Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» "Nothing short of transforming society will prevent CATASTROPHE" vis a vis climate change. You up for being transformed?
Hardly "up for it" but resigned to whatever must be; and its own effects.
Nothing comes without cost and I think it will be less-worst rather than good or bad.
My motoring is very much less than it used to be but I will hang onto my petrol car as long as I can because I would never be able to afford a battery-electric one; even second-hand. I'd have to give up driving and hope public transport will suffice for most of what I want or need to do.
' So that's my hobbies and social life suppressed for the greater good, but potentially much more seriously for my health and well-being are what may happen to my home.
It uses a gas-fired combination boiler for its central-heating and hot water; and a gas cooker.
If the boiler expires in some not-far-future and I can't replace it with similar I'd have no choice but to have an electric instant-heat shower and use portable electric heaters.
Our Government fondly imagines we'd either have the natural-gas replaced by hydrogen, but that's not very practical, nor very economical as its calorific value is lower than that of natural-gas (methane); or heat-pumps.
An air-source heat-pump is not very efficient as far as I can make out, and a ground-source one likely only to create a depletion cone of chilled ground around it when you need the heat most, so not much good either. I read a wry comment about the ground-heat type, that "they" will make it illegal to freeze the earth-worms.
Also heat-pumps need some way of distributing the heat around the home; and if that needs major modifications to the building it would be extremely expensive, prohibitively so for many householders.
Not sure how I'd manage for cooking. I have a microwave but I can't imagine an electric cooker being particularly cheap and efficient to run; and it would be expensive to install in my home because there is no existing 30A cable to the kitchen.
There may would also be the little matter of demand for installing new equipment as old systems wear out being so great that it creates very long waiting-lists.
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There are going to be huge numbers of people in similar situations; but our politicians, of all parties, seem unable to grasp this.
Nor too do they ask about the likely knock-on effects on society at large of the reduced mobility and soaring costs. I think it will hit social and cultural activities very hard; destroying many of them.
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Yes, we might ward off the terrifying effects of a climate artificially changed by some two centuries of our increasingly industrial world, but while it might stop huge areas becoming uninhabitable, and others being devasted more frequently by droughts and storms as you are suffering in the USA, it will not be without huge social, economic and environmental costs in other ways.
While even if the temperature rise can be kept down the sea-levels might still rise by anything up to 2 metres by the end of the Century. (That rise has 2 causes. The first of course is the thawing of terrestrial glaciers and ice-sheets. The other is the expansion of the water itself as it warms.)
We heard on the BBC Radio Four news today of the loss of Greenville, and the hydro-electric and drinking-water reservoirs running low. One report was of a town bringing in tanker-loads of water so visitors using the tourist accommodation can still shower.
While in Greece, though the forest-fires around Athens are dwindling, those on the island of Evia have forced evacuating the residents. Fire-fighters from Germany, France and Britain are on their way to Greece to help their local colleagues.
This post was edited by Durdle at August 10, 2021 2:10 AM MDT
Very informative thorough thoughtful and SOBERING reply Durdle for which I thank you. Reading it through word by word paints a grim picture of our future. Pols everywhere are elected to serve the people's interests. With extremely rare and few exceptions they all serve their own interests. The system isn't working but we carry on as though it does. The people with the power TO DO DON'T. The people without the power TO DO can't. And so it goes. Quality of life can't improve. "Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is increasingly less possible. So what holds us together and causes us to keep on keeping on? SIGH. Happy Tuesday to thee and thine m'dear! :)
There is anothe threat looming and it's been one much debated until climate-change (and now pandemics) pushed it into the background.
That is the depeletion of natural resources.
The calls to leave coal, natural-gas and petroleum in the ground are all very well-meant as far as fules are concerned but petroleum provided the raw chemicals for a huge range of materials for which there are few if any satisfactory alternatives.
Even a huge electricity-generating wind-turbine needs some of their resulting products: the synthetic-resin used in the blades, the oil in the mechanical parts, the insulation for the electrical cables and components, the protective paint on the mast.
About four years ago I attended a public lecture on tidal-power turbines for generating electricity. These are the under-sea versions of wind-turbines. The speaker gave some figures calculated for the world's known oil and coal reserves at the rate of use at the time: about 50 for oil, 100 for coal.
Now of course that is likely to be stretched out by cutting back on production; but it does show nothing is as simple as it seems. The replacement supply question now is going to be that of materials for building vast numbers of electric cars and their batteries, solar-power farms and the like.
People the world over are increasing in number (Shhh! We don't talk about that...) and all understandably want a better quality of life defined very much by where you live. In the UK, US, Europe, Japan etc that seems to mean having the latest "smart"-'phone. Elsewhere, simply having a cold water tap in the home would be something.
Oh lordy Durdle! There is an interconnectedness that is seemingly unavoidable. Whatever we do may not be enough. Whatever we don't do may not be enough. So we keep ambling along doing the same hoping for WHAT? A DEUS EX MACHINA? I did not know about the essentiality of coal, natural gas and petroleum as raw materials for so many others things. Which puts us squarely in the horns of a dilemma doesn't it? Continue as we were or stop and suffer the consequences. Scylla and Charybdis...between a rock and a hard place. So essentially there is no GOOD solution? We give up doing some things and many others things we WANT to do will be adversely affected. That's above my pay grade to figure out. So what's the bottom line then if in fact there is one? Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply! Where do we go next?
I think there is less of a chance of transforming society into working together to stop catastrophic weather conditions all around the world before it is to late - then there is a chance of Trump omitting that he is a corrupt crook. Cheers!
So transform or evaporate during a promised catastrophe? That's our choice? Yikes. Well being as how I'm already an old lady no skin off my nose. But for the younger folks? When and where will the catastrophe hit, how long will it last and will there be no survivors? I know. Who knows the answers to those questions? Even so what do you think? Thank you for your reply Nanoose and Happy Tuesday to you and your family! :)
Durdle 