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Being Outside Could Become Deadly In South Asia, Says Study (go.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from ABC News: Venturing outdoors may become deadly across wide swaths of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh by the end of the century as climate change drives heat and humidity to new extremes, according to a new study. These conditions could affect up to a third of the people living throughout the Indo-Gangetic Plain unless the global community ramps up efforts to rein in climate-warming carbon emissions. Today, that vast region is home to some 1.5 billion people. While most climate studies have been based on temperature projections, this one -- published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances -- is somewhat unique in also considering humidity as well as the body's ability to cool down in response. Most of those at risk in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are poor farmworkers or outdoor construction laborers. They are unlikely to have air conditioners -- up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity. In some areas that have been deforested for industry or agriculture, they may not even have very much shade.

For the study, the researchers carried out computer simulations using global atmospheric circulation models under two scenarios -- one in which the world comes close to meeting its goal of curbing emissions to limit Earth's average temperature rise to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels, and one in it continues emitting at current levels. Both scenarios play out dangerously for South Asia. But with no limit on global warming, about 30 percent of the region could see dangerous wet bulb temperatures above 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) on a regular basis within just a few decades. That's nearly half a billion people by today's population levels, though the full scale could change as the population grows. Meanwhile, 4 percent of the population -- or 60 million in today's population -- would face deadly highs at or above 35 degrees C (95 degrees F) by 2100. But if the world can limit global warming, that risk exposure declines drastically. About 2 percent of the population would face average wet bulb temperatures of 31 degrees C (88 degrees F) or higher.

240 of 416 comments (clear)

  1. There's your problem! by EzInKy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity.

    Fix this issue and your problem will be solved.

    --
    Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    1. Re:There's your problem! by millertym · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's like someone having terminal cancer and just taking pain killers to 'fix' it. You have the fix the root of the problem, if you really want things to be fixed. That means halting global warming. And that means drastic action to limit Carbon and Methane emissions by humanity's machines and realistically a healthy dose of atmosphere engineering at this point to pull those molecules out of the air.

    2. Re:There's your problem! by EzInKy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      So you'd rather have the infinitely easier problem to remedy of providing electricity to everyone be put on the back burner in order further some political goal of yours? Tell me, just how many people would you have die to further your agenda?

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    3. Re:There's your problem! by shilly · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How does this solve the problem for people working outside, exactly? You know: farmers, construction workers, police officers etc.

    4. Re:There's your problem! by schleimkeim · · Score: 4, Insightful

      they are in the lower caste, no one cares.

    5. Re:There's your problem! by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Informative

      The wet bulb temperature is above 31C most of the fucking time in Vegas. How many die? Hmmmm.

      No it isn't, the average annul wet bulb temperature is 50.7 F (10.3C) and the average in July is 65F (18.3C). Don't forget Las Vegas is dry so there is considerable cooling by evaporation

    6. Re:There's your problem! by Kiuas · · Score: 4, Informative

      Fix this issue and your problem will be solved.

      Well, no. First of all, fixing access does not mean fixing affordability. You can build power stations and power lines all you want to get those people access, but that doesn't mean those people can suddenly afford the price of an AC unit and the cost to run it.

      According to United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG) programme 270 millions or 21.9% people out of 1.2 billion of Indians lived below poverty line of $1.25 in 2011-2012.

      (wiki)

      A quick google search for 'air conditioning price in India' tells me that the low end AC units sold start at around 19 500 rupiees, which at today's exchange rate is just slightly above 300 dollars.. So that's almost a year's salary for most of the poorest 200-300 million Indians to just afford the machine. And that's just the acquisition cost. The cheaper ones are usually ones with higher power consumption (this one which I used as an example for the price has a 3 star rating), but we shouldn't be too far off even with a 3 star rating for a 1 ton machine if we assume a power consumption of about 1 kWh.

      The one good thing is that increasing warming makes solar cheaper and cheaper. According to this story from last year the prices have at times shrunk to 2.62 rupiees per kWh, roughly 4 US cents.So if you run the machine for the hottest part of the day, say from 10 to 17, that's 28 cents a day.

      So for those living in poverty they need to spend about 1/5th of their income just to be able to operate the machine if they somehow managed to save enough money to actually buy one in the first place. Given that people with children especially tend to have other notable expenses, it's unlikely that many at those income levels will even be able to acquire such a machine. Granted, increasing supply will further bring prices down so this estimate is not fully reflective of the future, but I'm using these figures to highlight that 'fixing this issue' is just ever so slightly more complicated than just building a few solar plants and some power lines.

      --
      "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
    7. Re:There's your problem! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      Vegas isn't particularly hot either. It only averages low 30s for one month of summer, and 10-year maximum temps in the low 40s (both in July).

      Draw a horizontal line through the center of Australia, the coastal averages on both sides of AU will be hotter than that, let alone the desert in the middle.

    8. Re:There's your problem! by Gavagai80 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      If you fix the issue of 25% of Indians not have electricity, you've just increased global warming a few more degrees by making them contributors.

      --
      This space intentionally left blank
    9. Re: There's your problem! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I know you're joking, but I still think Darwin should create an award system for moving there. I could even imagine a cool sounding name for it.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    10. Re:There's your problem! by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      And since it's trivial to crack an egg, it should be quite doable to create one.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    11. Re:There's your problem! by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Terminal cancer can't be fixed - that's why it's called terminal. So you give the patient painkillers and try to maximize patient comfort for the last days. The painkillers are not supposed to "fix it".

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    12. Re:There's your problem! by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      That's like someone having terminal cancer and just taking pain killers to 'fix' it. You have the fix the root of the problem,

      Too late... We're already locked into killer temperature in some parts. Sure, solving the root will help other people and prevent the problem getting worse- but essentially, we knew what was happening in the 80's and almost no one did anything. Now it's too late to come out of this unscathed.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    13. Re:There's your problem! by hord · · Score: 1

      No... that's not quite right:

      "one in which the world comes close to meeting its goal of curbing emissions to limit Earth's average temperature rise to 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels"

      The goal is to revert to a time we have little connections with because it was obviously the "golden age".

    14. Re: There's your problem! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Oh come on, you can't possibly be that stupid.

      Challenge accepted!

    15. Re: There's your problem! by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      I could even imagine a cool sounding name for it.

      That will quite literally be the only cool thing about it

    16. Re:There's your problem! by XXongo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ...up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity.

      Fix this issue and your problem will be solved.

      It won't be "solved," but, indeed, giving access to electricity would indeed be a useful thing to do for many reasons.

      That's like someone having terminal cancer and just taking pain killers to 'fix' it. You have the fix the root of the problem, if you really want things to be fixed. That means halting global warming. And that means drastic action to limit Carbon and Methane emissions by humanity's machines

      The clear solution to the problem of lack of electricity in remote parts of India is photovoltaic solar panels. For a country with a million villages that aren't on the electric grid-- and a country with a very unreliable electric grid-- the distributed nature of solar arrays is a good feature.

      And solar panels are now cheap enough that it actually is economically feasible to use them for this.

      and realistically a healthy dose of atmosphere engineering at this point to pull those molecules out of the air.

      Sorry, you're moving out of science and into science fiction. Carbon dioxide is only 400 ppm in the atmosphere. That's enough to absorb outgoing infrared, but ppm levels are hard to distill out of the atmosphere.

      It is much, much easier to sequester CO2 from emissions, where the concentration is high. Once you've diluted it into the atmosphere, it's not easy to remove.

      Massive plantings would do it. But you have to then sequester the plants afterwards, since if they then decay there's no point.

    17. Re: There's your problem! by XXongo · · Score: 1

      Plus also overpopulation is a problem.

      One of the best-understood ways to reduce population growth is to improve the standard of living.

      The grandparent post is actually accurate: fix the issue and the problem is solved-- or, at least, you're on the way to solving it.

      Let them die I say, they're not furthering humanity's progress anyway. It'll make space for us to actually make use of their resources rather than just sit on them.

      I'll ignoring the anonymous trolling part of your post.

    18. Re:There's your problem! by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The one good thing is that increasing warming makes solar cheaper and cheaper.

      What is the basis for that (ridiculous) statement? The increased warming isn't coming from an increase in solar radiation. You can argue that "global warming" makes solar a more attractive power source, even if "marginally" more expensive to produce than fossil fuels. But "climate change" is not going make solar "cheaper and cheaper".

      --
      There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
    19. Re: There's your problem! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      The Charlie.

      --
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    20. Re:There's your problem! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      It rains if there are lots of particulates for water droplets to form around.

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    21. Re:There's your problem! by XXongo · · Score: 2, Insightful
      I've noticed that deniers are all completely obsessed with Al Gore.

      Actual scientists, on the other hand, never mention him; he's not really very important.

