jethro

I've got time on my hands over the hols, was trawling around the net checking out property prices in Canada - plan on moving out there soon; I found the story below. Apparently it happened a while ago but has only just been released. Any thoughts? http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/st...498&k=55306

My thoughts exactly GW, how can something in our solar system kick out so much energy and not have an impact upon our planet and climate. It makes me cross that so many people dismiss the Sun in the global warming debate; how can they? Of concern also, are the following predicted much quieter two Solar Cycles. My understanding is that Solar cycles really are fairly accurately predicted with a known pattern and cycle; 25 and 26 are estimated to be on a par with those in the Dalton Minima, how will this impact upon Earth? Time will tell but my prediction is there are a few surprises up the sleeve for those who believe they have this climate science cracked, me thinks it might come back and bite them on the bum.

SEARCH: use the box at the top right to search GQT For me; it makes sense that something which has such a large influence on our planet in the form of tidal activity, must in some way have other influences too. Just because we do not know or understand, doesn't mean it doesn't exist or cannot be true. Perhaps if as a race, we weren't so isolated from nature and all its' cycles we would be more aware. The majority spend most of their days indoors in an artificially heated/lit environment so is it any wonder the acceptance/knowledge of the vagaries of our natural climate/planet is being lost and or ignored. When people depended upon the world around them to feed and sustain their families, that knowledge was vital, it made the difference between life and death. I'm not saying let's all go back to living in the dark ages, I like the convenience of modern life, but I do think we lose or ignore hundreds of years worth of worldwide knowledge of our planet, climate and all its' influences at our peril. The Moon's got to be in there somewhere. I have never tried the following methods but lots of people swear by them. Dr Nick Kollerstrom has made a study of lunar planting and he talked to Eric Robson, the GQT chairman, about his research. Is there a scientific basis to support the lunar planting theory? # Biodynamic farmers have been using the lunar calendar for the last half century. It's now a world-wide movement and their results in yields and rhythm of growth are worth taking account of. # I believe that the moon affects all living things on earth, but I think it has a rather larger effect on plants than it does on us. Why does it work? This is a mystery that modern science has hardly begun to look at. For example, why has the woman's reproductive system got an average cycle of 29 to 30 days, which is the same length as the lunar month? I think it's important for us, at this stage, just to accept that there do seem to be results, and we don't yet understand the mechanism. How would you plan your planting? You follow the moon's passage around the constellations of the Zodiac. So you'd sow root crops such as carrots and potatoes when the moon's in front of one of the earth constellations, Taurus, Virgo or Capricorn - and that happens about every nine days in the growing seasons. John Harris, Head Gardener of Tresilian House Gardens, near Truro in Cornwall, swears by the technique and would never sow a seed without first checking the lunar calendar. Reporter Nina Davy talked to him about his gardening methods. How long have you been following a lunar planting regime? I started in the 1960s, but it's an ancient system. The Chinese, Greeks and Romans were guided by the moon. I find it very effective to time my sowing, planting and pruning by the moon. By applying fertiliser at the right time I can cut my fertiliser requirement by 50%. It's not folklore, it's practical knowledge that works. People call me the 'loony gardener' but I don't mind. How does gardening by the moon actually work # As well as controlling the tides the moon controls the moisture content in the soil. There are two periods: the waxing moon, which is the growing moon from new to full. That's when the moisture level in the soil is at it's highest and when you should do your planting. # the waning moon which is from full to last quarter. That's when the moisture content is at its lowest and there's less sap rising in your trees and shrubs so it's when you should do your pruning.

Some Honeysuckles are winter flowering. I work outside all year round, I'm a gardener and to be honest, despite living in the mild South West I can see nothing particularly unusual/unseasonal around here. If plants are sprouting early in your neck of the woods then the worst possible thing that can happen when the temps eventually go down is the odd soft tip will get burnt by frost - they'll recover. Any bulbs which appear to be making earlier than usual growth will just go into suspended animation for a while until Spring arrives; manipulating temperature by the use of hot houses/fridges is how gardeners at flower shows such as Chelsea manage to get plants such as Lupins, Daffodils, Blubells etc all in flower at the same time. Plants are tough, resiliant things. Wild life is opportunistic, if situations are favourable then animals will continue to breed, sometimes producing one brood a year, other times two or three, dependant upon amongst other things, if food is available. Sadly Mother Nature is also a harsh beast, when the weather turns cold and kills off all the insect foodstuff then animals like hedgehogs further up the chain will die also. That, unfortunately is just the way it is, always has been and always will be. Late or extra broods/litters are always a gamble and like any gamble, the odds are stacked against.

