Author Topic: The Official Climate Change Thread  (Read 54692 times)

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #315 on: July 02, 2012, 07:17:12 PM »
Tofu: it helps me help the planet. And turns me into a woman.

Soy is garbage. I've always lamented the fact that it was associated with vegetarianism.  :lol

Monocrops like soy are probably not that great for the environment though. Another food I've cut from my diet is palm oil which contributes heavily to deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia. A lot of vegetarians/vegans end up consuming loads of palm oil not knowing of its disastrous environmental impact.

Offline Riceball

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #316 on: July 02, 2012, 07:51:15 PM »
Good on ya, Australia! :tup
In that context, the correct pronounciation is Straya...but I forgive you :p

But yeah, havent noticed any price flow throughs yet. Waiting for my electricity bill though :lol
I punch those numbers into my calculator and they make a happy face.

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Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #317 on: July 02, 2012, 07:53:52 PM »
Oh wow, it's charging through at all levels? I thought you meant industry-only regulation.
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Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #318 on: July 03, 2012, 05:05:54 AM »
Yo America, crazy weather we've been having lately! Really freaking hot too...weird, right?
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Offline Rathma

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Offline Riceball

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #320 on: July 03, 2012, 07:25:10 AM »
I'll explain how its working tomorrow mornin', if you'd like
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Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #321 on: July 03, 2012, 07:40:44 AM »
Sure, tomorrow morning Straya time?
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Offline ohgar

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #322 on: July 03, 2012, 08:29:08 AM »
I don't get why climate change is either a political or a religious issue, other than in the sense that the far right wants to politicize science. Would a thread on evolutionary biology go in P/R as well?
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Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #323 on: July 03, 2012, 12:30:36 PM »
Yes and I believe it has happened in the past.
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Offline Implode

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #324 on: July 03, 2012, 12:34:11 PM »
It's been pointed out before that this is actually Political, Religious, and Serious Discussion of Science board.

Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #325 on: July 03, 2012, 01:01:33 PM »
Also AFAIK none of the contributors to the thread so far has disputed that climate change exists so much as its extent, severity, and what to do about it.
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Offline Riceball

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #326 on: July 03, 2012, 06:30:01 PM »
And therefore, its a political issue :)

So, Straya's carbon pricing is an interesting policy I guess. Its technically an ETS, although in the first three years the price is fixed (starting at AU$26/tonne and escalating by 4% per year I think), and its only directly paid by 280 of the countries biggest emitting entities at this stage. After the three year fixed price period, it becomes a full blown cap n trade - so I guess then anyone who wants carbon permits can pay for them. Its mostly going to hit power generators, waste dumps, utility companies, some chemical manufacturers and some local councils (that have waste dumps); so the direct impact is minimal. However it flows through the economy (hopefully I don't have to explain why), and everyone is waiting to see how it affects broader prices. An anecdote we've already heard from a food manufacturer is that a chemical gas used in his refrigeration system will see its price rise by 234% by the end of the month (so $4,000 a unit to $14,000 a unit) as a result of the policy.

Which, hey, is doing its job because its raising the relative price of carbon-intensive goods and services. I dispute why Australia, of all places, should lead the way on pricing carbon given our comparative advantages, at least in an industrial sense, lie almost exclusively in carbon-intensive raw materials such as coal, agriculture, fertaliser and the like. All we can hope for now is that the world gets into gear, otherwise we will be putting our economy at a self-inflicted competitive disadvantage for years.

I punch those numbers into my calculator and they make a happy face.

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Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #327 on: July 04, 2012, 05:25:42 PM »
Sounds good, keep us updated. Meanwhile in Michigan, it's over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and we have severe thunderstorms with marble-sized hail coming down. Either we're looking at the effects of climate change, or the true blue apocalypse.
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Offline Riceball

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #328 on: July 04, 2012, 11:20:36 PM »
That must be some giant-ass ice forming in the clouds to make it all the way down!
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Offline GuineaPig

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #329 on: July 05, 2012, 05:08:16 AM »
That must be some giant-ass ice forming in the clouds to make it all the way down!

That isn't how hail is formed.  Hail usually only occurs in large thunderstorms because it requires extremely strong updrafts and a vertically extended cumulonimbus cloud (usually 6-7+ km in height, optimally to the top of the troposphere).  Rain droplets get caught in a strong updraft in the centre of the cumulonimbus, and then once they get to a high altitude they become supercooled, meaning they are below 0 degrees C and will freeze on contact with particles called "condensation nuclei."  These frozen raindrops will then collect other supercooled raindrops forming hailstones, until the strength of the updraft can't hold their weight and they fall to the Earth.  That's why bigger, more violent storms tend to have bigger hailstones, even if the temperature on the ground is warmer.
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Offline Implode

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #330 on: July 05, 2012, 01:36:33 PM »
Awesome. Thanks for the meteorology lesson!

(being completely sincere)

Offline Super Dude

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Re: The Official Climate Change Thread
« Reply #331 on: July 05, 2012, 02:07:03 PM »
Here's a nice little piece about how carbon taxes are actually an economic boon, and can increase personal freedom (with no credit given apparently to Australia though, sorry):

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/opinion/a-carbon-tax-sensible-for-all.html?_r=1&hp

In another piece of news, around four million Americans are without power as of last Saturday because of these extreme weather events, and that number is probably way up from then, given there are over 200,000 such cases in my hometown alone.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2012, 02:34:19 PM by Super Dude »
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