Unthreaded
For those who might be interested (particularly in the "Impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in the context of sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty"), there was a three-day gathering of a select group of great and the good "experts" under the auspices of the IPCC.
Readers may recall that at the December Conference of the Paris Partygoers, it was oh-so-conveniently decided that:
the IPCC [should] provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways.
Somewhere along the transformative way (evidently in April this year), this mission was expanded when the:
Panel decided to accept the invitation from the UNFCCC to provide a special report in 2018 on the impacts of global warming of 1.5ºC above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, and to prepare a Special Report on this topic in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.
Context is everything, I suppose. However - in light of the above - I can't help wondering what might have happened to the kitchen sink! But, never fear, there's now a new, improved acronym of which we can take note: BOG**. There were several during this particular gathering.
For those who are interested in all the bafflegabbling details (along with the list of 75 designated experts), you could start with the IISD's summary with links galore, including one to the IPCC's very own compilation.
The list of "expert" participants does have a few unsurprising names (along with many I, for one, have never seen before). Needless to say, in true IPCC fashion, their respective areas of "expertise" are not provided!
**BOG="Breakout Group"
Amazing, eh?!
Hilary Ostrov
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/704124/New-Hinkley-Point-power-station-not-essential-UK-meet-energy-targets
http://eciu.net/reports/2016/hinkley-what-if-can-the-uk-solve-its-energy-trilemma-without-hinkley-point-c
http://eciu.net/about/the-team
not banned yet
My typo !
But more interesting is latest TWEET from Richard Black
Demonstrating that people who criticise Trump are the ones that behave like bigots
#Projection
I’m guessing @realDonaldTrump denies existence of #Zikavirus - but that’s just a theory
stewgreen
SandyS. I lost my "townie" image of nature about 25years ago when I took a safari holiday to Tanzania to see the wildebeest migration. Travelling through herds and seeing literally thousands of them, mile after mile it suddenly occurred to me that every single animal I was seeing was going to face a horrendous death. They were either going to be eaten alive by lions, other big cats or crocodiles, or they were going to starve, slowly and painfully. A few lucky (?) ones might drown when crossing the river. I doubt if any die of diseases, when they weaken they are eaten. Then I understood that something similar would affect most wildlife, and that the animals we humanely slaughter for meat actually are saved from much worse.
It would amaze and amuse me that most ecology undergraduates at UEA (and I presume elsewhere) retained a rosy image of their subject. They knew about nature being "red in tooth and claw" but did not understand that aphorism in its full reality.
ACK
ACK
Red Deer can jump normal fences without much effort, careless ones sometimes get snagged with a leg caught between the top two wires. Deer fences are a reasonably effective barrier. I'm not sure of the effectiveness of signage, locals become blase and tourists will be unaware that what appears to be a lunar landscape covered in heather, grass, sphagnum moss and water can actually support a population of large wild animals.
Something else you find out when harvesting wild animals for meat all is not sweetness and light in nature. The hides from Red Deer are valueless due to scarring caused by maggot damage, other parasites are pretty common. Liver Fluke were the ones I worried about becoming infected with. Damaged ribs in stags were more common than you might think. So the townie view that wild animals have a wonderful life and farm animals don't is a bit off the mark.
I wasn't knocking your roads, just highlighting A Road diversity in the UK.
SandyS
In the interest of stirring up old sh!t...The Toronto Star provided some entertainment
Among the environmentally concerned, playing fast and loose with the actualité is seen as a tactic that delivers good results quickly and it's easy to see why: environmental correspondents are almost to a man (or woman) signed up members of the green movement and can be relied upon to repeat even the grossest misrepresentations.
As a good example of truth-telling among the green fraternity, take a look at the column written by Catherine Porter in the Toronto Star, in which she describes a "run-in" her nine-year-old daughter had with sceptic writer Ezra Levant. Then take a look at Levant's video response
Unbelievable.
and let's not ask Dr.Susan Crockford about polar bears. No, let's ask an alarmist.
But the story also included the considerably more definitive opinion of Ian Stirling, an emeritus research scientist with Environment Canada and adjunct professor at the University of Alberta: “I think it’s 99-per-cent sure that it’s going to turn out to be a hybrid,” he said.Now we know for certain. It’s not a hybrid so Stirling’s speculation was 100 per cent wrong. I don’t think that means that the Star’s initial report requires a correction. But I do believe our responsibility to readers and the public record does call for some means of updating this story to report what the important subsequent genetic tests have found
clipe
stewgreen 9:21 PM
Richard seems to prefer quantity over quality - one of Jeremy Grantham's paid-for fleet of agitators trying to impress his funder with increased "production" ...
At this rate he'll be back at the BBC on local radio sooner rather than later.
tomo
@ACK, Aug 25, 2016 at 2:55 PM
Has anyone here suffered from allergies particularly this summer? Both my wife and I have experienced sore and running eyes this year, much more than previous years.
No hayfever for ~10 years, then hayfever some days in June & July 2015 & 2016. Itchy eyes only, no tears or nose discharge. One dose of Beconase up each nostril each day I had symptoms stopped it.
Pcar
Fank U, MC. I just want to wind the little chap up. It is quite good fun. I’m waiting for him either to explode, spin round until he burst into flames, or disappear up his own orifice – whichever, it will be entertaining. He has a remarkable talent for extrapolation with no basis on fact.
Radical Rodent
@PhilBradby Wow today BBC Radio Humberside breakfast show covered renewable energy in an almost reasonable way
First they had the local UKIP MEP talking about how we have to do something, cos renewable energy subsidies hit poorest people the hardest
7.50 They had the “independent expert” on from Sneider Energy consulting.
He didn’t hype renewables tho did say that wind and solar costs are coming down.
The presenter was NOT a super skeptic, but not the usual walkover.
8:05 The guy from renewables UK was on. He did the normal thing of saying renewables are at parity. The presenter wasn’t totally fawning, but did say seems likes bills will be dropping after a couple of years.
They then spoke about the new Siemens factory ..saying ‘you see that money will all come back in local jobs ..and they’ll be EVENTUALLY exporting turbines. AS ever the BBC guy wasn’t up to tackling numbers. Facebook (ha MSWorks quotation marks didn't work in the link)