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exiledportfan

Listed below are comments made by exiledportfan between Monday, 23rd November 2009 and Tuesday, 8th December 2009.

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COP15 Copenhagen climate summit: Day 2 9:17pm on 08 Dec 2009 Interesting how a number of comments suggest that global warming is nothing but a front for taxing people. So a couple of points

1) We are going to be heavily taxed after the next election regardless of who wins in the UK! It won't be due to Copenhagen
2) The ways of fighting Climate Change at home saves you money, loft insulation, energy saving lightbulbs, turning your thermostat down 1C, walking short journeys instead of driving, reducing consumption etc etc

Now, if people who want to waste money get taxed, so be it, you can save yourself hundreds of pounds a year off your energy and fuel bills by making sensible and minimal impact changes to your lifestyle.

3) Increasing energy efficiency will be at the heart of immediate cuts, again, that will save us money in the long term. You can cry all you want about this, but with oil prices rising never to fall again, i fail to understand how people can complain about these sort of initatives.
The nuclear power industry comes to Yorkshire 12:54pm on 06 Dec 2009 JM

Your Sea Level values are miles off, the volume of ice 12000 years ago was much less and far closer to Pre-Industrial levels, Last Glacial Maximum was 21,000 yrs ago, even then it was only a few tens of metres, (see wave cut ledges on the west coast of Scotland, they are last glacial in origin)

Now, some biology for you, photosynthesis is not just a CO2 calculation, plants also require water and sublight, thus its not just a case of saying ramp up the CO2 and you get better plant productivity. Holocene (last glacial onwards) plants are developed for low levels of CO2 and cooler temps of the geological phase we are in. Thus increasing CO2 and the increase effect it has on temperatures (or if you are total sceptic, that temperature rise that generates CO2, just for you guys xx) means plants lose more water through the stomata due to heat.

Thus they take in less CO2, unless they develop more smaller stomata to enable a good balance of CO2 vs water loss. Stomotal counting is a way of calculating palaeo CO2 levels because of this relationship.

Work by agri-scientists has shown that temperature increases are more important for plants than the CO2 fertilisation effect from more CO2. Thus a higher value of CO2 with warmer temperatures has been shown to be DETRIMENTAL to plant growth, this is especially important for cereal crop growth in sub saharan and southern africa and also throughout southern asia.

Now, Nuclear Power,

We also have large amounts of nucelar waste stored in the country, low level waste alone is an issue, but we are 25 years behind scandinavia in developing deep geological disposal of nuclear waste at medium and high levels of radiation, after the proposals for a store near Sellafield fell through.
There's a wind farm coming to a place near you 6:04pm on 01 Dec 2009 Build a rather massive tidal barrage accross the Severn Estuary, second largest tide in the world, twice a day generates huge amounts of energy. Wind power, HEP, solar powered water heating on houses, the strategies are out there.

No renewables expert says that wind is the complete answer, John Marshall pronounces things like he is alone in saying it. Bored.com

The key problem to a large scale renewable strategy is the engineering ability to store energy produced. Maybe a form of the KERS devices used in F1? I don't know i am not an engineer. I just know that the problem with renewables is that we can't guarentee the supply when we have the demand, outside of HEP (water can be stored), a benefit that nuclear and fuel burning plants (coal, gas, biomass, waste etc etc) Thats what we need to solve
Can coal continue in a low carbon world? 5:58pm on 01 Dec 2009 John Marshall, so with your law of thermodynamics, do you deny the natural greenhouse effect?

If you think its not possible, i suggest you do some research into the global energy budget.

As for the AR4, i await all your evidence that this has been faked. Please, beyound 4 dodgy e-mails out of thousands. I'm sure that all the models are fake, especially when one of the models in AR4 is used to also generate weather forecasts for you everyday of your life...
Strong line up for Sports Personality 1:47pm on 01 Dec 2009 A man who throws mini arrows to be a 'sportsman' i refer people to Smith and Jones, it is not a sport!!!!! Where is the required fitness? stamina? Jessica Ennis and Jenson Button lead their respective world title events from start to finish, both had faced really tough mental challenges whether that be due to injury or team insecurity.

JB was not a fluke, he had to really graft to beat off strong competition, and anyone who watched his race in Brazil when he pulled off do or die overtaking moves when a single touch would almost certainly cost him the title, that took real bottle and spirit to achieve. As for doing nothing, Andy Murray won more ATP singles titles than any other man this year, it was hardly a stinker!

The only one i disagree with is Giggs! A shame about McCoy, but at the end of the day, the BBC open it up for a panel of leading sports journalists and broadcasters, a majority of which are independant of the BBC and they vote and produce a shortlist. This is opened up to the public and a winner is announced. Suggest a fairer way and i'd bet the BBC would lap it up in a second.

Well done once again to those who put in the effort into this!!
Can coal continue in a low carbon world? 10:24pm on 30 Nov 2009 David,

Insects, the ocean, cows backsides produce greenhouse gases that are on a natural cycle, ie the last 1000 years of carbon, this is normal for the earth. natural.

We release carbon tied up for 350million years or so, this carbon is what is dangerous. So there is no need to compare drax to insects.

