CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Stanley]

See this LINK for an informative article about cities and climate change. The impression I get is that the article is right in that the balance is swinging from 'how will it affect us' to 'what can we do about it'.
At the moment the Cameron government is completely out of step, pushing for more gas to avoid the mess that procrastination over nuclear replacement has forced on us and short term measures cutting investment in renewables because they refuse to take responsibility and want to load all the cost on the consumer.

[Tizer]

That linked BBC page is one of 5 on the UN/IPCC report published today that should shake up some of the politicians. The other pages are linked from the tabs immediately under the story's title - and they are worth reading by anyone with a concern for the future of people on this planet. One of the most important issues, which is finally beginning to receive serious attention, is that we can't do enough to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the time available without cutting our energy usage. There has been lots said and written about alternative energy sources and ways of capturing carbon but the real problem is that those are not sufficient alone. The world, and particularly the western world, has to cut its carbon emissions by cutting its energy usage...and do it now. The UK should be leading the way instead of taking the childish attitude of "I won't until everybody else does". An example would be to put into immediate effect a zero-tolerance 50mph speed limit on every British road except where a lower limit already exists. This would give an immediate dramatic drop in fuel usage and thus in carbon emissions. There would be public outrage but the public is going to have to get used to a different way of life...and soon.

[Stanley]

Spot on Tiz. I have come to the same conclusions. Every time I see images of a major city centre flooded with light from advertisements I wonder why we allow it. Another example is lighting of roads outside speed limit areas, I remember a time when it was unheard of, after all, we had glow worm headlights and drove accordingly. In fact one way you could identify a speed limit area was the street lights.
Once again, it is education, I'll bet that you and Mrs T switch lights off when you leave a room, so do I but can see houses in Barlick lit up like Xmas trees. We are addicted to energy and this has to change. One thing that struck me about the latest section of the report was the estimate of the impact on global GDP, it is forecast to be minuscule.
See this ARTICLE for a clear explanation. Largely aimed at Abbot in Australia it clearly lays out the challenge and gives a graph to show the predictions. The science and the policies it indicates now has overwhelming authority and anyone who ignores it is beyond foolish, they are anti-social and one of these days it must be made illegal to undermine the conclusions.

[Tizer]

That's a good link Stanley, thanks. Australia is a good example of vested interests getting the upper hand and yet the country is suffering badly from the effects of climate change (yes, I'm willing to stick my neck out and say the scorching temperatures there are due to climate change). It's selling coal to Asia like there's no tomorrow, but if they carry on like that there will indeed be `no tomorrow', at least not one with civilised humans in it. But then if you look at those BBC links you'll see that Germany (no nuclear to help them) is scouring brown coal out of open pits at a fantastic pace...and brown coal puts out about 15% more CO2 than black coal.

[plaques]

The UK has done their bit by closing the last of the deep pit coal mines. Of course we will be buying it from abroad. Good joined up thinking, we've got them over a barrel, we can switch them off whenever we want, especially now that Russia can stop gas supply anytime they like. As usual the UK leads the field in combating global warming.

[Stanley]

What I find so maddening is the fact that we have a clear problem, we are wealthy enough to apply remedies and yet money and governance are squandered on short term matters which in the end will have no bearing on the elephant in the room.
I have long advocated separation of control over the commanding heights of the economy from government to external regulators with the power to apply the latest science and force change on the government. We spend money on useless weapons like Trident and aircraft carriers with no planes simply to maintain some mythical 'place at the top table'. It's a hang over from the days of empire and a way of preserving the status of our politicians.
The IPPC have given the clearest signal yet, action by 2020 or else! Question is, is anyone listening?

[Tizer]

Another way in which human activity contributes to the extreme weather, and it could be solved in the same way we need to solve the climate change problem...
Asian air pollution strengthens Pacific storms
Air pollution in China and other Asian countries is having far-reaching impacts on weather patterns across the Northern Hemisphere, a study suggests. Researchers have found that pollutants are strengthening storms above the Pacific Ocean, which feeds into weather systems in other parts of the world. The effect was most pronounced during the winter. Lead author Yuan Wang, from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, said: "The effects are quite dramatic. The pollution results in thicker and taller clouds and heavier precipitation." The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27027876

Journal abstract: "Increasing levels of air pollutants in Asia have recently drawn considerable attention, but the effects of Asian pollution outflows on regional climate and global atmospheric circulation remain to be quantified. Using a multiscale global aerosol–climate model (GCM), we demonstrate long-range transport of the Asian pollution, large resulting variations in the aerosol optical depth, cloud droplet number concentration, and cloud and ice water paths; enhanced shortwave and longwave cloud radiative forcings; and increased precipitation and poleward heat transport. Our work provides, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge, a global multiscale perspective of the climatic effects of pollution outflows from Asia. The results reveal that the multiscale modeling framework is essential in simulating the aerosol invigoration effect of deep convective cloud systems by a GCM."
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/04/09/1403364111

[Stanley]

Think of all the particulates from diesel engines alone.....