      What is it was you guys and Gore? You need somebody new to obsess about since Princess Di is dead?

    22. Re:There's your problem! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Trees are a decent way to remove carbon ( in the form of CO2 ) from the atmosphere. Wood is about 50% carbon.
      [partial sarcasm] Fight global warming - buy at your local lumber yard.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    23. Re:There's your problem! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      If you fix the issue of 25% of Indians not have electricity, you've just increased global warming a few more degrees by making them contributors.

      Unless you fix it with renewables, in which case they will contribute less because right now they're burning anything they can lay hands on.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    24. Re:There's your problem! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      What is it was you guys and Gore? You need somebody new to obsess about since Princess Di is dead?

      Most deniers know very little about science or physics. But they do know politics, and they do know how to castigate.

      So obsessive demeaning over Mr. Gore is to them, a valid means of debunking AGW.

      I'm waiting until the US congress has a vote to repeal Ohm's Law.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    25. Re: There's your problem! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      In advanced societies, garbage trucks pick up trash. Harvesters and other machinery take care of many parts of agriculture. Those vehicles can be air conditioned. Also, there's this strange phenomenon called "night", when temperatures drop and the hot sun isn't beating down on you.

      India's government is massively corrupt. That corruption is part of the reason that the spread of technology is slow and extreme poverty continues.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    26. Re:There's your problem! by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

      Hydropower and solar power are close to warming-neutral, assuming that carbon is driving global warming. Electricity will tend to reduce the burning of dung and peat for heat, reducing carbon in the air and reducing really nasty pollution.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    27. Re:There's your problem! by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1, Insightful

      and don't forget...Pokemon Go.

      Seriously, global warming is coming. It's inevitable. We can only try to mitigate it as best as possible. By reducing CO2 emissions. Drastically. Now.

    28. Re:There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Trees in India. That's funny.

      Trees in India are an endangered resource.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    29. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Do not underestimate this one, for it has transformed from a low 6 digit UID to an AC within mere hours.

      Next step, who knows... DNC chair?

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    30. Re:There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Wait, hold my beer while I make some popcorn...

      This should be good.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    31. Re:There's your problem! by Joce640k · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Meh. Third world problems.

      --
      No sig today...
    32. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      I mow my lawns, with a push mower, in 46C heat (Phoenix). Men work at landscaping in that heat. People even hike, bike, and run in that heat, but

      It's not just what you're doing, it's how you do it.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    33. Re: There's your problem! by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      (On an actual "Darwin Award")

      I could even imagine a cool sounding name for it.

      The Charlie.

      I give it a 6 out of 10.

      The "Chucky-D" gets my vote. :D

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    34. Re:There's your problem! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      That's like someone having terminal cancer and just taking pain killers to 'fix' it. You have the fix the root of the problem

      Unavailability of electricity is a root of the problem for heat-related deaths in India; It is too hot (EVEN NOW for at least some people), so Electricity and ample cold water/Ice or A/C have changed from mere conveniences to life necessities to stay in that area -- people need access to tools to mitigate.

    35. Re:There's your problem! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      Massive plantings would do it. But you have to then sequester the plants afterwards, since if they then decay there's no point.

      It depends on the nature of decay. Aerobic decomposition produces less GHG output than anaerobic. And if the rate of decomposition is rapid, then you'll wind up with soil, and there's plenty of point to soil. Our farming practices deplete it, so we could really use more of it if we want to re-green the earth.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    36. Re:There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      He very much did. He mocked the idea of providing electricity to the remaining 25% by equating it w/ taking painkillers. Since one doesn't take painkillers for cancer.

      Also, solving global warming is several orders of magnitude more difficult (if not impossible) than providing electricity to everyone. As it is, India has expanded heavily its electricity production w/ less than 25% coming from OPEC, and the bulk of it coming from biomass, hydroelectric, wind and solar. It recently signed an agreement w/ the US to buy more of its energy from US. They need to get it distributed to all the areas in Northern India (incidentally, how is the southern half of the country off the hook?) and provide air-conditioning to most of the people there. And look into automating the farming.

    37. Re:There's your problem! by syn3rg · · Score: 1, Insightful

      When the loudest voices proclaiming AGW as a crisis have an actual carbon-footprint lower than mine, I'll pay attention to what they say. But as long as they all jet off to exotic locations on private jets to preach to me why I should give up my automobile and air conditioning, I'll simply consider the whole thing a racket to shake down governments and corporations.

      “What you do speaks so loudly I can't hear what you say.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

      --
      The contents of this message have been doubly encrypted by ROT13
    38. Re:There's your problem! by slazzy · · Score: 1

      Maybe they could burn some coal there to run air conditioners? That should fight climate change!!

      --
      Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    39. Re:There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1, Interesting

      "political goal"?
      The survival of technical civilization is at stake.
      There is nothing political about solving the only real problem, to wit, coal profiteers buying orange-haired liars, since the alternative is droughts, floods, desertification, famine and war.

    40. Re:There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Unless the mean temperature rises, then, less rain, more steamy swamplike conditions

    41. Re:There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Not with MY grandchild's life you don't!!!!
      Can't solve but CAN mitigate?
      THEN MITIGATE you selfish swine!

    42. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      They can't because they can't afford to pay for it. If they are lucky they can afford a piece of cloth to wear and replace it when it's worn out and a piece of bread each day.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    43. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 2

      Well, it's what fever for the human body do - it can slow down bacteria and make virii less agressive so that the immune system can kill off the diseases. In this case humans are the disease for earth.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    44. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Raising temperature may lead to more rain. But not necessarily where you want it and when you need it.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    45. Re: There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      That's one of the things that came out of the Trump-Modi meeting. It would make perfect sense - to reduce India's dependence on OPEC oil, where India is one of the few remaining customers, and where a number of those countries support Pakistan. Also, India would be under pressure to reduce its trade surplus w/ the US, and that's one of the things that's valuable to them.

    46. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Less humans in the world would solve the problem.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    47. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Make room, make room: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...!

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    48. Re:There's your problem! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      No, this denier is uninterested in AlGore. Much more interesting to Michael E Mann twist in the wind refusing to show his data to a Canadian court. Way more fun to the claimers explain just how hard it is to measure the actual temperature anywhere, reliably, over a period of time.

      These arguments are neither new nor exceptional. Some believe, some do not.

      Ready to talk actual science? Tell me the law tha Mann broke. But I don't care, because you are now venturing into tjh area where you belive that AWG can be put to a vote. Perhaps we need to change the speed of light via a vote as well.

      Enough of that. Let's talk some physics, if you are capable.

      I'll start with a simple question. Do you believe that there are certain gases that cause energy retention based upon their prevalence in an atmosphere?

      If you do, do you believe that the retained energy just goes away, and has no effect?

      If no, explain the 100 percent reproduceable effect, one in use every day around the World, and likelwise proven in thousands of science fair projects with a plausible differential analysis of why it only seems to be happening, but really isn't.

      We'll start there, as I have no doubt at alll that you don't understand the basics and will need to fall back upon silly attacks like Your irrelevant Canadian court nonsense. AGW is not a thing that is proven or disproven via court cases. It does'nt matter if Michael man is caught killing someone.

      It's a well known law of physics, and arguing against it is right up there with the earth being created in 4004 BCE, or vaccines cause autism, or crystal resonances running the universe.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    49. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      But today it's the cause for extreme pollution and traffic in the major cities.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    50. Re:There's your problem! by HeckRuler · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well... he didn't suggest we NOT give painkillers to those with terminal cancer. This would be one of those "in addition to" sort of things. But his analogy sucks. You don't fix terminal cancer. Kinda... by the definition of "terminal". And yeah, killing the pain and giving them a comfortable send-off is about all you can do. I'm.... pretty sure the Earth doesn't have a "terminal" case of warming. If it does, then anything we do, good or bad, is pretty pointless.

      But I get what you're saying: "Doing anything about global warming is just a political agenda". Like it's just politics for politics sake. That kinda sucks. And there IS a lot of that. But it'd be wrong of me to simply dismiss the policy of my opponents as "just a political agenda". I fully understand why they want to kick out all the illegal immigrants, or have a strong military, or disrupting the governments South America that got too cozy with communism. There are concern and fears. Some of them legitimate, some of them bullshit.

      Sure, "We need to do something about global warming" is on the agenda of the democrats/liberals/progressive/Not-Your-Team. Whatever. But the reason it's on that list is because there's a legitimate concern that we're setting ourselves up for a massive clusterfuck where a ton of people die. Is "Drastic action to limit carbon and methane" on that agenda? You know, as a "what we going to do about it?" sort of thing? Eh, there's not a consensus on that. If you want to attack or call to question THIS specific plan, go for it. That sort of debate is useful and informative. At least when it's not low effort "so how many people do you want to die?" sort of partisan hacks. Better debate topics would be "How do you get China to play along?" and now "How do you get Trump to play along?" and "How do you convince others to conserve while you yourself are wasteful? Because I'm looking at you USA's CO2 per capita". And that loops back around to the article with "Meanwhile India is really green per capita... But oh look they might start dying from it".

