Canada 50C/120F

[Jacob]

".........If we are looking to apportion blame, it is those who deliberately peddled doubt that should be first in line......"
https://www.theguardian.com/science...rnings-the-signs-that-were-missed-and-ignored

 

[D_W]

convenient to ignore the gloom and doom in the 1970s about uncontrolled cooling. You're pretty good at selecting whatever slice you want to believe, Jacob.

 

[alanpo68]

The speculation of agricultural droughts is fantasy, but it does seem to come often (it's a fun fear for everyone "what if we starve!!!!!!!!!"). What's more likely is yield per acre will continue to increase. Corn yield per acre at the turn of the century was about 50. 120 years later, it's 4 times as high, but on irrigated land, even higher. I think in England, you may not have seen pivots, but they're common here. How far can they be extended? I don't know, but if there was value in it, the water could be pumped quite a distance from waterways.

If the value of grain crops go up because we're using them more directly, there will be more irrigation to go along with it. The market for corn and the availability of cheap energy has converted a lot of US marginal acres to productive acres. It seems dopey to me in the US as we heavily subsidize corn production and then require it to be used as a blend in fuel (it's a political buyoff) - and that's coming from someone whose family owned a farm until about 14 months ago. It was good for us, I guess - not great for everyone (we were landowners, so the good to us part came in absurd rent value for land).

That may be the case in the USA but agricultural droughts aren't a fantasy in other parts of the World. A pretty good example is the Australian droughts. Or how about vast areas of Africa.

Your post sums up capitalism. Millions of people dying of hunger and the USA is burning food for fuel. Then you talk about if the price goes up then there will be more irrigation. Amazing that money will be found to enable farmers to water crops whilst ridiculous numbers of people across the globe don't even have access to clean drinking water.

 

[Jacob]

convenient to ignore the gloom and doom in the 1970s about uncontrolled cooling. You're pretty good at selecting whatever slice you want to believe, Jacob.

The term is "climate change".
Global "cooling" was a theory back then, I remember reading about it in the Scientific American - I selected the magazine, not the theory.
The theory was that global warming would melt the poles and take colder water and air further towards the equator - as it is doing now with the gulf stream waters. It was thought that snowfall further south would increase the "albedo" effect reflecting solar heat back into space and thereby regulating the climate. In other words; inconvenient but ultimately regulating or buffering global warming.
Sadly this hasn't happened. I don't select the theories. Half of it was right - the gulf stream will cease to have a warming effect on N Atlantic hence global warming will bring about localised cooling as far as we know, but insignificant in terms of global warming overall.
Don't worry about it if you can't understand it.
If you are doubtful about climate change maybe you haven't heard of the heat wave and fires going on in the west of N America?

 

[D_W]

Trust me, we have no market for the corn. If there was a market for it, we'd sell it. That's part of the struggle here - we grow more food than the rest of the world wants, and you're confusing food supply problems with political problems. The reason you can't solve those issues in sub saharan africa, etc, is political. You can take the food there, but it won't get to the people in country due to corruption.

The point of ethanol isn't to burn food. It's to burn the grain that nobody wants for food. Nobody really wants the ethanol, either.

 

[dannyr]

that was last summer, which was warm but not heatwave here in the England -- 2022 we have had one heatwave - hereabouts (South Yorks) it smashed records of several hundred years, and a few days later - now - another of longer duration

central northern Europe the same - records broken all over France (which also has a multi-century history of accurate record-keeping)

and drought

and I hear it's been a bit warm and dry in USA and China -

again the question to the climate-change doubters -- all just 'situation normal' ?

so let's see how the next few years go -- I'm really not optimistic

 

[woodieallen]

that was last summer, which was warm but not heatwave here in the England -- 2022 we have had one heatwave - hereabouts (South Yorks) it smashed records of several hundred years, and a few days later - now - another of longer duration

central northern Europe the same - records broken all over France (which also has a multi-century history of accurate record-keeping)

and drought

and I hear it's been a bit warm and dry in USA and China -

again the question to the climate-change doubters -- all just 'situation normal' ?

so let's see how the next few years go -- I'm really not optimistic

We've left it too late. Not a snowballs' that it won't happen. Christ...just look at what's happening elsewhere? Energy prices. Inflation. A lump of slime running Russia and intent on screwing up the whole world to massage his self-importance.

 

[D_W]

We've left it too late. Not a snowballs' that it won't happen. Christ...just look at what's happening elsewhere? Energy prices. Inflation. A lump of slime running Russia and intent on screwing up the whole world to massage his self-importance.

yet it's really never been a better time to be alive vs. now. We have it easier than ever and most of the hand wringing has to do with not wanting to shift efforts 10% on a personal basis. Entitlement.

Not that it makes Putin acceptable, but there's no guarantee you won't have some dictators trying to create a legacy. Xi appears to be gearing up closing off his citizens and posturing.

There is a fundamental problem with energy prices, though, but I suppose it assures supply. That is, when there are times of trouble even if there isn't much change in supply, investors flow to energy as a hedge against other appreciating investments. The price is driven up immediately and some fraction of them inevitably lose their shirts later if they are investing as anything other than a hedge - as in speculating like a bitcoiner buying $65k coins.

As for drought and ag, we'd love it in the US if someone would buy all of the excess food stock that we make, even if just to feed livestock. Anyone starving in the world at this point is a matter of political problems and not lack of food supply.

 

[Spectric]

Half of it was right - the gulf stream will cease to have a warming effect on N Atlantic hence global warming will bring about localised cooling as far as we know, but insignificant in terms of global warming overall.

Not good for those in west Scotland, places like the gardens at castle kennedy near Stranraer which enjoy the warming from the gulf stream, without that the temperatures would more closely match that of Canada.

I cannot believe that anyone would be questioning climate change now, the evidence is there and no mater how much we try and hide or blame something else for this mess the blame lies firmly with the human race but I can see why some people are not worried because there is no point in worrying about anything that you cannot control and we are incapable of addressing this extinction event but more than happy to talk about it like many did at COP26.