Severe Weather/Mother Nature

[HibeeSince85]

Global Warming showing off?

I dunno myself but you look at this year alone, all 13 days of it! Two major floods in Australia & Brazil killing many, in the winter Britain was covered in snow before that Russia had major wildfires after heatwaves, the weather certainly seems to have turned a little more extreme these last few years, what's causing it?

[lapsedhibee]

the weather certainly seems to have turned a little more extreme these last few years, what's causing it?

You're mibbe thinking Petrie! :grr: but it's pretty obvious that the legalisation of gay marriage has been the last straw in incurring God's wrath.

[Beefster]

According to some boffin on 5 Live this morning, there's no evidence that all this flooding is down to anything man has done.

[Sylar]

According to some boffin on 5 Live this morning, there's no evidence that all this flooding is down to anything man has done.

Other than building large settlements next to rivers :greengrin

[RyeSloan]

Global Warming showing off?

I dunno myself but you look at this year alone, all 13 days of it! Two major floods in Australia & Brazil killing many, in the winter Britain was covered in snow before that Russia had major wildfires after heatwaves, the weather certainly seems to have turned a little more extreme these last few years, what's causing it?

Has it really? Over what time period would you consider it more extreme? Maybe the fact that we have bigger than ever cities in some of the least sensible places they could be is much more likely to make these events seem 'extreme'?

I have no doubt that man is influencing the planet to some degree (see what I have doen there :greengrin) but I think we are in danger of blaming every natural event on soemthing un-natural (like mans influence).

I read recently some excellent arguments that the sun impacts our climate much more than previously thought and that the connection between solar flares and climate events/extremes is much more robust that the man made global warming theory.

[(((Fergus)))]

Has it really? Over what time period would you consider it more extreme? Maybe the fact that we have bigger than ever cities in some of the least sensible places they could be is much more likely to make these events seem 'extreme'?

I have no doubt that man is influencing the planet to some degree (see what I have doen there :greengrin) but I think we are in danger of blaming every natural event on soemthing un-natural (like mans influence).

I read recently some excellent arguments that the sun impacts our climate much more than previously thought and that the connection between solar flares and climate events/extremes is much more robust that the man made global warming theory.

Why is man unnatural?

[HibeeSince85]

Has it really? Over what time period would you consider it more extreme? Maybe the fact that we have bigger than ever cities in some of the least sensible places they could be is much more likely to make these events seem 'extreme'?

I have no doubt that man is influencing the planet to some degree (see what I have doen there :greengrin) but I think we are in danger of blaming every natural event on soemthing un-natural (like mans influence).

I read recently some excellent arguments that the sun impacts our climate much more than previously thought and that the connection between solar flares and climate events/extremes is much more robust that the man made global warming theory.

I agree with you, cities are being built in areas where you are more likely to be caught up in a natural disastar, Brazil is a prime example, building homes on soil that is so saturated that mudslides would be a high risk factor etc

The Sun also will cause changes to our weather patterns when it flares up - sure I saw that on the stargazing programme on the telly the other week.

BUT it does seem to be getting a bit more extreme, the weather has always caused disasters in my lifetime but they are becoming more and more frequent these last few years, at least i'm finding so anyway.

Here's the thing, after the Australian flood which was followed bu the Brazilian one i just thought to myself that this could start to become more and more common in the years ahead, along with more devestating earthquakes, unusual weather patterns(Russia's heatwave for example)

I'm no expert on this area(as you can probably tell:greengrin) but surely this has more to do with man that we might like to think.

[--------]

I think we'd need to record climate patterns (as opposed to weather patterns) for a lot longer than we have before we can say with any certainty the any irrevocable changes have been taking place.

This winter has been exactly the sort of winter we used to get regularly when I was young - nothing extraordinary, in fact, except that the authorities and roads services weren't geared up to deal with it.

Personally I remain entirely unconvinced of the whole concept of 'global warming' and climate change.

[Sir David Gray]

I think we'd need to record climate patterns (as opposed to weather patterns) for a lot longer than we have before we can say with any certainty the any irrevocable changes have been taking place.

This winter has been exactly the sort of winter we used to get regularly when I was young - nothing extraordinary, in fact, except that the authorities and roads services weren't geared up to deal with it.

Personally I remain entirely unconvinced of the whole concept of 'global warming' and climate change.

:top marks Completely agree.

It's hardly as if floods and heavy snowfall are a new phenomenon for the planet.

