Official Global Warming thread (merged)

I don't want it to get to this point, but what do you think geoengineering will look like? Don't you think we're already geoengineering now, just without a plan? Hell, the main argument I've been seeing in this thread is that we can't affect the climate despite pumping out all of this extra CO2. If so, what's the worry about us taking it out, or putting sulphates in the upper troposphere? We can't change the climate, right?

Who exactly is we?
 
The see the regulatory writing on the wall just like Norway's fund did. The fiduciary duty of the company is to preserve and grow share holder wealth.

BP and Shell (others will follow) are trying to manage the transition so it favors them the most.

Coal will suffer before Nat. Gas. Greener eneregies will become even more incentivized and these companies will ride that wave. Also in their favor is that people still are nuke phobic.

Fossil fuel reserves will not be abandoned, the price of use will just go up but until there are real, meaningful alternatives the primary fuel will be fossil, the carbon pricing will be a post fuel producer cost and these energy companies will go merrily on their way.

This excerpt from your latest article shines the light. Each of those 3 reasons is in line with maximizing shareholder wealth which is what the company is legally obligated to do unless it's shareholders approve a change in mission.

It's like when your bank goes "green" by eliminating paper statements. You can go on the belief they suddenly have become environmentalists or you can realize that doing so results in substantial cost savings for them.

I agree that they see the writing on the wall, but I think it is quite likely that vast fossil fuel reserves will ultimately be abandoned – especially if we reach the climate deal in Paris this year that Shell and BP support.

Leave fossil fuels buried to prevent climate change, study urges

No I don’t think big oil CEOs are becoming environmentalists, but I also don’t think this is just about gaining an edge in the (short-lived) natural gas market. Exxon is the biggest natural gas giant and they opposed climate action (and openly funded climate denial) longer than anyone…
 
So is your objection political rather than scientific? If so, that is a scary 1984esque precedent.
I think that's abundantly clear. SandVol (and many on this board) are so fiercely anti-government that they reject any and all solutions involving governments. So rather than having an honest discussion about potential solutions, they choose to attack the science. It’s a shame because there really are palatable solutions even for conservatives.

But good luck having that discussion... SandVol's party are about as edumucated on the political aspects as they are the physical science
 
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January second-warmest on record globally

January picked up right where 2014 left off: with unusually warm temperatures recorded around the world.

Last month was the second-warmest January on record globally, trailing only 2007, according to data released Thursday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


The U.S. continued its Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ways in January. There was freakish heat in the West and more typical winter chill in the East. The Western warmth was far more pronounced that the cool was in the East, however, as seven states had one of their 10 warmest January months on record, while no states were top 10 coldest.

In all, 3,499 daily warm temperature records were broken in January, compared with 775 cold ones.

"Winter seems to have completely forgotten about us out here," Kathie Dello, deputy director of the Oregon Climate Service at Oregon State University, said during a press call with reporters Thursday.

Ski areas are shut down due to the lack of snow in Oregon, she said, while people are mowing their lawns and flowers have blossomed.

California is also seeing its warmest and driest winter on record. As a whole, the U.S. had its 24th warmest and 18th driest January.

Yep, the weather has been beautiful this winter by Seattle standards :shades:
 
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I agree that they see the writing on the wall, but I think it is quite likely that vast fossil fuel reserves will ultimately be abandoned – especially if we reach the climate deal in Paris this year that Shell and BP support.

Leave fossil fuels buried to prevent climate change, study urges

No I don’t think big oil CEOs are becoming environmentalists, but I also don’t think this is just about gaining an edge in the (short-lived) natural gas market. Exxon is the biggest natural gas giant and they opposed climate action (and openly funded climate denial) longer than anyone…

The linked article is primarily about coal which is not the business of BP/Shell/Exxon. To the extent they have coal reserves the shift just moves them to other parts of their product portfolio. Much of the "leave in the ground" for gas and oil are in areas that are not likely part of their (or a major part) of their portfolios. (China, ME)

In effect, they could support this since it will impact their competitors' reserves much more than theirs and still be making the right business decision.

