Let it snow,let it snow let it snow!

[everso]

But it seems obvious to me that we should be trying to do something.

The first thing, which IMO would be a good idea, would be for the people in these areas to limit the size of their families, but that's not going to happen. So instead the rest of us have to change what we do in the hope that by walking instead of driving, or showering instead of bathing, or recycling our tin cans, will save vast areas from going under water. I don't deny that climates are changing, I just challenge the view that we can do much about it.

And I can't quite get my head round the idea that the science trusted by all civilised Governments and international institutions is somehow wrong

Not all scientists are in agreement, and I just worry that governments (who are not experts) have all jumped on the same bandwagon.

[jean]

Carbon trading is a seriously bad idea, of course.

But if, as the deniers insist, AGW/Climate Change was never anything other that a scam promulgated by governments to give themselves an excuse for devising new sorts of tax, how is it that they resisted it for so long?

[Weyland]

Jan 6, 2010 13:35:49 GMT everso said:

By the way, isn't the East of England slowly sinking into the sea? Isn't that anything to do with global warming or is it just movement of tectonic plates? I'm not panicking but I'd just like to know.

O-Level geography said it was to do with the last Ice Age, when the north was covered with ice, causing the plate to tilt down northwards.

With the weight of ice now gone, the plate is tilting slowly back to equilibrium, so the south is going down into the sea. I used to think it was just natural justice, but that was very, very bad of me.

[everso]

O-Level geography said it was to do with the last Ice Age, when the north was covered with ice, causing the plate to tilt down northwards

Ah, but is that still what they think? You see, this is the trouble. One lot of scientists tell us in one particular decade that such and such happened 50 million years ago and it's true, yes it really really is. Then a decade later some more scientists tell us what fools we were to ever believe that old chestnut and, lo, new discoveries confirm that so and so is true, it really really is.

Bah! As my friend Moto would say "Bollox"

I used to think it was just natural justice, but that was very, very bad of me.

Yes, it was. You're very naughty to think that. Say four Hail Marys.

[Weyland]

The way I see it, no matter what the cause we should be making the limited supply of fossil fuels last as long as possible, even if only to make plastics out of. Or run the pumps and airco until we have nuclear fusion working. Wind turbines can only scratch the surface of our power requirements. Only hydro, nuclear fission, coal, oil, and gas together can provide enough electricity with our present use of it. We need to use less.

I actually believe that this episode of global warming is man-made, but it's too late to stop it now. We're past the point of no return. We should be looking for inhabitable planets and developing the means to get there (also controlled fusion?).

But we're decades too late for that as well, just as Britain is with nuclear fission power stations. We'll be burning coal for a long time yet. Drax power station alone generates something like 7% of UK requirements. Even existing nuclear stations don't come close.

[Weyland]

Jan 6, 2010 14:02:16 GMT everso said:

Ah, but is that still what they think? You see, this is the trouble. One lot of scientists tell us in one particular decade that such and such happened 50 million years ago and it's true, yes it really really is. Then a decade later some more scientists tell us what fools we were to ever believe that old chestnut and, lo, new discoveries confirm that so and so is true, it really really is.

How the Hull would I know? I'm just reporting what I learned some time in 1961 or so. (Got an A, too.) But I don't think it's natural justice, otherwise Sunderland would be underwater by now.

Maybe Moto is right. Wouldn't be the first time.

[trubble]

Maybe Moto is right. Wouldn't be the first time.

You have an excellent memory, Weyland. I'd completely forgotten about that other time. Mea Culpa, moto.