CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Stanley]

Not sure what bearing climate change has on this but see THIS BBC report on cyclone Tauktae which is said to be the strongest to hit the region since 1998.

[Tizer]

A warmer atmosphere means a more energetic atmosphere and that means higher wind speeds and greater rainfall so climate change is very much the driver of increased and more severe weather events. There's nothing to debate - it's just physics at work.

[Stanley]

That is what I have always understood Peter but I know there are others more qualified than me to be definitive.
On a smaller scale I note the number of reports we have heard lately about exceptionally severe hail and thunder showers. We have not seen them in Barlick but I always remember that July 1932 saw a severe event which caused a flood in the town. How long until we have another?

[Tizer]

In our previous house in the late 1990s we had a roof valley fill up to a foot deep with hailstones and when they melted they flooded water into the lofts. We had to have the valley widened and the lead trough deepened so it wouldn't happen again. We've had heavy hail here several times in the last week and some shrubs ended up with their new leaves peppered with holes or torn.

[Stanley]

We've been lucky in Barlick in that we haven't had any exceptional weather. That could all change though!

[Tizer]

Today we've got winds of about 50mph average speed forecast from 10.00am continuously through the day and night until 2.00pm tomorrow.

[Sue]

A warmer atmosphere means a more energetic atmosphere and that means higher wind speeds and greater rainfall so climate change is very much the driver of increased and more severe weather events. There's nothing to debate - it's just physics at work.

I used to teach the 3 Ws. Warmer, wetter, windier. We have the last two in Rochdale but we have not seen any of the warmer. It rarely gets above 14 degrees even in the summer!

[Whyperion]

Rochdale manages to be in all the wrong place, against the Pennines,but a bit elavated for the cold winds , with the rain coming down. I think its sheltered from the sun too ?

[Stanley]

I can't find it on the web but the BBC report that the journal Science has an article that says that global vegetation has changed faster in the last year than at any time in the last 18,000 years.

[Sue]

Rochdale manages to be in all the wrong place, against the Pennines,but a bit elavated for the cold winds , with the rain coming down. I think its sheltered from the sun too ?

Up here we joke and say ´Sun, whats that ?’

[Tizer]

Isn't it Oswaldtwistle where they keep the lights on all day?

[Stanley]

Never heard that Peter but I've seen times in winter when they have kicked in during the day in Barlick.

[Stanley]

I heard a report this morning about the effect deforestation is having on agriculture in Brazil. It is already costing agriculture over $1billion annually because as the trees go so does the rainfall, the climate changes. Wouldn't it be ironic if Bolsanaro's policies result in a desert.

[Tizer]

His policy of ignoring covid-19 is already depopulating the country!

[Stanley]

See THIS article for more detail of the latest situation.

[Stanley]

See THIS report of the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline from Western Canada to Nebraska to transport oil from the tar sands of Canada to the US. Trump gave permission for it pandering to the oil interests even though environmentalists and the indigenous tribes whose land it passed through hated it. Biden put it on hold as soon as he was elected and has now cancelled the licence. This could be contested in the courts but one wonders whether the oil interests will see it as being worth the hassle and cost. The future of fossil fuels seems clear, slow decline. What's the point of opening new reserves?

[Tizer]

I wonder what the company has been doing in the months since Biden cancelled the permit if it's only halted construction now?

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian Article and make up your own mind about what's going on here. Does Mr Gohmert really believe we can alter the orbit of the moon and change the climate?

[plaques]

The moon is already very very slowly moving away from the Earth. the Earths 'year' is gradually lengthening. Nobody can predict how these changes will affect the Earths climate. And some clown wants to do it on purpose. It sounds like a bit of self promotion to make it look like he can 'think out of the box'.

[Tizer]

Trust a US republican to ask a question like that, and Louie Gohmert especially - he has `previous'. He's a Tea Party hero and back in 2015 was claiming global warming was good because plants would grow better (which shows he knows nowt about plant biology) and has claimed that cold weather is proof that global warming is fake. There's great concern about people proposing `geoengineering' methods `such as creating more clouds, putting a reflector between us and the sun etc and his changing the moon's orbit for the simple reason that they would be even more likely to go out of control and cause a catastrophe.

[Whyperion]

I would not mess with the present roughly golden distance (Tell him its been put there by God, please). The odd just right eclipse is a present day wonder for us, and the tidal movements our wildlife have got used to for breeding and so on.

[Tripps]

I would not mess with the present roughly golden distance (Tell him its been put there by God, please

Try not to worry about it Whypes. I've put it fairly low on my personal 'risk register' .

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC account of the latest report by the Climate Change Committee.
"The UK is woefully unprepared to deal with changes occurring to the climate, government advisers say.
A report by the independent Climate Change Committee predicts warming will hit the UK harder than first thought.
It warns of more severe heatwaves, especially in big cities, and more intense rainfall, with an increased flood risk across most of the UK. It says homes, infrastructure and services must be made resilient to floods, heat and humid nights. The authors of the report on adaptation, or "climate-proofing", warn that global warming can cause damage running into tens of billions of pounds over short periods - and they say they're frustrated at the lack of government action.

[Tizer]

Note this: Co-author Prof Richard Betts, head of climate impacts research at the Met Office, told BBC News: "The main thing is that the risks of climate change to the UK are even higher than we appreciated five years ago. Unless global emissions are drastically cut, he says, the UK could experience temperatures highs of 40C every 3.5 years."

In a separate report: "The International Military Council on Climate and Security (IMCCS) says in its latest annual report that defence remains the single largest consumer of hydrocarbons - like fuel and gas - in the world" and "...the long life-span of military equipment, such as warships, means that defence has locked itself into relying on fossil fuels for many years to come". LINK

If we all lived in peace we could slow climate change dramatically - but I won't hold my breath waiting for that!