Climate change...

[Sky Pilot]

It's got me stuffed why we pay so much attention to this? The globe probably is warming and d e pending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future. So what? No country is ever going to close down its industry and put millions out of work. So they all just gather around and have conferences knowing they'll all be dead by the time the earth heats up, the fires come and the floods and the melting ice and the earthquakes and the volcanic dust. Blah, blah

[The Sleeping Giant]

Looks like we will be getting solar panels on our new place. Not too save the environment, but too SAVE MONEY. Get my drift.

[Jim05]

It's got me stuffed why we pay so much attention to this? The globe probably is warming and d e pending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future. So what? No country is ever going to close down its industry and put millions out of work. So they all just gather around and have conferences knowing they'll all be dead by the time the earth heats up, the fires come and the floods and the melting ice and the earthquakes and the volcanic dust. Blah, blah

We will all be dead in a couple of weeks anyway apparantly

[southee]

It's got me stuffed why we pay so much attention to this? The globe probably is warming and d e pending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future. So what? No country is ever going to close down its industry and put millions out of work. So they all just gather around and have conferences knowing they'll all be dead by the time the earth heats up, the fires come and the floods and the melting ice and the earthquakes and the volcanic dust. Blah, blah

We will all be dead in a couple of weeks anyway apparantly

Will there be a tax on that ???

[Sky Pilot]

It's got me stuffed why we pay so much attention to this? The globe probably is warming and d e pending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future. So what? No country is ever going to close down its industry and put millions out of work. So they all just gather around and have conferences knowing they'll all be dead by the time the earth heats up, the fires come and the floods and the melting ice and the earthquakes and the volcanic dust. Blah, blah

We will all be dead in a couple of weeks anyway apparantly

Thanks for that tip Jim. The rego is due on my ute so I'll just give it a miss and spend the money on seafood and Moët Chandon

[Jim05]

It's got me stuffed why we pay so much attention to this? The globe probably is warming and d e pending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future. So what? No country is ever going to close down its industry and put millions out of work. So they all just gather around and have conferences knowing they'll all be dead by the time the earth heats up, the fires come and the floods and the melting ice and the earthquakes and the volcanic dust. Blah, blah

We will all be dead in a couple of weeks anyway apparantly

Thanks for that tip Jim. The rego is due on my ute so I'll just give it a miss and spend the money on seafood and Moët Chandon

Just gotta hope the Mayans are a month or two out

[fish]

The earth may have cooled just slightly during the past year but the World Meteorological Organization says there's no doubt that the globe is warming and it's man-made.

Huh?

The average global temperature rises and falls from year to year but the overall trend is warming.

This wikipedia page has the details including this graphic:

[Psyber]

Yes, that graphic dating from the end of the Little Ice Age appears again.

However, although that graph is meaningless because of its starting point, I do agree there is a human contribution aggravating the current natural warm peak and we should clean up our CO2 output AND other pollution...

Laser stimulated Thorium heat generation - clean and without actual fission required to scare the technophobes.

[MakeMyDay]

Yes, that graphic dating from the end of the Little Ice Age appears again.

However, although that graph is meaningless because of its starting point, I do agree there is a human contribution aggravating the current natural warm peak and we should clean up our CO2 output AND other pollution...

Laser stimulated Thorium heat generation - clean and without actual fission required to scare the technophobes.

What Ther?? Please explain?

[Psyber]

Yes, that graphic dating from the end of the Little Ice Age appears again.

However, although that graph is meaningless because of its starting point, I do agree there is a human contribution aggravating the current natural warm peak and we should clean up our CO2 output AND other pollution...

Laser stimulated Thorium heat generation - clean and without actual fission required to scare the technophobes.

What Ther?? Please explain?

A US company has come up with the idea of using laser stimulation of Thorium to generate heat and run a steam turbine to provide electric power. Their idea is to use it to run a car that will never need re-fuelling.
However it is applicable for generating heat to run steam turbines in any situation.

Basically Thorium has a lower level of radioactivity than Uranium, and you could carry it in your pocket wrapped in Alfoil. So, while it can be used, most efficiently, to run a fission plant that cannot melt down and has a short half-life in the waste, it can be used without needing to get to the fission point and thus you can avoid worrying those uninformed hysterics who fear fission, even safe fission.

The laser stimulates the nuclear activity at a sub-fission level and that generates heat. Heat generates steam and steam powers the turbine for the generator - voila electricity without pollution or fear. You gradually use up the Thorium.

Turn of the laser and the activity stops and your Thorium cools down.

