Climate change. | Page 2 | Vital Football

Climate change.

I agree that we will need to change the way we live our lives but I'm afraid that the level of education, globally, is so far behind the curve that it won't work. Moreover, even in the leafy home counties where people will dutifully compost their food waste, grow their own veg, recycle, spend more to get a slightly more economical car, buy organic produce, have solar panels, attend plastic free picnics with their kids, share facebook posts with David Attenborough saying its sad when a turtle gets stuck in a six pack ring, etc, there is still a pervasive selfishness. This selfishness leads them to fly away on holiday, buy take away coffee with a plastic lid and stirrer, eat peruvian green beans in February, and have too many children.

Action is required much more drastically and much more urgently and that MUST come from governments. Guilt tripping the Smith family in St Anne's into turning the lights off when they leave the room does nothing. Moreover, regulation has to come from treaties between most (/all) nations because the costs will be large and no nation can be put unfairly at an economic disadvantage by being an early adopter of sustainable policy. Nor can we unduly arrest the development of developing nations.

There is global recognition of this but precious little action. That is reprehensible and brings shame on our species. We know better, but still do nothing.
 
You would be amazed just how much demand has been taken off the grid by switching to low energy bulbs, improving house efficiency, better washing machines etc.
Same goes for industry too.
Demand is lower now than 30 years ago, despite a bigger population which is largely dependent on electrical equipment.

Waste needs to be incinerated......that always causes a reaction, but is a great way of removing one of the major greenhouse gasses methane.
It’s a very clean process now as well.
There are lots of people working on this trust me.....
 
Feco said:
You would be amazed just how much demand has been taken off the grid by switching to low energy bulbs, improving house efficiency, better washing machines etc
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But these weren't really decisions made by individuals. Mostly eu regs that Toms wants to tear up. Or our own government.
 
in_the_top_one said:
But these weren't really decisions made by individuals. Mostly eu regs that Toms wants to tear up. Or our own government.
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Thought we were initially taking in all eu regulations into our law? No , did I get that wrong too? Ofcourse we will be free to change them after if the government of the time wants too
 
Hopefully ULA will get themselves sorted, the Delta launched and the Parker Solar Satalite on its way.
Maybe we can at last start to understand how the sun works which would be a major step forward in understanding our climate too.
It is amazing how little we know about the sun.

Of course Bozi won’t belive it’s happening.

Edit: and Bozi would be right.......try again tomorrow.
 
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When I was at school, and before they invented PC (in both senses), there used to be jokes about a Scotsman, English man, and an Irishman. One of these was the English man boasting that he would send a rocket to the moon. The Scotsman says -That's nothing. We're going to send a rocket to Mars. The Irishman says - That's nothing. We're going to send a rocket to the sun.

The Englishman and Scotsman burst out laughing and say that's impossible. The Irishman says - Of course it's possible. We'll just land at night!

Fifty years later looks like he might be right!
 
I used to know a good many of those jokes LK but I'm not game to repeat any of them on here. Over here we're in the unfortunate position of having to pay through the nose for our power at the same time as we appear to be making very little progress on climate change. Our feeble Govt is now talking again about possible solutions and it's just like bedlam. We appear to be going nowhere in either direction.

And we're not much chop at cricket either !
 
We've just had a change of Prime Minister here, we tend to do this every 2 years or so, and again there's serious talk of walking away from the Paris agreement on Climate Change. At the same time we're getting more talk from many of the South Sea Islands which are very low lying and which will be the first to suffer when the seas start to rise. All of this seems to die a very quick death until the next time when the same thing happens again.
I've come to the conclusion that nothing will happen until it's too late to help. Doesn't say much for the human race does it ?

What a shambles.
 
I could have put this under the Brexit thread but it fits under here as well so here goes.
In November Australia and the EU will enter a second round of negotiations that would end restrictions on Australian exports and collectively add A$15 billion to both economies.
The EUs position is that full implementation of the Paris Agreement is part and parcel of the trade agreement. This is obviously a clear signal that any failure by Australia to meet the climate obligations will result in serious economic consequences.
Australia was also reminded that it was the largest exporter of coal in the world.
It's worth noting that the EU is Australias second largest trading partner, third largest export destination and second largest services market. It was also Australias largest source of foreign investment in 2017.

And our new Govt talks of bringing down the cost of power as being more important than Climate Change.

As I see it that makes the score EU 1 - Oz nil.
 
Not necessarily directly related to Climate Change, but I think it’s worth highlighting this guys work anyway.
I’ve followed his channel for a few years now, basically he is trying to reverse the decline in the African Lion population by preventing canned hunting, protecting natural habitat and generally trying hard to educate people to respect other inhabitants of our rock.

Some may have seen his videos, if not they can be found on his channel at
https://m.youtube.com/user/LionWhispererTV?reload=9.

This video is the one that first caught my attention, done by GoPro.
If anyone wants an inspiring 15 minutes or so, have a watch.
Hopefully you will feel the same way as I did. Enjoy!!

