Climate Change

[blackrose]

I have thought a lot about 'Global warming', having a child and probably grand children in the not to distant future, and my belief is that it is a natural process but the we (the human race) are helping it to accelerate faster than ever before.

 

Yes, climate change is a natural process, but current rates of change are unprecedented and have been caused by human activity, as stated in the IPCC report above.

 

According to recent news broadcast January 2007 was the second warmest since 1911, so what made that the warmest, not many cars or air travel then, maybe it was all the horses

 

Actually livestock does make a big contribution to methane emissions. (28% of human methane emissions according to the US EPA). As a greenhouse gas, methane has 25 - 30 x the global warming potential of CO2.

 

http://www.epa.gov/rlep/faq.html

Edited February 3, 2007 by blackrose

[CanalWalker]

current rates of change are unprecedented

 

I'd be interested to see your evidence to back that statement up. I have seen ice core data and sedimentary logs which would suggest that you are wrong.

[DaveR]

I have never seen any follow up to the fact thatthe 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens sent more CO2, CO etc into the atmosphere than man has ever done.

 

Taking that on one step, with the constant rate of eruptions around the globe where do the emissions caused by man fit into the bigger picture?

[dor]

One thing to remember in all this: nearly all the scientists doing research on global warming are funded directly or indirectly by governments. We all know the western european governments in particular are apparently keen to push the global warming issue so ask yourself, if you want to make sure your research grant is renewed next year, which way do you go?

 

I'm not in denial about global warming, but as a scientist, I get really annoyed when events are immediately ascribed to global warming without any proof. The US hurricanes in 2005 were blamed on global warming; we were told that insurance companies were doubling their contingency funds to pay for more and more damage (i.e. an excuse to charge you more). What happened in 2006? The US was virtually hurricane-free.

 

ITV did a feature last week from the Antarctic, with all the usual scare stories backed up by film of icebergs breaking off and even ice melting. They failed to point out of course that it is the middle of summer in the antarctic at the moment, so the events shown are entirely normal (they also showed pictures of 'unseasonal' flowers - Winter flowering jasmine!).

 

No one who has never heard of the Chandler Wobble and similar effects should say anything about global warming.

[gaggle]

nature will do whatever it wants, silly humans are being silly if they think they can change it .

[Carrie]

nature will do whatever it wants, silly humans are being silly if they think they can change it .

 

..er...they appear to have done just that....

[Carrie]

We can still limit the devastating effect of climate change - for some on the planet at least.

 

What can we do? Stop consuming. Don't buy stuff you don't physically NEED. Don't fly. Get rid of your car and take public transport or car-share. Don't waste what you have. Try growing food, mending clothes, swapping unwanted things for things you need (Use a LETS system in your area for example). Soon, in this way, you find you have a lot of spare money at the end of each month. This is your opportunity to change your life - you can go part-time and get to know your children and neighbours and spend time with your parents who won't always be around. Or start giving your excess money away to things you care about. Life just gets richer and richer from then on...

[tomsk]

..er...they appear to have done just that....

 

 

Yada, yada, yada..... Well overdue an ice age.....Cows keep farting....Wheels keep turning... 'Experts' say too late to effect changes....Stop worrying and start living, else adopt the cave and mung bean strategy and become a recluse, you know instead of proselytising how every one should lead a more 'responsible' lifestyle why not just do so yourself?

[Carrie]

You think consuming excessively is living?

But you do raise one very important point I forgot - go vegan! All those cows ain't good for the planet and feeding our dairy herds on cereals grown in famine-stricken countries (like ethiopia) is an appalling process. We have enough land to feed ourselves IF we stop raising animals for meat. A meat-eater requires 20 times more land in the production of their food than for a vegan.

 

Why aren't I happy to just go live in a cave and follow my own way of life? Two reasons. First, we sink or swim together on our one planet and second, I happen to give a damn, - not particularly about you, - but about the innocent millions who don't have a choice about which car to buy next, where to jet off to, what to chuck in the bin.

[tomsk]

You think consuming excessively is living?

But you do raise one very important point I forgot - go vegan! All those cows ain't good for the planet and feeding our dairy herds on cereals grown in famine-stricken countries (like ethiopia) is an appalling process. We have enough land to feed ourselves IF we stop raising animals for meat. A meat-eater requires 20 times more land in the production of their food than for a vegan.

