The Environment

Interesting article on the science behind tying climate change to extreme weather events.  Instead of 'follow the money' it is 'follow the water'.

https://www.theverge.com/22617371/extreme-weather-science-attribution-un-report-climate-change

The new United Nations report ties many changes in extreme weather to a more intense water cycle. What is the water cycle and how does it affect the weather?

The water cycle is basically the way that we track moisture moving through the climate system. So it includes everything from the oceans to the atmosphere, the clouds, ice, rivers, lakes, the groundwater, and the way that those things move and transfer moisture and water from place to place.

So when we’re talking about the intensification of the water cycle, we’re basically saying things are moving faster. Air is pulling the moisture out of the oceans and out of the land faster. It’s moving more moisture from place to place on the planet. And when it rains, it can come down hard.

The fundamental difference is that there is more energy in the system. There’s more heat. And as the temperature goes up, there is an overall increase in the amount of moisture that the air is trying to hold. So that means when a storm happens, there’s more moisture in the air to tap into for a big, heavy downpour. It also means that when air moves over a region, it has the potential to suck more moisture out of the ground more rapidly. So the same phenomenon is leading both to more intensive rainfalls and floods and precipitation, and also to more stark drought conditions when they do occur.
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commando said:
might be a bit optimistic...but if they can do this it is a big step 

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-08-23/nuclear-fusion-breakthrough-may-be-cause-for-climate-optimism?sref=2o0rZsF1&utm_content=view&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-view
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Until someone produces a net positive energy prototype, all of the fusion claims are at least a decade away, probably longer.

 
She probably doesn’t play craps so she probably doesn’t know that her example isn’t helping her cause even though we know what she is trying to get across.

take a straight line time log over the history of the Earth.  Those 500 yr floods she talked about aren’t supposed to happen just once every 500 years like clockwork.  Over time, on average, it’s a 500 year event (or so we say).  There could have been a 2000 years where the flood didn’t happen, but three times over a 500 year span where it did happen.  
 

Same with craps.  The odds of rolling box cars is 2.78% over time.  However, there are plenty of instances were boxcars have been rolled 2 or three times in a row (I hit snake eyes four of five rolls last weekend).  Using craps as her example, she is showing the randomness of relative short term events.  

 
FrantzHardySwag said:
And oh yeah, in the US we are closing  nuclear power plants (CLEAN ENERGY)....so f#&%ing dumb. Hopefully sanity prevails. 
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I've had this debate before, but nuclear is not "clean" nor sustainable. But I agree with your general point that we need to focus on greenhouse gas emissions before nuclear.

 
RedDenver said:
I've had this debate before, but nuclear is not "clean" nor sustainable. But I agree with your general point that we need to focus on greenhouse gas emissions before nuclear.
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We're on the same page for the most part. NY got rid of Indian Point and replaced it with fossil fuels, that s#!t drives me crazy. Use Renewables/Nuclear to phase out fossil fuels. Then renewables to phase out nuclear. Then you have things like bitcoin which is now consuming more energy than entire countries, makes me wonder if we will ever be able to phase out fossil fuels...

 
FrantzHardySwag said:
We're on the same page for the most part. NY got rid of Indian Point and replaced it with fossil fuels, that s#!t drives me crazy. Use Renewables/Nuclear to phase out fossil fuels. Then renewables to phase out nuclear. Then you have things like bitcoin which is now consuming more energy than entire countries, makes me wonder if we will ever be able to phase out fossil fuels...
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Agreed. I mostly push back on the idea that we should build new nuclear facilities.

 
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