 
Feco, I've been a bit short of time this last month or so but have just had a look at your GoPro video and even though I've had a permanent interest in that sort of stuff could hardly believe what I was seeing.

We've always had dogs, cats, and birds for the last 50 or 60 years so understand how possible it is to build up that sort of relationship with domestic animals but lions aren't quite the same thing.

The unfortunate thing is that this fellow in spite of his terrific motives has no chance of achieving his aim. Even over here we manage to eliminate large sections of our native fauna and flora no matter how hard we try to save them.

Looks as though the human race overrides everything regardless of the consequences and even though we can put a man on the moon we pay a heavy price for it.

Worse luck !
 
ORF, likewise we have had a multitude of animals roaming around the house throughout our married life, so I know what it’s like to live in that enviroment and the benefits it brings....well certainly to me.
To see someone like this guy being treated by wild animals in the same way my cat and dog do to me is very inspiring.
The lions are wild too, as a lady who wandered into the sanctuary area without permission found out earlier this year. She didn’t live to tell the tale.

I wouldn’t be so pessimistic about his chances of success. He has been crowdfunding to buy land for wild lions to live in, quite successfully as it happens.
A long way to go, but most definitely a step in the right direction.

https://www.thundafund.com/project/landforlions

I’ve made many trips to SA, and sadly never seen any of the Big Five in the wild. The closest I got was an ostrich in one of the Sasol plants gatehouse gardens!!! And they don’t count as a Big Five anyway.
Hopefully one day I’ll get the chance to see something more exotic....
 
Feco, happy to share your views in general but definitely not optimistic. How's he going to go for feed for his animals, does he intend to bring in other wild animals so that the lions can do their usual hunting or will he hand feed them ? That's apart from the usual stuff I tend to read about animals in Africa. His motives are terrific but I really can't see how they're going to work. Having been there you may have a better idea than me.

Just getting away from wild to domestic, when our last dog died 5 years ago my wife made the point that we could now holiday together again. Something we hadn't been able to do for a few years as we were unable to con any of the kids to live in our place while we were away, looking after the animals of course. Shortly afterwards our eldest son arrived with a dog he'd picked up at the local pound. It was a cross bred maltese terrier with with those big brown eyes that get you in quick. It took only a couple of minutes to end up on my knee and everything was settled. I still remember my sons words " I thought dad needed another dog " and of course he was right, it turned out to be the first indoor dog we'd ever had and although I'm the one who lays the law down it's my wife who spoils the dog rotten. I knew that's the way it would turn out, the holiday gets mentioned now and again but doesn't seem to be that important any more............;.......

Domestic has definite benefits.
 
Old Red Fart said:
Feco, happy to share your views in general but definitely not optimistic. How's he going to go for feed for his animals, does he intend to bring in other wild animals so that the lions can do their usual hunting or will he hand feed them ? That's apart from the usual stuff I tend to read about animals in Africa. His motives are terrific but I really can't see how they're going to work. Having been there you may have a better idea than me.

Just getting away from wild to domestic, when our last dog died 5 years ago my wife made the point that we could now holiday together again. Something we hadn't been able to do for a few years as we were unable to con any of the kids to live in our place while we were away, looking after the animals of course. Shortly afterwards our eldest son arrived with a dog he'd picked up at the local pound. It was a cross bred maltese terrier with with those big brown eyes that get you in quick. It took only a couple of minutes to end up on my knee and everything was settled. I still remember my sons words " I thought dad needed another dog " and of course he was right, it turned out to be the first indoor dog we'd ever had and although I'm the one who lays the law down it's my wife who spoils the dog rotten. I knew that's the way it would turn out, the holiday gets mentioned now and again but doesn't seem to be that important any more............;.......

Domestic has definite benefits.
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I believe his intention is to buy habitat that is currently where lions and their prey are predominantly living in the wild, and secure it to prevent loss to human activity.
It’s going to be like a wildlife reserve but without the fences.
The area he is after should be enough to enable the animals to live relatively naturally.
The money is also going to be used to educate and employ the tribes people that most often come into conflict with the lions to ensure they don’t need to kill them either.
I agree it’s a huge task, but I think it’s a step in the right direction.

Interestingly, I read a few weeks ago that one of the big mining companies in Africa had been so succesful in protecting their mining assets, that there had been a huge increase in the number of breeding elephants on their turf. So much so that they had been able to migrat a rather large number to regions that had been depleated.
They were also providing the anti-poacher squads too. Knowing mining security, I don’t think the poachers will be a to keen to risk confrontation with them. They are relatively brutal!!

We have had a dog for a few years now, rescued from Derby when her previous owner emigrated. She is absolutely central to my life, just a wonderful companion. So unless she can go on holiday, we don’t go anymore, I couldn’t and wouldn’t put her in kennels.
We also lost our cat last year at 19 years. He was also a wonderful character, and companion.
He loved the cattery, so much so that he would walk over the field from our house to it just to visit and get a treat. I think they miss him as much as we do.
The new guy is, shall we say, not quite as intelligent, but lovely all the same. I just feel we are having to teach him to be a cat!!

