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Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

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Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#71

Post by adrianN »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #56
summerdown2 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what you're implying. You seem to be missing out the bit describing which non-governmental actor can fix this. The first issue is that everyone else thinks only government can solve this. If you say governments can't, but have no other solution, you're essentially saying "no-one can do this." Which, while depressing, isn't going to achieve much. The second issue is that, clearly, governments could actual…

> Resolving global warming is actually possible with our current resources and technology. Really? We'd all love to see a plan. Or by "resolving" did you mean "holding it to only a 2 degree rise"? > They most likely aren't going to. Yeah... I think that's kind of andrewstuart's point. They aren't going to. So, given that they aren't going to, what's the next move? > You seem to be missing out the bit describing which…

Build enough renewables to replace all fossil fuels and then some, use any extra energy to suck carbon out of the atmosphere and bury it. Plant trees and turn them into charcoal. If you're very fancy you can do some more risky geoengineering.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#72

Post by loup-vaillant »

chrisco255 wrote: post #50
andrewstuart wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on your wavelength. The biggest, most gigantic problem, amongst many, is that the food supply seems in serious danger.

No, it's not at all. Look, crop yields are way up in the past few years: Rice yields are up 40% since 1988: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/riceyl... Corn's up 60%: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/cornyl... Wheat is up 48% since '88: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/wwyld.... Cattle inventory looks steady: https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Cattl…

> Yeah...hmm, not seeing a reason to panic about food supply.

Food supply go up for now. Will they still go up after Peak Oil? Peak Energy?

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#73

Post by VBprogrammer »

crispyporkbites wrote: post #27
jorblumesea wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it depends on what you mean by "threatened". Sure, humans will continue to exist, we won't go extinct, at least not globally. But we're looking at local and possibly global societal collapse. If we're back 500 years in the past developmentally and technologically, that's a huge deal. Maybe even if you survive, can you go back to a world without vaccines, antibiotics and mass communication?

Do you think we can lose 500 years of tech development globally? I can see some areas becoming challenging and definitely a slowdown in progress but it seems unlikely that all this knowledge will evaporate

I think there is a problem with knowledge being very dencly concentrated and supply chains being so long.

If you took someone who worked in a steel mill I bet they would have no idea how to produce steel from first principles. They know what their job entails, they know which bits of equipment need serviced an maintained but they don't know how to get from rocks to bar stock.

Similarly if you had a perfectly working steel mill and you cut the supply of coke or iron ore few would know how to get it up and running again. If you cut the supply of the alloying elements you might get a passable mild steel but not one to the exact specifications you require.

I think it's probably surprising how few vital links you have to cut before life as we know it breaks down.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#74

Post by danellis »

Scoundreller wrote: post #54
pizza wrote: post #37

I recall reading a CNN scrolling ticker headline about the current European heatwave that said ~5% of European homes/offices have AC. The DOE says 3/4 of American homes have AC, and furthermore, AC uses 6% of all electricity generated in the United States, quite staggering imo and a lot more than I would have expected. Without AC, a lot of America would just be too unbearable to support some major communities. [0] ht…

I felt like 6% was quite low. A/C is one of the highest wattage circuits that homes have, and it runs for a lot more hours than similar circuits (hot water or cooktops/ovens).

Do you mean that it's rated highest, or that you've measured the consumption as the highest? Perhaps it has a high rating for initial inrush currents.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#75

Post by jfkienennd »

newintellectual wrote: post #39

Two things. First, anybody ever think about why an ice covered body of land was called Greenland ? Here's a clue, it used to be a lot warmer and green. This is nothing new. Ice was a disaster for the settlers of Greenland. And this: "Scientists already know that the Greenland ice sheet is melting. But the hidden heat source originating from deep inside the Earth partially responsible for that melting has been a myste…

Because people from Iceland wanted to entice people to join them on a voyage there, and thought calling it Greenland would help them with that.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#76

Post by mbowcutt »

chrisco255 wrote: post #46
mirimir wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I'm certainly not getting out alive. And so far, nobody that I know of has. Maybe someday, one day, though. But yes, you likely meant "we're" in the sense of the human race, or modern technological society. I really doubt that the human race is seriously at risk. Although global population could drop substantially. As part of modern technological society crashing. So it goes. It was probably inevitable. Edit: A…

Not getting how that's possible at all. An ice age would be far more devastating to the human race than a warming period. Crop yields are up: 1) https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/cornyl... 2) https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Field_Crops/riceyl... Ok, so food looks safe and secure. Um, lets see, what are the other basic needs? Shelter? Water? We've had the rainiest year in 125 years: https…

While it's true that there's an abundance of water, the issue is that there's limited drinking water.

You can't survive on drinking ocean water. There's currently no energy-efficient process to remove salt and other impurities from unpotable water. That's a real issue.

Increased rainfall could be good, but could cause flooding and doesn't do much benefit when it's acidic.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#78

Post by rndgermandude »

pizza wrote: post #37

I recall reading a CNN scrolling ticker headline about the current European heatwave that said ~5% of European homes/offices have AC. The DOE says 3/4 of American homes have AC, and furthermore, AC uses 6% of all electricity generated in the United States, quite staggering imo and a lot more than I would have expected. Without AC, a lot of America would just be too unbearable to support some major communities. [0] ht…

The inside of my apartment peaked at 28°C when it was 40+°C outside. No AC. While that is still a little uncomfortable, I can power through that it it's just a week or two a year and blast a fan, and take a cold shower or two. As for some window-mounted (temporary) AC, no chance, I'd have to get permission to "build" it from the city first, which I won't unless it's a really good permanently installed one (so it cannot fall and hit somebody) aka "major" construction, and then from my landlord too.

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#79

Post by GordonS »

odiroot wrote: post #55
pizza wrote: post #37

I recall reading a CNN scrolling ticker headline about the current European heatwave that said ~5% of European homes/offices have AC. The DOE says 3/4 of American homes have AC, and furthermore, AC uses 6% of all electricity generated in the United States, quite staggering imo and a lot more than I would have expected. Without AC, a lot of America would just be too unbearable to support some major communities. [0] ht…

Why would you pay to install and maintain AC if we (in Central Europe) literally have 2 weeks of real hot summer (about a month recently though)? It would literally be a waste of money.

I live in Scotland, where the winters are long, and at worst we get a couple of weeks a year of a truely horrible heat/humidity combination.

I'm also well travelled, so well used to experiencing the joys of AC in hot countries.

Yet for some reason the thought of buying an AC unit (or even a fan!) has never once crossed my mind!

If I had thought of it though, I would expect the units to be expensive, and installation to be a pretty specialised (and therefore expensive) thing - the number of homes with AC in Scotland could probably be counted on one hand!

It's absolutely fucking horrible just now though, so I might at least look into it...

Re: Europe's record heat wave moves toward Greenland

#80

Post by NeoBasilisk »

crispyporkbites wrote: post #67
xwdv wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the world were a fine place worth fighting for, maybe you’d have a point. But increasingly, I just look around, see the news, see the social media, and think why bother? Humanity will never be anything more than this. Things seem to be wrapping up, don’t have kids, don’t try to save the world, just savor what is left till it’s gone. In the coming decades we will begin to see a loss in the knowledge of mankind, as…

Do you live on the same planet as me? The world is an incredible place and gets better every day! I look at my children and their experiences growing up and it’s far better than mine ever were. If I had the choice I’d be born today.

People at the beginning of the 20th century were incredibly optimistic, only to be hit with loss of life on an unprecedented level in world wars. Things can improve in some ways and get worse in others. The climate of the planet that our grandchildren inherit will be worse than the one that we enjoy.
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