CLIMATE CHANGE AND GLOBAL WARMING

[Whyperion]

I note that the forecasters have stopped talking about the wettest February since records began but it has still been a very wet month with higher temperatures than normal.
Is this the reason why my stone and concrete flags are all turning bright green?

I think rooves and flags not being green in the past was possibly the colder winters, and also the smoke particle filled rain when domestic and industrial chimney would send sulphur laden soots into the air. On the other hand at least the air is now more safely breathable

[Tripps]

I watched a Planning Committee meeting at Oldham Council last night. (I know. . )

Main item was for a multi (3 fairly close to each other) site development for 132 new houses. Mainly for conventional semi-detached, with two thirds for the open market and one third to be 'affordable' social housing. The land had previously had terraced houses, and from the pictures that seemed to be some time ago. I learned for the first time that "climate change and net zero " was a major factor in the design /application.

There is to be no gas supplied to the properties, and hence no gas boilers. All heating will be supplied by heat pumps - (not sure if air or ground sourced) which the developer said would result in no gas bills (obviously) and low electricity bills. He helpfully explained that these would run all the time to get a nice temperature, and would not be switched intermittently like gas. Each house would have an external EV charging point, and parking for two vehicles.

Good luck to all concerned.

[Stanley]

It all sounds a bit too cut and dried to me as well David. If only the response to climate change was as easy as that......
(In particular I found the statement that leccy use would be low very suspect!)

[Tizer]

Yet another dam collapse....
`Brazil floods: Dam collapses and death toll rises in Rio Grande do Sul' LINK
A hydroelectric dam has collapsed in southern Brazil after days of heavy rains that triggered massive flooding, killing more than 30 people. Officials say another 60 people are missing in Rio Grande do Sul state. About 15,000 residents have fled their homes since Saturday. At least 500,000 people are without power and clean water across the state. The burst dam triggered a two-metre (6.6ft) wave, causing panic and further damage in the already flooded areas.

There was one in Kenya a few days ago too...
`Dozens dead after dam bursts amid torrential rain in Kenya' Guardian
At least 45 people died when a makeshift dam burst its banks near a southern town in Kenya’s Rift valley in the early hours of Monday, police said, as torrential rains and floods hit the country. The disaster raises the total death toll over the March-May wet season in Kenya to more than 100, as heavier-than-usual rainfall pounds east Africa, compounded by El Niño weather pattern. Isaac Mwaura, a government spokesperson, estimated that the death toll was 103 people, “with the Rift Valley being the worst hit”. In a post on X, Mwaura said 185,297 had been displaced adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing as well as efforts to support people. Residents said the dam burst in the dead of night, sending water gushing down a hill and engulfing everything in its path. The deluge cut off a road, uprooted trees and washed away homes and overturned vehicles.

[Stanley]

We're lucky enough to be high on a watershed so we never get someone else's water or have any danger from dams.
Our only danger comes from neglect of culverts and water courses....

[Stanley]

See THIS report from Brazil.
The death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by torrential storms in southern Brazil climbed to 39 on Friday, officials said, as they warned of worse to come. As the rain kept beating down, rescuers in boats and planes searched for scores of people reported missing among the ruins of collapsed homes, bridges and roads. Rising water levels in the state of Rio Grande do Sul were straining dams and threatening the metropolis of Porto Alegre with "unprecedented" flooding, authorities warned. "Forget everything you've seen, it's going to be much worse in the metropolitan region," Governor Eduardo Leite said Friday as the streets of the state capital, with a population of some 1.5 million, started flooding after days of heavy downpours in the region.
It looks as though there is more bad news to come.

[Stanley]

See THIS Report in the Guardian for more on the floods in Brazil.
The death toll from rains in Brazil’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul has risen to 57, local authorities said on Saturday afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for. The state’s civil defence authority said 67 people were still missing and more than 69,000 had been displaced as storms affected nearly two-thirds of the 497 cities in the state. Floods destroyed roads and bridges and triggered landslides and the partial collapse of a dam at a small hydroelectric power plant. A second dam in the city of Bento Gonçalves is also at risk of collapsing, authorities said.

[Stanley]

See THIS for more evidence that we are doomed!
Fuelled by climate change, the world's oceans have broken temperature records every single day over the past year, a BBC analysis finds. Nearly 50 days have smashed existing highs for the time of year by the largest margin in the satellite era. Planet-warming gasses are mostly to blame, but the natural weather event El Niño has also helped warm the seas. The super-heated oceans have hit marine life hard and driven a new wave of coral bleaching. The analysis is based on data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Service. Copernicus also confirmed that last month was the warmest April on record in terms of air temperatures, extending that sequence of month-specific records to 11 in a row.
(quote.... 'If I were a barnacle I'd be worried' - a marine biologist talks to BBC News Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt about ocean warming)

[Tizer]

I'm not a barnacle but I am worried!
I think the human race has already past it's `survive by' date and we are on the way out. Perhaps we'll be the first Earth species to consciously make itself extinct. It's no wonder that there are rich people wanting to live on other planets but they're deluded because they'll take the human self-destruct gene with them.

[Cathy]

Gosh Tize your post makes me sit up and think. Hopefully those that can do something , and others, will hear you. Who is listening?
But what can the individual do?

