Climate Emergency

[Stuart]

Elsewhere I stated that the best science I had seen forecast 10-12 years before man-made effects on our climate become irreversible...

@Otto99 has suggested that the forecast is more like 5-7 years...

I’m interested in your views on these terrifying forecasts, & what actions we can take to avert this catastrophe...

No politics or religion please, but bring me the science as you find it, & the very best your collective creative minds can offer in terms of workable solutions, both big (societal) & small (individual)...

I don’t mind admitting that I’m scared, but I feel that I just have to do something for my Granddaughter Rosie’s planet

 

[Lancpudn]

I follow the progress of EV's and the green transport side of things here. Europe is set for a seismic change in the next few years.

From our local Gov site.co.uk

"More than half of UK councils have committed to reducing carbon emissions by declaring a 'climate emergency'.
In the past eight months 205 of the UK’s 408 principal authorities – county, unitary, metropolitan, London boroughs, district – have made the move according to the Climate Emergency Network.

The network says it is one of the fastest growing environmental movements in recent history"


75% of local authorities throughout the country have also applied to the government to introduce ULEZ (ultra low emission zones) that will prohibit older diesel vehicles in city/town centres (that includes buses & taxis)
They're also bringing in charges for those older diesel & petrol vehicles on congested commute routes.

Example our local council wants to charge older vehicles a daily charge of £7.50 for cars, £25 for buses & £100 for HGV trucks

The bottom has fallen out of the car market here already & we're nowhere near the internal combustion engine ban.
Lots of car manufacturers are really struggling to get anywhere the new EU MPG figures that are due in 2021. every car will be PHEV or BEV or they are in line foe for €billions in fines.

Everyone of them have teamed up with other manufacturers to share development costs over here & China, Unless they've started a BEV program now they will be toast because they wont have a battery supply.

Ford have just signed contracts with British gas (they're a UK utility company) to install fast chargers in all their dealerships in Ireland & the UK, Ford haven't even got a electric car out yet.

They said they will have sixteen electric car models out by 2022.

Driving will certainly be different in Europe in the next few years.

I think higher ground will become expensive real estate in the next few decades.

 

[Digger]

I admire you both for the principled stand you are taking and especially wish your good lady every success in her endeavours to become a spokes person for us all.

However in saying that, Australia is a different kettle of fish when talking about electric vehicles. The tyranny of distance here makes existing technology unsuitable other than for urban and city driving. Even then it’s nothing to head off on a Friday night and drive 3 or 400 kilometres to go camping.
Are electric vehicles capable of towing a caravan or boat any distance I wonder and at what mileage? Feel free to tell me if technology is up to these requirements as I’m probably out of date.

Technology has some way to go to suit our distances.

 

[Juke Box]

Global warming is Globalism not science. Ignore these awful control freaks.
The Manson Family tried to use the environmental con to destroy America as well. Climate cons are not new.

 

[Stuart]

@Lancpudn: Really interesting backgrounder. Thanks for that Ian. Only 29 authorities in Oz have declared a Climate Emergency thus far.

@Digger: I believe that there is some very positive news to address those concerns. Let me confer with Mrs Eggs & come back to you.

@Juke Box: Can you please supply a link to a scientist who says global warming is not science.

@Otto99: Can you please supply a link to your 5-7 year forecast.

 

[Davis Sharp]

The science is not easy to understand. It uses complex statistics, but every original research publication is reviewed by other scientists. Science is a funny endeavor. Before you publish or publicize your findings, you have to make sure that you carefully analyze the data and that you consider the alternative hypotheses. If you don't your peers will rip you to shreds - often in public, at a conference.

An overwhelming majority of scientists concur on climate change. Unfortunately, the perception of science by the public is like politics and religion. People pick the parts that align with their beliefs and ignore the parts that don't.

 

[Otto99]

@Stuart, here’s one.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmc...on-years-harvard-scientist-says/#4aafcb9c963e

 

[BGood]

I think the most important an individual can do is reduce its imprint on the planet.

By reducing your consomation.
To stop buying stuff online would do great to reduce the zillion kilometers driven by all those delivery trucks.

By reusing what is already there.
My latest effort to help people get there was to organise a Repair Café at a local flea & farmer's market, where 5 people good with their hands got together with our tools around a few tables. For our first effort, we gave a second life to 22 items. 22 less items to eat the earth's ressources.