 

Why aren't I happy to just go live in a cave and follow my own way of life? Two reasons. First, we sink or swim together on our one planet and second, I happen to give a damn, - not particularly about you, - but about the innocent millions who don't have a choice about which car to buy next, where to jet off to, what to chuck in the bin.

 

 

Oh dear Carrie, I'm afraid whenever I have indulged myself in almost exactly similar discussions I cause the deepest offence. On this basis I shall withdraw, wishing you the very best in your crusade against The World Bank and similar, but fear for your long term sanity.

[DaveR]

How do all these taxes our beloved government apply help to stop greenhouse gasses?

 

The extra £5 and £20 on flights this week, is the money going to research alternative fuels? Not a bit of it.

 

The hikes in excise duty on petrol & diesel to make us use less they claim - or is it just to raise money for the exchequer?

 

Margaret Thatcher once claimed that the general public would never stand for the increase in electricity prices if scrubbers and cleaners were fitted to the chimneys of power stations. Unfortunately she forgot to ask us. I am tired of cynical governments who do things because we want it - but never ask us. Sure we have elections every 4 years (they never use the fifth) but their manifestos are so complucated as to make it impossible to choose between them. It is usually a case of the lesser of two evils.

 

Oh dear, off on another rant. I am using up more than my fare share of dark rooms these days.

[Carrie]

Typical - you don't follow the herd and people think you're mad. Lucky my own opinions are based on reading thorough research over many years and talking with people who have devoted their lives to environmental issues, and not on a couple of news headlines. I was reading up on climate change predictons based on man's influence in my teens, but these were lone voices in the wilderness back then.

 

Dave, I agree that government so-called policies are 'greenwash' - just to make them look as though they are making an effort, while cashing in. Meanwhile they continue with huge road-building schemes, don't tax aviation fuel and are expanding airports. It's all rubbish and supports my point that we have to make grassroots changes - starting at home and in our communities.

[NB Alnwick]

In my view the biggest problem is what we don't use. We have become a society of discarders - I just cannot believe the amount of rubbish that some families seem to generate and am often forced to wonder 'if they don't want it - why did they buy it in the first place?' All that discarded plastic, packaging, wasted food, old electrical stuff, old domstic appliances etc just has to go somewhere - our planet is becoming a big festering rubbish dump.

[gaggle]

..er...they appear to have done just that....

some say they have while others say they have not , nothing is proved except the majority of the greenies are determined they are right and everyone else is wrong.

 

and anyway as i have said , we will not be here on this planet when all this roasting of the land takes place,just dust and bones.

get out and enjoy your existence on this earth , tomorrow in your life might not exist so make the most of today.

Edited February 4, 2007 by gaggle

[magnetman]

In my view the biggest problem is what we don't use. We have become a society of discarders - I just cannot believe the amount of rubbish that some families seem to generate and am often forced to wonder 'if they don't want it - why did they buy it in the first place?' All that discarded plastic, packaging, wasted food, old electrical stuff, old domstic appliances etc just has to go somewhere - our planet is becoming a big festering rubbish dump.

 

Landfill has gradually replaced the traditional rubbish disposal method, known as 'canal fill'.

 

The only thing I don't get is that everything takes up space always in that you can't create matter (can you?) so if your digging it out of the ground then why is it so bad to put it back when you no longer want it? seems sensible really.

[tomsk]

Typical - you don't follow the herd and people think you're mad. Lucky my own opinions are based on reading thorough research over many years and talking with people who have devoted their lives to environmental issues, and not on a couple of news headlines. I was reading up on climate change predictons based on man's influence in my teens, but these were lone voices in the wilderness back then.

 

Dave, I agree that government so-called policies are 'greenwash' - just to make them look as though they are making an effort, while cashing in. Meanwhile they continue with huge road-building schemes, don't tax aviation fuel and are expanding airports. It's all rubbish and supports my point that we have to make grassroots changes - starting at home and in our communities.

 

Just to clarify Carrie, I don't think you are mad at all, I plough my own furrow and come up against the same sort of misunderstanding. I have just had enough of banging my head against a number of walls over many years, regarding various 'issues' (don't you just hate that word?) dear to my heart. Unfortunately I discovered I was wasting my time as the whole word is essentially crooked, research can show whatever you want it to and as we all know, there are lies, damn lies and statistics.... So now I just lead a simple life, making all efforts to minimise waste and energy usage and let others make there own decisions. Good luck to you tho', but don't forget to live in between all the campaining xxx Tomsk.