[Stanley]

Peter is right Cathy. We had enough warnings but everyone looked at the cost of stopping polluting and destroying the world by ripping out its resources as if there was no tomorrow. We aren't fit to have a planet and will pay the price.

[Stanley]

See THIS latest NY Times report on the flooding in Brazil which is grappling with one of its worst floods in recent history. Torrential rains have drenched the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, home to 11 million people, since late April and have triggered severe flooding that has submerged entire towns, blocked roads, broken a major dam and shut down the international airport until June.
Scientists are agreed that the severity of the disaster is a result of climate change and that whilst the El Nino event carries some blame the effects of the burning of large areas of the Amazon rain forest can't be discounted.

[Tizer]

It's only one day since I posted about the future for humans and now here's more evidence, all from today's headline stories...
`We asked 380 top climate scientists what they felt about the future' Guardian 1

`World’s top climate scientists expect global heating to blast past 1.5C target' Guardian 2

`Australia backs gas beyond 2050 despite climate fears' LINK 1

`Climate change: World's oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat' LINK 2

[Stanley]

All corroboration that James Lovelock was right when he said that he thought we had passed the tipping point just before he died in 2022. Sorry Cathy but our descendants are going to have a lousy time of it. We had the good days burning and exploiting as we saw fit. After the Lord Mayor's procession comes the muck cart!

[Tizer]

People talk about us facing potential climate tipping points but I increasingly feel that they are blind to the fact that in the last few years we've already passed a big one without realising it and we're now accelerating towards disaster. I'm not referring to the end of Earth or the extinction of life but the end of civilisation. I've been reading a book about human evolution by a leading scientist in the field who researches the history of modern and archaic human species and it's interesting to see the changes in dominance, due at least in part to sudden changes in the climate. Our species, Homo sapiens, has been around for a tiny fraction of the time that Homo erectus was inhabiting Earth. But they declined due to natural long-term climate change.

[Stanley]

And perhaps the fact that they made life so complicated for themselves that they didn't fit the needs of the planet.

[Stanley]

HERE'S another small piece of evidence of climate change.
One of the most common types of mosquito has been identified for the first time in locations across Scotland, according to researchers at the University of Glasgow. They found 16 types of mosquito in Scotland, including the Culex pipiens, which is prevalent in North and South America, parts of Europe and some areas of Asia and Northern Africa. Prof Heather Ferguson, who has been leading the study, said they were surprised to find the insects in all corners of the country. She warned that warmer temperatures could lead to larger numbers of mosquitoes, including ones from areas where they can transmit diseases. While Scots have long been pestered by swarms of midges, which thrive in the warm and wet conditions of a Scottish summer, there has been little knowledge about how widespread mosquitoes are north of the border. Mosquitoes are larger than midges and have a proboscis with which they suck blood.

[Stanley]

See THIS Guardian report about Google's carbon footprint.
Google’s goal of reducing its climate footprint is in jeopardy as it relies on more and more energy-hungry data centres to power its new artificial intelligence products. The tech giant revealed Tuesday that its greenhouse gas emissions have climbed 48% over the past five years. Google said electricity consumption by data centres and supply chain emissions were the primary cause of the increase. It also revealed in its annual environmental report that its emissions in 2023 had risen 13% compared with the previous year, hitting 14.3m metric tons. The tech company, which has invested substantially in AI, said its “extremely ambitious” goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2030 “won’t be easy”. It said “significant uncertainty” around reaching the target included “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict”.
I think I can remember Peter warning us about this energy demand a long time ago. He was right, this is a serious power demand just when we don't need it!

[Stanley]

That went well. Margaret and Mick took me into Barlick. I got my heavy veggie shopping, the parts that will keep well and we had lunch sat in the Square. Mick agreed with me, it's bloody cold! They fly out to the warmth of an Aussie winter on Friday.....
This is not high summer but no doubt 2024 will be another hottest year on record. But not in Barlick!

[PanBiker]

It's very pleasant today.

[Stanley]

We're lucky, hurricane Beryl is wreaking havoc!
See THIS for a BBC report on it.
Hurricane Beryl has wreaked havoc in parts of the Caribbean – and put the role of climate change under the spotlight. With maximum sustained wind speeds of more than 160mph (257km/h), it became the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane in records going back around 100 years. In fact, there has only been one previous recorded case of a category five Atlantic hurricane in July – Hurricane Emily, on 16 July 2005.
I have a feeling that climate is going to figure ever larger in our news.

[Tizer]

This graph speaks for itself...

[Stanley]

Look at the acceleration over the last few years...... That's a very telling graph Peter.....

[Stanley]

I have no evidence for this but looking at recent weather patterns the common factor is the track of the jet stream which is governed by events far distant from us. At the moment it is protecting us from the worst effects of global warming in exchange for us having cooler, wetter weather.
I wonder, could this be a pattern we have to get used to in the future?

[Tizer]

The atmosphere interacts with the ocean so our future also depends on how the currents change and whether changes are gradual or sudden. I sometimes think that `life' might simply be an infection suffered by planets, tolerated if it doesn't get too serious but shrugged off if it becomes too troublesome. Earth has put up with the infection for several billion years but now it has shifted from chronic to acute status and Earth doesn't want to be blamed for passing on the infection to other planets.