CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Stanley]

He'll not be comfortable wherever he retires to.

[Tizer]

`The carbon cost of Black Friday Sales in 2020' Dirty Delivery Report
`Our calculations estimate that online shopping on Black Friday this year is predicted to release around 429,000 tonnes of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.....To put this into perspective 429,000 tonnes of carbon is equivalent to 435 return flights from London to New York or the same weight as 61,308 elephants...'.

And this from a BBC article today...
`By 09:00 on Friday, Metapack [a go-between for retailers and couriers] was working with retailers to deliver between 2 and 2.5 million orders, but Mr Fair says the biggest day of the year for despatching orders will come next week. "The retailers will take all of their orders today, on Saturday and on Sunday, and then most of the despatch against those orders will happen on Monday next week", he predicted. And he thinks in order to cope with the volume of orders, retailers will start giving shoppers a later delivery date. "Standard delivery is three to five days but they'll stretch that out, so standard delivery is now seven to 10 days in order to avoid consumer disappointment". Problems in the global supply chain, due to the pandemic, mean some companies are struggling to get hold of new stock so that they can fulfil their orders..'.

[Stanley]

I suppose this year's Black Friday is a shelf-clearing exercise, Xmas stocks must go because there is no chance of anything but a dire foot-fall review after Xmas. That being the case you'd expect significant price cuts.
I ordered a book from Amazon yesterday and it is scheduled to be with me on Thursday. These days Amazon almost always delivers earlier than forecast.

[Tizer]

This is `a turn up for the book' as they say...business leaders are now telling the government that its climate targets are not good enough and we need to strengthen them...
`UK climate targets too low, economists say' LINK

[Stanley]

I'm not sure whether this is the same news item Peter but I did hear a conversation in which businesses were saying that they are getting much more feedback from customers about environmental standards. I also heard another piece about the way social media has altered the way people can influence what would otherwise have been inaccessible policy areas. If an individual hits the right button their view can 'go viral' and they become influential. Combine that with urging businesses to become more eco-friendly and you have a cocktail that no marketing department can ignore.

[Tizer]

That's an example of why I'm always urging people to avoid street demonstrations and to use electronic methods of communication instead.

I'm glad to see the Secretary General of the United Nations is putting on the pressure...
`Humans waging 'suicidal war' on nature - UN chief Antonio Guterres' LINK

[Stanley]

Yes, I heard that report. Question is how many are listening to him? (And to the appeals for more funding to help those worst affected. Remember we have just cut global aid....)

[Stanley]

I heard an interesting piece on World Service. A climate research scientist was commenting on the fact that despite this being a La Nina year, which usually signals slightly lower global temperatures, the overall picture is that temperatures are, if anything, higher. He considers this to be worrying.....

[Stanley]

I can't find it on the web but there was a news item this morning forecasting that most of the European glaciers will have melted by the end of the century with catastrophic consequences for the continent.

[plaques]

Sir Richard Branson's company will begin space tourism flights in 2021. Virgin Galactic I can't think of anything that snubs its nose at global warming than promoting vanity tourism of more rich mans toys adding nothing to humanity other than profit and greed. At times when we are being pressed to be more green to curtail our travel and give up our cars etc; the top 0.1% can abuse the system as much as they like. Time to call a halt to this nonsense.

[Tizer]

Well said, Plaques. I'd put Elon Musk in the same category even he'd claim to be driving forward innovation. He could have been spending his money and innovation on preventing pandemics...but he didn't and look where we are now.

I can't find it on the web but there was a news item this morning forecasting that most of the European glaciers will have melted by the end of the century with catastrophic consequences for the continent.

This was last Monday...
`Climate change threatens 'most Alps glaciers'' LINK
I remember when I first joined OGFB writing how climate change would melt the glaciers and that would result in summer drought and winter flooding on the plains, whether in Europe or elsewhere. The glaciers and alpine snows act as a reservoir and buffer, accumulating water during winter and then letting it out slowly in warmer months. Once the glaciers are gone the winter rain will immediately rush down and flood the valleys and plains. In summer the river beds will be dry. Lovelock and other scientists were predicting it 60 years ago but, as with the treat threat of pandemics, the politicians took no action.

