2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record • Hacker News Board

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#71

Post by epistasis » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 10:59 PM UTC

vectorjohn wrote: post #46

ps4fanboy wrote: post #32

Nuclear Power, until those who care about the environment accept that the only clean at scale power solution for base load is nuclear power we will get no where. "Renewables" are great and should be in the mix but they are not an at scale solution. http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/images/ghgemissions/source... By going mostly electric for our transportation and nuclear for power generation we could really make a den…

Lots of people keep saying this, but I really don't think it's true. Solar and wind work fine at scale. There is nothing un-scalable about them. What they don't do is work at night, and in that case nuclear is a fine option. Although batteries that can run a house overnight aren't that expensive.

Given nuclear's huge expense, huge lead times, and intense local political opposition, and comparing it to how battery&renewable is getting much cheaper with time, I don't doubt that battery&renewable will be cheaper at scale than nuclear power will be by the time that either could be built out.

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#72

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 10:59 PM UTC

vectorjohn wrote: post #46

ps4fanboy wrote: post #32

Nuclear Power, until those who care about the environment accept that the only clean at scale power solution for base load is nuclear power we will get no where. "Renewables" are great and should be in the mix but they are not an at scale solution. http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/images/ghgemissions/source... By going mostly electric for our transportation and nuclear for power generation we could really make a den…

Lots of people keep saying this, but I really don't think it's true. Solar and wind work fine at scale. There is nothing un-scalable about them. What they don't do is work at night, and in that case nuclear is a fine option. Although batteries that can run a house overnight aren't that expensive.

[deleted]

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#73

Post by ps4fanboy » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 10:59 PM UTC

vectorjohn wrote: post #46

ps4fanboy wrote: post #32

Nuclear Power, until those who care about the environment accept that the only clean at scale power solution for base load is nuclear power we will get no where. "Renewables" are great and should be in the mix but they are not an at scale solution. http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/images/ghgemissions/source... By going mostly electric for our transportation and nuclear for power generation we could really make a den…

Lots of people keep saying this, but I really don't think it's true. Solar and wind work fine at scale. There is nothing un-scalable about them. What they don't do is work at night, and in that case nuclear is a fine option. Although batteries that can run a house overnight aren't that expensive.

If we went fully "renewable" how much industrial waste would these batteries that everyone needs create? Solar and Wind really doesnt work for everyone, where it is cost effective, available and reliable it makes sense to mix them in, but you cant tell me you fully expect every country to go 100% Solar and Wind?

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#74

Post by oolongCat » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 10:59 PM UTC

flubert wrote: post #7

oolongCat wrote: post #6

I live in one of those "Record Warmest" boxes, it really was hot during the past year. Its funny how people you would consider uneducated and poor in my country would understand that there is clearly something going wrong with the world around us, while some people with lots of money, influence and education choose to believe that this is all a conspiracy by a foreign government. It's just nuts, really, something is…

>I live in one of those "Record Warmest" boxes, it really was hot during the past year. You can sense a 0.23 degree F average temperature difference? Or maybe you are unhelpfully confusing weather with climate?

Well, you should really try living here.

The thing is, you can really tell the difference when you have to deal with this heat everyday there are some days you just do not feel like going outside. The sun just burns, especially when you get down from your car you can feel your whole face burning up.

See the thing is, growing up we never had an A/C in our house, no one complained, once in a while yes it would get hot, but a common table fan would fix the problem.

But now, everyday we many families around where I live need to keep a table fan running at all times.

Its 4 AM in the morning, and its still warm outside. And Jan is supposed to be a relatively colder month in my country.

The funny thing is, just how many people over here notice this increase in temperature.

It's scary.