WOW! You lucky, lucky person. One day I hope to see something like this. Thanks for posting the pics.

I know the net volume wouldn't change drastically, but wouldn't all that fresh water pouring into the ocean have a negative effect upon the Gulf Stream? I thought the big worry was the level of salinity.

The Centaurea is nothing to worry about, they'll keep on flowering until the frost stops them, although in your part of the world I guess that should have happened a while ago. More worrying is the Laurel, that's obviously very, very confused by the weather; it should flower in April. On the plus side, it will provide much needed food for any late flying bees.

Don't want to be picky but that's a photo of Viburnum x bodnantense - a winter flowering shrub, flowering right on cue.

Hi folks, I live in the South West (Wells, Somerset); what kind of synoptics would lead to decent snowcover here? I've been here for 9 years and with the exception of one dumping in early April 2000, the only snow we've had has been a dusting. Is this usual for this area? Comparitively speaking I'm on reasonably high ground for round here 192m asl. Easterlies run out of steam before they get here, as do NW's, everything else delivers rain. Any clues as to what to look for on charts?

How common is snow in April? If it does snow then, is it more likely to amount to substantial falls due to warmer temps? I ask because I live near Wells in Somerset, have done for 9 years and any snow seems to by-pass us or give just a dusting with the exception of one year when we got a decent covering - approx 6inches; this was 4th April 2000. It was wonderful to wake up to, but we were moving house that day, the removal van had quite a problem reaching us. Sadly it had all gone by mid-afternoon. Don't remember it being forecast either, one of those surprise/marginal events perhaps?

Thanks for posting this, I'd missed it. Certainly interesting stuff. I can't really be bothered with the tit-for-tat over which scientist is right/wrong etc, nor do I have enough time to do much research but my gut instinct says it's not all our fault; nor is the outcome in our control. It's reassuring to know I'm not the only one and big questions on the validity of the research are being asked in the mainstream press. As an aside...I'm sure I read somewhere that one minutes energy output of the sun=all the energy used by mankind globally for a whole year. If that's true then how come the variences in solar output are dismissed by all and sundry? Surely even minor changes would be so huge that they must have an effect on our climate? When I get time, I'll trawl around and see if I can find the article again to post a link.

Perhaps, but according to the National Energy Foundation Australia come second to the USA in terms of CO2 emissions. Followed by Norway...

How about the opposite? GW could lead to our winters getting colder/snowier, lots of people miss or haven't experienced an old style winter, the gulf stream diminishing or shutting down could appear very attractive if that's what you want. Or, the arguement of; until the super powers like USA and Australia play ball and reduce emissions there isn't any point in me turning off a light bulb/it can't be all that bad because the USA and Australia don't take it seriously. Religion? God has a grand scheme, it'll be ok in the end.

As above, welcome back!

I live near Wells in Somerset, this year I saw at least a dozen or more fields of Sunflowers. Hardly large scale change but something new around here. Definately preferable to field after field of Rape.

At the risk of sounding like a complete loon, way out beyond the boundaries of fringe.... Historically the global climate has had it's ups and downs, temperature wise but they have been steady increases/decreases; it's only in fairly recent years that there has been a sharp increase. It's also only in fairly recent years/same time span of the change that the world has had nuclear capability. To date there have been approx 2000 nuclear detonations of varying size (wikipedia). Is there any way the two could be connected? We know large volcano eruptions have an impact upon weather. Is that the men in white coats I see out the corner of my eye.....

Joy!! A like minded person, at last. I raised similar issues, albeit in I think the wrong thread - we can't afford not to tackle AGW.

Got any spare ones?

Thanks for posting the link, new to this game. So it's not just me then who's confused? Thank goodness. Anyone who can debunk this, point me in the direction where I can validate it myself? Is it tripe, hogwash or is it true?

Those are some of the questions.

