Global Warming

This post may meander a little. I hope you don't mind.

I just watched Burn Up (BBC2). A two-part conspiracy thriller involving global warming, the late great Don S. Davis (who played General Hammond in Stargate SG-1) and a bunch of evil Americans who don't care about climate change. Mediocre really, with an overly emotive first part and perhaps an hour too long. Had some interesting facts though.

So, it's got me thinking about global warming and the solutions thereof. A few questions have come to mind.

Firstly, the completeness of the data. Of course, there's the ice floe things. How reliable are they? However, there's other areas. One cannot extrapolate for an entire planet from a small iceberg, at least I don't think so.

We've got a massive lack of data from the Sahara and places like that. The desert may well be expanding there, but what was it like in the past? European settlers arrived about 500 years ago and I'm not sure what the Yoruba (or the other tribes) were like in the map-making field. Can anyone help?

One that stands out. The highest recorded temperature in Earth history was in El Azizia, Libya, recorded at 58 degrees Celsius (136 degrees Fahrenheit). In 1922. None of the individual continent records is after 1962. Since the global temperature is increasing and that, apparently, would result in more extremes of climate, why have these records not been broken? Surely, we have the technology and we'd note any such records broken.

The reliable data only exists from 1850- 20 years into the Industrial Revolution. Back at this point, we have to rely on anecdotal evidence. Take a look at this graph. It seems that the historians don't agree with each by a small, but possibly signifcant margin. While the global temperature is certainly increasingly...

OK, water shortages. I understand the difference between salt water and fresh water, but surely solar-powered desalination plants aren't that built. Humanity can build the Magnitogorsk blast furnace, so can't it build desalination plants like that.

Nuclear works. 24/7, in a way that other stuff doesn't. Once we've fully sorted out the waste disposal problem (very big holes seem to be the best way to go), I think we need to increase it, although not too much. Solar and other stuff has its place. Maybe not wind farms. I don't like wind farms, unless you can make them into windmills. That's not a half-bad idea...

Kyoto's supposed to be this wonderful thing, but the number of states who have met their targets can apparently be counted on two hands. How does one monitor carbon emissions anyway? Surely a big forest fire would release a massive amount of C02 as well. It's an estimate, isn't it? Which leads me onto the massive fires created after the Tungska impact 100 years ago. That's got to have done something long term. Also Mount St Helens.

Biggest disaster of the 21st Century so far? The 2004 tsunami. Caused by an earthquake. Cyclone Nargis is only about half of that.

Biggest mass death of the 20th Century? World War Two.

I do think that Homo sapiens are a major cause of climate change, but I'd like to see the evidence.

Comments and answers to my questions are welcome. I have comment moderation on, but I'll let more or less anything reasonable through.

Glasgow East

I'm not going to deny it, that was an awful result. Labour should not be losing seats like that full stop.

The incomparable Alun Ephraim (who has blogging privileges here) describes things in more depth in this thread. Join the site too, it's fun.

Al is right about the Scottish Labour Party. We've dominated the place so long, we've got fat and lazy. This will not do.

The biggest blow is in the psychological field. I'd say that the in-fighting and calls for Brown to resign will increase, which is not a good thing. Especially as it is now silly season (considering this warm weather, expect more bikini-clad students to grace certain newspapers).

Let's hold our horses for a while- at least until after Conference.

Edit- Al currently goes by the username "Sibboleth" on that site.

ITV can't do a thing right at the moment

On 26 March 2005, Doctor Who began its revival on BBC1. Since then, ITV have only managed to beat the ratings for that most excellent show with one thing- the final of Britain's Got Talent.

I can't remember a seriously good new ITV show in the last few years. Even BGT is something you watch with liberal use of the fast-forward button. Maybe Michael Grade ought to realise that rubbish game shows are not the way to go.

If you're going to do a game show- bring back Interceptor.

Return of the blog

I've decided to start blogging here. It's been a number of months since I've been here (less than I thought though).

Recently came back from a holiday in New York and Chicago. I have some advice for the New York Subway people- signpost your stations better.

Chicago is a far nicer city than New York, although apparently there were a lot of shootings recently. I was in the downtown area, so I missed those. Saw some awful French circus thing at Navy Pier when I was there. Human carillon or something like that.

I'll be posting as and when. Expect comments on Obama, Chip Man (as I call McCain), life in Blighty and other interesting things.

A quick plug. AJJE Games. RP site I've been on for a few years. Registration required, but you can see parts of each main area.