Regardless of the true level of danger from FF use, we are hurtling rapidly towards assuming the danger is catastrophic. As a result, these companies are trying to manage the trajectory.
 
Natural gas has no baseload competition with no nuclear or coal. The current trajectory is very beneficial for Exxon, BP, etc. Solar currently provides less than 1% of our grid power. Hydro is tapped out. I guess it's competing with wind.
 
Short lived natural gas market?? Funniest thing I've read in a long time. With natgas at $2.5 and its huge reserves, it's a huge threat to solar and wind. Natgas will be used for the next 100 years.

In Louisiana they are building a $15 billion natgas to liquids plant.
 
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The colder winters britain has been experiencing are due to global warming according to these scientists
Global warming 'will give Britain longer, colder winters' as melting sea ice plays havoc with weather patterns | Mail Online


A few years ago Global Warming scientists were saying the oposite:
Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past - Environment - The Independent

does anybody actually believe the global warming garbage, except the people that are making billions from this myth? LOL

Dear OP,

It's now 2015 and we're still waiting for Florida to be underwater. I'll check back in 2020
 
I agree that they see the writing on the wall, but I think it is quite likely that vast fossil fuel reserves will ultimately be abandoned – especially if we reach the climate deal in Paris this year that Shell and BP support.

Leave fossil fuels buried to prevent climate change, study urges

No I don’t think big oil CEOs are becoming environmentalists, but I also don’t think this is just about gaining an edge in the (short-lived) natural gas market. Exxon is the biggest natural gas giant and they opposed climate action (and openly funded climate denial) longer than anyone…

Chuckle.
 
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Why Computer Models Can’t Predict the Earth’s Future Climate | Power Line

Now I imagine Bart has the scoop on Dr. Essex. What was he involved with, tobacco? DDT? jet contrails?
 
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ipcc-models-predict-future.png,qresize=580,P2C431.pagespeed.ce.pTwlKPz1iMMoETMdPESb.png
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Why Computer Models Can’t Predict the Earth’s Future Climate | Power Line

Now I imagine Bart has the scoop on Dr. Essex. What was he involved with, tobacco? DDT? jet contrails?

Forgot the rest of the paragraph:
In sum, a strategy must recognise what is possible. In climate research and modelling, we should recognise that we are dealing with a coupled non-linear chaotic system, and therefore that the long-term prediction of future climate states is not possible. The most we can expect to achieve is the prediction of the probability distribution of the system�s future possible states by the generation of ensembles of model solutions. This reduces climate change to the discernment of significant differences in the statistics of such ensembles. The generation of such model ensembles will require the dedication of greatly increased computer resources and the application of new methods of model diagnosis. Addressing adequately the statistical nature of climate is computationally intensive, but such statistical information is essential.

http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/505.htm
 
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The issue with Dr. Essex is that he has no peer-reviewed papers on climate change whatsoever. Can't really evaluate research or ideas if one doesn't put any forth.
 
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If you like reading about scandals, this one could get good:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/u...-climate-change-researcher-Wei-Hock-Soon.html

One of the names they invoke most often is Wei-Hock Soon, known as Willie, a scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who claims that variations in the sun’s energy can largely explain recent global warming. He has often appeared on conservative news programs, testified before Congress and in state capitals, and starred at conferences of people who deny the risks of global warming.

But newly released documents show the extent to which Dr. Soon’s work has been tied to funding he received from corporate interests.

He has accepted more than $1.2 million in money from the fossil-fuel industry over the last decade while failing to disclose that conflict of interest in most of his scientific papers. At least 11 papers he has published since 2008 omitted such a disclosure, and in at least eight of those cases, he appears to have violated ethical guidelines of the journals that published his work.

Looks like there is money in climate change after all.
 
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