Global Warning/Climate Change

[nett]

I'm not saying nuclear doesn't work at all, but it cannot replace our currently reliable on oil.

It could easily and cheaply supply all our needs if they would reduce regulation and build more plants. They require a very small footprint and produce on demand energy so there is no need for massive energy storage that wind and solar require.

Thorium plants can be safely placed right next to population centers because of how safe they are. They can be built in one to two years and within 10 years we would be producing 50%+ easily from nuclear.

I don't think that's actually the case. A quick napkin calculation shows that we would need about 15k nuclear plants to fulfill our 2011 energy appetite, it's gone up since then.

Because of embrittlement, at those counts, a reactor would need to be decommissioned every day, which means a new one would need to come online every day. New reactors need a significant amount of rare earth metals, and we would run into the same problems all over again.

[Robert]

Nuclear power is "on demand" in the sense that it doesn't need to wait for the sun to shine or the wind to blow, but it's not a good option all on its own for variable power needs. Nuclear reactors start up and shut down slowly, so while they are an excellent source of "base power" they need to be supplemented with something like hydro or gas fired power that can react quickly when more, or less, power is needed in the grid.

They react fairly fast. It is steam that actually turns the turbines, so excess steam is vented when not needed, and used as needed, so they can react fairly fast on demand.

[Ken]

Nuclear power is "on demand" in the sense that it doesn't need to wait for the sun to shine or the wind to blow, but it's not a good option all on its own for variable power needs. Nuclear reactors start up and shut down slowly, so while they are an excellent source of "base power" they need to be supplemented with something like hydro or gas fired power that can react quickly when more, or less, power is needed in the grid.

They react fairly fast. It is steam that actually turns the turbines, so excess steam is vented when not needed, and used as needed, so they can react fairly fast on demand.

There are a lot of different types of nuclear reactors, but yes, all of them work just like coal or gas fired plants. They all just heat water and use steam to drive turbines as the means of generating electricity.

[temporal1]

Wild fire season came early this year due to dry conditions and high winds. We had four prairie fires in one day near where I work. Fortunately, only a couple of houses were lost.

Right now, northern New Mexico has major fires.

Recently, there was satellite imagery released showing the fires in New Mexico, while at the same time, a dust storm crosses from Colorado into Oklahoma. My house was in that dust storm.

https://

cool, wet, dreary, delayed planting in the Midwest.
but “the narrative” is: no matter the weather, it’s global warning.

my older sibs taught me how that math works.

[Ken]

Wild fire season came early this year due to dry conditions and high winds. We had four prairie fires in one day near where I work. Fortunately, only a couple of houses were lost.

Right now, northern New Mexico has major fires.

Recently, there was satellite imagery released showing the fires in New Mexico, while at the same time, a dust storm crosses from Colorado into Oklahoma. My house was in that dust storm.

https://

cool, wet, dreary, delayed planting in the Midwest.
but “the narrative” is: no matter the weather, it’s global warning.

my older sibs taught me how that math works.

You do realize there is a difference between climate and weather don't you?

[temporal1]

but “the narrative” is: no matter the weather, it’s global warning.

my intended emphasis was on Robert’s subject line word, “warning.”

[Szdfan]

Wild fire season came early this year due to dry conditions and high winds. We had four prairie fires in one day near where I work. Fortunately, only a couple of houses were lost.

Right now, northern New Mexico has major fires.

Recently, there was satellite imagery released showing the fires in New Mexico, while at the same time, a dust storm crosses from Colorado into Oklahoma. My house was in that dust storm.

https://

cool, wet, dreary, delayed planting in the Midwest.
but “the narrative” is: no matter the weather, it’s global warning.

my older sibs taught me how that math works.

So we generally have hot summers in July and August of 100+ degree weather. My wife says that when she was a kid, things would cool down by September. We’re now having 100+ degree days into October.

Something is happening and we are seeing the effects of dramatic changes in weather. There is a significant increase in forest fires in the West, in both frequency and severity.

Northern New Mexico is currently experiencing some of its worst fires on record.

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/image ... new-mexico

Early season wildfires continued to rage in the first week of May 2022 in northern New Mexico. The blazes have been driven by high winds, low humidity, and exceptionally dry tinder—grass, brush, and timber—that are providing ample fuel for burning. The fires have destroyed hundreds of structures and prompted the evacuation of thousands of homes. On May 3, 2022, seven large fires were still burning across the state.

