Temperature Rising

[mic-d]

I remember at school in sydney way back when it exceeded 50 one day and we were speculating if we might get sent home.

High 40's were common back then, but as Bushmiller said official figures are taken under specific conditions, and done that way for good reason.

I'm old and fat now and had for some years wondered if that was why brisbane summers kill me. 2 january's ago I was at picnic point, my great aunt was passing away. I was on long sleeves black shirt and trousers and wandered from the home to the shops, about an hour walk at 1pm. It was over 40 degrees, heat spell all over the news. Didn't bother me a bit. Yeah I was hot but it was dry. No worries. Up here even high 20's kill me. It stays hot all night, all day for 6 to 9 months of the year and the humidity is suffocating. It just grinds you down.

I'll take snow anytime. It's easy to rug up and get warm. In the heat there is no escape but air conditioning. You can't even go to the council pool. Apart from the crowds the UV will fry you in no time.

I am hoping to move to the south coast in a year or so, once I've got some things sorted. Can't stand brisbane anymore.

I agree, Brisbane west in Jan-Feb is unbearable.

[wheelinround]

In stark contrast to yesterday since lunch time its started to drizzle now steady rain and 23C.

They call it Globull warming they fertalize it as much as they can.

[wheelinround]

Damian

I have to agree with you there. Humidity is the killer. You'll have to get the wind in your hair. On one of these perhaps?

Attachment 250274


Regards
Paul

I remember those days got my licence just as helmet laws were being argued with in 12 months it was law.

[mic-d]

In stark contrast to yesterday since lunch time its started to drizzle now steady rain and 23C.

They call it Globull warming they fertalize it as much as they can.

'Globull warming' Wheelin'? All three of the major political parties in Australia list climate change actions in their policy how do you rationalize that if it is bull?

[wheelinround]

'Globull warming' Wheelin'? All three of the major political parties in Australia list climate change actions in their policy how do you rationalize that if it is bull?

Not just politicians here but world wide. What do they intend doing about it nothing as it will kill taxes, employment and their life pensions.

For 25 year or more we have had one after the other scientists and political party making commitments about Global Warming.

Yet lets see Gillard's gov advocates all schools should have airconditioning. From start to finish including the use of this will warm the planet even further this is just one example. The power required to run just ads to oh yeh Globull warming let alone production, shipping, instillation and maintenance of.

Its a double edge sword.

[mic-d]

Not just politicians here but world wide. What do they intend doing about it nothing as it will kill taxes, employment and their life pensions.

For 25 year or more we have had one after the other scientists and political party making commitments about Global Warming.

Yet lets see Gillard's gov advocates all schools should have airconditioning. From start to finish including the use of this will warm the planet even further this is just one example. The power required to run just ads to oh yeh Globull warming let alone production, shipping, instillation and maintenance of.

Its a double edge sword.

I agree! You're right to be bloody cynical of all politicians. We should have started doing something about it 20 years ago!

[Sebastiaan56]

There are new technologies emerging all the time Wheelin. Notice the lack of brown outs in Sydney last Friday? Partially the result of expensive bill expanding infrastructure but also lots of roof solar panels.

[Pat]

Well the network was busy, but was able to handle most of the spike in load. So much for the gold plating the pollies keep harping on about. People would rather have power in extremes of temperature, then the aging network collapsing under the strain.

[wheelinround]

There are new technologies emerging all the time Wheelin. Notice the lack of brown outs in Sydney last Friday? Partially the result of expensive bill expanding infrastructure but also lots of roof solar panels.

New technology first solar heating of water I knew of was in Liverpool at a home on a water tank that was back in the 60's the guy was looked on by the government and fellow scientists as a nutter.

What you say is sort of true could it be they didn't announce the areas that did suffer brown outs.

Considering only a few weeks previous there was so many situations where suburbs had no power for hours due to temps ( I think a local cooler blew up here) not even close to that and the same number of solar panels were in place then.????

[Bushmiller]

Partially the result of expensive bill expanding infrastructure but also lots of roof solar panels.

Sebastiaan

I am a big, big fan of solar power and believe it will be the way for the future. I also have solar PV panels on our roof, but I'm afraid that the impact of solar power on the grid is minimal for the moment.

There are several reasons for the improved continuity of supply.

The eastern seaboard is connected via the grid. This doesn't mean that Queensland can supply Victoria, but there is an interconnection. Just out of interest the interconnector between QLD and NSW could almost supply SA's total needs, but it doesn't do that directly. It would supply NSW, NSW supplies Victoria and Victoria then supplies SA.

Secondly, the improved predictive estimates of power demand mean that generators endeavour to be online during peak demand. It's the time when they stand to make some money so it is in their interest to be available.