      Anyway, none of that doesn't exclude Indian rural electrification. That will help, but it won't solve the bigger problem.

    51. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      A lawn in the desert is a waste of good water in an area where you need to save water.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    52. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Air conditioners also warm up the outdoor air.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    53. Re: There's your problem! by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Less humans in the world would solve the problem.

      Don't worry, at this rate, there will be a lot less humans in the world... probably within your lifetime, and mine

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    54. Re:There's your problem! by Holi · · Score: 1

      Sure, it's just as easy as unscrambling an egg.

      --
      Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
    55. Re:There's your problem! by LordKronos · · Score: 2

      Infinitely easier? The claim is that being OUTSIDE is going to be deadly and you think AIR CONDITIONING (which is the context in which electricity was mentioned) is the solution?

    56. Re: There's your problem! by Jesus+H+Rolle · · Score: 1

      Not with grandkid's life.
      Can't solve but CAN mitigate?
      THEN MITIGATE, swine!

    57. Re:There's your problem! by omfglearntoplay · · Score: 1

      Trees = shade and less CO2.

      Shade is a huge factor in hot, humid places. Take it from me, living in the mid south US. In the summer, older homes or country homes with big shade trees allow you to do things outdoors even when it is very hot. No way can you do that on cement with no shade.

      When I lived 10 miles away in an apartment in the city, I couldn't do any outdoor activities during the afternoons in the summer. At my suburb home now, it is fine if I stay in the shade.

      I had friends from areas of the world not far from the regions they are talking about in this article, where it is (by the thermometer) hotter and wetter than even in the state I live in, but when they lived in the apartments next door they said it felt much hotter here.

    58. Re:There's your problem! by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      uuuuuuuuhhhhh, gonna have to call you to task on a couple of those.

      w/ less than 25% coming from OPEC

      I mean, first off, who the hell powers their grid off of Oil? You know, that thing that Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries... export. You burn oil for electricity only where you need to run generators, because you can't get power there otherwise. That accounts for You are wrong about it when it comes to oil.

      But the spin you're trying to apply here lies in the fact that no, India does not import COAL from OPEC. They get their coal imports from Indonesia and Australia.

      That's disingenuous at best because....

      and the bulk of it coming from biomass, hydroelectric, wind and solar.

      ... Their generation is still ~60% coal. (As opposed to the USA's 40%. But that's a bullshit comparison when you throw in Natural Gas.)

      The bulk of their power still comes from coal. But they ARE doing better than the USA in the renewable energy field, with ~30% being renewable as opposed the the USA's 12%. All my whining about statistics aside, they're doing great. Mad props to them. (Also their cheap satellites are damn impressive, bravo guys).

      It recently signed an agreement w/ the US to buy more of its energy from US.

      "energy". Is that oil or coal? Because both are fungible resources that they'll get from wherever is cheapest and typically that means closest. It's why no one really cares about how the USA imports oil from Venezuela even while our leaders threw a hissy fit at each other. One is buying, one is selling. And why the Iran embargo was pretty moot when it came to their oil.

      And look into automating the farming.

      It's happening. John deer is selling them a lot of combines and tractors. Mechanizing/Automating, same story different year.

    59. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      You do know that Michael Mann sued Dr. Tim Ball, a Canadian climatologist, for libel. This statement was issued by Dr. Ball in February:

      "Michael Mann moved for an adjournment of the trial scheduled for February 20, 2017. We had little choice because Canadian courts always grant adjournments before a trial in their belief that an out of court settlement is preferable. We agreed to an adjournment with conditions. The major one was that he [Mann] produce all documents including computer codes by February 20th, 2017. He failed to meet the deadline.â

      Mr. Mann broke no law. He's merely refusing to offer any further proof of his assertion that Dr. Ball libelled him. Normally the truth would be an absolute defense, but in this case Mr. Mann chose to not employ that element.

      It's a civil case. Mr. Mann is at risk of losing the case he brought because he is instilling to show his source data, which was based on taxpayer funded research. The judge didn't accept that, claiming the data is neither private nor confidential, merely hidden.

      But Mr. Mann doesn't want to have it examined.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    60. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Please forgive the typos. 'Instilling' was meant to be 'refusing'

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    61. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      True. I'm probably taking out the back lawn

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    62. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Oh, to pave it with concrete and make more patio space.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    63. Re: There's your problem! by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Astroturf time?

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    64. Re:There's your problem! by Chrisq · · Score: 1

      If the term "wet bulb" isn't obvious to you then the Wikipedia Wet-bulb temperature article will explain it.

    65. Re:There's your problem! by arzach95 · · Score: 1

      We have to assume first world responsibility about third world problems when we are the main cause of them

    66. Re:There's your problem! by Tamerlin · · Score: 1

      How precisely do you think that air conditioning is going to help the exterior temperatures?

    67. Re:There's your problem! by WallyL · · Score: 1

      You're right. We developed the tools for electricity.

    68. Re: There's your problem! by soundguy4film · · Score: 1

      You're forgetting that creating the electricity for those people also will increase carbon output unless it's all renewable. So fixing global warming is the real fix either way you look at it.

    69. Re:There's your problem! by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      In more ways than one- giving them electricity will reduce atmospheric carbon output from coal-based cooking fires, thus reducing global warming

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    70. Re:There's your problem! by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      What about carbon and methane emissions from a bunch of people still forced to cook over FIRE instead of ELECTRICITY?

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    71. Re:There's your problem! by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      Southern half of the country is less affected by global warming due to a major heat sink off shore known as "the Indian Ocean"

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    72. Re: There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      So Trump LIED when he promised to make U.S. Energy Independent?
      Selling the oil to India instead of lower U.S. Gas prices is not how we become "Independent"!
      CUT THOSE PROFITS RIGHT NOW TRUMP!!!

    73. Re: There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      How does selling energy to other countries fly in the face of energy independence? The US needs to lower its trade deficits wherever it can, and a good place to do it is w/ energy, which other countries want. The fuels obtained from fracking, as well as offshore reserves in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere are sold within the US, as well as abroad.

    74. Re:There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      When did I even begin to suggest that anyone buys coal from OPEC? I was talking about buying oil from OPEC, which India does to fuel their cars. For electricity, it's as you said a combination of coal - which they have plenty of themselves - and renewables. Point I was making is that with all of these, oil is increasingly used exclusively for cars, and even there, trends like hybrids and others would drive down the demand.

    75. Re:There's your problem! by SandWyrm · · Score: 1

      Carbon and methane are the only problems? What about massive Gulf-Stream diverting oil spills and the ongoing cluster---- that is Fukushima in Japan?

      What? There aren't any profits for the Bankster class in fighting real, measurable pollution, punishing the companies that do it, and coming up with long-term cleanup and sequestration solutions for real toxic waste?

      Better to start markets in carbon offsets! Nobody has to do anything! The public will feel better! And the banksters will make millions!

    76. Re:There's your problem! by dddux · · Score: 1

      I can bet I saw "/sarc" after your second sentence. There must be.

      --
      "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
    77. Re:There's your problem! by shilly · · Score: 1

      Not only a non sequitur, but such an unspeakably stupid piece of rhetoric that people all over the world are laughing at you. Well done!

    78. Re:There's your problem! by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      How will providing access to electricity help, for example, an agricultural labourer working out in the fields keep cool? Are you going to air condition the fields?

      OK, so you're going to turn the whole of India's agricultural production into greenhouse growing areas, air-conditioned to a comfortable temperature. And the construction crews who actually build those greenhouse food factories (and install the cables to power the air conditioning)? You're going to have them actually running live cables, carrying a reel of cable under one arm and an AC unti under the other arm?

      I'll be generous and say that you didn't think through your comment before posting. 6-digit UID - you've been around long enough to have no excuses for that sort of mental laziness.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    79. Re: There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Less fuel in the U.S., higher prices in the U.S..
      Here we thought you understood capitalism.

    80. Re: There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      In that case, our trade deficit w/ every country should be a good thing. More foreign products we consume => fewer products for Chinese & others to consume, so higher prices there, lower prices here. So why is everybody - Republican AND Democrat - in favor of us exporting more?

    81. Re:There's your problem! by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      But oh look, they're dying from being "so green".

    82. Re:There's your problem! by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      When did I even begin to suggest that anyone buys coal from OPEC?

      Oh, jesus, my bad. In that case, you're not only wrong, You're not EVEN wrong.

