CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Stanley]

Thanks Peter.....

[Stanley]

See THIS report about the Climate and Nature Bill....
A proposed law compelling the UK to meet new legally binding targets on climate change and protecting nature has failed to clear its first hurdle in the House of Commons. The government won a motion, by 120 votes to seven, to end debate of the bill, meaning it will not return to the House of Commons until July and is unlikely to become law. The Climate and Nature Bill had been proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Roz Savage, however she said she would not push for a vote on the bill itself, having agreed to work with ministers to find a way forward.
Yet another example of how the economic situation is affecting us.

[Tizer]

`Could the UK actually get colder with global warming?' LINK
Before everyone thinks it's now OK to `burn, baby, burn' read the last bit of the article...
Scientists are clear that the fundamental way to reduce these risks is to cut the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change. "We're playing a bit of a Russian roulette game," warns Prof England. "The more we stack up the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the more we warm the system, the more chance we have of an Amoc slowdown and collapse. "And so I think people need to not give up, because there's so much to be gained by reducing emissions. "The scale of change is just so much worse if we do nothing."

[Stanley]

Debate has been swinging back and forth on that knotty question Peter for as long as I can remember. We are reminded of it every time we get a blocking high out to the east and we get a 'Beast from the East' episode. Our recent cold spell was caused by a blocking high. It may well be that we have underlying gradual warming change because of sea temperatures but pay a penalty in opposing tendencies caused by variations in the jet stream......
The article is correct, the one sure thing we can be certain of is that any reduction in greenhouse gases will be helpful......
(But we seem to be giving up on that..... Expect news any day that the new oil and gas fields will be allowed to start producing.)

[Stanley]

We keep noting extreme weather as a consequence of climate change and this mornings atmospheric pressure reading of 1041mb and tending to rise is as extreme as anything I have ever seen.
Later at 04:30.
January 2025 was the hottest month on record, surprising scientists despite an abnormally chilly United States and a cooling La Nina, the European climate service Copernicus has said.

[Tizer]

Expect news any day that the new oil and gas fields will be allowed to start producing.

And it's not just Britain...
`Norwegian oil giant cuts green investment in half' BBC

[Stanley]

I heard that report yesterday Peter. As I said earlier, it's almost as though the world has given up on COP!

[Stanley]

See THIS for the latest news on sea ice.
The world's frozen oceans, which help to keep the planet cool, currently have less ice than ever previously recorded, satellite data shows. Sea-ice around the north and south poles acts like a giant mirror by reflecting much of the Sun's energy back into space. But as rising temperatures cause this bright layer to shrink, the dark ocean below can absorb more heat, warming the planet further. This latest sea-ice low appears to have been driven by a combination of warm air, warm seas and winds breaking apart the ice. Over the 5 days to 13 February, the combined extent of Arctic and Antarctic sea-ice was 15.76 million sq km (6.08 million sq miles), according to BBC analysis of data from the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). This breaks the previous 5-day record low of 15.93 million sq km (6.15 million sq miles) from January-February 2023.
I wonder if the deniers read this? Will it have any effect on Trump and his attitudes?

[Tizer]

...Sea-ice around the north and south poles acts like a giant mirror by reflecting much of the Sun's energy back into space. But as rising temperatures cause this bright layer to shrink, the dark ocean below can absorb more heat, warming the planet further....

It's measured as `albedo' (from Latin albedo 'whiteness') which is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation). The albedo of sea ice is 10 times greater than that of open ocean surface, so as the ice melts the absorption of heat increases dramatically.

[Whyperion]

...Sea-ice around the north and south poles acts like a giant mirror by reflecting much of the Sun's energy back into space. But as rising temperatures cause this bright layer to shrink, the dark ocean below can absorb more heat, warming the planet further....

It's measured as `albedo' (from Latin albedo 'whiteness') which is the fraction of sunlight that is diffusely reflected by a body. It is measured on a scale from 0 (corresponding to a black body that absorbs all incident radiation) to 1 (corresponding to a body that reflects all incident radiation). The albedo of sea ice is 10 times greater than that of open ocean surface, so as the ice melts the absorption of heat increases dramatically.

why dont we put more solar panels at the poles ?

[Stanley]

Thanks Peter..... And here we are dithering about using gas....... It looks to me as though 'Net Zero' is dead in the water.

