In The News

[knocker]

Demographic miracle in the deserts

Some plants in arid regions benefit from climate change

October 08, 2012

Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of the Earth’s land surface. These ecosystems are highly vulnerable to global environmental change and desertification. But climate change seems to have a positive impact on some plants. A study involving the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock has come to this conclusion.

http://www.mpg.de/6376739/desert_plants

[Methuselah]

Far be it for me to suggest there's a bit of pocket lining going on here, I'm sure it's merely coincidental that George Osbourne's father in law has more than a passing interest in all this.....

http://frack-off.org...ide-government/

Obviously, there's not enough a sniff of anything untoward...How could anyone ever suspect such a thing...?

Demographic miracle in the deserts

Some plants in arid regions benefit from climate change

October 08, 2012

Dryland ecosystems cover 41% of the Earth’s land surface. These ecosystems are highly vulnerable to global environmental change and desertification. But climate change seems to have a positive impact on some plants. A study involving the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock has come to this conclusion.

http://www.mpg.de/63...9/desert_plants

Aye, Malcolm: cacti might flourish?

[4wd]

Nothing's efficient if it's a finite resource.

I live in the Mendips, you live in the North York Moors - both areas with high sensitivity to polluted ground water, both areas already in the target areas for fracking. Would you support fracking in your local area?

We do need to be practical unless planning to sit in the dark though.

Gas is more efficient than coal or nuclear and can be fired up in minutes to meet demand surges.

If we aren't going to be allowed to maximise extraction from our own gas fields we can always rely on import from Russia sp long as none of the other countries before us in the queue get it all.

I think the issues with fracking have been greatly exaggerated to be honest and there is gas right under me now which I wouldn't be unduly concerned about them taking out.

If the choice is several hundred windmills or a gas fracking project which is preferable then?

[Methuselah]

So what are you saying, 4? That we should all be beholden to British-owned private companies?

IMO, in the long-term, whatever power-sources we'll rely on will be 'renewable'. Is there any escaping that?

Sod AGW, fossil fuels are running out...

[4wd]

Which renewables do you have in mind which work when it's cold, calm and demand is high.

We will always need some other backup and if we can't burn coal or gas for the next 100 years then it will be nuclear I guess.

[knocker]

Graphene membranes may lead to enhanced natural gas production, less CO2 pollution, says CU study

Engineering faculty and students at the University of Colorado Boulder have produced the first experimental results showing that atomically thin graphene membranes with tiny pores can effectively and efficiently separate gas molecules through size-selective sieving.

The findings are a significant step toward the realization of more energy-efficient membranes for natural gas production and for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plant exhaust pipes.

http://www.colorado.edu/news/releases/2012/10/08/graphene-membranes-may-lead-enhanced-natural-gas-production-less-co2

[Methuselah]

Which renewables do you have in mind which work when it's cold, calm and demand is high.

We will always need some other backup and if we can't burn coal or gas for the next 100 years then it will be nuclear I guess.

Any renewables can be used to store energy, 4... Hydroelectric has been used to drive water uphill for many years. Why can't wind and solar be used in the same way?

[Interitus]

We keep on hearing about record heat in the USA caused by GW ,nothing mentioned about record cold in some parts of USA .

Record low blown away by a huge margin, but NOAA calls it “record-breaking chill.â€

“This past weekend saw overnight low temperatures shattered in my home region in NW Iowa,†says reader Mr Tall. “The NWS office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is usually quite good, but I did note the same pattern of linguistic undermining in their report of these cold temperatures, which included Spencer Iowa breaking its record low for October 7 by 6 degrees (from 19 to 13), and Sioux City Iowa breaking its record by 8 degrees (from 23 to 15).â€

“Note the title of the NOAA report is ‘Record breaking chill across the area Sunday morning’.

“Although usually the default term for record cold these days is ‘cold snap’, now the word ‘cold’ itself is eschewed, with just a ‘chill’ representing a record low being blown away by a huge margin.

“The article goes on to attribute the cold to calm winds, few clouds, and recent dry weather which has depressed relative humidity levels. Fair enough; these factors can all contribute, but again the underlying message being put out is that there’s nothing here to really pay much attention to.

“Just imagine the press release, on the other hand, if the record high for October 7 had been broken by 8 degrees!