[NB Alnwick]

I have just had enough of banging my head against a number of walls over many years, regarding various 'issues' (don't you just hate that word?) dear to my heart. Unfortunately I discovered I was wasting my time as the whole world is essentially crooked, research can show whatever you want it to and as we all know, there are lies, damn lies and statistics....

 

Well you're dead right and I agree with you 100% but it might be even worse if a few people didn't campaign - it might increase their blood pressure and shorten their lives but they might, just, achieve something that helps the rest of us!

 

So I raise my glass of naturally brewed ale to all campaigners for freedom, healthy living, a better world and the abolition of statisticians . . .

 

[tomsk]

Well you're dead right and I agree with you 100% but it might be even worse if a few people didn't campaign - it might increase their blood pressure and shorten their lives but they might, just, achieve something that helps the rest of us!

 

So I raise my glass of naturally brewed ale to all campaigners for freedom, healthy living, a better world and the abolition of statisticians . . .

 

 

 

Agreed. To dead statisticians it is

[Big John]

I got a weather station off Santa last Christmas ('05) with a wireless outdoor sensor, and diligently plotted a graph of daily max and min temperatures for about 3 months (I've only recently chucked it away).

Presumably you threw the graph away - not the weather station?

 

Which one have you got? Has anyone else got one aboard, and if so can you give a brief review please? I need to write my Santa letter Where did you put the outdoor sensor - and do you have portholes or windows?

 

Currently looking at something under £50 for a digital one with outdoor sensor.

[carlt]

Well you're dead right and I agree with you 100% but it might be even worse if a few people didn't campaign - it might increase their blood pressure and shorten their lives but they might, just, achieve something that helps the rest of us!

 

So I raise my glass of naturally brewed ale to all campaigners for freedom, healthy living, a better world and the abolition of statisticians . . .

 

87% of statistics is made up.

[HYBRID]

Every living thing on the planet is part of a carbon cycle, humans are just part of the cycle playing the role of releasing the carbon locked into the plane.

The cycle then can continue.

It matters not which species survive or become extinct as the cycle of evolution continues that is until the sun fails or the moon stops orbiting the planet.

Ill get my coat !

[carlt]

Every living thing on the planet is part of a carbon cycle, humans are just part of the cycle playing the role of releasing the carbon locked into the plane.

The cycle then can continue.

It matters not which species survive or become extinct as the cycle of evolution continues that is until the sun fails or the moon stops orbiting the planet.

Ill get my coat !

True(ish) but on a personal note, I'd rather like our species to continue.

[Moley]

Which one have you got? Has anyone else got one aboard, and if so can you give a brief review please? I need to write my Santa letter Where did you put the outdoor sensor - and do you have portholes or windows?

 

Yes, it was only the graph I threw away.

 

The weather gizmo was from Comet, I think it was twenty quid.

 

The main unit is on the lounge wall and the remote sender is in the kitchen with its sensor running outside through the window frame. Our house doesn't have portholes.

 

There is an indoor/outdoor thermometer on the boat, that was under a fiver from Lidl.

[fender]

In my view the biggest problem is what we don't use. We have become a society of discarders - I just cannot believe the amount of rubbish that some families seem to generate and am often forced to wonder 'if they don't want it - why did they buy it in the first place?' All that discarded plastic, packaging, wasted food, old electrical stuff, old domstic appliances etc just has to go somewhere - our planet is becoming a big festering rubbish dump.

 

when I was a kid the shops were stocked with basics and essentials, the stores were much smaller those such as Debenhams and others were the biggest anywhere and there was perhaps a kind of balance between wants and subsistence. Look at the stores now they're so massive and stock all kinds of stuff that is pure crap and a big sop to the environment. It would have been good if the distribution of needs and the onset of superstores had enabled up to make efficiencies on distribution and fuels and reduce the demands on the land as well as the environmental impact. But then again we all live in a dream world. Not to worry one day nothing will be ours!

[Maverick]

A hosepipe ban extending from Buckinghamshire all the way to the south coast was lifted today, apparently. Which is handy, its a good day to water the garden.

 

edited

 

You sure they've banned a hosepipe that stretches that far? Come in handy on our marina.