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#75

Post by JupiterMoon » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:00 PM UTC

vectorjohn wrote: post #46

ps4fanboy wrote: post #32

Nuclear Power, until those who care about the environment accept that the only clean at scale power solution for base load is nuclear power we will get no where. "Renewables" are great and should be in the mix but they are not an at scale solution. http://www3.epa.gov/climatechange/images/ghgemissions/source... By going mostly electric for our transportation and nuclear for power generation we could really make a den…

Lots of people keep saying this, but I really don't think it's true. Solar and wind work fine at scale. There is nothing un-scalable about them. What they don't do is work at night, and in that case nuclear is a fine option. Although batteries that can run a house overnight aren't that expensive.

Any idea what proportion of Western Europe would need to be covered in solar panels and wind farms to reliably give 90% of the required kWh per day? The other 10% could come from tidal. But you'd need much of the potential hydro capacity to act as energy storage. (Assuming battery/hydro back up on a daily basis).

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#76

Post by scrollaway » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:00 PM UTC

InclinedPlane wrote: post #39

yongjik wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Per-capita CO2 emissions by countries, 2011: US 17.0t China 6.7t India 1.7t Yeah, we should totally talk to China and India. Source: http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC?order=wba...

Total CO2 emissions by countries, 2014: US 5.3 Gt China 10.5 Gt India 2.3 Gt Yeah, China and India are totally relevant to global CO2 emissions. The global climate doesn't give a damn about how many people are responsible for a given quantity of emissions, it's completely and utterly uncaring.

This isn't how math works. Averages matter. What the world doesn't give a damn about is country borders.

Also, enough with the blame game. All three countries have to put in all possible efforts.

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#77

Post by tahssa » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:00 PM UTC

My 3 wishes....

1. Every person on the planet should have a carbon consumption rating and have exponential taxes applied accordingly.

2. Automobiles should be banned from cities, roads should be turned into parks maybe with some commuter trains.

3. The top 62 richest people on the planet should give their money over to make wish number 1 and 2 come true.

;)

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#78

Post by Laaw » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:01 PM UTC

2015 was a strong el nino, I dunno if it's gonna tell us much about global warming...

It's actually alarming to me that this post is being given any traction on here, when I know everyone here is smarter than to attribute one year to global warming. How many times have we mocked Fox News for saying shit like, "It was -10F outside today, so much for global warming!"

Climate change is clearly a big deal, and one of (if not the) biggest threats to every nation's national security, but it's not the cause of a warm 2015. Sorry folks, it just isn't.

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#79

Post by ps4fanboy » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:01 PM UTC

nostromo wrote: post #68

ps4fanboy wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pick a problem, you cant solve them all at once. - mining is pretty much a necessity of life at this point. - 200 years to come up with solutions to energy production while not turning the planet into an oven sounds pretty good.

You've misunderstood my comment. We have 200 years of uranium left at current rates of consumption. But if we replaced all fossil fuels with nuclear, we'd consume 10 times more per year and we'd only have about 20 years of energy available before needing to move on to a new energy source.

Uranium exploration is pretty much non existent these days, I would'nt be comfortable saying how much there actually is. Peak oil has been coming for decades but they keep finding it.

Re: 2015 “smashed” 2014’s global temperature record

#80

Post by Udik » Wed, Jan 20, 2016, 11:02 PM UTC

oolongCat wrote: post #6

I live in one of those "Record Warmest" boxes, it really was hot during the past year. Its funny how people you would consider uneducated and poor in my country would understand that there is clearly something going wrong with the world around us, while some people with lots of money, influence and education choose to believe that this is all a conspiracy by a foreign government. It's just nuts, really, something is…

people ... understand that there's clearly something going wrong with the world

something is terribly wrong

This feeling of impending catastrophe, especially when prompted by signals as imperceptible to a human being as average change of 1.33 degrees Celsius (on land) on the average of the 20th century temperatures, to me is an indication of that kind of paranoia or panic that feeds on tiny when not completely imaginary cues.

This is not to say that I don't believe climate change is real; just that I think that the debate would be more rational and productive if people relied on scientific data and stopped using personal feelings, anecdotes and questionable reports to support their position.