[Stanley]

"as with the treat of pandemics, "
Love the typo Peter.
Couldn't agree more about Virgin and space tourism. Why is it that I distrust anything that Richard Branson dips his finger into. There is something about the man that is a red flag as far as I am concerned.
I was thinking this morning that whilst the retreat of the glaciers doesn't affect us as much as continental Europe, the forecast that we will get less snow in winter does. I look at all the rain we are having and thank god it is falling as rain!

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report of the iceberg A68A and its possible effect on South Georgia. Environment rather than climate change but I thought it fitted well here.

[Tizer]

`Joe Biden says 'no time to waste' as climate team unveiled' LINK
`US President-elect Joe Biden has introduced his climate and energy team, saying they will lead an "ambitious plan" to combat climate change. Mr Biden has vowed to make the issue a top priority in an agenda that reverses many Trump administration policies. He said there was "no time to waste". If confirmed by the Senate, the team will include the first black man to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the first Native American cabinet member. Mr Biden, who is set to be inaugurated on 20 January, has pledged to build a diverse administration that reflects the US. "We're in a crisis," he said. "Just like we need to be a unified nation to respond to Covid-19, we need a unified national response to climate change."..

[Stanley]

I wish Mr Biden well but when I look at the scale of the challenges facing the world I wonder if we haven't embarked on some sort of end game. There is no light at the end of this tunnel.

[Tizer]

Big financial losses - now we might see some action at last. Money speaks!
`Climate change: Extreme weather causes huge losses in 2020' LINK
`Christian Aid's list of ten storms, floods and fires all cost at least $1.5bn - with nine of the 10 costing at least $5bn. An unusually rainy monsoon season was associated with some of the most damaging storms in Asia, where some of the biggest losses were...The value of the insured losses is estimated at $10bn. China suffered even greater financial damage from flooding, running to around $32bn between June and October this year...Cyclone Amphan struck the Bay of Bengal in May and caused losses estimated at $13bn in just a few day..'.

[Stanley]

You could be right Peter but will it be too little too late? The really insidious warming is taking place in places like the Arctic where it is fastest. Will this grab attention?

[Tizer]

Perhaps not as much as we'd like - but the consequences will grab attention as the effects ripple outwards. The oceans and atmosphere are all interconnected in one `Earth system'.

[Stanley]

A lot of attention is being given to the Arctic and Siberia at the moment.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz pointed out this Tom Heap article to cheer us up...
`Why I'm feeling hopeful about the environment in 2021' LINK
`This year, 2021, a number of things are coming together to help achieve a low-carbon future. In 25 years of reporting the environment patch I've never been so convinced that the world has the potential to change. It's about politics: recent bolder climate commitments from the UK, the EU, incoming American President Joe Biden and even China. It's about business: for the first time ever renewable energy investment will exceed that in fossil fuels. And it's about timing: a post-Covid recovery year running up to the global COP26 climate summit in November. But mostly it's about ideas - an eruption of climate change solutions. Applied human intelligence is the vaccine against climate change..'.

[Stanley]

I hope his optimism is justified..... I find it hard not to believe we are too late.

[Tizer]

Thank goodness the US has turned around Trump's approach to climate...
`Climate change: Trump's Paris withdrawal was 'reckless' - John Kerry' LINK
`US Special Envoy on climate change John Kerry has said the country will now push for rapid action after four years of "reckless behaviour" under Donald Trump. Mr Kerry said that withdrawing the US from the Paris agreement had threatened people's futures all over the world...A former presidential candidate, Mr Kerry has long been a powerful voice in climate politics. As President Obama's Secretary of State he played a key role in securing the Paris agreement in 2015....To get to net zero emissions by the middle of the century, he said, the world needed to phase out coal five times faster than in recent years. Net zero means that any remaining greenhouse gas emissions are balanced out by removing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere, through, for example, planting trees. Renewable energy would need to be ramped up six times faster, and the transition to electric vehicles needed to take place 22 times faster than at present..'.

[Stanley]

It's looking promising. Now we need to see how US politics pans out as the new administration takes hold. Wait and see again....

[Tizer]

Good news. Obama vetoed this pipeline which would carry dirty Alberta Tar Sands oil into America and all the way to Houston to be shipped abroad. Then Trump started it again.
`Keystone pipeline: Biden 'to cancel it on his first day'' LINK

[Stanley]

I saw that and heaved a sigh of relief. I'll bet the indigenous people did as well!