Also, your fears are the hype produced by sceptics to drive sceptic thoughts. I have studied earth science, i know about this stuff and i'm not as depressed about it as you are. 80% cuts are big, but there is a massive amount of gain to be made in efficiency throughout energy production. This should be a key part of the copenhagen conference.

Also, you can use solar power carefully, in the UK, use a couple of roof based solar panels to heat your hot water, very good use of solar power which is limited in the UK, especially in the winter. However, northern scotland can do very well in the summer using solar power. Its about skillful planning.
Can coal continue in a low carbon world? 4:07pm on 30 Nov 2009 1) I would never deny the benefits of CO2, i have stated just that, the natural greenhouse effect promotes life on earth.
2) Yes we have had higher values of CO2 in teh geological past, i'm not sure about your average value, infact i'd be inclined to think you made it up a tad, but i'm sure that over geological history the level of CO2 has been higher, certainly Cretaceous levels were high, 1000-3000ppm.

However, you must accept

THE RATE OF CHANGE

Yes this planet can sustain life and senible temperatures under very higher CO2 concentrations, but when its a change of 1500ppm over 3million years (cretaceous lead in, i know CO2 for this period) its very possible. 0.0005ppm increase a year is nothing.

However, any rapid period of change (may i direct you to the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, circa 60million years ago), has devastating impacts, with mass extinctions. Zachos et al, 2005 i believe is a good reference to introduce the period to you. There CO2 changed rapidly with a rate of less than 1ppm a year, over 10,000 years, i think 50% of all benthic formainiferas were extinct in the ocean, it has a massive feedback on ocean productivity and life.

The permian mass extinction, some debate over the trigger, but looking like geologists favour it being massive flood basalt volcanism from the Siberian traps, release massive amounts of CO2 and CH4 causing runaway global warming and a 95% oceanic, 75% terrestrial mass extinction.

Even then, this was a rate of change of around 1-1.5ppm.

Presently, rate fo change for mankind, based on DATA from the Keeling Record, by NOAA, is in the last 15 years up at 1.8-2.4ppm (data i plotted for me, in Excel, very easily repeated), thats a GREATER RATE OF CHANGE than my geological answers.

You see, its how fast thinhs happen that affect the response, CO2 in stable(ish) conditions is a beneficial gas, if you pump an awful lot of it, into the atmosphere in a short space of time, then it will cause devastation. Don't believe models? Fine, look at the geology.

If you don't believe the physics, read the AR4 by the IPCC, it has the formulas for radiative forcing, what generates heat, plug in some values for greenhouse gases and see what you get, no models, just data.

However, i couldn't agree more about CCS, very worrying, like all geo-engineering. However, with sceptics plugging away and people not realising the danger we face, we will be backed into a corner of geo-engineer or see massive warming. Glorious isn't it?
Can coal continue in a low carbon world? 1:25pm on 30 Nov 2009 I wasn't attacking, i was merely point somethings out,m you made the points, so i personally addressed them

I was highlighting how you had gone unnecessarily off topic.

As for a 100% renewable energy, i would be doing so, if it were available, unfortunately, i presently live in a city in rented accomodation, so little chance of changing energy suppliers and getting it so easily. However, it is presently feasilble on the small scale and i would if i could.

However, if energy security issues are also only a theory, you are fine ain't you. I don't attack you, i have no need, i pity your stupidity and i look forward to the day when you realise you are wrong, horribly horribly wrong, because face it, if i am wrong, not bad ill come, but if you are wrong, well hundreds of millions will die globally. I'm sure you feel ok with this, thats fine, Dick Francis thought he was going to win the national on Devon Loch to
Can coal continue in a low carbon world? 12:20pm on 30 Nov 2009 Nice blog Paul, an interesting topic to address. QuaesoVeritas, again a very nice point.

Shame about John Marshall and Ally Gory really.

Honestly, when will these people (2 named above) shut up. The data (note data not models) shows the earth has warmed, Chemists said this is 1896!!!! Climate Science simply works on showing an estimate of what might happen.

Asd for CO2 residence time, that is clutching at straws, its been demonstrated again, by Chemists, before, not climate scientists, chemists, in labs, in experiments, not models that the residence time is long, you can't take someone's car in a drive as an example.

Now, Ally, here is something for you, if GHG's are fake, and the greenhouse effect fake, how do you explain life on this planet?? A natural greenhosue effect, from CO2 circa 275ppm keeps enough heat in teh atmosphere for us to survive, warming the planet 18C. When this CO2 level drops (climate change but global cooling) we can end up in situations such as the 'Global Snowball' of circa 400million years ago, which almost killed us, some CO2 release, allowed warming which saved the planet.

CO2 drives temperature, man emits CO2, CO2 is a greenhouse gas, CO2 has caused climate change to date since the 1860's, it will continue for the next 200-500years.

Once again, Paul, a nice blog on an interesting topic, when you consider the NIMBY's who block wind turbines etc, nuclear being off the political agenda, we have a very limited choice in terms of fuel bar gas and coal from abroad for us to burn. In fact, Climate change should be a driver for us delivering a UK and europe wide fuel security away from needing imports from some countries that are not exactly stable!!!
'Climategate' - CRU hacked into and its implications 7:23pm on 23 Nov 2009 I take it i'm not allowed to point out the potential legal ramifications for the BBC due to the actions of Mr Hudson?

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