Mixer 85

Yeah the CCDs Little Ice-Age predictions turned out to be as accurate as the alarmist climate models

Whilst the wind is blowing….good. During periods of calm…very bad. Simply look at your most recent electricity bill and ask yourself what benefit have you seen from the billions of investment in wind farms and all the government subsidies that make them commercially viable? It’s been calculated that in order to store enough energy to see the UK through a 10 day calm period in winter, an investment of 3 trillion in battery storage is necessary, just roughly 18 months GDP. This is also an ideal world scenario where there are no losses in energy between turbines and batteries and no leakage over time. It’s also based on current demand which is likely a fraction of a net zero world where every home, business, social environment is heated using heat pumps, every vehicle is electric, every meal is cooked on electric hob, all smelting & foundries use electric arc. One might argue this is achievable for a wealthy and advanced nation like the UK but it’s only when you consider this on a global scale that you realise how farcical this net zero persuit really is. Do the maths and work out how much this will cost each and every individual. Will it even work? Will we be enduring rolling blackouts like China are currently? All this whilst the globes worst co2 producers ie India/China enjoy cheap energy and render our efforts moot. Garden path springs to mind. On the storage of renewable electricity - Net Zero Watch WWW.NETZEROWATCH.COM (1) On a bad winter day, at present, we would need 40 GW*; this equates to about 1 TWh/day*. This estimate is based on a 30 GW average daily demand

It’s most likely a case of correlation being dressed up as causation. With a system as complex as climate it’s probably not hard to find correlations. I’m sure if you try hard enough you’ll find a correlation between Boris Johnson’s flatulence frequency and Arctic sea ice. The ‘World Weather Attribution Initiative’ were set up to quickly draw links between extreme global weather events and climate change. Part of their goal is to attribute such events in a timely fashion so as to get reports to the media whilst these events are fresh on people’s minds.

I wouldn’t be too dependent on that constant gale…..LOL

Perhaps it’s a good thing if one hasn’t subscribed to the Armageddon narrative. Perhaps it’s a good thing if one is hoping for the mainstream science to be proven wrong. Most importantly, it’s much easier to see it as a good thing if it’s seen for what it actually is rather than a mere ‘cold spell’. A whole continent largely below average for the past 6 months. Coldest September ever recorded and a ‘mere’ 0.6 degrees away from a lowest temperature ever recorded. How on earth can this be construed as a‘cold spell’? An Assessment of ERA5 Reanalysis for Antarctic Near-Surface Air Temperature WWW.MDPI.COM The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) released its latest reanalysis dataset named ERA5 in 2017. To assess the performance of ERA5 in... This reports 40yrs of good things, or a 40yr ‘cold spell’ depending on your political orientation.

To be fair though we should take note of what’s happening in Antarctica and be grateful of what is no doubt a good thing. 6 months of anomalous cold spread over an entire continent is by no means localised weather variation (not suggesting you implied that).

Agreed, and adding to that, much of what we eat travels from all over the world. Food miles are a major issue and unfortunately much of what’s travelling around the globe is utter rubbish. Shelves and shelves of junk food lining our supermarkets. The health implications of this are monumental. Do you think many of the sick or obese members of our society give a damn about climate change? Unlikely, these unfortunates have enough to worry about. Yet when you compare the costs of healthy wholesome foods against processed junk food there’s a huge disparity. Taking more money away from the lower/middle classes is going to exacerbate the health issue, funnel more money towards junk food suppliers, so on so on. Like I said before, an instant rewind back 150yrs would solve a lot of problems but given our current and expanding population it will likely cause a lot more.

Apologies mods for hijacking this thread and running way off topic. Remove above post if necessary. Although given that we’re past 2021 melt season, perhaps you won’t mind a bit of friendly/spirited debate.

Okay, let’s put the debate aside for a moment and assume we are headed for a climate disaster. How is the approach we’re taking in any way going to help us avoid such a disaster. We are too dependent on fossil fuels. We are too dependent on our modern comforts. We are investing trillions globally that are not going to do diddley squat in the grand scheme of things. Our governments are signing up to net zero agreements that can not and will not be achieved without putting us back 150yrs. Taxpayer money is being funnelled towards this insurmountable task, meanwhile we are being encouraged to consume consume consume. Buy buy buy the cheap consumable products coming from countries like China who produce the vast majority of greenhouse gases, countries that have no intention in reducing their emissions. I live in a country that releases .01% of global emissions yet I’m paying through the nose for energy. We’ve a health service that’s in shambles. We have energy hungry data centers going up at a rate equivalent to 140,000 homes per year over the past 5yrs coming onto our grid. These data centers contribute nothing to our economy in terms of employment, yet the Irish tax payer is fronting the costs in terms of a failing energy infrastructure. Meanwhile our government commit to legally binding emissions targets that won’t be reached, funnel billions into renewables that won’t suffice and then tell us we have to cough up our carbon taxes, buy electric cars that we can’t afford and heat our homes with unicorn farts because oil and coal will soon be a thing of the past. Their means to convince us is the impending disaster that’s going to arrive in 2050. Forgive me for being so cynical but if such a disaster is imminent, wouldn’t you think the policys would be a little more meaningful as opposed to the usual squeeze of the middle and lower class. Setting science aside it’s very difficult to support and engage with a political system that’s so flawed. I’m all for a cleaner, greener environment but we are by no means moving in the right direction and likely going to strangle our economies in our virtuous persuits. I for now will remain a sceptic. I don’t believe the science is settled. Scientists are still far away from fully understanding our climate which is so vast, diverse and under constant change. As long as there’s debate and scepticism there will be a persuit for better understanding and knowledge. It’s a healthy aspect of science and deserves it’s due course.