I have travelled so much over the years that if I never saw the inside of an aero plane again I wouldn’t be bothered. Hopefully, soon I won’t need to.
I’m happy being home these days.
 
Feco, enjoyed reading about your domestic pet setup, sounds rather similar to ours. We've always had 2 or 3 cats on the basis that they don't always have 9 lives no matter how well you look after them and I've never had the heart to put them in a cattery, much the same with the dog although we have found a local lady who is prepared to take her for a day, (spoils her badly) and obviously enjoys the experience and so she should at $30 a day.
Our last cat finally gave up 2 months ago and he was over 30 years old which is a great age for a cat. I won't be replacing him as it 's difficult and almost impossible to get a new home for a moggy. Must admit though that it seems strange to sit down after dinner and there's no cat waiting to sit in my lap, I miss that. There is some consolation in that we have a sort of share in next doors ginger cat who is as big as our dog. The dog gets on very well with cats, just as well.

Regarding Africa, I think the odds over there are stacked against the folk who are trying to help out but it would be great to get a decent result. Even so it's great to see someone prepared to have a go.
 
Getting away from domestic bliss and back on to climate change.

A few days ago our new Prime Minister was talking about this and boldly stated that not only would Australia meet its Paris obligations but it would be a piece of cake, or words to that effect.

Today I read that the French representative had heard this and stated that it was a load of garbage, or words to that effect.

The more I read and hear about this the worse I seem to feel, if it's left to politicians in general then it's never going to happen until it's too late. What a mess.
 
Old Red Fart said:
Getting away from domestic bliss and back on to climate change.

A few days ago our new Prime Minister was talking about this and boldly stated that not only would Australia meet its Paris obligations but it would be a piece of cake, or words to that effect.

Today I read that the French representative had heard this and stated that it was a load of garbage, or words to that effect.

The more I read and hear about this the worse I seem to feel, if it's left to politicians in general then it's never going to happen until it's too late. What a mess.
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I think that your Prime Minister is probably correct, certainly in regards to Australia.

You have a relatively old and neglected electricity grid system, so change is probably cheaper than repair.

You also have a lot of space, a reliable and warm climate and a relatively small infrastructure requirement. The challenges you face in Australia are therefore significantly different to those we face in Europe and particularly France which is basically nuclear for its base load requirements.

I saw an article yesterday that suggested that the local administration was intending to turn the Adelaide urban area into a giant solar power station, subsidising homeowners and businesses to install roof mounted PV panels.
The idea was to meet the building the panels where installed ons electrical requirement. Any excess is to be fed back to the grid for storage in batteries.
There still needs to be generation at night as batteries can’t support that period of time alone, but being coastal I’m sure that could be done by wind.

The numbers produced all seemed to stack up, so at face value it did seem viable.
If it can be successful, surely other cities in Australia would take note.

The next issue is cutting electrical demand in the cities, try to give future electrical storage equipment a chance.
I’m guessing that the biggest user in Australia is probably air conditioning?
Wonder what the interest would be if some technology could be installed that could save about. 60% of HVAC energy costs, with the potential to be an off grid system in 5 years?

Sorry shameless self plug!!
 
Don't pretend to know much about energy, but I did see an interesting snippet on BBC Click. The company were working on a train energy system for storing energy. Basically during the sunny hours the train was driven up a steep slope storing the energy. During the times when additional energy was required, the train comes back down the slope generating power. No idea how efficient it is!

A school has recently discovered that children learn better whilst they are pedaling, as it stops them fidgeting and also keeps them fit. Maybe as our nation gets more obese we need to introduce compulsory pedal power tv's, where if you don't pedal fast enough it goes off!
 
Feco,regarding you comments on Adelaide, somewhere recently I read a similar article on the same subject and did give it a bit of thought at the time. Some months ago now Adelaide suffered a very severe storm which played hell with their power supply and they're still trying hard to find a solution. This idea does appear to show some promise although it doesn't get much air play and I've heard nothing about it since then. Oddly enough it's only a couple of weeks since I read about the idea of our state Govt supplying the installation of solar panels on our roofs at no charge and using some form of storage which could well turn out to be feasable and also cheaper than our very high current power prices.
One problem we have here is that each of our states runs its own separate system and in the case of NSW for instance the State Govt sold off part of ours to private companies who are all now making decent profits. I might be wrong but I think that these days there's more attention made to profits than there ever was, it's certainly the case over here. Being retired I notice these things more now than I used to.
And you're right about choices in Oz, we have a long coast line, wind to spare, and surplus sunshine, probably more choice than most places in the world yet we're going nowhere.
I still think that there are solutions but it's going to be led by private means over here, our various Govts couldn't lead a horse to water.

LK, I think your train going up a hill is for the birds, and every kid I've ever known, and I've known a few, fidgets.
Tongue in cheek comes to mind.

:thumbup:
 
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