Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[ggies07]

It's been 10-20 degrees warmer here in Texas off and on over the past week or so, freaking miserable, so If we don't rein in climate change, what happens in 50-60 years to the holiday economy? If it's extremely warm by then, what happens to the clothing industry this time of year? What happens to all the Christmas songs that talk about snow, cold weather, all the outdoor holiday activities, etc...what happens to the ski places that don't get enough snow.

What happens to the North Pole? Santa? The reindeer? How will that all work if it's melted and warmer? Is society just going to pretend like it's all the same from 100 years ago during December every year?

How could you buy all the "holiday" stuff that deals with cold weather when it's not cold anymore?....So lower sales, worse profit reporting, WS gets worried about the economy again...I mean, if people don't want to think about keep humanity alive, at least do it for the $....right!?!

Or maybe it won't matter by then because things will be so bad....

 

[Raffy.Roma]

I mean, if people don't want to think about keep humanity alive, at least do it for the $....right!?!

This is a GOOD POINT IMO. Then maybe that also deniers will join us and all the transportation will become electric in a SHORT TIME!

 

[JRP3]

Places where it never snows or gets cold still manage to celebrate Christmas so I don't really see that as a problem. Personally I think the whole holiday could disappear entirely and put an end to the pointless consumption of mostly worthless junk. I opted out years ago and am much less stressed than most other people I see.

 

[ggies07]

Places where it never snows or gets cold still manage to celebrate Christmas so I don't really see that as a problem. Personally I think the whole holiday could disappear entirely and put an end to the pointless consumption of mostly worthless junk. I opted out years ago and am much less stressed than most other people I see.

bah-hahahahaha. You funny.

This tradition goes back hundreds of years and is celebrated throughout the world. And yes, some places are warm now, but that's natural occurrence. People have been talking about "holiday consumption" since the 40s, nothing new.

 

[mspohr]

NBC News: Antarctic ice shelf could crack, raise seas by feet within decade, scientists warn. Antarctic ice shelf could crack, raise seas by feet within decade, scientists warn

 

[JRP3]

This tradition goes back hundreds of years and is celebrated throughout the world.

Plenty of traditions are celebrated throughout the world which should be abandoned.

 

[juliusa]

Global power from coal continues to increase. Really glad India and China are part of the Paris climate agreement.

Global Coal Power Expected to Hit Record Despite Climate Fight

Global coal-fired power generation is expected to rise 9% and hit a record by the end of 2021 as electricity demand from the economic recovery outstrips a shift to cleaner energy sources.

www.wsj.com

 

[mspohr]

Wood burners cause nearly half of urban air pollution cancer risk – study

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tiny pollution particles are produced by burning fuels and have long been known to have carcinogenic effects. The new study examined the sources of the PAHs and found wood burning produced more than the diesel fuel or petrol used in vehicles.

Nenes said PAHs were not the only carcinogen in wood smoke, and it also had many other compounds that damaged health. “Wood smoke is particularly potent and causes all kinds of ailments from cancer to oxidative stress, which leads to heart attacks and strokes, obesity, premature ageing, diabetes – anything that has to do with inflammation in the body. So overall, I’m really worried about wood burning.”

Pakistan orders Monday closure of schools and offices in Lahore to cut smog

Officials hope three-day weekend will help reduce toxic pollution levels in country’s second largest city

www.theguardian.com

Inside Delhi’s air pollution crisis

Delhi is engulfed in its seasonal thick brown smog – air so toxic that schools and offices have closed. But where does all this air pollution come from, and what is India doing about it?

www.theguardian.com

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Global power from coal continues to increase. Really glad India and China are part of the Paris climate agreement.

Global Coal Power Expected to Hit Record Despite Climate Fight

Global coal-fired power generation is expected to rise 9% and hit a record by the end of 2021 as electricity demand from the economic recovery outstrips a shift to cleaner energy sources.

www.wsj.com

The Paris Climate agreement HAS TO BE RESPECTED BY ALL COUNTRIES SIGNING THE AGREEMENT!

 

[Merrill]

If we did not have Pacific Graft and Extortion for are electricity we would not have to burn wood.

 

[mspohr]

Warmer winters can wreak as much havoc as hotter summers, say scientists
While the popular imagination might associate the climate crisis with scorching summers and their attendant droughts, wildfires, hurricanes and heat waves, milder winters can also be drivers of catastrophic weather events and profound changes. They range from shifts in agricultural use, triggering changing weather patterns to boosting the likelihood of violent events, like the swarm of tornadoes that wreaked havoc in the American midwest and south over last weekend.

 

[juliusa]

WSJ News Exclusive | Investors Balk at Plan to Buy Coal Mines and Close Them

Citigroup and its partners shelved an investment fund they said would put an end date on thermal-coal mines to lower carbon emissions.

www.wsj.com

 

[JRP3]

The high water use of the internet

 

[iPlug]

The high water use of the internet

Trying to understand their argument. The video says on-site water use (for purpose of cooling) is reported by the data center corporations but that this is a small part of their water consumption footprint. They report that most of their water use footprint comes indirectly from "non-renewable electricity generation". So would the solution then not be to move to 100% renewable electricity generation?

 

[JRP3]

Yes as well as using closed loop on site cooling such as ground source cooling. Could also be integrated with heating in northern climates and maybe water heating for nearby neighborhoods in warmer locations.

 

[RichardC]

Agreed a combination of renewable energy and in-ground long term thermal energy storage would seem to have great potential once the developed at scale.

 

[eevee-fan]

#dontlookup

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Agreed a combination of renewable energy and in-ground long term thermal energy storage would seem to have great potential once the developed at scale.

Hi Richard! Happy to see you again on TMC! WELCOME BACK ON TMC!

 

[mspohr]

‘Our biggest challenge? Lack of imagination’: the scientists turning the desert green

In China, scientists have turned vast swathes of arid land into a lush oasis. Now a team of maverick engineers want to do the same to the Sinai

www.theguardian.com

What turned the Sinai into a desert was, most likely, human activity. Wherever they settle, humans tend to chop down trees and clear land. This loss of vegetation affects the land’s ability to retain moisture. Grazing animals trample and consume plants when they try to grow back. The soil loses its structure and is washed away – hence the silt in Lake Bardawil. Van der Hoeven calculated the lake contained about 2.5bn cubic metres of silt. If one were to restore the Sinai, this vast reserve of nutrient-rich material was exactly what would be needed. “It became clear we had a massive opportunity,” he says. “It wasn’t the solution to a single problem; it was the solution to all the problems.”

While Van der Hoeven was immersed in his research, a friend implored him to watch a documentary called Green Gold, which Liu had made for Dutch television in 2012. It chronicles the story of the Loess plateau, an area of northern China almost the size of France. In 1994, Liu, who was working as a television journalist in Beijing, was asked by the World Bank to film the start of an ambitious restoration project, led by a pioneering Chinese scientist, Li Rui. At that time, the Loess plateau was much like the Sinai: a dry, barren, heavily eroded landscape. The soil was washing away and silting up the Yellow river. Farmers could barely grow any crops. The plan to restore it was huge in scale but relatively low tech: planting trees on the hilltops; terracing the steep slopes (by hand); adding organic material to the soil; controlling grazing animals; retaining water. The transformation has been astonishing. Within 20 years, the deserts of the Loess plateau became green valleys and productive farmland, as Green Gold documents. “I watched it 35 times in a row,” says Van der Hoeven. “Seeing that, I thought, ‘Let’s go for it!’”

 

[Beasts]

462 pages and counting! Granted it's been a long time since this thread was started in 2013 but still we have a problem without a solution. Not a lot of consensus. No all encompassing plan. The discussion is, at least, an informative learning experience for all involved but we are, for the most part, preaching to the choir in that we have already made at least one major decision toward attacking global warming in that we chose to purchase EVs. Each of us needs to do everything we can on a personal level, lead by example. Recycle, reuse, reduce is a good place to start. Live a life that makes a statement to everyone you come in contact with that makes it clear where you stand. Provide your own reuseable grocery bags. Don't accept a bag for just a couple items. Keep your thermostat low in the winter and wear extra clothes inside. Combine several stops when shopping instead of making one trip for each store. Vote with climate change in mind. The list is long.
On an individual basis there are limited actions available but it is a good place to start. One person recycling hardly makes a dent but millions making environmentally positive decisions can change our world. We have a large audience just on this site, why not use it to encourage our "choir" to do all of the little things and not be shy about it? Just a thought.