      BEHOLD:

      " I was talking about buying oil from OPEC, which India does to fuel their cars."

      vs

      " India has expanded heavily its electricity production w/ less than 25% coming from OPEC,"

      Notice that those two statements swap out a RATHER IMPORTANT DETAIL. Now, if it was a simple typo, hey, that's fine. I'm just correcting it in case anyone were to take that as fact. And, since, you know, electricity production is the topic of discussion, the fact that India's OIL supply comes from somewhere isn't even an issue.

      Point I was making is that with all of these, oil is increasingly used exclusively for cars, and even there, trends like hybrids and others would drive down the demand.

      . . . when has oil not been used primarily for cars? ...And what does that have to do with the electrification of India?

      And driving down the demand for oil.... Doesn't save farmhands and construction workers from dying from heat exhaustion.

    83. Re:There's your problem! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Oil can sometimes be used for electricity, and probably already is, in OPEC countries. Not sure that it's much the case in India. But it is used variably in trains, which run on both coal and diesel. Which is a bigger pollutant than cars.

      I thought that the less oil or coal that's burned, the less carbon dioxide, and therefore, less heating. Although the excessive heating is more a result of a much higher population in Northern India

    84. Re: There's your problem! by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      As best I can make it out, Dr.Ball provided his data, and challenged Mr. Mann to prove it false or wrong. Mr. Mann, unwilling to provide his data, has left the court with the choice of accepting Dr. Ball's data as undisputed, or requiring Mr. Mann to provide his data as rebuttal. Mr. Mann refuses to. He is at risk of losing his suit for defamation, since he offers no proof that Mr. Mann is wrong... The possible contempt charge is unlikely to proceed, as losing the suit will be punishment enough...

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    85. Re: There's your problem! by AutodidactLabrat · · Score: 1

      Non SEquitur

  2. Weather by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As long as authoritative people call global warming "Just Weather"...

    As long as we vote said authoritative people into office...

    Our hope lies in education. Lots of it. Regardless of anything.

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
    1. Re:Weather by Rockoon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Exactly.

      India has a portion of its population that is larger than the total United States population that lives on less than $1/day. They have nothing but the tattered rags on their bodies.

      What these people don't need is some douche bag westerner preaching to them about the people that might die, someday, due to global warming. Hundreds of thousands of them die every year right now due to poverty and the solution to their poverty is cheap energy. Those same douche bag westerns preaching about global warming actively prevent it. They are actively killing real people right now.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    2. Re:Weather by EzInKy · · Score: 1

      I'm not blowing off global climate change, but when a person goes into vfib, you concentrate on convertating him normal sinus rhythm. What caused the dysrhythmia in the first place can be researched later.

      --
      Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
    3. Re:Weather by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

      Education? Can't have that - said authoritative people would be voted right out. Clearly education must only be attainable for privileged kids.

    4. Re:Weather by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Why are you comparing outdoor temperature to wet-bulb temperature? That makes no sense.

    5. Re:Weather by Bongo · · Score: 1, Interesting

      DDT, for example.

      But of course, nobody can report absolutely true figures about what are large global systems of systems. Maybe the DDT ban was worse than Hitler, maybe not.

      Point is, there are simply no guarantees against human fallibility, and that includes human experts. There may not be limits to growth, but there are limits to knowledge and what we actually know for real, rather than what we think we know, even using all the best experts in the world.

      And when an expert comes out and says that his or her field got it all wrong, they become controversial and attacked by others.

      "We can't be sure", is perhaps the only truly modern insight.

      Another example I heard of recently, Allan Savory says he and colleagues got it wrong when they decided that elephants were over-grazing and so 40,000 or some obscene number of elephants were shot on his advice. And today he realised, oh gee we got it wrong.

      And now he thinks that actually, humans have a place in the ecosystem and food chain, and ruminants have their place, and if we let ruminants do what they do, which is graze on poor land, then we could solve climate change, and humans would eat what they are designed to eat, which is mostly meat.

      So of course now you can find articles which attack his character.

      Lots of people seem to think that humanity is facing some sort of crisis of selfishness. I tend to feel that humanity is facing a crisis of intellectual integrity. People just cannot stand that someone with a different view might actually be right.

    6. Re:Weather by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Post truth bullshit.

      Your post has everything. Question the very nature of knowledge, create doubt about everything, pretend that we can't be reasonably certain about anything. The unwritten implication is that your gut is as good as any consensus of experts, and if you gut says lower taxes and don't worry about pollution then that's equally valid.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re: Weather by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Postmodernism destroyed the Enlightenment values the West was founded on. It won. Is it surprising to see people adopting its arguments? They'd be ridiculed otherwise. Enlightenment values led to bigotry and white supremacy having scientific backing. Let's help it into the grave and move on with our society. It's a bit late to start crying over spilled milk now.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    8. Re:Weather by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      You should let the environmentalists know. You know the same ones that said "Golden rice is poison" which led to the deaths of thousands of people by starvation, and continues to do so. Not to mention preventing thousands of people from developing serious diseases from the inclusion of simple "added vitamins."

      Pure fucking cancer, because that's what their view was based on. Not science, but their gut.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    9. Re:Weather by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

      That's what the wall is for.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    10. Re:Weather by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      That's because his standard is dim bulb.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    11. Re: Weather by rickb928 · · Score: 2

      "Enlightenment values led to bigotry and white supremacy having scientific backing."

      And the concepts of preexisting, unalienable human rights, even for women and children, self-determination, and objective science.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    12. Re:Weather by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Because at 46C wet-bulb temperature means nothing to an outdoor laborer. It's bloody hot.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    13. Re:Weather by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Dang. So I've got to move north about 1,000 miles, take up subsistence farming, sell wood off the woodlot, keep sheep and goats, make cheese, and put the wife to knitting and sewing. And make soap and candles from the stock I have available. Beekeeping will be a new challenge for me when I wear out the screening I brought.

      And split a lot of wood for the winter. Migrating south during cold season will only encourage the squatters.

      Sure.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    14. Re: Weather by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      Postmodernism destroyed the Enlightenment values the West was founded on.

      The rise of Postmodernism and Solipsism in the former Weimar Republic gave us a society that embraced Hitler and became Nazi Germany.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    15. Re: Weather by crafoo · · Score: 1

      Just because some topics cannot receive funding, have no change of being published, and have to be carefully talked around while frantically careful not to "hastily" draw the "wrong conclusions" from the data.... doesn't mean these ideas are not correctly. In the scientific sense.

    16. Re: Weather by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Reason is Eurocentric and has been used to dominate other people, so we must go away from reason in a more subjective direction.

      Criticizing Enlightenment thought has become fashionable across the political spectrum. For the past several decades, more and more academics have called reason into question, especially the sort of rationalist worldview that emerged in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

      This is especially true among left-leaning, postmodern, and post-structuralist thinkers. Reason justified white supremacy and gave it scientific backing. You're getting dangerously close to the arguments of the alt-right and if I were you I'd change my tune.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    17. Re:Weather by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      Greenhouse effect was Tyndall 1859, CO2-mediated warming was Arrhenius 1986. It's cool you know what Newsweek was reporting in 1970 but that has nothing in particular to do with the science at the time. The writing was on the wall after Keeling. There was some hope that particulates would mask the signal, but modeling showed this not to be the case, and now we have the temperature record to confirm it.

      That you are spreading ignorance is deeply immoral.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    18. Re: Weather by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Arrhenius must have been 1886: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    19. Re: Weather by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Correction, 1896.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    20. Re: Weather by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      *facepalm* Yes, and I even noticed the error before looking up the date on Tyndall's experiments. You are correct. Full paper is here for anyone who is interested. Further context.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    21. Re: Weather by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

      And what global warming research was being done before 1960?

      Well, the idea that atmospheric gases absorbed heat at different rates was established by Tyndall in the 1850s. Arrhenius developed the idea of CO2-mediated climate change in 1896, and although this work was more or less discredited upon release, there were a number of papers published in the earlier half of the 20th Century which implied that [1] the Earth's climate was not inherently stable, and [2] that raised doubts about the ability of the Earth to absorb excess carbon. These gradually reestablished AGW as a mainline scientific theory. The "nail in the coffin" was Keeling 1959, which was the first paper to establish a baseline observation for global atmospheric carbon and subsequently show that the level was climbing.

      Are you claiming global warming was being studied in the 1880s, not just the mechanisms? Really?

      Climate change has been an ongoing topic of research for almost 200 years. I'm not sure what you're referring to by "not just the mechanisms". We do have many temperature records from that time. We could talk about what was known at various different periods, if you liked.

      It's deeply immoral to perpetuate the hoax that is AGW. The more the data is studied, the less trustworthy the proponents' manipulations appear.

      There are no credible alternate theories. We would need another mechanism to transfer heat to space besides radiation. I don't get the impression you have a strong grasp of the fundamentals of this theory.