See NOAA report here:

http://www.crh.noaa....=87967&source=0

The minimum is noteworthy but not especially significant, they are only date records. The 15°F at Sioux City for example is far from the monthly record of 5°F - OK this is a time of rapid cooling later in the month, but it is not totally unprecedented for the time of year either with 17°F being the record for the next day (8th).

Still not convinced?

Date records are broken relatively frequently and in 2012 Sioux City has had 21 temperature records, 15 warm, 6 cold.

[keithlucky]

Well if you want the facts here we go

Many of the records in the Dakotas were in the teens. Here’s the total numbers: Total Records: 2079 Rainfall: 402 Snowfall: 74 High Temperatures: 138 Low Temperatures: 386 Lowest Max Temperatures: 768 Highest Min Temperatures: 311

Total number of high temperature type records: 138+311= 449

Total number of low temperature type records: 386+768= 1154

Source: NOAA data via HW Records Center here

[BornFromTheVoid]

US temperature and precip records are here http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/records/

[keithlucky]

Forgot sorry records broken chart

[Methuselah]

Forgot sorry records broken chart

Aye Keith, it's been a cold week in the USA...

[keithlucky]

Texans shocked by cold LOL http://dfw.cbslocal....rly-cold-spell/

[Methuselah]

Does anyone know what the WORLD figures (re. temperature records) are?

[laserguy]

Aye Keith, it's been a cold week in the USA...

These record temp maps were quite prominent on NW a coupla years back. Here we still are,with the records that were broken then falling again now. Whodathunkit in these warming days,huh? When the world is laid to waste by Ice Age II it'll be caused by global warming! Somebody can make this stuff up.

[Methuselah]

These record temp maps were quite prominent on NW a coupla years back. Here we still are,with the records that were broken then falling again now. Whodathunkit in these warming days,huh? When the world is laid to waste by Ice Age II it'll be caused by global warming! Somebody can make this stuff up.

And last winter? Last summer? I'm only asking for the world data, barrie...We (all of us) need get things into perspective?

[Devonian]

And last winter? Last summer? I'm only asking for the world data, barrie...We (all of us) need get things into perspective?

Some of the context from Dr Jeff Masters.

I can't understand why people want to concentrate on a few cool days when the USA has had by far the warmest year to date (Jan - Sept) ever recorded. Well, actually, I can

[Devonian]

Texans shocked by cold LOL http://dfw.cbslocal....ly-cold-spell/

Probably shocked because it's been a ridiculously warm year so far...

[laserguy]

And last winter? Last summer? I'm only asking for the world data, barrie...We (all of us) need get things into perspective?

No,it's crazy; cold records should not be tumbling anywhere this late in the game. Imagine if instead of global warming we were supposed to be having cooling, yet year on year high temp records were falling by the wayside. And I've got terrible gout coming on - take it as a sign!

[Methuselah]

No,it's crazy; cold records should not be tumbling anywhere this late in the game. Imagine if instead of global warming we were supposed to be having cooling, yet year on year high temp records were falling by the wayside. And I've got terrible gout coming on - take it as a sign!

Why shouldn't they though?

[laserguy]

Why shouldn't they though?

Pete I can barely believe you've asked that. No,really.

[Methuselah]

Pete I can barely believe you've asked that. No,really.

But, barrie... Sometimes it's warm, other times it's cold. And, at the moment, it's cold.

[BornFromTheVoid]

Cold records will still happen in a warming world. They'll just be outweighed by warm records more and more as time goes by.

Daily warm records so far this year in the US 56,321

Daily cold records so far this year in the US 12,349

(September making it the 16th consecutive month above average for the contiguous US)

Besides, we should be be looking at the global average temperature, not records from an individual country. How many globally below average months have we had in the last decade?

[Gray-Wolf]

Because most folk are now aware of how the low snow/ice cover can impact the Jet flow I do not think that any repeat of the Arctic blasts will be viewed as the "final nail in the coffin" for global warming. Just the opposite I believe? Set against the backdrop of an over 5 to 1 hot V's cold set of temp records folk will now be looking to the damage that our warming planet is capable of inflicting on economies (higher fuel cost, economic disruption, food price lead inflation) and begin to seek action to limit those impacts. to me economics has always been the given reason for inaction ("you want us back in the stone age") but if the issues climate change brings looks likely to force that upon us the majority of folk will demand we do something to halt the collapse?

[Methuselah]