to encourage burning of the Amazon forests.
In my humble opinion this should be regarded as an act of war against the rest of the world and treated as such.

[Whyperion]

See THIS Report on the latest research into the overall emissions of CO2 from the Amazon rain forest. Despite the government denials it seems obvious that the Bolsonaro regime is not funding the environment police and covertly encouraging the loggers and farmers who are actually destroying the forest.

Time to write to supermarkets, etc, and refuse to buy Brazilian Corned Beef (if its not in every small tin, its sliced and in every packet - those with the british flag on say 'packed in the UK from Brazillian or Argentinian Product).

[Tizer]

Bolsanaro tricked the world into thinking that he said he would stop the logging and burning of the Amazon forest. What didn't get through the media filter is that he'd said `stop the illegal logging and burning'. He hasn't stopped the legal activities.

[Stanley]

And is in the process of making illegal acts legal retrospectively by handing out licences to the loggers and farmers.

[Tizer]

`US environmental agency releases climate report delayed by Trump' LINK
`The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said for the first time that climate change is being driven at least in part by humans. The agency made the acknowledgement in a new report that had been delayed by the Trump White House since 2017....Under former President Donald Trump, the EPA's Climate Change Indicators website was not updated, as it had been under his predecessor, Barack Obama. Mr Trump has long been a sceptic of human-caused climate change, at times calling it a "hoax". A press officer for the EPA told the BBC that until Wednesday's report, the agency had never before - not even during the Obama years - attributed global warming at least in part to human activities...'.

[Stanley]

That is criminal isn't it. Thank God we got rid of him but the damage he has done......