Lots of amber warnings for flooding in northern England in the coming days too.
Climate Change | UN Report: Code Red for humanity
- Thread starter Buster15
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Lots of amber warnings for flooding in northern England in the coming days too.
Just need to distinguish between weather variations and climate change.
I think in isolation they can be classed as weather variations, when they're part of a planet-wide change in extreme weather such as months-worth of rainfall in hours / days and occurring increasingly frequently, I'd think it would be safe to escalate it.
Also, climate science had become sufficiently sophisticated to be able to speak to the possibility and likelihood of weather events. That heat wave in British Columbia, for example, had been claimed to be simply impossible of it weren't for climate change. Although for flooding the point is usually rather that the current frequency would have been extremely unlikely without climate change.
Major flooding in Pakistan now too.
Actually scary when you see where the world is heading and the fact that this could’ve been prevented long before it started to become too late.
Actually scary when you see where the world is heading and the fact that this could’ve been prevented long before it started to become too late.
Report on The State of the Climate of the UK confirming that the effects of climate change are already being felt. The temperature in the UK has risen by 0.6C in the last 30 years.
So let there be no doubt that there is a Climate Change Emergency of a scale that is going to dwarf the Covid Pandemic.
We have all seen the efforts made to combat the pandemic, both locally and internationally.
But it really does not feel like there are anything like the same efforts to combat climate change.
Greenhouse gases are still increasing at alarming rates. And new coal fired power stations are being constructed in China and other countries.
So let there be no doubt that there is a Climate Change Emergency of a scale that is going to dwarf the Covid Pandemic.
We have all seen the efforts made to combat the pandemic, both locally and internationally.
But it really does not feel like there are anything like the same efforts to combat climate change.
Greenhouse gases are still increasing at alarming rates. And new coal fired power stations are being constructed in China and other countries.
This is true on a number of levels, partly because no one has a definitive answer and even if they had getting everyone to agree is almost a non-starter. Efforts that are being made, simple things like installing Smart Meters, are going 'belly up' either they don't work properly, or cannot be used with different suppliers, problems with installation etc. these are minor things really but gives the impression to the public at large that we (Governments and so called experts) don't know what we/they are doing. In consequence everything goes on the back burner!
There is no doubt that man-made issues with pollution, green house gases, etc. are having an effect, but there are natural cycles at work as well. 25,000 years ago the temperature in the Thames Valley was 6.0 degrees higher than now, vines were growing there (according to soil samples etc.), there have been periods when the Thames its self froze over, etc.
Human beings inhabiting the earth pollute it, consume its resources, and only in minor ways do we seek to correct it. Fighting a rearguard action is all that is open to us now, but who will 'fill up the breech' to start and to continue that action?
Always interesting to read your thoughts.
And you are right. We do need to take account of the natural cycles.
I was listening to a climate change scientist this morning. And he was saying that the global temperature rise is very far from uniform.
In the Arctic, the average is in excess of 3C. And that we know is very bad news. The polar ice caps reflect a huge amount of the sun energy.
But so much is being lost that the exposed ground is now absorbing that energy. A viscous circle that can only be broken by restoration of the ice.
And that is changing the Jetstream markedly, pushing it further south.
As I mentioned before, the concern is that we are either at or have passed the Arctic tipping point.
Edit.
That tipping point is when the Siberian Permafrost melts releasing massive amount of Methane that has been locked up for centuries.
Worse we could have spent less than we've spent on covid to prevent it.
I fear for the future and the world that youngsters have to live in . Consumerism and a world of throw away items and wastefulness is a massive problem and I just can`t see attitudes changing enough for people to give up their luxury items and lifestyles for the good of the next generations .
Yes indeed.
Not just the things people buy. Although the amount of plastic that is now in the seas and air is bad enough.
But it is our collective attitude to energy and travel that is the real issue.
We have been conditioned to think of those fossil fuels locked up underground as a bonanza.
Now we know that it is highly likely to lead to our demise as a species, unless there is a fundamental and global change to the way we live our lives.
