Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Stinking Hot in the UK as well
It even reached 31 degrees in Scotland!
Britain experienced its hottest-ever July day yesterday, as much of the southern half of the country sweltered in blazing sunshine.
The July record, nearly a century old, was breached at a Met Office weather recording station at Charlwood in Surrey, where just after 1.30pm the thermometer reached 36.3C, or 97.3F.
The old record of 36C (96.8F) was set at Epsom, Surrey, on 22 July 1911, and has only once been closely approached in the 95 years since then - when 35.9C (96.6F) was recorded at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, on 3 July, 1976, in another famously sweltering summer.
More...
posted by Robert @ 9:55 PM 0 comments
USA Hotter Than Ever
NOAA has announced that average temperatures for the first half of 2006 were the highest ever recorded in the US. NOAA scientists say that temperatures for January through June were 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit above average for the 20th century. Previously, NOAA said that 2005 was the hottest year on record...
One wonders what Mr. Bush's comments might be regarding this and the global warming that has not been scientifically proven while he sweats on the porch of his ranch house...
You gotta wonder what might be brewing in the Caribbean for later in the year.
Quote:
Last night, sweaty Torontonians experienced the hottest night ever recorded in the city.
The temperature went 'down' to 27 C overnight, the warmest low in Toronto since people started keeping track of these things way back in 1840, said David Phillips, a senior climatologist with Environment Canada.
Cities Conserve Power Ahead of Heat Wave
Cities Around the Country Try to Conserve Power in Anticipation of Blistering Heat Wave
With the heat index heading toward 105 degrees, (40.5 celsius) Jake Stark is cooled off by his friend Trevor Ward, not pictured, while working in the hog barn at the Illinois State Fair, in Springfield, Ill., Monday, July 31, 2006. Temperatures soared across Illinois on Monday, with the blazing heat expected to approach 100 degrees in parts of the state over the next few days. There were no animals in the barn but work is being done in preparation for the opening of the Illinois State Fair on Friday, Aug. 11. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)
Cities Broil Under Record Heat
Floyd Landis Speaks Out
By SAMANTHA GROSS
NEW YORK Aug 1, 2006 (AP)— The lights that decorate the city's East River bridges will remain off to save power as the city braces for potentially record-breaking heat one of many conservation tactics across the country during soaring temperatures from the Midwest to the Northeast.
With heat and humidity expected to reach unsafe levels Tuesday, New York City residents braced for blistering temperatures and officials warned that inhaling the city's heavy summer air could become dangerously difficult.
The National Weather Service predicted that temperatures could break the record for the date, set in 1933 when it reached 100 degrees in Central Park.
"It's going to be very difficult to breathe. The air is going to be very thick," said Nancy Figueroa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The young and the old should be very careful to stay in cool places, because it's very dangerous."
__________________ Spring Cleaning Sale email for flyer..sweet prices across the board • Many Retina's, Airs, new iMacs all on sale - great • OWC at par Trades welcome
Record heat has gripped much of the U.S. this week. The heat is currently most intense in the Desert Southwest, where yesterday Phoenix recorded its fourth highest temperature of all time, 118 F. Needles, California hit a record 120 yesterday, and the temperature topped out at 123 F in Death Valley--only 13 degrees cooler than the world record 136 F measured in El Azizia, Libya, in 1922. The heat should continue for another week in the Southwest, before a shift in the jet stream pattern brings more normal temperatures to the region late next week.
The heat is on in Europe, too
Europe has seen its own record heat wave this week. Britain broke its all-time July temperature record, with a 98 F (36.5 C) temperature recorded at the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at Wisley in Surrey. This bested the previous record for July, 36 C, set in Epsom in 1911. Belgium also recorded its hottest July day ever, 99 F (37 C) on July 19. Paris and Berlin both recorded 102 F (39 C) on July 20. However, the 2006 heat wave has caused far fewer deaths than the intense heat wave of 2003 that killed over 35,000 people. The 2006 heat wave has claimed 20 victims in France, 2 in Spain, and 4 in Germany and the Netherlands. Much of the reduced death toll can be credited to better preparation learned from the 2003 heat wave.
The heat, combined with drought, has reduced the amount of cooling water available to cool the nuclear reactors in Germany and France, forcing those plants to cut back on electricity production. In Italy, hydroelectric power generation has been reduced due to the drought.
Warmest January through June ever in U.S.
The National Climatic Data Center reports that the June 2006 was the 2nd warmest June on record, and the first half of 2006 was the warmest in the United States since record keeping began in 1895. The average temperature for the 48 contiguous United States from January through June was 51.8°F, or 3.4°F above average for the 20th century. Globally, June was also the 2nd warmest June on record, and the period January through June was the 6th warmest such period on record.
