2022-11-07

Pulling the wings off mosquitoes

FB_IMG_1667557740838 Kinda like pulling the wings off butterflies, execpt doing it to irritating things that deserve it. The target of my barely controlled ire is 400+ scientists to Hill+Knowlton: Drop Fossil Fuels, Make COP27 a Success (arch). Whenever you see something saying "n scientists..." you just know that most of them aren't going to be scientists; and you usually expect it to be something from the Dork Side... and perhaps this is. I make the count 424; of those, 123 have a bare Ph. D.; 64 bare M. D.; 75 bare MA/MS; leaving a little under 162 with some kind of affiliation, if only UCS; and I'm including the retired and emeritus in that. In fact its kinda weird how few have been persuaded to sign up to this thing. Oreskes and Supran are right up top, of course.

More drivel is also available



And still the torrent of drivel continues: Switzerland Is Paying Poorer Nations to Cut Emissions on Its Behalf. The agreements raise concerns that other countries will follow suit, delaying more difficult cuts of greenhouse gas emissions in wealthier nations from the NYT. Waste-of-time fat-western-handwringing: are we wearing our hair shirts properly? Is it a bad idea to do things efficiently? FFS.

That's not all (are you surprised?)


We read from Twatter "The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all. (very high confidence) {1.2, 1.4, 1.5, 16.2, Table SM16.24, 16.4, 16.5, 16.6, 17.4, 17.5, 17.6, 18.3, 18.4, 18.5, CCB DEEP, CWGB URBAN, WGI AR6 SPM, SROCC SPM, SRCCL SPM}" (my bold). This really is claiming that we're all going to die unless we act quick (see-also Lovelock: We're all going to die!). This is bollox, obviously. Foruntately, this isn't a quote from WGI, this is from the presuambly-heavily-politicised WG2 SPM. RP Jr is onto them, though. Also, António Guterres is really quite porky. He could make the world a better place by eating less.

Refs


No, I Don’t Believe This - Timmy on the "fair shares" costs of climate funding

7 comments:

Phil said...

Timmy is partly correct, for a change.

I'm not sure what he thinks we should have done, but what we have done, spending money to make less polluting technologies cheaper was, is and will be a benefit to the whole world.

William M. Connolley said...

He isn't suggeting a policy, other than being connected to reality. Which alas all too much of the discussion isn't. I can see no hope of a reconnect; the talks I think are doomed to wander off into unreality and tokenism, because it is in no-ones particular interest to do otherwise. Other than the common folk, but they aren't there, of course.

William M. Connolley said...

Or as RP Jr put it, "Journalists & scientists nod along (wink, wink) but young people take this hyperbole seriously. Some develop mental health issues. Some try to shut down highways, risking their lives & those of drivers When are adults who know better going to push back on the faux apocalypticism?"

Phil said...

Next week isn't a problem.
Next election likewise.
Quarterly profits unlikely to be impacted.
Delaying action for a decade or two or three isn't a big impact. 1.5C is not all that much different than 1.8C. And so on.

So then no problem at all, right?

Ignoring is not connected with reality as well.


So follow up on new technology past the LED bulb. Here are three ways to make your life better that have a side effect of slowing global warming.

1) Replace a gas stove top with an induction stove top. The air in your house will be cleaner, nicer to cook on, nicer to clean up and uses less energy. Sure, a lot of people have not tried this new technology, be the first on your block!

2) Replace an older gas furnace with a heat pump. Sure, very cold places don't qualify. Some houses can't do this due to lack of yards and other issues. May require duct work or other updates. Places with crazy electric rates and/or very dirty electric power don't qualify. And so on. But will make your house cleaner inside and out and reduce energy use.

3) Replace an internal combustion car with a battery electric car. Sure, if you don't have home or workplace charging this isn't a win for convenience and cost. But otherwise, electric cars are just nicer to drive. More responsive. Less vibration, noise, jerks, smells and such. No weekly trips to the gas station.

THE CLIMATE WARS said...

Phil, batteries are beginning ti make the grade in aircraft propulsion, and while lithium polymer energy density is closing in on ites physical limits, far sportier dynamic anode cells have yet to make their civilian debut.

https://vvattsupwiththat.blogspot.com/2022/10/cop-27-carbon-negative-race-is-on.html

Phil said...

Battery power can support local flying. The physical limits of battery flight don't allow for long distance flying at any reasonable speed and payload. Seattle to Portland is possible today. Seattle to San Jose might be possible in the future. Even Seattle to San Deigo. Seattle to Singapore isn't, other than with a low speed drone with almost no payload.

Maximum theoretical energy density of jet fuel (energy per kg) is far more than of rechargeable batteries (about a 12:1 ratio at best). Long distance flying probably needs electro-fuels.

Solar -> electric -> hydrogen -> methane -> more complex hydrocarbons resembling JP1.

Bill Gates in "How To Avoid a Climate Disaster" talks about the "green premium", the extra cost to move to a non-CO2 releasing technology. Electric cars and heat pumps are negative green premiums in many but not all cases, even without accounting for various externalities.

Induction cook tops are just cleaner and nicer to cook on.

When are you getting your e-tron GT?

Anonymous said...

The negation of "a livable future for all" is not "we're all going to die" -- "livable" has meaning closer to "comfortable" or "tolerable" than "necessary for life".