By recycling what can be recycled.
There's not much that goes in my garbage bin nowadays. We've been doing our own compost for 40 years. Neighbors though we were nuts. We pushed to have a glass only bin in town, so it can be totally recycled. We try real hard not to buy anything that is over packed. We bring our own net bags for the fruits and veggies at the grocery store, and of course our own grocery bags.

My wife is a botanist very much involve in conservation. We moved here 22 years ago and because of her ideas and efforts, there is now a reserve in our backyard that cover more than 70km². http://www.rnmv.ca/http://www.rnmv.ca/

This is the organisation she founded. http://www.corridorappalachien.ca/en/

So yes ... one person can do something. I believe in The Power of One.

 

[BGood]

We can't save the planet, because it doesn't need to be saved, it'll take care of itself.
What we need to save, is our collective asses.

 

[Davis Sharp]

Lots of houses in my neighborhood have solar panels. Mine is in yellow. Of course, there are trade-offs, mainly transportation. My wife and I have roughly equidistant commutes. She goes north 40 minutes and I go south.

 

[Otto99]

We can't save the planet, because it doesn't need to be saved, it'll take care of itself.
What we need to save, is our collective asses.

Reminds me of a George Carlin routine about how the planet will shake us off like a dog shakes off fleas.

 

[Raiyn]

Global warming is Globalism not science. Ignore these awful control freaks.

We only have the one globe, better an inclusive globalist working with people to solve problems than a nationalist ignoring them and flipping the bird to the rest of the world.

 

[Digger]

Even if you’re not convinced, you have to honour the threat!

 

[Lancpudn]

Even if you’re not convinced, you have to honour the threat!

Reminds me of this cartoon.

I'm subscribed to one of your countrymen regards solar/battery projects.

 

[Lancpudn]

Lots of houses in my neighborhood have solar panels. Mine is in yellow. Of course, there are trade-offs, mainly transportation. My wife and I have roughly equidistant commutes. She goes north 40 minutes and I go south.

View attachment 10557

Very nice indeed I was a bit peeved when our "Green grant" fell through at the last minute for solar panel installation
A lot of the social housing run by the local authorities here in the UK have to install solar panels on a certain percentage of their housing stock & I see lots have been done in my neck o the woods even though it rains more than the sun shines.

 

[Juke Box]

Google flies Prince Harry all over the world in a jet for climate change parties but we can't have a plastic straw in our Diet Coke from Mcdonalds at lunch.
Ignore these demons.

 

[Stuart]

Google flies Prince Harry all over the world in a jet for climate change parties but we can't have a plastic straw in our Diet Coke from Mcdonalds at lunch.
Ignore these demons.

Complex observations... but can you please, as previously requested, provide me with a link to a scientist who thinks global warming is not science... because this thread is specifically about the science & potential solutions to a Climate Emergency.

 

[Stuart]

@Davis Sharp: It certainly presents a challenge for scientists to present the facts in a way we can all understand. I’m very much from the ‘if you can measure it you can manage it’ school. I want to know how many days it is until we are totally screwed if we do nothing, & how many (insert corrective action here) we need to do to avoid that outcome. Unfortunately, the ‘personalities’ attached to many of the folk that appear to have the answers do not lend themselves to being the ‘teachers’ we need in this modern multi-media world.

I mentioned elsewhere that solar panels & battery storage technology are on the eco retrofit program for Chez H’omelette but, somewhat ironically, we have a bit of an issue there with some critically endangered Sydney High Forest Blue Gum that surround our home. We saw a great doco called ‘2040’ that demonstrated small scale solar installations being communally gridded, & absolutely invigorating some largely subsistence villages. The ability to ‘sell’ your excess power back into the grid is a more urban, but possibly less dynamic, example of that I suppose?

EV Transport is another target item, & I still owe @Digger a researched response in regard to that.

 

[Stuart]

@BGood: Fantastic stuff Jean, & more power to you & your good wife. Please keep posting your actions, even the little ones, here in the knowledge that they are already having an influence on the far side of, to borrow from @Otto99, ‘Carlin’s Dog’

We just got the official count back from last weekend’s community tree planting event. A little under 100 volunteers planted 1232 locally propagated trees in just a couple of hours.



BTW, I painted those signs, recycling Mrs Eggs inaugural climate focused election attempt signage. Yes, we absolutely do believe that one person can make a difference

 

[Stuart]

@Otto99: Thanks for the link, & this is what REALLY scares me

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmc...on-years-harvard-scientist-says/#118df87b963e