I wasn't around then but I'm pretty sure people in previous centuries had to contend with natural occurrences like this.

Like you, I am also completely unconvinced about global warming and climate change but I've no doubts whatsoever the environmentalists and climate change activists across the globe will be looking towards the floods in Australia and Brazil and seeking to further their cause and say that it's further evidence that we need to reverse the effects of climate change.

Even if climate change is happening, I do not believe that the causes behind it are anything that any of us can do anything about.

[Removed]

:top marks Completely agree.

It's hardly as if floods and heavy snowfall are a new phenomenon for the planet.

I wasn't around then but I'm pretty sure people in previous centuries had to contend with natural occurrences like this.

Like you, I am also completely unconvinced about global warming and climate change but I've no doubts whatsoever the environmentalists and climate change activists across the globe will be looking towards the floods in Australia and Brazil and seeking to further their cause and say that it's further evidence that we need to reverse the effects of climate change.

Even if climate change is happening, I do not believe that the causes behind it are anything that any of us can do anything about.

:agree: just used as an excuse to tax us :grr:

[CB_NO3]

Global Warming showing off?

I dunno myself but you look at this year alone, all 13 days of it! Two major floods in Australia & Brazil killing many, in the winter Britain was covered in snow before that Russia had major wildfires after heatwaves, the weather certainly seems to have turned a little more extreme these last few years, what's causing it?
There is also sever floods in Sri Lanka and hundred of birds falling dead from the sky which is unexplained.

[Removed]

There is also sever floods in Sri Lanka and hundred of birds falling dead from the sky which is unexplained.

I saw a program the other night that explained the birds. Can't remember the reason but its actually not that rare so it said.

[Sylar]

It's hardly as if floods and heavy snowfall are a new phenomenon for the planet.

Quite correct - the impacts of natural flooding are only becoming such an issue because more and more settlements are being built in proximity to water sources. However, the events in Brisbane are "unusual" to say the least - doesn't mean that we (as climate scientists) have already predefined these as a result of climate change. Flooding in Brazil (even to the destructive levels of this past week) is par for the course living in the tropics. The political environmentalists might jump right behind this as evidence of climate change, but their opinion matters for nothing unless it is validated by science. Climate impact studies are conducted over long time scales and not event based.


I wasn't around then but I'm pretty sure people in previous centuries had to contend with natural occurrences like this.

Again, quite right - the frequency and magnitude of those events is a different matter right enough. I read a paper quite recently in the Journal of Hydrological Processes which used a series of rigorous statistical tests which suggest that a previously 1 in 100 year flood has now become a 1 in 50 year flood. Care to explain what 4 leading professors in the field of climate science can't without considering the potential impacts of altered climate patterns?


Even if climate change is happening, I do not believe that the causes behind it are anything that any of us can do anything about.

If you've actually read any of the science and understand the basic physics of weather controls, you'd realise how difficult it is to refute the fact that our climate IS changing. Temperatures are increasing at exponential rates which enhances evaporation, which alters atmospheric moisture patterns, which alters airflows, which alters the type of weather we experience. Basic particle physics and fluid/air dynamics provide swathes of evidence which is nearly impossible to ignore.

However, I agree with your closing point - I don't believe there is a great deal we can do, but encouraging a more sustainable and clean lifestyle to reduce pollution and extend the longevity of our natural system can hardly be a bad thing - I do believe that governments rape this concept and use it to drive taxes through the roof, which completely butchers the efforts of people (like me) go to in exploring the science, causes and effects.

[Sylar]

I saw a program the other night that explained the birds. Can't remember the reason but its actually not that rare so it said.

This isn't the case of the large number of blackbirds who died of alcohol poisoning after eating the leftover mulch from a vineyard nearby producing red wine, is it?

[CropleyWasGod]

As one who is not convinced by either side of the climate change debate, I am absolutely convinced that the measures we are taking to (supposedly) combat its effects are required anyway.

Reduction in waste, recycling and respect for nature can only be good things.... in social and economic terms.... whether or not they have an effect on the climate.

[lapsedhibee]

Reduction in waste, recycling and respect for nature can only be good things.... in social and economic terms.... whether or not they have an effect on the climate.

Eh? If we'd all had 'respect for nature' we'd be sitting in caves scratching poems about daffodils on bits of slate. It's the raping and pillaging of nature that's got us where we are today (able to download Wordsworth to our i-screens and read him while we sit on our indoor toilet seats and that). :panic: