Global warming.

dannan14 · Post by **dannan14** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:02 pm

Solar water heaters and composting toilets for the win!

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:06 pm

Solar water heaters at my latitude are like wind turbines, two objects backing each other up and each totally useless on their own.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:14 pm

There are new technologies out there for hot water heaters ( think instant hot water for tea or coffee).

I've heard a very good plan laid out by McCain, one of our candidates. It begins with retro-fitting every government building. That is a LOT of buildings. This creates 2 million "green collar" jobs. Then it moves to new housing construction and tax credits awarded for existing homes. Businesses can be mandated.

I'm "fer" it.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:19 pm

Much can be done Beag, but wind turbines are about as sensible as a chocolate kettle!

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:36 pm

Much can be done Beag, but wind turbines are about as sensible as a chocolate kettle!

I'm no expert Dig, I only know that wind power is being harnessed in a few places in the US that normally are pretty windy.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:15 pm

Our government is commited to thousands of them without paying attention to the problems.
The west coast is to have the majority, those erected so far achieve, on average, 1/3 of their rated output/annum.
Other forms of energy production must be available at short notice for when the wind drops, therefore if energy requirements rise, more 'normal' type production will have to be avilable.
Concrete production requires vast amounts of energy to produce the raw materials, which themselves produce large quantities of CO2 when processed.
At 30% of rated output a 400ft high turbine requires approx 10 yrs to pay back the CO2 emissions caused by their production.
Denmark currently has the highest output of wind energy and when the wind rises above a certain level the excess power has to be 'lost', if we proceed with current plans we will have to 'lose' so much energy that overall effeciencies will drop even lower.
Currently our turbines are painted white, as in Elephant!
On the basis of expenditure they cost more per watt than any alternative process.

Post by **Minimalist** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:40 pm

It begins with retro-fitting every government building.

And I'm sure he's planning to give Halliburton a no-bid contract!

kbs2244 · Post by **kbs2244** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 4:00 pm

I heard an interview of the head of the CBOE
(Chicago Board of Options Exchange)
saying that the next thing he expected to be traded was Carbon Credits.
All based on this B S.
You can hug all the trees you want to.
The smart money will make money on the hysteria.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:19 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7299561.stm

Average glacial shrinkage has risen from 30 centimetres per year between 1980 and 1999, to 1.5 metres in 2006.

Some of the biggest losses have occurred in the Alps and Pyrenees mountain ranges in Europe.

Experts have called for "immediate action" to reverse the trend, which is seen as a key climate change indicator.

Estimates for 2006 indicate shrinkage of 1.4 metres of 'water equivalent' compared to half a metre in 2005.

Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary General of the UN and executive director of its environment programme (UNEP), said: "Millions if not billions of people depend directly or indirectly on these natural water storage facilities for drinking water, agriculture, industry and power generation during key parts of the year.

Glacier melt means water to many people. This has probably contributed to the downfall of civilizations in the past, and will require a lot of effort to meet demands today.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:42 am

http://goldismoney.info/forums/t109102- ... tates.html

I have also read an article today where the other side accuse of Cherry Picking, pointing out on a few glaciers are growing.
Unfortunately people fail to distinguish between thickening and lengthening.
A warming trend should, and indeed has, increased preciptitaion in higher llattitudes, the result should be a thinkening of the ice above the melt line and a retreat of the melt line as temps rise.
This should also increase the flow rate due to increased pressure from the thickening ice.
Unfortunately experts use familiar words but often in a different context,
A few days ago a Met Office official informed the press that the British Isles was in for the largest storm in a century, the Chinese Whisper came out in the press as the strongest storm for a century.
The Met Office term referred to the area covered, not the wind force!

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:00 am

Top 'o the mornin' Digit. Yes, I think we're already seeing some untoward sequelae to global warming. Another one I think:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/scien ... ref=slogin

The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.

The world may be losing one of it's finest sea food sources. This is disturbing.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:29 am

The most puzzling thing Beag is that temps are supposed to be dropping, but climate warming is definitely happening. Our winters, with a blips, have definitely shortened. A few weekas ago I could have sworn that I had heard a 'Chiffchaff' in my garden, a summer visitor, now I find that an estimated 5000 of them have over wintered, making them a resident.
Also the Swallow has over wintered, the first recorded occasion, and the number of normally southern European species that have spread north increases annually.
(More illegal immigrants!)

I gather there's Irish rebel in you?

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:42 am

I gather there's Irish rebel in you?

In the US, everyone is Irish today. It's St. Patricks Day. This is not the evening to be driving anywhere.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 7:32 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7303385.stm

The Arctic is losing its old, thick ice faster than in previous years, according to satellite data.

The loss has continued since the end of the Arctic summer, despite cold weather across the northern hemisphere.

Good interactive display with this article.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:01 pm

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/ ... 4389.shtml

(CBS) Self-avowed "P.R. agent for the planet" Al Gore says those who still doubt that global warming is caused by man - among them, Vice President Dick Cheney - are acting like the fringe groups who think the 1969 moon landing never really happened, or who once believed the world is flat.

The former vice president and former presidential candidate talks to 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl in an interview to be broadcast this Sunday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Confronted by Stahl with the fact some prominent people, including the nation’s vice president, are not convinced that global warming is manmade, Gore responds: "You're talking about Dick Cheney. I think that those people are in such a tiny, tiny minority now with their point of view, they’re almost like the ones who still believe that the moon landing was staged in a movie lot in Arizona and those who believe the world is flat,” says Gore. "That demeans them a little bit, but it's not that far off," he tells Stahl.

So there! Don't forget, this man invented the internet.