      --
      Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
    22. Re:Weather by Bongo · · Score: 1

      Post truth bullshit.

      Your post has everything. Question the very nature of knowledge, create doubt about everything, pretend that we can't be reasonably certain about anything. The unwritten implication is that your gut is as good as any consensus of experts, and if you gut says lower taxes and don't worry about pollution then that's equally valid.

      Ok let me back up a little -- yes postmodernism went up its own arse and used "deconstruction" as a nihilistic weapon. I have read enough books about PoMo to tell you in exquisite detail where they went wrong, and how to critique it ( it starts by noting that PoMo contradicts itself at the most basic level -- it claims that no truth is universal, no truth can apply to all cultures, and yet that very claim is itself a universal claim being applied to all cultures -- and from there you can take the issue further, and yes, get into this notion that, if there are no truths, then I can just trust my own gut, because who is to say that my own gut isn't as good or valid as anyone else's "truth", so PoMo nihilism leads straight to narcissism). So I totally agree with you there, PoMo is too often bullcrap. (There is also a healthy version of PoMo but you almost never see it, meanly because most people aren't smart enough to get it ). Also I'm not from USA so the whole Trump "fake" stuff is risible from here. I mean I feel bad for America in many ways.

      And back to the point I was trying to make, which someone else got. The point isn't to pretend that something doesn't exist, nor pretend that it DOES exist -- for example, I asked someone who worked as an environmentalist, something to do with carbon trading, and she was quite earnest and had left Canada as I recall and travelled the world looking for a good job helping the environment. I asked her, what if it turns out that CO2 isn't the main problem after all, and actually other pollutants are worse and we should be focussing on them?

      And she said, "it doesn't matter if CO2 isn't a real problem, because by reducing CO2 you force a reduction in production, and force a reduction in consumption -- it's about reducing greed."

      So in her view, the scientific truth of CO2 didn't matter because the overall project was to cut greed and consumption and so on. This is what I mean about the public message not being honest nor being done with integrity. And why things like, "there is an incontrovertible scientific consensus" sound much more like a PR message than an honest description of how science works.

      I trust science because it is self-correcting -- and that self correction will happen, eventually. But nobody can say WHEN the correction will happen if it indeed needs to happen. So that does't mean that I stop getting in airplanes (not that I fly often) nor stop going to the doctor (not that the last diagnosis was actually right, and the bad diagnosis could have killed me) -- I trust science with the caveat that there are no guarantees, and that it is an ongoing process.

      One field may be running with gold standards of evidence, and another field may be running with a lower standard, often just because the thing they are studying is so much harder to be empirical about. But within a field, the social standards and connections get set and "peer review" may increase quality, or it may enforce group-think. And who can say, given that others are simply outsiders? "Not in the field!" people can say. A good scientist can tell you that, when scientists see a result they don't like, they ignore it. And it is a judgement call because maybe the study had some hidden screw up and the result is spurious, or maybe it is a result which overturns what was thought to be true, which then makes things very complicated to see.

      As one of the replies said, often enough the science gets it wrong, at least often enough that nobody would be foolish enough to proceed on the conviction that it can't be wrong, or that the possibility of it being wrong is marginal to infinitesimal. At this point

  3. Siberia looks cool by aberglas · · Score: 3, Funny

    I met a Russian back packer from Siberia who thought global warming was a great idea.

    1. Re:Siberia looks cool by geekymachoman · · Score: 1

      I was just about to say.
      Also, Greenland would be quite nice.. and it's largely uninhabited.

    2. Re:Siberia looks cool by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2, Informative

      Also, Greenland would be quite nice.. and it's largely uninhabited.

      Once the ice pack melts, Greenland will be largely underwater. Much of the actual land is below sea level.

    3. Re:Siberia looks cool by leathered · · Score: 1

      Also Greenland isn't as big as most people think. Thanks to the Mercator projection used on most world maps it appears to be twice as large as Australia, when in reality it has less than a third of its area.

      --
      For all intensive porpoises your a bunch of rediculous loosers
    4. Re:Siberia looks cool by aevan · · Score: 1

      What about majority of say, northern asia and upper (haha, okay, all of) canada? Pretty sure the Shield is above sea level, being the remains of mountains. That said, no clue on the soil quality.

    5. Re:Siberia looks cool by jandersen · · Score: 3, Informative

      The current estimates are that the inland ice will take millennia to melt, so you will have to be patient. Same goes for the arctic tundras - there will be a long time in which underground permafrost is melting, making the ground unstable, swampy etc. I take it you've never actually been to the high arctic? It does in fact get surprisingly warm in many areas during the summer, at which time you will experience the main feature of tundra + warm temperatures: insects in their hundreds of billions, all want to get to know you very intemately. Put in another way: if you walk around with your mouth open, you'll end up putting on weight. I don't know about you, but I would probably not want to live there.

    6. Re:Siberia looks cool by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      Much of the actual land is below sea level.

      Where in the world did you get that idea? Unless the parts of Greenland I've been to just happen to be completely outside the norm, your claim seems to be total bullshit.

    7. Re:Siberia looks cool by currently_awake · · Score: 1

      Canada wins from global warming. An area of tundra the size of the entire USA gets converted into desirable and resource rich prime real estate. It will have plenty of room for all the Americans who have to move when large sections of the USA turn into desert.

    8. Re:Siberia looks cool by Muros · · Score: 1

      According to Wikipedia Greenland is ~ 2.2 million km^2... the USA is 3.8 million km^2.

      So yes, Greenland IS large.

      USA is 9.8 million km^2, you were quoting the size in square miles. Doesn't change the fact that Greenland is still bloody big.

    9. Re:Siberia looks cool by Muros · · Score: 1

      Much of the actual land is below sea level.

      Where in the world did you get that idea? Unless the parts of Greenland I've been to just happen to be completely outside the norm, your claim seems to be total bullshit.

      He is correct, much of the bedrock underneath the icecap is below sea level. It would rebound if the ice cap melted, but would take millenia to do so.

    10. Re:Siberia looks cool by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Informative

      I met a Russian back packer from Siberia who thought global warming was a great idea.

      He'll change his tune when he finds out how much of the stuff in Siberia is built on so-called permafrost. Hint: Permafrost isn't permanent, especially during global warming. It's already becoming a major issue in Alaska.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    11. Re:Siberia looks cool by dunkelfalke · · Score: 2

      I wouldn't consider real estate anywhere near prime when you have no daylight for half a year. I've lived near Helsinki for a while, the utter lack of sunlight in winter made me even more depressive and the very bright summer nights made sleeping well difficult. Global warming will probably make the area even more depressing due to clouds and rain.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    12. Re:Siberia looks cool by jimtheowl · · Score: 1

      Yes, it should pop right out of the see almost immediately, and the volcanic activity should then calm down since it will be that much farther away from the center of the earth.

      Imagining something never quite plays out the same in reality though.

    13. Re:Siberia looks cool by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      Is the US going to experience more floods or become a desert? By definition it can't be both.

      Yes it can. The US is pretty damn big. Some areas may see increased rainfall, other places increased desertification. And the kicker is that this won't just happen in places that are already rainy or deserts. Some places that are prime, fertile farmland could turn into deserts. This can cause significant population displacement and economic chaos.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    14. Re:Siberia looks cool by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      I didn't read the article you mention, but offhand the US already has floods and deserts. It is pretty big. The deserts can get bigger and the flooding worse.

    15. Re:Siberia looks cool by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Depends on which politicians you are referring to.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    16. Re:Siberia looks cool by SCVonSteroids · · Score: 1

      Just walk around with a bug net. Problem solved.

      Sheesh!

      --
      I tend to rant.
    17. Re:Siberia looks cool by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I think people like you need to go to the arctic

      I think people like you are pathetic cowards who cry themselves to sleep every night at just how sad they are.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    18. Re:Siberia looks cool by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Strictly speaking, any study that measures deaths from AGW is one-sided if it doesn't also measure the decrease in deaths from the cold areas that got warmer.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  4. south asia ? Australia by johnjones · · Score: 1

    being outside is a problem in australia

    yes the wildlife will kill you

    yes the sun will cause cancer

    but honestly australia does not have a clue with regards to weather we only have 600 weather stations for an entire continent and apparently we cant calibrate them...

    accurate weather stations that people can purchase would be nice...

    regards

    John Jones

    1. Re: south asia ? Australia by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Aboriginies seems to have adapted to Australia.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  5. Need to put an end to climate change denial by Solandri · · Score: 4, Insightful

    We need to put an end to climate change denial - by environmentalists. Their advocacy of renewables as the only solution to climate change is based on there being just the right amount of climate change. Enough for us to have to abandon fossil fuels, but not enough that we have to do it immediately thereby leaving us enough time to develop renewable technologies.*

    The projections are growing more and more dire. Environmentalists need to stop using climate change as a means to advance their renewables agenda, thereby putting the survival of humanity (and a bunch of animal species) at risk. We need to phase out fossil fuels ASAP and switch over to the only power generation technology available which can provide enough base load cheaply enough to satisfy our modern needs - nuclear.

