The Weather Thread 2023

[Skip997]

2 minutes ago, squirrelarmy said:

“Why don’t they build more wind turbines”

Planning permission gets put forward 

“Urgh I’m not having that near my house”

Wind turbines are beautiful examples of engineering.

Do you ever hear people complain about pylons, which are ugly.

[Crazyfool01]

18 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Wind turbines are beautiful examples of engineering.

Do you ever hear people complain about pylons, which are ugly.

I like them and they might kill a few birds … but climate change is gonna kill a shit load more …. They need to get on with these they are comparatively quick to get going … along with solar 

[tarw]

10 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I was thinking about that with my tinfoil hat on the other day, and I did note that decentralised power generation means that there's not going to be massive corporations making large profits of people forever.

Centralised wind +solar farms (along with fossil fuels and nuclear) are perfectly fine for getting cash out of people indefinitely. Generate the electricity yourself, not so much.

Edit: Who would lobby for that? Big tradesmen?

We were thinking about getting solar panels on our roof. It would have meant getting the whole house reroofed. It was sty’s possibility with the grants. Then the Tories came into power and took all the grants away from homeowners and made them only available to commercial schemes. 
To me putting panels on roofs is far more environmentally friendly. If you put it on farmland you are taking away plants that soak up carbon. 
 

[Skip997]

3 minutes ago, tarw said:

 If you put it on farmland you are taking away plants that soak up carbon. 
 

Maybe

https://www.csis.org/analysis/soil-carbon-sequestration-myths-realities-and-biden-administrations-proposals

[moogster]

There was a big flat "green" field next to my town. They were planning for wind turbines (which I too find pretty). Riot at city hall because it's killing the view of some houses... on a big green field with the motorway at the end.

Now they're going to put solar panels there. 😒

I'd want solar panels too but it means reroofing as well, and that would involve convincing our old and broke neighbours so not happening yet unfortunately.

I have a lovely view right now on the sedum roof above the kitchen extension. Survives without rain, isolates a bit and I get plenty of buzzies when it flowers.

[Skip997]

The obvious fix for parched land and low water reserves is rain.

But even a normal amount of rain won’t solve this problem quickly, especially in the south of England.

So while the weather is expected to change next week, it will probably just be a few showers which is far from enough.

And the Met Office is forecasting warm weather for the next three months.

This year, and this summer in particular, has been exceptionally dry and that has taken its toll on the reservoirs and groundwater that supplies most of our water.

Scientists are saying we need above-average levels of rain in September and October to replenish stocks in affected areas.

The weather in the coming autumn and winter period will be crucial, says Janie Haneford, hydrologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-62499531

[Crazyfool01]

The amount of plastic bottles of water I picked today was absolutely mad … have people not heard about reusable containers in the U.K. !!! Why can’t we just use tap water !! 

[Crazyfool01]

It’s official we are fucked … drought declared 

[moogster]

8 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

The amount of plastic bottles of water I picked today was absolutely mad … have people not heard about reusable containers in the U.K. !!! Why can’t we just use tap water !! 

People scared drinking water will be impacted?

In other crazy news, beach bar burned down last night. Firefighters had trouble getting water to deal with the fire (their gear can't deal with seawater...)

[steviewevie]

London, 2030

[Crazyfool01]

1 minute ago, moogster said:

People scared drinking water will be impacted?

In other crazy news, beach bar burned down last night. Firefighters had trouble getting water to deal with the fire (their gear can't deal with seawater...)

But the drinking water all comes from the same place right ? Except some of it we bottle close to source in plastic and then move it around the country in lorries … 

[squirrelarmy]

Just now, steviewevie said:

London, 2030

Is it going to dry up that much by this evening?

[Skip997]

It’s official, much of England is now in drought - but the decision is no surprise.

Many areas have received no significant rainfall all summer and we’re now in the midst of the season’s second blistering heatwave.

Turning the dial to drought sounds dramatic, and that’s the idea. The hope is it will help convince the public to use water more wisely.

And climate scientists say we need to prepare ourselves for more of this.

The fingerprint of humanity was clearly visible in the record temperatures the UK experienced in late July, according to leading scientists.

They say it would have been “almost impossible” without human-induced climate change.

And they say it is a taste of what is to come. The science shows heatwaves are going to become more frequent and more intense as the world’s climate continues to warm.

The science is simple, but it is worth restating here.

Burning fossil fuels – still humanity’s main source of energy – produces carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide traps the heat of the sun in the atmosphere, driving up temperatures.

The world has already warmed by around 1.1C since the industrial revolution, pushing the earth into the warmest period for 125,000 years, according to the UN.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-62499531

 

The chickens have now fully moved in and are roosting away to their hearts content.

[steviewevie]

We'll be moaning about the shit weather this time next week.

