Indeed, a good point, Grey Badger. I suspect, however, that we will first have to experience such attacks before we finally take action. And even distributed energy production may be vulnerable to cyber-warfare. So we may be subject to attacks using differtent methods - as we try to adapt to one sort of attack, our opponents may switch to another type of attack.
On another thread, it was lamented that the U.S.A. is not doing big, civil engineering projects. Not like during the 1930s, what with dam projects, bridges, etc. This is just as well. As we learned with the world trade center, the largest of structures can become a big, fat, juicy target.
History of climate change re-written with release of Russian data
The new data has 2010 as the warmest year on record.
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.
-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism
It is not yet three months, but 2012 is well on a pace... It is not simply the freakishly-warm temperatures that have preceded the vernal equinox in the Midwest -- it is that even in southern Michigan we have hardly had a winter. It's as if we were in northern Mississippi. The only way in which I can be sure that I am not in Dixie is that I see no Confederate flags.Originally Posted by Odin
The chance for a really-nasty winter storm is rapidly disappearing Sure, I remember some of the biggest blizzards in April in these parts, when one side of a cold front has temperatures in the 70s and the other has temperatures in the 20s with a thunderstorm that turns into a cold rain and in turn a blizzard...
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
International competition at work.
China's monopoly on rare earths may soon be broken - environment - 21 March 2012 - New Scientist
http://www.newscientist.com/article/...rue&print=true
China's monopoly on rare earths may soon be broken
11:55 21 March 2012 by Michael Marshall
It's a rare fight. The US, Europe and Japan have lodged a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over China's export of rare earths – or lack of it.
China produces 95 per cent of the global supply of the 17 metals, which are used in technologies from cellphones to wind turbines, but it has set up quotas restricting exports.
Despite their name, rare earths can be mined on most continents, although the cost of extraction has been too high to be economical. China's quotas may have helped push up demand – and prices – enough to make extraction cost-effective.
Yet another study that chips away at the man caused global warming bunk. Of course you wont read about this American study in the Democrat media complex stories....the study shows that the Medieval Warm Period occurred worldwide not just in Europe as argued by those who support the global warming BS. It also shows that there also was a worldwide mini ice age.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...emissions.html
Last edited by Weave; 03-27-2012 at 12:27 PM.
The Daily Hate Mail??? LOL!
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.
-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism
Push fission, solar , then fusion technology
NIF Fires Record-Setting Laser Shot (photonics.com
http://www.photonics.com/Article.asp...eklyNewsletter
..."The record-breaking laser shot, made March 15, involved a shaped pulse of energy 23-billionths of a second long generating 411 trillion watts of peak power, 1000 times more than the entire US uses at any given moment. It surpassed a critical milestone toward achieving fusion ignition and capturing the power of the sun in a laboratory. "...
Timing...
It's nice to see progress in fusion, but commercial units at least using laser trigger seem way distant. Not relevant to this crisis, and perhaps not the following awakening...
This is interesting .
Undersea air bags store wind power
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/on...a-air-bag.html
..."Wind energy proponents have a problem. How can they supply a steady source of power to the grid, even when the wind doesn't blow? The answer may come from an unlikely source - inflatable balloons lashed to the seafloor. Researchers at the University of Nottingham in the UK are currently testing the Energy Bag, a large inflatable energy storage device submerged in water's off Scotland's Orkney Islands."...
climate alarmist admits "overstating" case
Good to see one of the alarmists has some integrity....
http://news.investors.com/article/60...ate-change.htm
"We dont know what the climate is doing"
"We thought we knew 20 years ago"
The myth is dying......
This guy is not a climatologist. His training is in medicine, though he has also invented some things. His is an interesting voice, but not representative of expert opinion. And yes, he backed-off his 2010 appraisal that, "Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while." That's severe in anyone's book.