    Once we've switched to nuclear and have arrested global warming, then we can work on developing renewables. And as renewables improve in scalability, come down in cost, and battery technology improves allowing us to even out time-variances in renewable production, then we can start using renewables to phase out nuclear plants. Their current tactic of blocking nuclear power, thereby leaving fossil fuels and renewables as our only choices, is literally playing chicken with the survival of the human race. It's like being on a sinking ship but preventing anyone from using the life rafts, insisting that the only solution is that everyone needs to learn how to swim in the short time we have.

    *(This is why a lot of climate change deniers don't believe environmentalists about climate change. They figure if environmentalists really believed climate change threatened our existence, they wouldn't be advocating half measures which will take decades to develop and implement. They'd be advocating eliminating fossil fuels immediately, without caring what replaces it short-term as long as it doesn't emit CO2. But since they are opposed to nuclear, climate change deniers logically reason that the environmentalists are lying about climate change.)

    1. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by Cryacin · · Score: 1

      Yep, liquid metal reactors, or Gen IV all the way.

      --
      Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
    2. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by cyber-vandal · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's nothing short term about nuclear, either in building the reactors or dealing with the waste. Nuclear power would be awesome if we could trust humans not to fuck it up but we can't.

    3. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by Misagon · · Score: 2

      The big problem with nuclear (as well as with some renewables at some extent) is that they are very slow to start and stop. The energy grid has to be actively balanced all the time - to make sure that supply is always closely matched to the varying demand. Whey they are not, you will get spikes and/or rolling blackouts. This implies that energy sources have to be started and stopped at short notice.
      That is where fossil fuels have their biggest strengths, and why they are likely to be important energy sources for a long time to come.
      The only way out of this dependency is really to build facilities for energy storage.

      I do agree though that there may be too much resistance against nuclear power in the climate-change activism groups.
      I think that is because a lot of those activists and activist groups have their roots in the general environmentalist movements, or in combined environmentalist/peace movements that have been strongly opposed to nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Nuclear energy as we know it today was developed to be that way because the spent fuel was suitable for nuclear weapons.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    4. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by Qwertie · · Score: 1

      Traditional large reactors are slow at load-following, but it doesn't seem as though this has been a serious problem in the past. New SMR/LFTR reactors are smaller and can adjust their output more quickly.

    5. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      > if we could trust humans not to fuck it up but we can't.

      Citation needed. Nuclear has had its share of accidents (Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima) but the death toll of these accidents pales in comparison to any other form of fossil fuel energy generation. Coal kills thousands per year through emissions. I would confidently bet that more oil refinery workers have been killed in accidents than people via nuclear accidents.

      Nuclear is incredibly safe compared to all other forms of fossil fuels. While it's entirely possible to say that renewables may have an even lower fatality rate, it's whataboutism to compare them to nuclear. We need a carbon neutral energy source capable of providing base load (which renewables are terrible for) and we need it yesterday. Nuclear is the only technology that fits this bill.

      I myself have never understood why environmentalists are against nuclear. Renewables alone will not save the planet. IMHO, environmentalists should accept some compromises in the short term (more nuclear) if they outweigh the long term consequences (we f--- the planet and die).

    6. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by dunkelfalke · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Look up why the Americans replaced liquid metal reactors in their only liquid metal reactor submarine with conventional pressurised water reactors and why the Soviets never again built liquid metal reactor submarines after the Alfa class and the K-27 accident, with the first submarine of the Alfa class being scrapped just a couple of years after comissioning and second one having its reactors replaced with PWRs. While you are at that, read about the Monju reactor accident.
      Please also note that all Gen IV reactors only exist on paper. Not one of these has been built.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    7. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by Qwertie · · Score: 1
      If you'd written your comment ten years ago, it would be very timely. Two years ago, many would agree. But recently there has been a breakthrough in solar energy prices, one that people might have seen coming if they had been familiar with the solar equivalent of Moore's law.

      It does amaze me how people can cheer whenever a nuclear plant closes while also saying climate change is an urgent problem. But just as deniers use myths to ignore science, some environmentalists believe myths that greatly exaggerate the danger of nuclear energy - perhaps thinking The Simpsons' nuclear plant is an accurate model of real life? The irony is that opposition to new plants has kept the oldest, least safe reactors running longer.

      But most of the objections to "nuclear power" are actually objections to solid-fuel reactors. There is a new kind of nuclear plant, the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR), which solves almost all the problems with traditional reactors. Some call it "generation IV" but this is a misnomer - it's Gen I on a completely different technology track based on liquid fuel. MSRs, and an ideal version of the MSR called LFTR (Liquid-fueled thorium reactor), has a slew of advantages, most notably:
      • "Walk-away safe": relies mainly on passive safety, assured by physics, not pumps, not control systems, not human operators. Some designs don't even need coolant water.
      • Absurdly high fuel density: a lifetime supply of thorium fits in the palm of your hand.
      • Very low toxic waste: can produce 200+ times as much energy per kilogram of fuel compared to conventional LWRs, and the miniscule amount of remaining waste is a radiation hazard for 300 years instead of 3000. Not only that but some MSRs can actually burn existing waste stockpiles as a fuel.
      • Economy of scale - reactor units are small, and can be built in a factory or shipyard and shipped to where they are needed. High-temperature operation means smaller, cheaper turbines.
    8. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Renewables are ideal for rapid stop/start.

      Wind and solar have large numbers of individual small generators, which can be turned on/off easily by angling the blades of the turbines or simply disconnecting/reconnecting them. Hydro is as easy as opening or closing the slew gates.

      Battery storage is also ideal for load following, as well as other kinds of storage like below ground pressurised air or pumped water.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    9. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Renewable technology is developing fast enough for our needs. The problem is that it has become somewhat politically toxic and some governments are finding it hard to invest enough in it. For example, in the UK they are wrongly blamed for high energy costs and opposed by NIMBYs.

      By the new the UK finishes its latest nuclear power stations, they will be obsolete and unnecessary.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    10. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by danbert8 · · Score: 1

      The death toll of all radiation accidents in the history of mankind is less than the earthquake and tsunami that caused Fukushima to be a nuclear accident in the first place. And by almost 2 orders of magnitude...
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Yes it's an anecdote! Were you expecting original research in a Slashdot comment?
    11. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Informative

      Fucking stop. Nuclear baseload is a myth, clean nuclear power is a myth, cheap nuclear power is a myth, and the only reason anyone accepted it in the first place was that it was supposed to be too cheap to meter which was always a lie.

      Your ideas are fucking stupid because we can develop renewable capacity faster than we can develop nuclear capacity. If your assertion is that we need zero-emissions energy now, then building more nuclear plants is an idiot's move on all levels.

      Stick your nuclear playboy script up your ass and whistle.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by guruevi · · Score: 1

      It's not quite that easy. It's why stations used to be built with resistor banks the size of a house to "burn" excess production.

      Stopping a turbine costs brakes and with too high wind speeds you just can't without breaking something. Solar cells will destroy themselves if they are left in large arrays without a load, suddenly stopping the flow to a turbine will likewise destroy it due to its inertia.

      Steam turbines are probably the simplest to stop although the reactor will take a lot of time to adjust and get somewhat hot, it's designed to be able to handle a disastrous disconnect from the net.

      --
      Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
    13. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by avandesande · · Score: 1

      That's bs. Muzzle the NRC and build licensed French designs. Nobody has the willpower to do it.

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    14. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      Everything I've read indicates that both the Soviets and Americans stopped experimenting with Liquid Metal because they already had light water working well enough. That doesn't really relate to why we shouldn't continue experimenting with liquid metal today when it has clear potential advantages. It is also worth mentioning that military and civilian requirements for nuclear reactors are miles apart.

    15. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Stopping a turbine costs brakes and with too high wind speeds you just can't without breaking something.

      Not with modern designs. You pitch the blades and then the rotors stop safely, quietly, and smoothly within a couple of rotations.

      Solar cells will destroy themselves if they are left in large arrays without a load,

      That's why the auto industry needs to step up and spend some money on these hydrogen electrolysis plants they keep claiming will make hydrogen a clean, renewable fuel.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      What on earth makes you think that 5 billion human beings can't do more than 1 thing at a time?