[Whyperion]

At best UK can only send signals, worst places are China / India / US. Apparently the UK Citizens biggest CO2 usage comes from aircraft flights.

[Stanley]

See THIS BBC report....
The UN climate summit in the United Arab Emirates in 2023 ended with a call to "transition away from fossil fuels". It was applauded as a historic milestone in global climate action. Barely a year later, however, there are fears that the global commitment may be losing momentum, as the growth of clean energy transition is slowing, external down while burning of fossil fuels continues to rise. And now there is US President Donald Trump's "national energy emergency", embracing fossil fuels and ditching clean energy policies – that has also begun to influence some countries and energy companies already. In response to Trump's "drill, baby, drill" slogan aimed at ramping up fossil fuel extraction, and the US notifying the UN of its withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Indonesia, for instance, has hinted that it may follow suit.
This man is possibly the biggest global threat there is...... And we appear to be helpless.
("Perhaps this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper"

[Tizer]

Others, like Indonesia, are saying they'll go back to coal and oil. We're doomed, I tell ye, we're doomed!

[Whyperion]

It seems strange that some of the longer term actions will bring cheapness in the long term Problem we live in the short term.
The Daily Telegraph is running articles on effectively national infrastructure planning and why so difficult to do things in Britain. Yet we have demolished large coal burning power stations , surely part of that existing would have housed the RollsRoyce Mini Nuclear systems ?

[Stanley]

I've see those reports Peter and in truth you can't really blame those countries. They saw us leap into an Industrial Revolution fuelled by pollution and use the profits to dominate and in many cases, subjugate them. As they see it we are telling them not to use the same tools that enabled us to rise to power.

[Stanley]

One of the consequences of climate change is a reduction in available drinking water world-wide. See THIS report on the harvesting of 'fog-water' as a solution for extreme arid regions.....

[Stanley]

See THIS latest report on glaciers.....
The world's glaciers are melting faster than ever recorded under the impact of climate change, according to the most comprehensive scientific analysis to date. Mountain glaciers - frozen rivers of ice – act as a freshwater resource for millions of people worldwide and lock up enough water to raise global sea-levels by 32cm (13in) if they melted entirely. But since the turn of the century, they have lost more than 6,500 billion tonnes – or 5% – of their ice. And the pace of melting is increasing. Over the past decade or so, glacier losses were more than a third higher than during the period 2000-2011. The study combined more than 230 regional estimates from 35 research teams around the world, making scientists even more confident about exactly how fast glaciers are melting, and how they will evolve in the future. Glaciers are excellent indicators of climate change.
I wonder if anyone has brought this to the attention of King Donald? It's a measure of the ignorance and stupidity that is abroad in the US and world wide.

[Tripps]

I did wonder if the cable laying I spoke of last week was in connection ( ) with a Lithium storage facility. I do hope not.

Little is heard here about this in this country - Lithium battery fire in California.

The fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant, which ignited on Jan. 16, burned for five days and ultimately destroyed around 80% of the batteries inside the building. Now, as the smoke clears, Monterey-area officials warn that the blaze may be a harbinger as the state increases its reliance on renewable energy, electric vehicles and other battery-powered devices.

What is worse is that it is said to have reignited days later, from the the debris, and is burning again.

[Stanley]

When you first brought the matter of battery fires up David I admit I thought you were being a bit too sensitive but not now! I am so aware of the possible consequences I don't even charge my phone overnight, only when I am near it and awake!
You do right to worry if there is a possible Lithium battery installation close to you..... I would feel just the same.

[Tripps]

I thought you were being a bit too sensitive

Here I go again. What could this incident be? Lorry fire in Wythenshawe

From the early witness and photographic evidence available, it looks like another lithium battery fire.

[Stanley]

[Tizer]

Forgive my scepticism Tripps but what makes it look `like another lithium battery fire' rather than petrol, diesel or other inflammable chemicals combined with plastics, tyres etc?

[PanBiker]

I was thinking that also. I don't think there are any HGV's running on lithium batteries.

[Tripps]

Gentlemen - I don't really care what you think of the situation. I just read the reports and form an opinion. What is not reported is as important as what is. I doubt you have reached the same conclusions as I have on several other topics.

So be it.

I don't think there are any HGV's running on lithium batteries.

You would be wrong to think that. Electric HGV battery fire risk investigation

PS Further information. The site was a battery recycling depot