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Europe's new climate in seven charts

bbc.com

141–150 of 247 posts

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#141
post #53

"Europe's rapid warming is partly the result of [...] a drop in the number of tiny polluting particles in the air. This means that less of the Sun's energy is reflected back into space, leaving more energy to heat the Earth's surface." Hmmm...

The full quote is

> Europe's rapid warming is partly the result of the melting of bright snow and ice, and a drop in the number of tiny polluting particles in the air.

That first one is kind of important and it seems intentionally misleading to omit it

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#142
post #94
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, all that CO2 generated by nuclear power plants and renewable energy is terrible. But I guess if enough people die then Europe's carbon emissions will also go down so it's a win! And thank you for proving my point.

~50% share (in some countries much higher) fossil-based electricity is still 50% fossil-based electricity.

Then don't do that.

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah. It's really as simple as this: Southern climates are moving north. (In the northern hemisphere.) If you want a vision of the future, consider a New England that looks more like the Southeast. There will be winners and losers. As climate zones move toward the poles, weather patterns and agricultural viability will shift with them. This will eventually turn current breadbaskets into deserts while warming up northe…

This is… one way to look at the death of billions, the end of nations, and the collapse of society due to the ensuing refugee crises. Not to forget, we are dependent on the food web. These changes mean species will be wiped out, fishing stocks will crash, and invasive will spread. Since you are likely in the developed world, tropical temps in Europe would mean refurbishment of houses. People won’t remember things lik…

Even anatomically modern humans have gone through similar events several times in the history of our species, let alone our ancestors. Climate change itself will not be the end of humanity, but it may be the end of the current civilisation.

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So we need a benign world emperor. And there's the risk of an evil world emperor.

We could start by letting companies have emperors, instead of letting the financial market be the emperor of almost every company. How's Valve Software doing?

The financial market is an expression of the incentives of investors.

I think that markets are not the problem, instead the problem is that pollution is free, companies and governments can pollute or Earth without paying externalities.

Blaming markets is completely missing the mark.

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#145
post #39

And yet many Europeans will still argue that ACs are evil and they shouldn't have them despite an estimated 175k heat related deaths per year. Although maybe this heat wave will change some minds.

> And yet many Europeans will still argue that ACs are evil

I have literally never met this straw man European (and I live here). Heat pumps are going in all over Europe at a rate of knots, and solar adoption rates in southern Europe mean that using those heat pumps to cool down in summer will be basically free

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#146
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah it's true, Europe has had heat waves in the past. For instance, in 1540. Also 1779. And also 1906, 1947, 1964, 1976, 2003, 2006, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Frequency? Do I look like a statistician to you?!

I do not know about Europe as a whole, but 1911 was pretty bad in the UK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1911_United_Kingdom_heatwave

Popular Mechanics, March 1912 — an article titled “Remarkable Weather of 1911: The Effect of the Combustion of Coal on the Climate.”

https://www.livescience.com/63334-coal-affecting-climate-cen...

Have you read this before? Great read.

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#147
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buy aircon stocks now!

uk here. I've been trying to by a portable AC unit for a couple of weeks and every single retailer is sold out nationwide.

Don't get the portable ones. I made the mistake in 2019 and the thing is abysmally loud, barely gets the temperature 2 degrees lower in a single room, uses twice as much electricity as the rest of the household combined, and you still can't work from the heat and noise. That's with a window replaced by an insulating panel with a round cut-out for the hose, not a cracked window like you see most people needing to do. I've compared about two dozen units in a spreadsheet and this one was clearly the best buy, so I don't think it's just my unit

I totally recommend airco but only the split units that actually provide relief. Still a lot of energy but I feel differently about that consumption when it's not mostly wasted

The mobile ones are nice to aim at you though, I'll give them that much. For the effect they give, you might nearly just as well run it outside (anywhere in the shade) and aim it at you. Then the noise also doesn't reflect off the walls so that's more bearable, too

Btw the split units, as a bonus, can usually also heat the room(s) they're in. The UK has quite a lot of (planned) wind power year round, so reducing gas consumption will also cut back on the fuels that are causing this

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#148

Why is it that aggressive climate action is not taken still?

Do you really think Russia, China, India or developing countries are going to stop using fossil fuels if we stop? If the west de-industrializes then our enemies will destroy us... Russia's literally invading Europe right now (albeit poorly).

Yeah they will, its literally cheaper now.

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#149
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1960 to 1979 had 6 years where UK temperatures went over 30C in June 1980 to 1999 had 6 years 2000 to 2019 had 13 years 2020 to 2026 has had 6 years so far, and we're only 35% of the way through The longest period of time from 1960 to 2000 where june temperatures went higher than 30 was two years, reaching 30 in 1975 and 36 in 1976. 2021 was the only June in the last 10 years where temperatures didn't reach that 1975…

So even if it goes above 30 every single remaining year it will still be 9 vs 13 in the previous decade?

The time frames they are looking at are 2 decade intervals, not 1 decade

Re: Europe's new climate in seven charts

#150
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1960 to 1979 had 6 years where UK temperatures went over 30C in June 1980 to 1999 had 6 years 2000 to 2019 had 13 years 2020 to 2026 has had 6 years so far, and we're only 35% of the way through The longest period of time from 1960 to 2000 where june temperatures went higher than 30 was two years, reaching 30 in 1975 and 36 in 1976. 2021 was the only June in the last 10 years where temperatures didn't reach that 1975…

So even if it goes above 30 every single remaining year it will still be 9 vs 13 in the previous decade?

They’ve rendered that in a rather confusing way. 13 incidents is for _two_ decades, not one.
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