      You have the makings of a dictator. You'll tell everyone what to do and when to do it. No thought to letting people try different things and selecting what works, as happens in freedom.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    17. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      While in practice nuclear plants may have slow response to sudden underload, there's nothing to stop a nuclear plant from using excess electricity to boil water.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    18. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by jeff4747 · · Score: 1

      That is where fossil fuels have their biggest strengths, and why they are likely to be important energy sources for a long time to come.

      This is only true of natural gas power plants (or plants with similar turbine engine designs).

      Coal power plants take about 3 days to ramp up to operating temperature, and also take quite a while to ramp down.

    19. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by neo-mkrey · · Score: 1

      So which is it? Climate Change or Global Warming?

    20. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      I'm not talking about coal or oil, I'm talking about nuclear having a crap safety record too. Whataboutism is very important when you're dealing with something so dangerous.

    21. Re: Need to put an end to climate change denial by johannesg · · Score: 1

      Nuclear power would be awesome if we could trust humans not to fuck it up but we can't.

      So far we've had two Earth-shattering doomsday events played out with nuclear reactors. Turns out the Earth is still there, people are still alive, and at least one of the two has turned into a major wilderness area where nature thrives. I'd say we can use it - especially since the alternative is global warming on a scale that will make the entire planet unliveable.

      Reactors can be built much safer with modern engineering. Hell, they can buill to burn thorium, a reaction which is not self-sustaining to begin with, and which results in only a tiny fraction of radioactive waste material. But is this even discussable? NO! (and why not? Because the word 'nu-cu-lar' is so scary?)

      So here's the deal. The environmentalists embrace nuclear as the only viable option for modern society. And in return we'll take global warming seriously.

      Solar and wind are simply not up to the task of powering the 21st century. We want to be able to use energy during the night as well, and we want to do it without dedicating vast swaths of the landscape to the creeping environmental disaster known as windmills. And you simply CANNOT demand that the world returns to a state of living that was ok in the pre-industrial society. You know, when we heated our houses by burning wood or coal, and obtained light from candles.

      So far, the anti-nuclear movement has wrought FAR MORE damage on the planet than all the nuclear accidents combined. It has done so by stopping research into, and development of newer, safer reactors, by forcing power companies to keep using dirty, fossil-fuel based energy plants, and by ruining vast parts of the landscape with windmills.

    22. Re:Need to put an end to climate change denial by eaglesrule · · Score: 1

      The first Gen IV pebble bed reactor was installed at the Huaneng Shidao Bay nuclear power plant last year. Here is a slide show of it being installed.

  6. Oh, that's all by phantomfive · · Score: 2, Funny

    In a part of the world that has leeches raining from trees, 400 pound catfish, giant scorpions, spitting cobras, and oh yes, man-eating tigers.........eh, what were we worrying about again?

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  7. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    > ...up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity.
    > Fix this issue and your problem will be solved.

    Contrary to what you think, India knows electricity well, e.g. they are in Top10 worldwide regarding electrified railways, they have a huge 25kV AC based traction network.

    Generating more electricity, however causes even more pollution. If you use hydro-carbons, CO2 will be released, further accelerating the AGW.

    If you use nuclear, radioactive waste will be created and India already has a health problem, birth defects, etc. due to high radiation background in much of the country. (Scientists says it is caused natually by the ancient, thorium-rich bedrock, while vedic legends say there was an all out nuclear war there about 8000 years ago). Fusion energy is still promised 50 years into the future...

    Hydro-electricity isn't very practicable in India, because the mountains are in the northern-most part but the population lives mostly in the southern tip of the vast subcontinent, so transfer losses would be too high even at 750kV AC. Furthermore, the northern region's borders and resources are contested by Pakistan and China and trying to build a dam there would probably ignite warfare.

    Wind, I have no idea, but Asia usually experiences extremely strong weather phenomenon never seen in Europe, so one must wonder if those fancy "Made In Germany" fiber laminate wind pylons would topple in a monsoon?

  8. Different planet for next generations by should_be_linear · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    We are entering era when increasingly large parts of our planet will be exploitable only with special suits and vehicles, like if Earth we know begin slowly morphing towards Mars. I don't think there is hope for changing direction. Our brains, especially considering average human brain, is simply not built to handle this type of problems, simply because evolution never needed us to care about such things. People of the World will not elect Al Gore and politicians like him, except maybe in Europe. General public cannot process information of this scale and complexity to understand what is going on.

    --
    839*929
    1. Re:Different planet for next generations by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Nah, we prefer to listen to liars who tell us what we want to hear, that we can continue driving the SUVs and use more fossil fuel per year than what formed in a million of years.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Different planet for next generations by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      General public cannot process information of this scale and complexity to understand what is going on.

      That's not the problem here. Mostly people believe what they are told to believe, but if they receive conflicting messages, they typically select the one they like the best. Credible people are telling them what they want to hear, and they are going with that because it makes them feel better than the alternative. You know, reality.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    3. Re:Different planet for next generations by mpercy · · Score: 1

      You can do that or listen to hypocrites who preach zero carbon footprint while themselves burning more carbon than any random twenty people.

    4. Re:Different planet for next generations by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      By your "logic", we should never mine anything because it took the universe billions of years to form copper, gold, aluminum, etc.. For that matter, we shouldn't breathe either, because oxygen and nitrogen were also formed over billions of years by the stars.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    5. Re:Different planet for next generations by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      When you mine gold and forge a ring out of it, you can still take that ring, melt it and make something else out of it.

      Once fuel is burned, it's kinda hard to put it back into the tank.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Different planet for next generations by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Now why would I want to do that? How does that make me comfortable while driving alone in my air conditioned car for 20 (despite me being single)? That would make me feel guilty, so why would I wanna do that? I want to be comfortable, I want to be told that what I do is right and most of all I don't want to change my lifestyle!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:Not deadly yet by blind+biker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While I definitely agree climate change, especially in this region, is a major problem, I think their definition of "deadly" is a little off the mark. I spent several weeks in India in April, when the temperatures routinely topped 40C(104F) and occasionally reached 45C (113F). It was clear the locals found it hot, but it didn't seem to affect the frenetic pace of commerce in the cities I visited. Then again, that was pre-monsoon, so the humidity wasn't as high.

    You can only survive those temperatures if relative humidity is below 100%. At 100% relative humidity, even 36-37C is in fact deadly, because the body has no way of dissipating excess heat, and eventually you die of a heart attack.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  10. Re:Not deadly yet by Cyberax · · Score: 2

    At around 35C wet bulb people will die, perspiration won't be able to carry away any heat. It won't even matter if you're in a shade.

    Comparison with cold weather is off the mark. To survive cold you simply need to slow down heat exchange by wearing enough insulation (=warm clothes). There's nothing comparable for the heat, except air conditioning.

  11. Wet-bulb temperature is different to plain ambient by Morgaine · · Score: 4, Informative

    From WP's Wet-bulb_temperature page:

    A sustained wet-bulb temperature exceeding 35 C (95 F) is likely to be fatal even to fit and healthy people, unclothed in the shade next to a fan; at this temperature our bodies switch from shedding heat to the environment, to gaining heat from it.

    Just temperature alone doesn't give the complete picture when it comes to risk. That's why TFA was specifically about wet-bulb temperatures, because when they're exceeded then you can't just "put up and endure it". You die if you have no artificial means of cooling yourself, as the body's only significant temperature reduction mechanism stops working, and that's not survivable for long.

    --
    "The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
  12. Re:Don't worry I don't live there... by ishmaelflood · · Score: 1

    More like "Don't worry it's India, who gives a shit?" Well apart from the Indians shitting all over the place, obviously.

  13. Re:Why not just make every post about 'climate'? by amalcolm · · Score: 1

    I think you are confusing climate with weather

    --
    Time for bed, said Zebedee - boing
  14. Re:Not deadly yet by locofungus · · Score: 2

    At 100% relative humidity, even 36-37C is in fact deadly

    A wet bulb temperature of 36-37C isn't just deadly, it's rapidly deadly. Your core body temperature will be at least 2C above your skin temperature which cannot be below the wet bulb temperature.

    --
    God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = -@B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.
  15. Screw you, I got mine by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Troll

    That's the general attitude here. On /., and the west in general. Who gives half a fuck about Indians? There's so many of them anyway, a few million of them dying, so what? I got my air condition, I got my office job, why should I not continue driving my SUV just so some Indian pariah can survive?

    Welcome to the wonderful Christian world of compassion. You may vomit now.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Screw you, I got mine by hord · · Score: 1

      Are you on a jet with your ass on the line next to these people helping them? What about Hindu compassion that holds the cow to be so sacred that people allow them to eat plastic in the filthy streets? Do you think they will care if I have A/C or an SUV when they get one?

    2. Re:Screw you, I got mine by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Do you not believe in the operation of moral order? The Indians screwed their own country, they should be the ones who reap the results.