__________________ Spring Cleaning Sale email for flyer..sweet prices across the board • Many Retina's, Airs, new iMacs all on sale - great • OWC at par Trades welcome
Sadly, the argument over global warming is now very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped.
We've made a terrible mess of our planet, and a few people have profited immensely from those actions. Now we will all have to pay the price... and continue to pay for at least a century.
The questions we now face are how can we mitigate the damage we've done, how can we stop doing more damage, and who should pay for the costly measures we will have to take in order to survive in the future we've created?
What do you want to bet that the oil billionaires, and corporate greed-heads who got us into this mess won't be stepping up to the plate when we need some financial support to make changes?
What do you want to bet that the oil billionaires, and corporate greed-heads who got us into this mess won't be stepping up to the plate when we need some financial support to make changes?
We live in interesting times.
Times where people don't take responsibility for their actions?
People like to use energy and go nuts when the issue of price comes up. Who would expect government to do anything under those circumstances? They represent our hypocrisy.
This rests solely at our feet for not taking responsibility and enabling the government to run with real solutions instead of selling us fake ones that felt good, but didn't change our behaviour (because that would **** us off).
Identifying scapegoats has helped keep us locked into a mindset that there's some easy solution (that the scapegoat is keeping from us) thus allowing politicians to sell us plans that won't do enough (or anything).
Identifying scapegoats has helped keep us locked into a mindset that there's some easy solution (that the scapegoat is keeping from us) thus allowing politicians to sell us plans that won't do enough (or anything).
The truth in your statement is about the inherent weakness of politicians when it comes to issues of this sort.
Case in point... driving down past Stoney Creek regional building and they have a fountain running today... call me crazy but on the hottest day of the year, when the grid is at full capacity in terms of usage... the last thing we need to see is a fountain (unless you are kids cooling off in it... which this is not that kind of fountain).
Woe to the party that would actually put in place mandatory conservation regulations because it might inconvenience us. Not that it is a silver bullet, but there is so much technology that could be used to control/regulate usage patterns. This is low hanging fruit compared to building net new power plants.
Mandate electronic thermostats, Outlaw (or place huge sin taxes on them) incandescent lights, offer more programs such as the one which reduces air conditioning usage during peak times, Offer financing and/or tax incentives to promote people or neighborhood cooperatives to put up their own wind turbines, etc...
I have to agree with Beej that our politicians are weak in regards to these issues, pandering solutions which make putting lipstick on a pig look like intensive plastic surgery.
Someone should build a super heat pump to pump heat back into the earth's crust. Then our next problem would be getting rid of all the CO2 in the air. Then...
1. We need to drive less, my commute to work involves an electric trolley bus and a Skytrain, all powered by hydroelectricity. While yes it's far from an environmentally sound source of electricity, something is better than nothing. Even if you had to ride in a diesel bus or train, something is better than nothing. Ride a bike, walk, anything. Even if just once or twice a week
2. Get in the notion in the winter time of conserving heat rather than producing heat. Get that big blanket to keep you warm at night, wear warm clothing during the day, install radiant heaters in the bathroom to keep you warm after a bath.
3. In the summer time, exercise at night so you can remain as cool as possible during the day, reducing your need for air conditioning.
4. Use blinds to block out sun, open windows strategically to get a cross wind blowing through your home.
Anyone else with any energy conservation ideas?
In closing, I do welcome high energy costs because it's making everyone think twice about energy consumption/heat production. I only hope and pray my children and grandchildren will have a decent planet to live on...
__________________
Home: 2006.5 iMac 20"
Me: 2010 MacBook Pro 13", iPad Mini Wifi 32GB Black, iPhone 4 16GB Black
Wife: 2011 MacBook Air 11.6", iPhone 4 16GB White
Are you backed up??? If so, why? Psyllium Fibre is not free but will do wonders!
Times where people don't take responsibility for their actions?
And some people's actions bear much more responsibility than others. How about the oil companies who spend millions for lobbyists and junk science to successfully keep much of the public confused on the issue? There are those who have disproportionate access to power who have promoted their own agenda for years. The average person even now is too distracted, busy and wilfully misled to even know what to think or how much their personal choices affect everything.
While I agree it is ultimately the responsibility of the earth's citizen's to step up and ensure that we leave a sustainable future, it's too easy to deflect the blame from political and business leaders who know better. Much of the affected masses won't even know there is a problem until it's far too late to do anything. Unfortunately many of those leaders are still duplicitously telling the majority of the earth's citizens to carry on as always. All that the minority of the public who have been trying to get their voices heard on energy and environmental issues for decades can sadly say now is "We told you so."
__________________ The price of apathy toward public affairs, is to be ruled by evil men. -- Plato.
Heat.....this is scary...and worldwide
Spring Cleaning Sale email for flyer..sweet prices across the board • Many Retina's, Airs, new iMacs all on sale - great • OWC at par Trades welcome
For sale:
Linear Mode