And as yet, the best we can do is to tinker around the edges and blame everyone else for not doing enough.
Yeah, arctic ice melt is a huge issue, and it's a pity that this (pretty much the most noticeable immediate effect of climate change) is happening so far away from people's spheres of interest. It does actually already affect us though: as you say, the jetstream has become unstable, which is the enabler of the British Columbia heat wave a few weeks ago and the long periods of extreme cold we're.more regularly experiencing in North America now (like Texas last winter). But that connection is a little too abstract I guess.
I’m no climatologist, but I worry we’re already past that point of no return in the warming—lowering albedo—methane release—accelerated warming cycle. This would apply to NA in addition to Siberia.
Pizzlies are sort of the perfect harbinger of that; watching their numbers will be an instructive window into how nature will be changing.
Ofcoursr it has. The world is so broken
The world is fecked. I have absolutely no confidence in the world leaders to actually change anything. I fear for my children, and my children’s children
You can place blame on world leaders, but truth is, global industry isn't doing anything remotely necessary in scale.
"The oil company that is incentivised to continue increasing oil production and maintain the status quo needs to be a partner."
"Of course we want to be a partner.... have you seen our unicorn CCS diorama?"
Global industry and people in general won`t change without world leaders making laws to enforce change which won`t happen cos world leaders and people in power are in the back pockets of global industry .
Its actually an interesting problem. Whose responsibility is it to battle climate change, is it of the govt. or of private companies. I don't think energy companies are obligated to do anything until they are forced to, either through consumer action or govt action.
The government to create and enforce harsh policy/regulation on private enterprise and to use the incredible economic powers of the state to incentivise carbon reduction. Private enterprise can participate if they'd like.
The private sector will never seek to correct a "public bad". You're essentially asking corporations to fix a negative externality when their product is the negative externality.
The problem is that governments are open to massive influence and tend to elect conservatives vastly more than liberal/progressives. The problem with that is that the conservative movement of today has no policy prescriptions for public bad's or negative externality because their ideology is fundamentally bankrupt.
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Yeah, exactly. People question why we reached this apocalypse point. Its very obvious why we're where we are. Private enterprise isn't incentivised enough to create solutions. People will react when the flood waters reach their door, when there's absolutely no uncertainty about the outcome. Till that time, adopting green causes is just a function of cost.
No one will willingly purchase a costlier product. Even if its an altruistic motive, people would much more likely support causes which give immediate bang for their buck, not some future eventuality.
The day after tomorrow movie being realised?
The article outlines a scenario similar to the one made by dennis quaid in the 2004 film.
The article outlines a scenario similar to the one made by dennis quaid in the 2004 film.
As long as we can outrun cold like in the film, and shut the door on it to stop it, we should be fine!
...and we're still not doing much.
Insane fires in Greece and Turkey as well.
Well that's feckin' nuts. Almost like some sort of weird disaster ride at Disney land
Greece I suppose from the responses? That's terrifying. Looks like a freaking disaster movie.
I m not sure if this is down to climate change or to people who are trying to profit from the sustainable energy rush by using any means-including destroying forests. This is from Evia and the fires are occuring "accidentaly" in the same place where one month ago a company announced a plan for wind turbines, which the local community has opposed.
EDIT: I don't want to believe in this conspiracy, but knowing how things are done in Greece, I do consider it as a possible scenario.
EDIT: I don't want to believe in this conspiracy, but knowing how things are done in Greece, I do consider it as a possible scenario.
This a very frustrating topic. Politicians like talking about climate change but none of them appear to want to actually do anything about it.
When or if they actually do it'll most likely be too late.
When or if they actually do it'll most likely be too late.
I think it’s already too late, that’s the terrifying part.
Only this weekend Climate envoy John Kerry rocked up to Obama's birthday party on a private jet.
They talk about 2050 being carbon neutral I believe but that's not soon enough, especially with what we've seen happening more and more frequently. I don't even want to think about what the world could look like. It's very scary.
I agree. That's why I'm on a united forum trying to block out reality.