First off the example I gave is human psychology and not religious. It may be adopted through religious beliefs but one mustn’t confuse one over the other. Secondly “people like me” is a gross categorisation of someone you don’t know. I am a conservationist at heart. I believe strongly in protecting our planet and it’s environment. I do not believe the poor and vulnerable should suffer. I believe poorer nations should be given access to cheap reliable energy derived from fossil fuels, just as we had. There is an attempt to deny this based on the so called irrefutable science. We are endlessly bombarded with these terrifying ‘predictions’ that are clearly tailored to instill fear into our young. Regardless of who’s right or wrong in this long running debate what bothers me the most is that science has been politicised. Any scientists who engage in the debate quickly find themselves ‘persona non grata’. Any studies that dispute the narrative are kept out of sight. Lies and false claims are being trumpeted constantly. I believe in the human pursuit of truth and understanding in all fields of study and sadly in the case of climate science this no longer applies. It’s turned into irate school girls berating our leaders in front of the world. Quite sad really.

You might want to read up on ‘apocalypticism’. It’s a classic mental condition most humans suffer from. It’s believing that the end is nigh, be it from religious apocalypse to environmental collapse. It quite easily explains the endless and unsupported doomsday prophecies touted by alarmists and many media outlets.

This has me very excited as I’m currently living and working in the northern Netherlands. I peed a little when I awoke this morning to see this....16hrs of...

Well this is the most surreal Paddy’s Day I’ve ever witnessed. I live in a small town in the Midlands (Ireland). I just drove into town and it was deserted, almost everything closed, no cars or people. Went to a service station and they had oil drums stacked in front of the counter so as to maintain distance. Very very strange and eerie indeed as usually there’s loads of hustle and bustle around and on this day in particular you’d have everyone in town for the parade and pubs would be overflowing.

Apologies if this has being highlighted already but second wave of the Spanish Flu is believed to have been caused by a much deadlier mutation of the first strain, spread widely by soldiers returning home from war, so, seems rather pointless to build herd immunity if a second wave scenario similar to Spanish Flu is expected. Surely trying to stop this thing in its tracks is the best solution. No doubt after it’s all under control there will still be localised outbreaks but these can be managed as they emerge. I’m sure at that stage there’ll be majority immunity anyway or perhaps even a vaccine.

There’s no doubt whatsoever that the article is an attempt to peddle the doomsday prophecy. One doesn’t have to scroll very far to even find the word doomsday. In addition to this you get a nice pic of terrified penguins running around wondering where all the ice has gone. That’s just my opinion on it and to each their own. .....and thanks to @Midlands Ice Age for your regular updates, your posts are incredibly informative and well put together.

Fantastic post as always Matt although it’s worth pointing out that high intensity weight and cardio training is incredibly taxing on our bodies and immune systems and for those not used to such training it can cause a weakening of the immune system. Sorry if off topic but just thought it’s worth pointing this out in case some rush to the gym and start slamming metal in the hope of strengthening their defences. ?? Key point is to not go too hard when starting off. Generally hitting the gym hard wouldn’t be an issue but right now it’s in our interests to maintain our immune system.

Count yourselves lucky in the UK that government is disclosing outbreak locations. Here in Ireland we’re being totally kept in the dark with “east of the country” and “west of the country” Personally I’d like to know at least roughly, what towns/areas are affected. It might help somewhat with avoidance/containment but also adopting the mindset that it’s potentially all around and taking appropriate action with regards to hygiene is probably wisest.

Saturday certainly not without interest going by Met Eireann report on Storm Jorge....orange warning already in place for many western parts and a mention of winds possibly exceeding 130km...that would merit a red warning. Mention of the S word too. Mmmm 130km winds and heavy snow....

A wee town called Straubenhardt on the edge of the Black Forest....an hour from Stuttgart. Seeing a grand German lass from here so travel over and back quite often. It’s a beautiful area. Looking forward to a nice winter wonderland walk in the woods in the morning Snow is shown to continue until 4am so hopefully will see some accumulation.

Finally getting my snow fix....just had to travel to Germany for it

Took a spin up the local hill earlier and it was near whiteout conditions and starting to settle. Still sleet imby unfortunately. I’ll likely be up and down the hill like a yo-yo trying to get my fix FullSizeRender.mov

Temperature dropped from 5* down to 1* during that shower. Hopefully we can keep the sun tucked away and maintain the low temps.

Heavy shower of rain, sleet and wet snow with fierce gusty winds in Navan. Showers seem to be packing a punch so will be very interesting if they maintain intensity later today when I hope they’ll be more of the fluffy variety