[Tizer]

Sentinel satellite spies ice cap speed-up
BBC News web site, 9 May 2014
Melting at one of the largest ice caps on Earth has produced a big jump in its flow speed, satellite imagery suggests. Austfonna on Norway's Svalbard archipelago covers just over 8,000 sq km and had been relatively stable for many years. But the latest space data reveals a marked acceleration of the ice in its main outlet glacier to the Barents Sea....It's clear it has speeded up quite considerably in the last two or three years. It is now flowing at least 10 times faster than previously measured."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27330321

[Stanley]

Good link Tiz. I mentioned the Gadarene Swine in connection with banks. The same analogy comes to mind again. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.... How can anyone deny that we are in deep do-do!

[Stanley]

See this LINK for the latest NASA report on the retreat of the Antarctic glaciers. They say it is now 'irreversible'. I wonder if the deniers have any answer to this?

[Stanley]

Nigel Lawson's Global Warming Foundation has been criticised by the Charities Aid Foundation and forced to separate its political activities from its 'charitable' work. This organisation which exists to argue against climate change has come under increased criticism of late because it was seen to be working politically to influence government policy.

[Tizer]

...run by an economist and a social scientist and they expect us to believe them and disregard all the evidence collected by the climate scientists! The GWF simply wants to maintain the status quo and has no regard for future generations.

[Stanley]

And he was running the country's finances....

[Tizer]

The problem he got into was of his own making. The Charity Commission rules state: "A charity can campaign using emotive or controversial material, where this is lawful and justifiable in the context of the campaign. Such material must be factually accurate and have a legitimate evidence base." [my underlining]
http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/det ... ities-cc9/

Bob Ward, the policy and communications director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, suggested to the Commission that they should review the GWPF because it was "spreading errors" and "the 'facts' Lawson "repeats are demonstrably inaccurate".

[Stanley]

The CAF have done a good job. Now they should look at why Public Schools can register as charities when they are obviously businesses.

[Tizer]

July 17, 2014
Climate data from air, land, sea and ice in 2013 reflect trends of a warming planet
Increases in temperature, sea level and CO2 observed; Southern Hemisphere warmth and Super Typhoon Haiyan among year’s most notable events

In 2013, the vast majority of worldwide climate indicators—greenhouse gases, sea levels, global temperatures, etc.—continued to reflect trends of a warmer planet, according to the indicators assessed in the State of the Climate in 2013 report, released online today by the American Meteorological Society. Scientists from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., served as the lead editors of the report, which was compiled by 425 scientists from 57 countries around the world (highlights, visuals, full report). It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events, and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments on air, land, sea, and ice.

“These findings reinforce what scientists for decades have observed: that our planet is becoming a warmer place,” said NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan, Ph.D. “This report provides the foundational information we need to develop tools and services for communities, business, and nations to prepare for, and build resilience to, the impacts of climate change.”

The report uses dozens of climate indicators to track patterns, changes, and trends of the global climate system, including greenhouse gases; temperatures throughout the atmosphere, ocean, and land; cloud cover; sea level; ocean salinity; sea ice extent; and snow cover. These indicators often reflect many thousands of measurements from multiple independent datasets. The report also details cases of unusual and extreme regional events, such as Super Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated portions of Southeast Asia in November 2013.

Highlights from the report here:
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories201 ... imate.html

[Stanley]

Meanwhile in another part of the planet Australis relaxes controls on carbon.... LINK A whole nation shoving its head in the sand.

[Tizer]

Vested interests. As the news report says: "Australia’s mining industry cheered the decision, saying the lifting of the tax would help resource companies compete internationally. Australia is one of the top 10 coal-producing countries and is aggressively expanding its production and exports of liquefied natural gas -- both producers of carbon dioxide emissions that are rapidly changing the Earth's climate." They're on a roll with the increasing demand from China and the mining and oil executives aren't going to miss a chance to make a packet even if it damns the chances of young people worldwide for a safe future.

[Pluggy]

Too many people on the Planet with too much money between them. Without recinding democracy, and invoking punitive taxes and othe draconian measures, the climate will always take second place to human interests.

As of tomorrow, you can only have one car per family and use no more than 100 litres a year of fuel for it, You cannot consume more than 1000 kWh of Elecricity and 1000 kWh of gas in a year, you will be forcibly sterilised when you have had 1 child and terminated at the age of 60.

It would help the environment, but it wouldn't do human rights, capitalism and freedom any favours....

[Tizer]

I did my bit recently by driving us and a full car boot 80 miles from Tavistock to Taunton on one gallon of diesel!

[Stanley]

I did mine by ditching the car and taking the hot tap offline in the kitchen!

[Stanley]

See THIS for a good article in the Guardian about Owen Patterson’s outburst against what he calls 'The Environmental Blob'. It reminded me of the mythical Les Patterson.... It has been pointed out that he is a big mate of Nigel Lawson and one has to wonder how he ever qualified as a guardian of the environment. I heard a Greenpeace spokesman on the radio yesterday making a complete defence against the accusations that they used government funding for their campaigning. I know who I would rather believe....

[Tizer]

Owen Patterson...one has to wonder how he ever qualified as a guardian of the environment.

Simple. He kept a pet badger when he was a child. Honestly.

[Stanley]

Really?