Hi Dawlish, thanks for reply. The left/right/blue/red/green/purple with pink spots polictical stuff is I'm afraid filtered out wholesale by myself. Some things are so important they should transcend politics, my belief is this is one of them. I moved this into another more climate based thread - we can't afford not to tackle AGW - still not sure that's the right place... Anyway, I've explained my position further in there, if you could have a read and let me know your thoughts, I'd be grateful. Thanks

Hi P3 Thanks for the reply. Perhaps I didn't explain myself very well...What concerns me the most is some very large, important decisions are being made by governments with regard to climate change, the latest of which is the Stern Report. The Telegraph article I referred to questions the level of impact that we as a species have caused. I do understand the theories behind GW and have spent many, many hours reading reputable scientific papers and research, many of which are extremely conflicting. Perhaps due to my lack of knowledge or experience, I have been looking in the wrong place; but there appears to be an overwhelming bias in the level of research towards the problem being man-made rather than a natural cyclical phenomena. Magalomania: the belief that you are much more important and powerful than you really are. I merely question, is this appropriate? So often I read articles in the general press, the scientific community and indeed on this forum which "shout down" any impact that say for arguments sake the Solar cycle has on our climate. I would argue that our lack of understanding or ability to correlate the data does not mean it has no significance. You are correct in that my being a gardener I do know my actions have an impact upon plants and a garden in general, I also can equate that to mankinds impact upon the globe but being an outdoors person I also know that no matter what I do, Mother Nature wins out and year on year there are cycles. Scale it up to global proportions and I still believe too little attention is being paid to natural causes. The climate is changing, that is indisputable but our lack of understanding and the innate fear this generates in a species who are used to being in control, is, I believe giving us tunnel vision. The issues of GW and problems it may cause may be just around the corner or they may be years away but already the publicity and rising panic is impacting upon decisions I have to make. As part of my working life I manage two grade 11 listed estates, one of 17 acres, the other of 69 acres all of which are covered by blanket Tree Preservation orders, no tree can be planted or cut down without the consent of the powers that be. One of the estates is approached via a half mile long drive flanked either side with mature beech trees - circa 1650, I want to plant in between the trees another avenue which will supercede the present one as it reaches the end of it's life. Thus maintaining the historical integrity of the estate and ensuring my grandchildren, their grandchildren etc will experience the beauty that our generation has seen. English Heritage veto the planting of any Beech trees on the basis that being shallow rooted they will not survive the impending climate disaster. This in turn has a knock on effect in the food chain with the loss of habitat of that particular species. I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, it's of little importance but the landscape which surrounds us including the countryside didn't happen by accident, it was planted. In a couple of hundred years time I would like future generations to have the diversity of plant and animal life that we all enjoy. Trying to decipher the realistic from the overblown hysteria in all the publicity and scientific papers around is my only aim, any input would be welcomed.

Hi Folks, I've been a lurker for a couple of years but never posted before. Being a professional gardener, the weather impacts my daily life, for good or bad. When it comes to climate change issues, I admit it confuses the hell out of me, so many differing opinions and arguements from both sides of the fence, it's often difficult to gain any insight. Fundamentally my instinct says mankinds desire to believe we have conquered mother nature and are now over-riding it smacks of meglomania gone mad however...there is, I agree too much evidence to the contrary to ignore it entirely. In today's Telegraph there is an interesting article debating the Stern report and debunking much of the science used. I'd say without exception all the people on here have a much greater understanding of the climate issues than myself and wondered if there is any truth in the Telegraph report or is it again just a load of hyped twaddle? Any thoughts? p.s If I've posted this in the wrong section, I apologise, please be gentle, it's my first time p.p.s Is this now in the right place????

Hi Folks, I've been a lurker for a couple of years but never posted before. Being a professional gardener, the weather impacts my daily life, for good or bad. When it comes to climate change issues, I admit it confuses the hell out of me, so many differing opinions and arguements from both sides of the fence, it's often difficult to gain any insight. Fundamentally my instinct says mankinds desire to believe we have conquered mother nature and are now over-riding it smacks of meglomania gone mad however...there is, I agree too much evidence to the contrary to ignore it entirely. In today's Telegraph there is an interesting article debating the Stern report and debunking much of the science used. I'd say without exception all the people on here have a much greater understanding of the climate issues than myself and wondered if there is any truth in the Telegraph report or is it again just a load of hyped twaddle? Any thoughts? p.s If I've posted this in the wrong section, I apologise, please be gentle, it's my first time