BTW, he still believes that the climate is warming and CO2 is involved and likely causitive. Of course, you cling to the idea that it may be a myth. In fact, you wish to plan on it. If you're wrong (highly probable) and you get your way (not improbable), then the resulting climate shift may be devastating ... but only for your grandchildren, and their progeny. You'll get to live a wasteful life with impunity.
Marx: Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.
Lennon: You either get tired fighting for peace, or you die.
"Not as severe" does not mean "not at all".
The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" (or) even in concentration camps and labour camps. In those we see its final result. But it is conceived and ordered... in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by (those) who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters
A good program on climate change and energy is now on PBS:
http://www.pbs.org/programs/earth-the-operators-manual/
Earth the Operators Manual.
Weave, there is nothing more irresponsible than denying human/fossil-fuel-caused climate change today.
Nothing? How about proactive use of thermonuclear bombs for economic and political advantage?
You exaggerate.
Slightly.
You are misrepresenting Lovelock. He's saying it's going to suck, it's just not going to be the world-ending suck he originally thought (and an opinion I myself thought was BS).
To recommend thrift to the poor is both grotesque and insulting. It is like advising a man who is starving to eat less.
-Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man under Socialism
Most of us can't engage in that activity. Only a few national leaders can do that.
Ending an Ice Age
I've been keeping an eye on Real Climate for quite a while, just to keep track of what's going on in the science community. Their latest reviews a paper, Unlocking the secrets to ending an Ice Age, that explores various temperature proxies and looking closely at temperatures and CO2 concentrations and what lags what. It provides a bit of a glimpse into where climate science is, how there are lots of pieces to the puzzle. Many of them have been put together, but it's still a work in progress.
There is, as usual, a few paragraphs on the skeptics, on how if you are fighting the main line science you end up way off base, unable to integrate one's position with the cutting edge questions. It's like the evolution denialists trying to join a conversation about using DNA to trace what species evolved from what part of the evolutionary tree.
Anyway, just an odd glimpse into where the serious discussion is...
Last edited by B Butler; 05-02-2012 at 11:41 AM. Reason: Tweak wording
We will gradually convert to solar power. In the meantime, we need to push for US energy independence using all means necessary. It is a matter of national security and saving our economy.
Global Solar Power Capacity Set to Jump: Scientific Americanhttp://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...apacity-set-to..."The world's solar power generating capacity will grow by between 200 and 400 percent over the next five years, with Asia and other emerging markets overtaking leadership from Europe, a European industry association said on Monday.
Global installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity, which turns sunlight into power, is expected to have risen to between 207.9 gigawatts and 342.8 GW in 2016, depending on the level of political support, from 69.7 GW in 2011, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) said."...
Keep the natual gas flowing, build nuclear power plants , and develop solar technology so that the USA can become energy independent.
The End of Coal Burning in the U.S.: Scientific American
http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...ning-in-the-us
"The era of U.S. coal-fired electric power generation will effectively end as new federal regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from fossil plants take effect, a new analysis from Bloomberg Government concludes."...
Fusion might be an option for the future, but it's a ways off. Other nucs face too many dangers and roadblocks; they won't come on line quickly. Solar power plants can be built quicker, although some may also face environmental hurdles. A very small number of homes have solar panels now, and they are very cheap. Imagine what we could do if we had a reasonable government instead of the Tea Party.
What will people think if we get a flickering climate? Say, some years the weather conforms to the past, but alternates with years full of very wierd weather? Or perhaps an area will have some of the old seasons, but get funky inbetween periods? I get a sense that we will see multiple transitions: political, economic, social, ecological, and climate change.
Last edited by TimWalker; 05-15-2012 at 08:41 PM.
Arctic melt releasing ancient methane
After a pause of nearly a decade, methane release in the Arctic is up again.
BBC Arctic melt releasing ancient methane
Arctic warming releasing methane is one of the point of no return tripping points I'm concerned about.
Five cities battling floods, heat and storms
While at global and national levels organized efforts to decrease carbon emissions have been checked, at the city level those responsible for protecting their people from the changing climate have been taking some action. CNN reports on what some cities are doing.