As of May 3, the Calf Canyon-Hermits Peak complex had burned more than 145,000 acres northwest of the historic town of town of Las Vegas, New Mexico; the fire was 20 percent contained. The Hermits Peak fire started as a prescribed burn in part of the Santa Fe National Forest on April 6, but erratic, gusty winds blew it out of control.

The Cerro Pelado fire burning southwest of Los Alamos started on April 22 and quickly spread across 5,000 acres, prompting evacuations of some nearby communities. As of May 3, the fire had burned more than 25,000 acres and was 10 percent contained. Incident commanders predicted extreme fire behavior to continue as high winds pushed the fire into extremely dry fuels to the northeast and southeast. As of May 2, the fire was burning about 10 kilometers (6 miles) southwest of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Nearby Valles Caldera National Preserve and Bandelier National Monument were closed until further notice.

About 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Las Vegas, the 60,000-acre Cooks Peak fire, which started on April 17, was 72 percent contained on May 3.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor on April 26, 2022, approximately 99 percent of the state was experiencing drought, with 83 percent facing extreme to exceptional dryness. New Mexico has had 211 fires so far this year, burning a total of 230,000 acres. In all of 2021, 672 fires burned nearly 124,000 acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

I can do math too.

[temporal1]

every year in my memory, and from what i’ve read, the world has major imbalances of drought+flooding, with no final answers as to how to get surplus water to dry areas. i appreciate RZehr’s water reports from Oregon.

it’s very sad (for me) to be experiencing too much rain, while reading of others experiencing drought+wildfires.
every year of my life.

i don’t like to recall the harsh winters of my childhood, and corresponding scary drama about the coming ICE AGE.
but, i admit, with each approaching winter, i wonder how bad it will be. i’m not in north Canada, but i’ve experienced bad winters, with both large snowfalls and sustained 20+below temps. women+girls mostly braving this is knee-length dresses+skirts. brrrr.

between the 70’s fear mongering and the present, coincidentally opposite, the present is not nearly as bad. (my perspective)

our daughter was born in 1977. i.e., we were adults.
today, there are claims Ice Age fears didn’t happen. i assure you, they did. with comparable push to today’s opposite push.

the internet helps fear mongering, but fear mongering is in no way solely reliant on the internet.


This type of image is now discredited. ^^^
i promise you, if it’s not exact in every way, it’s representative, not exaggerated.

i was there, an adult, married with an infant, and terrified of reports of the coming Ice Age. Not fun.

“Fooled me once, shame on you” ..

i strongly agree with being good stewards of the earth. it’s scriptural, we were raised that way, i believe my father/parents were ahead of their time and forward-thinking - without benefit of college degrees.

i don’t trust when the elite fight over billions+trillions. i don’t find them trustworthy. i find them greedy-as-sin.
the temptations are great - in their shoes, i might not do 1 bit better. i’m glad not to be there.

having said that, i don’t have hope there’s any way to come between the profiteers+the public treasury.
they cannot resist the call of the Sirens.

[nett]

Something is happening and we are seeing the effects of dramatic changes in weather. There is a significant increase in forest fires in the West, in both frequency and severity.

I agree. However, I think the current crop of climate scientists are corporate puppets who are generating hysteria, and intentionally pushing policies that have no hope of making any difference and pad corporate balance sheets (see carbon credits).

It is obviously a corporate plot to get everyone panicking about carbon (which we can't do anything about), instead of pollution, pesticides, deforestation, and the root problem, exponential increase in energy consumption.

What we should be talking about, is how we revert to a pre-industrial society, since that's the only thing that would actually stop the active harm.

[temporal1]

I agree. However, I think the current crop of climate scientists are corporate puppets who are generating hysteria, and intentionally pushing policies that have no hope of making any difference and pad corporate balance sheets (see carbon credits).

It is obviously a corporate plot to get everyone panicking about carbon (which we can't do anything about), instead of pollution, pesticides, deforestation, and the root problem, exponential increase in energy consumption.

What we should be talking about, is how we revert to a pre-industrial society,
since that's the only thing that would actually stop the active harm.

Speaking of which, China, India, Africa, SA, have no interest in pre-industrial life.
Elephants in the living room.

Tiny U.S., even U.S.+W Europe .. ?? “More dollars than sense.”