[Alvoram]

6 hours ago, crazyfool1 said:

I investigated it and was told it was pointless as my house doesn’t face the correct direction but I agree with the point … where its beneficial they should be fitted and this will drop the price for others that choose it 

Absolutely, not all older homes will be suitable. But we absolutely shouldn’t be laying a single brick in this country unless the building has solar designed in!

The current legislation doesn’t go far enough, and can be gotten around too easily. 

Simply put, every single new building built in this country should be designed to have at least 40% of it’s roof space (or 80% of it’s south facing roof) covered in integrated solar panels. 

Buildings, especially homes, are usually shaped such that they ‘could’ be designed to always have a south facing roof! 

Just like the boom of satellite dishes in the 80s / 90s we should consider adding a small wind turbine to the roofline of each new build too. A hybrid system is absolutely perfect in the UK! 

Doesn’t address older builds, obviously, but the fact we’re not already mandating these things on new builds is telling! 

 

[Alvoram]

12 hours ago, stuartbert two hats said:

I was thinking about that with my tinfoil hat on the other day, and I did note that decentralised power generation means that there's not going to be massive corporations making large profits of people forever.

Centralised wind +solar farms (along with fossil fuels and nuclear) are perfectly fine for getting cash out of people indefinitely. Generate the electricity yourself, not so much.

Edit: Who would lobby for that? Big tradesmen?

WE should!!! 

[Skip997]

The Environment Agency has moved into drought in eight of its 14 areas: Devon and Cornwall, Solent and South Downs, Kent and south London, Herts and north London, East Anglia, Thames, Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire, and the east Midlands.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/12/drought-declared-england-hosepipe-ban-water-restrictions

[Simsy]

35 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

But the drinking water all comes from the same place right ? Except some of it we bottle close to source in plastic and then move it around the country in lorries … 

Yes, but this way they can stockpile it, like bog roll or pasta.

[moogster]

35 minutes ago, crazyfool1 said:

But the drinking water all comes from the same place right ? Except some of it we bottle close to source in plastic and then move it around the country in lorries … 

Yes but this way if shit hits the fan they'll have a stock of nicely preserved drinking water...

If people are that afraid they should buy purifying tablets or filtering tools.

As for me I have a groundwater source that technically is not drinkable. On the plus side it's very rich in iron so my doctor would approve.

[Skip997]

NASA scientist Jim Hansen introduced the “too late” language about climate change in 2005, arguing that “We have to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide within a decade, or temperatures will warm by more than one degree [C].”  We did not, and his prediction is now a reality. Hansen also warned fifteen years ago, “we don’t have much time left”.

https://leadthechange.bard.edu/blog/too-late-to-stop-global-warming-a-response-to-franzen

[steviewevie]

12 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

NASA scientist Jim Hansen introduced the “too late” language about climate change in 2005, arguing that “We have to stabilize emissions of carbon dioxide within a decade, or temperatures will warm by more than one degree [C].”  We did not, and his prediction is now a reality. Hansen also warned fifteen years ago, “we don’t have much time left”.

https://leadthechange.bard.edu/blog/too-late-to-stop-global-warming-a-response-to-franzen

I mean...it's fucked...but we can still stop it getting above 2C which would be a massive clusterfuck, right? Biden is on it...

[Skip997]

4 minutes ago, steviewevie said:

I mean...it's fucked...but we can still stop it getting above 2C which would be a massive clusterfuck, right? Biden is on it...

Possibly but as I was rattling on about yesterday, it seems that no one is prepared to do what is actually necessary.

There's plenty of movement on installing renewable energy, insulating buildings, working on biofuels etc, but I'm yet to hear anyone in a position of power say something along the lines of:

"see all that complete, often single use, unnecessary crap that we produce, which is massively adding to CO2 emissions and general pollution, why don't we just ban it right now" 

[Skip997]

Catastrophic climate change outcomes, including human extinction, are not being taken seriously enough by scientists, a new study says.

The authors say that the consequences of more extreme warming - still on the cards if no action is taken - are "dangerously underexplored".

They argue that the world needs to start preparing for the possibility of what they term the "climate endgame".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62378157

[moogster]

14 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Possibly but as I was rattling on about yesterday, it seems that no one is prepared to do what is actually necessary.

There's plenty of movement on installing renewable energy, insulating buildings, working on biofuels etc, but I'm yet to hear anyone in a position of power say something along the lines of:

"see all that complete, often single use, unnecessary crap that we produce, which is massively adding to CO2 emissions and general pollution, why don't we just ban it right now" 

Yeah because THE ECONOMY. And GROWTH. I can't hear those two together anymore. Unless you add "sustainable" or "needed" so people have a basic decent life.

[Skip997]

1 minute ago, moogster said:

Yeah because THE ECONOMY. And GROWTH. I can't hear those two together anymore. Unless you add "sustainable" or "needed" so people have a basic decent life.

I'm not sure there's a such thing as sustainable growth.

Why do we need growth, we have way more than enough already if distributed properly.

The only reason we "need" growth is so the rich can become richer.