Thirdly, there is increased generation capacity as many gas fired plants have been built in recent times. For the moment they have their fuel almost given to them, but that won't last once the facility to export it via the pipelines currently under construction eventuates. We still hear rumours of not enough power. My observations are this is totally untrue. The power industry is not without it's problems (ageing infrastructure and failure to maintain lines would be one) but capacity is not one of them.

Lastly, as you have pointed out, the increased cost of electricity at the retail end is starting to encourage consumers to conserve power. However,when the mercury climbs toward 40 all thought of saving energy go out the window and the air cons are given a workout.

Brown outs and black outs are more a feature of electrical storms and line failure today than the inability of the generators to meet demand.

Regards
Paul

[wheelinround]

Sebastiaan

I am a big, big fan of solar power and believe it will be the way for the future. I also have solar PV panels on our roof, but I'm afraid that the impact of solar power on the grid is minimal for the moment.

There are several reasons for the improved continuity of supply.

The eastern seaboard is connected via the grid. This doesn't mean that Queensland can supply Victoria, but there is an interconnection. Just out of interest the interconnector between QLD and NSW could almost supply SA's total needs, but it doesn't do that directly. It would supply NSW, NSW supplies Victoria and Victoria then supplies SA.

Secondly, the improved predictive estimates of power demand mean that generators endeavour to be online during peak demand. It's the time when they stand to make some money so it is in their interest to be available.

Thirdly, there is increased generation capacity as many gas fired plants have been built in recent times. For the moment they have their fuel almost given to them, but that won't last once the facility to export it via the pipelines currently under construction eventuates. We still hear rumours of not enough power. My observations are this is totally untrue. The power industry is not without it's problems (ageing infrastructure and failure to maintain lines would be one) but capacity is not one of them.

Lastly, as you have pointed out, the increased cost of electricity at the retail end is starting to encourage consumers to conserve power. However,when the mercury climbs toward 40 all thought of saving energy go out the window and the air cons are given a workout.

Brown outs and black outs are more a feature of electrical storms and line failure today than the inability of the generators to meet demand.

Regards
Paul

Not to mention what materials and energy it takes to produce the solar equipment. One decent hail storm and oh crap

[damian]

Damian

I have to agree with you there. Humidity is the killer. You'll have to get the wind in your hair. On one of these perhaps?

Attachment 250274


Regards
Paul

I have a collection of rattly old italian bikes but I was robbed some years back so now prefer to keep the details mum.

I find riding in this doesn't help, and the likelyhood of me doing something dumb and killing myself possibly goes up. A migration south is the answer IMO.

Are we about to start the whole global warming debate again ? I don't think I have the energy....

[mic-d]

Are we about to start the whole global warming debate again ?

Why not we can start with this:

I have been surveying the websites of corporations with coal mining interests in Australia and petroleum corporations in the Global 500 list (richest 500 corporations in the world) for what they say about climate change policy.


Corporations with interests in Australian coal:
AnlgoAmerican links climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) on their sustainability page here: Approach and policies - Anglo American Australia
Xstrata links climate change and GHG on their sustainability page here: Xstrata / Sustainability / Climate change
I found no mention of climate change policy on any other coal mining company in Australia.


Global 500 corporations. Seven of the top eight are petroleum/energy companies:
The worlds biggest corporation according to Global 500 is Royal Dutch Shell, and they link GHG and climate change on their environment page in big bold colour here: Climate change - Shell Global


The second biggest corporation is Exxon Mobil according to Global 500 and they link climate change and GHG and discuss policies including supporting a price for carbon on this page: Managing climate change risks


The fourth biggest corporation is BP according to Global 500 and they link GHG and climate change on their sustainability page: Greenhouse gas emissions | BP




The fifth biggest corporation is Sinopec Group according to Global 500 and they link GHG and climate change on this page:
China Sinopec


The sixth largest corporation is China National Petroleum and they link GHG and climate change on this page:
http://www.cnpc.com.cn/en/environmen...nment/climate/


The seventh biggest corporation is State Grid according to Global 500. Though not a petroleum/coal company, it is in the business of electricity transmission and they link green development and GHG reduction on this page:
Welcome to State Grid Corporation of China_SGCC Releases the White Paper on Green Development,the First Among Chinese Corps

The eighth biggest corporation is Chevron according to Global 500. They link GHG to climate change on this page:
Climate Change | Global Issues | Chevron


I stopped here. I did not highlight these companies to draw conclusions about the quality of their environmental citizenship. I wanted to show that these corporations, with huge investments in fossil fuels and with ostensibly much to lose in doing so, have publicly acknowledged and embraced the science behind the GHG component of climate change that sceptics continue to deny - ask the sceptics you know to rationalize that. Why then are we even continuing to debate the link between GHG emissions and global climate change?

[RETIRED]

Are we about to start the whole global warming debate again ? I don't think I have the energy....

No!

[bluntlarry]

you can swat if you like. ha,ha,