Climate Change/Mass Extinction Megathread

[Valmy]

They are doing a lot of stuff over there with storage so I think they plan a big expansion on intermittent renewables in a short period of time. Those do have the advantage of fast mobilization. We'll see. They are giving themselves a lot of time at least.

Didn't they recently kneecap incentives for solar panels, or am I misremembering?

*edit*
Residential I mean

In Texas? Not where I live but as more solar panels were going on the system lots of co-ops (remember socialism rules in energy even in the US) ended their net-metering programs and since they are monopolies lots of end users got fucked with little recourse. They were going to do it in mine, Pedernales EC, but we all bitched and they relented, this being a socialist collectively owned enterprise if there are enough of us bitching they have to do what we say. So like most things in this state for energy purposes: it depends.

However, Federal incentives remain and just got a massive shot in the arm with the recent bill.

[HVC]

Sorry I thought were still talking about California.

[Valmy]

Back about twenty years ago we used to have goals in renewable energy sources that we did have some programs to reach but we smashed through those so quickly and those programs were never renewed as wind and solar have just kind of exploded organically (well with the aid of Uncle Sam but it's not like Natural Gas plants are free market things either) since then.

[Valmy]

Sorry I thought were still talking about California.

Oh sorry. I have no idea. I work in energy regulation in Texas so I know stuff here.

They might have for much the same reason. Rooftop solar has really exploded and that is not exactly a great thing for energy companies as there gets to be more and more of it. They sell less power and it starts to complicate operations of the distribution system.

[mongers]

Near record monsoon rains in Pakistan, many districts are underwater.

[Syt]

The summer months Jun/Jul/Aug in Austria in review.

Hottest summers on records, deviation from 1961-1990 average in degrees:



Average deviation from 1961-1990 average per year:



Days with with at least 30 degrees per Austrian state capitals, comparison 1961-1990, 1991-2020, and 2022. Note for Vienna: the station at Hohe Warte is on the outskirts; the Inner City which heats up/stores heat will likely might have a higher number of 30+ days.



Austrian meteorologist society has more details: https://www.zamg.ac.at/cms/de/klima/news/viertwaermster-sommer-der-messgeschichte-1

What I find interesting is that despite the higher temperatures and less rainfall, the duration of sunshine has not changed by much.

Temp deviation 2022 compared to 1961-1990 and 1991-2022, respectively:



Rainfall deviation:



Duration of sunshine deviation:

[jimmy olsen]

"This year's flooding has affected more than 33 million people — one in seven Pakistanis — according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

"It's all one big ocean, there's no dry land to pump the water out,"

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/pakistan-minister-1-3-of-the-country-under-water-from-monsoon-floods/

[Josquius]

Some good news. Makes me question the calls for nuclear. I do ponder quite how much we could build at once if there was maximum political support, there will be a limit of available turbines and people to set them up.

BBC News - Hornsea 2: North Sea wind farm claims title of world's largest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923

[Tamas]

Some good news. Makes me question the calls for nuclear. I do ponder quite how much we could build at once if there was maximum political support, there will be a limit of available turbines and people to set them up.

BBC News - Hornsea 2: North Sea wind farm claims title of world's largest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62731923

The Hornsea 2 project can generate enough electricity to power about 1.3 million homes - that's enough for a city the size of Manchester.

Hornsea 2 has taken the title of "world's largest" from its neighbour Hornsea 1. It covers an area about four and half time the size of Liverpool. With even larger projects under construction nearby in the North Sea it's unlikely its title will last long. The Dogger Bank wind farm, which when fully built will be able to power 6m homes, is due to start coming on stream next year.

Each of the 165 turbines in Hornsea 2 stands about 200m tall from the sea level to the top of the 81m blades.

Is that really better than nuclear? Surely keeping 165 turbines each put on 200 meters tall poles operational over a two-Liverpool size area of the North Sea is more complicated than keeping a nuclear plant humming?

[Sheilbh]

I'm not sure the complexity matters too much. But they are variable - a factor right now in the UK (and I think France - not sure about the rest of Europe) is that wind is producing less than it should because we're having unseasonably still weather. From my understanding we are still nowhere near where we need to be on storage for just renewables.

Plus, obviously, we need to massively increase grid capacity and electricity generation in the next decade. Off-shore wind's a huge part of that for the UK, we should also be throwing money at research particularly into storage. But my basic view on climate is we're not in a position to be picky and should more or less do everything at once - we need, in my view, either nuclear or gas as a bridge and baseline fuel. Given everything I think nuclear's probably the better bet for the UK, it woon't be for everyone.

But it is still good news - more of this.

Edit: And on that I see Johnson's last big speech as PM is at Sizewell committing more funding (and calling for his successor to follow through) on Sizewell C - which is right. Hopefully it does create a bit of pressure on them.

[Tamas]

Edit: And on that I see Johnson's last big speech as PM is at Sizewell committing more funding (and calling for his successor to follow through) on Sizewell C - which is right. Hopefully it does create a bit of pressure on them.

I do wonder if you managed to write "Johnson" "committing" and "create a bit of pressure on them" with a straight face. 

[Zanza]

Is that really better than nuclear? Surely keeping 165 turbines each put on 200 meters tall poles operational over a two-Liverpool size area of the North Sea is more complicated than keeping a nuclear plant humming?

The main difference is that Hornsea 2 was first planned in 2016, construction started 2020 and it is now fully operational in mid 2022. It's also possible to finance and insure it privately. And yes, keeping 165 wind generators operational is much easier than a single reactor.

[viper37]

Greenland ice cap melting is now inevitable, no matter what we do.  Sea level will rise of a minimum of 27 cm (10.6").

Guardian article

There's a link to the study inside the article.

While I am safe where I live, there are some areas not too far from here where the roads will have to be moved sooner than later.  Floods that go over the roads are already getting more&more frequent every year.

And some cottages along the St-Lawrence will have to think about some additional protections from the high autumn tides within a couple of decades.

[Syt]

While I am safe where I live, there are some areas not too far from here where the roads will have to be moved sooner than later.  Floods that go over the roads are already getting more&more frequent every year.

And some cottages along the St-Lawrence will have to think about some additional protections from the high autumn tides within a couple of decades.

The town I grew up in sees more frequent flooding these days. I lived there for the first 20+ years of my life, and there was one flood that reached some of the main roads during that time. It was a major event. There was the occasional high water that flooded a meadow or two or got close to some of the dikes along the river, but none that flooded the town itself.

They had 4 or 5 such floods in the past 10 years (though a major part of that is building on and sealing of land alongside the river - former meadows that would flood first).

[viper37]

While I am safe where I live, there are some areas not too far from here where the roads will have to be moved sooner than later.  Floods that go over the roads are already getting more&more frequent every year.

And some cottages along the St-Lawrence will have to think about some additional protections from the high autumn tides within a couple of decades.

The town I grew up in sees more frequent flooding these days. I lived there for the first 20+ years of my life, and there was one flood that reached some of the main roads during that time. It was a major event. There was the occasional high water that flooded a meadow or two or got close to some of the dikes along the river, but none that flooded the town itself.

They had 4 or 5 such floods in the past 10 years (though a major part of that is building on and sealing of land alongside the river - former meadows that would flood first).

The road that gets flooded in the nearby town is, thankfully, now major road, but in the eastern part of the province, the main road, one of the two that crosses the entire province on each shore of the St-Lawrence will have to be completely rebuilt further away from the river due to constant flooding.  We're there now.  Didn't think I'd see it so soon.