Thorium car concept: http://wardsauto.com/ar/thorium_power_car_110811
Thorium as nuclear fuel: http://www.ensec.org/index.php?option=c ... Itemid=342

[The Sleeping Giant]

Sounds complicated and expensive. Solar on the other hand.

[Psyber]

Sounds complicated and expensive. Solar on the other hand.

These plants could totally replace coal fired, or oil and gas fired power stations, and they work in the dark, or when there is cloud cover, or when neighbours trees shade your roof...

They can also be built in modular fashion with extra modules added as output demand requires it.
In theory each 8 gm Thorium unit can be contained in a 150mm x 75mm x 75mm stainless steel sealed module.

Also, because they are not big and not polluting, they can be local.
In time this will get rid of the need for high tension transmission lines all over the country, which is one of the big current expenses.

[fish]

...that graph is meaningless because of its starting point...

Not so - it shows perfectly the fact that the global average temperature can rise and fall from year to year but that the overall trend is warming (which some people still deny).

[Squids]

I don't like Winter anyway so I welcome global warming.

[fish]

The globe probably is warming and depending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future.

Partly true - the worst impacts of climate change are yet to come but some impacts are being felt already, as the people affected by "superstorm" Sandy are well aware. Over and above the 110 or more deaths, this article says that Sandy is on track to be the third most costly storm in US history, after Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Andrew in 1992.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for $60.4 billion in emergency funds to repair devastation from superstorm Sandy.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie and New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the package would enable their states to "recover, repair, and rebuild better and stronger than before."

Sandy whipped up hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that killed more than 110 people in late October.

More than 305,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, along with 265,000 businesses in New York state alone.

[Psyber]

While fish and I don't agree on the meaningfulness of a rising temperature chart that starts in the late 19th century when nature's fridge was turned down by the natural solar cycles - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles - I do agree with him here: "the worst impacts of climate change are yet to come but some impacts are being felt already, as the people affected by "superstorm" Sandy are well aware"

Yes, It is going to get worse whether the main drive is the natural cycle or human activity - I just think we are kidding ourselves if we rely on the cheerful fantasy that we can eventually curtail it if we cut down our contribution to it substantially.

The longer term charts of global climate change suggest our current changes are trivial compared with the major fluctuations of the more distant past.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_cycle

[The Sleeping Giant]

The globe probably is warming and depending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future.

Partly true - the worst impacts of climate change are yet to come but some impacts are being felt already, as the people affected by "superstorm" Sandy are well aware. Over and above the 110 or more deaths, [url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-08/obama-asks-for-60b-sandy-recovery-package/4416558]this article[/url] says that Sandy is on track to be the third most costly storm in US history, after Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Andrew in 1992.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for $60.4 billion in emergency funds to repair devastation from superstorm Sandy.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie and New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the package would enable their states to "recover, repair, and rebuild better and stronger than before."

Sandy whipped up hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that killed more than 110 people in late October.

More than 305,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, along with 265,000 businesses in New York state alone.

Storms happen. Always have always will. You can't blame every storm on global warming. Some people might actually start to find it offensive that you use natural disasters to further your cause.

Cyclone season has started im the top end. If a cyclone wipes out a town, will that be global warmings fault?

[therisingblues]

The globe probably is warming and depending on who you talk to, it spells catastrophie some time in the future.

Partly true - the worst impacts of climate change are yet to come but some impacts are being felt already, as the people affected by "superstorm" Sandy are well aware. Over and above the 110 or more deaths, [url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-12-08/obama-asks-for-60b-sandy-recovery-package/4416558]this article[/url] says that Sandy is on track to be the third most costly storm in US history, after Hurricanes Katrina in 2005 and Andrew in 1992.

President Barack Obama has asked Congress for $60.4 billion in emergency funds to repair devastation from superstorm Sandy.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie and New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the package would enable their states to "recover, repair, and rebuild better and stronger than before."

Sandy whipped up hurricane-force winds and a storm surge that killed more than 110 people in late October.

More than 305,000 homes were damaged or destroyed, along with 265,000 businesses in New York state alone.

Storms happen. Always have always will. You can't blame every storm on global warming. Some people might actually start to find it offensive that you use natural disasters to further your cause.

Cyclone season has started im the top end. If a cyclone wipes out a town, will that be global warmings fault?

Do you think it's fair to say that cyclones only occur in hot humid regions?
Doesn't it also follow that the hotter the weather in such regions the more severe the storm....
Figure it out.

[Psyber]

There seems to have been a trend noticeable since the late 1970s of the tropical weather expanding further north and south from the equatorial regions, and more recently of polar winds and currents expanding away from the poles. The result appears to be greater admixture and a more intense interaction between the warm and cool air currents.

[Jim05]

World's ending in 12 days so not too concerned about climate change