      Christianity? The religion that claims that God sent his only son to Earth so that he'd suffer, in order to forgive the evils of his son's moral inferiors. That's not morality, that's noxious perversion.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  16. As hot as by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    So, like Panama then?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  17. Re:Beware the summers of death. by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    To a theater near you. Which kind of sums it up, really.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  18. Re:Normal cycle... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    But... but.... everyone is going to DIE! We need your money NOW! How can you hate the environment so much?

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  19. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  20. Environmental change and reaction to it. by burtosis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What has me even more concerned than this study is not that 1.5 billion people may find themselves living in an inhospitable region, but the reaction people will have to it. Will they just roll over and die by the hundreds of millions? Somehow adapt using new training, technology, and wealth they don't have today? Perhaps they might simply start a war over the fact they can't live within thier sovereign territory and feel they need others resources to live? Several of these countries have nuclear weapons and many aren't super stable on a good day. Its not far fetched that the consequences of resource wars could be far more severe than the actual climate differences itself.

    1. Re:Environmental change and reaction to it. by Gilgaron · · Score: 2

      Yes, that's why the Pentagon has been worried about climate change. They need to ramp that up with Fox or something, though, as I think the voice of the military would hold more sway over some swaths of denialists than any number of scientists.

    2. Re:Environmental change and reaction to it. by Nemyst · · Score: 1

      You think the current migrant crisis is bad? Wait until the number of affected people swells to the billion instead of a few millions.

  21. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  22. your post IS BULLSHIT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My god man -
    "Consensus"?!
    "Experts"!?

    That's NOT SCIENCE nor is it even rationality or based on reason.

    There were plenty of "experts" in the "science" of phrenology. Didn't make it accurate or real.

    There were and are plenty of "experts" in the "science" of astrology. Doesn't make it accurate or real.

    There were and are plenty of "experts" with lots of valid "consensus" that ulcers were caused by stress and acid. Turns our that wasn't real or all.

    The stock market will never go greater than 20,000
    We've reached peak oil and oil production will drop off

    bla-bla-bla

    His quote is completely and totally accurate and you've proved it for him
    "Lots of people seem to think that humanity is facing some sort of crisis of selfishness. I tend to feel that humanity is facing a crisis of intellectual integrity. People just cannot stand that someone with a different view might actually be right."

    1. Re:your post IS BULLSHIT by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      My god man - "Consensus"?! "Experts"!?

      That's NOT SCIENCE nor is it even rationality or based on reason.

      Are you some fakenewsbot? I automatically believe the opposite of anything anyone tells me.

      This is sometimes awkward, because like the Red queen in Alice, I have to believe several wrong things before breakfast. But I don't believe them or anything either, most importantly myself.

      I am modern man.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  23. The fuel we use almost doesn't matter by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

    At our present growth rate (about 2.3% a year?), even with 100% 'clean' energy, we will generate enough heat to boil off (ok, vaporize) the oceans in about 400 years.

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  24. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by XXongo · · Score: 1

    > ...up to 25 percent in of India's population still has no access to electricity.
    > Fix this issue and your problem will be solved.

    ...Generating more electricity, however causes even more pollution...

    Not if you do it with solar.

  25. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by slashdot_commentator · · Score: 1, Interesting

    > Radioactive waste does not cause any health problems whatsoever if it is stored properly

    Based on a history of developed countries experience that probably has only 2 decades worth of relevant data for material that can take 1000 years to decay to a low health risk.

    While I am a proponent of nuclear power (even if it requires subsidization on the national level), I would not be a proponent for it based on the current state of technology (designed in the 1960's). Nuclear waste management is an indispensable requirement, and most nations do not have a remotely credible one. Also, future nuclear reactors need to be based on technologies like thorium, and "meltdown proof", both which are in technological reach.

    --
    There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, General Electric, and Exxon
  26. Greenland is above sea level by XXongo · · Score: 5, Informative

    Also, Greenland would be quite nice.. and it's largely uninhabited.

    Once the ice pack melts, Greenland will be largely underwater. Much of the actual land is below sea level.

    No, it isn't. Greenland is way above sea level. Where do you get your information from?

    Here's a nice set of maps of the shorelines if all the ice caps melted, for what it's worth: http://www.nationalgeographic.... Greenland is almost unaffected.

    1. Re:Greenland is above sea level by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      Here's a nice set of maps of the shorelines if all the ice caps melted

      This map was prepared from existing topographical data that INCLUDES THE ICE PACK. Once the ice pack is gone, Greenland will look like this, with a large inland sea.

  27. They should probably stop polluting then. by sabbede · · Score: 1

    Isn't that where emissions are increasing the fastest? India is #3 or 4 on the list of polluters, neighboring China is #1. India is expected to surpass the emissions of the entire EU by 2020, and their recent increases canceled out decreases in the US and China. India is already making it's air unbreathable, maybe they should stop before it also cooks them.

    1. Re:They should probably stop polluting then. by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      India is expected to surpass the emissions of the entire EU by 2020

      Oh no, you mean in 3 years they may produce as many emissions as an area filled with 1/3 the number of wealthy people! People who can afford to have already thrown tons of money at renewables instead of trying to get clean water to half its population?

      I join you in being shocked and appalled that Indians want to use 1/6-1/10 the energy per-capita as Europeans.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    2. Re:They should probably stop polluting then. by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Think about what you just said. Less energy but more pollution. In the air and in the water.

      Unlike developed nations that started from scratch with industrialization and didn't even think to not pollute for well over a hundred years, India doesn't have to develop dirty. Why ignore the hard lessons learned by the US and Europe?

    3. Re:They should probably stop polluting then. by sabbede · · Score: 1
      Well, if your country is the US, it happened in 1969 when the Cuyahoga river caught fire. It was quite the wakeup call.

      What I don't get is why India didn't hear about it and take the warning. They have the opportunity not to make the same mistakes we did without having to bear the cost of figuring out how. Instead they are making the same mistakes, and apparently the developed nations are supposed to feel bad about it.

  28. Nuclear by XXongo · · Score: 2

    Nuclear does not solve climate change. For every kWh produced, nuclear puts two kWh worth of water vapor, which is a "greenhouse gas", in the atmosphere.

    That makes no sense. First, you can't measure water vapor in kWh. Second, although water vapor is indeed a greenhouse gas, water vapor in the atmosphere equilibrates on a time scale of days: it's called "rain".

    You are right about nuclear having other problems, which may or may not be addressable. One problem is that current technologies won't solve the problem: in the long term, you'll either need to start up breeder reactors to produce enough fuel (something people don't want to do, because of weapons-potential), or switch to a new and unproven cycle such as thorium.

    Probably doable. The problems are technically solvable. But whether they're politically and socially and economically solvable, I don't know.

    1. Re:Nuclear by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Wind turbines on the other hand take energy out of the atmosphere, and solar at least doesn't produce waste energy.

      Solar panels in fact reduce land heating from insolation because their back sides are white, and their faces are dark. They re-radiate most of the energy they don't use into the atmosphere, unless they are also cooled — in which case, some of that energy is also being used. Nobody's cooling solar panels just for an efficiency improvement, they're using the waste heat for something.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  29. Lions and tigers and... well, not many tigers by XXongo · · Score: 1

    and oh yes, man-eating tigers.....

    Not very many of them left. Tiger population of the world, outside zoos, is under 4,000.

    http://tigerpopulation.weebly.com/uploads/3/7/7/8/37787381/1412938552.png

    1. Re:Lions and tigers and... well, not many tigers by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      That's too bad. This movie is still great.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  30. Re:Don't worry. climate Change does not exist by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    according to the POTUS.

    Also according to the consensus right here yesterday. Coal and natural gas is all we need.

  31. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by Rockoon · · Score: 1

    Hate to break it to ya, but radiative material with a half-life of 1000 years isnt very dangerous.

    Its the stuff with much shorter half lives that are dangerous.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  32. Re:More JUNK SCIENCE by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

    You have some basic facts and you've drawn some basic conclusions... then you've made the mistake of thinking you know enough that you have an accurate idea of how climate and climate cycles work and can judge mankind's relative influence.

    The good news is, with that level of ignorance you have plenty of room in your brain to handle learning new things should you choose to do so.

  33. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Radioactive waste does not cause any health problems whatsoever if it is stored properly

    Point to the radioactive waste that is being stored properly.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  34. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by ChrisMaple · · Score: 2

    Transmission line losses for 1 GW over 1000 miles at 765 kV range from 5% to 11% (extrapolated from wikipedia).

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  35. Re:Volcanic Winter anyone? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1
    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  36. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Absolutely! Solar cells virtually rain down upon us, we need only collect them each morning and *poof*, electricity!

    Imagine having to manufacture them, the odd chemicals, by-products and waste, and the rare earths etc used for interconnects and circuitry to control them. THAT would be a monumental environmental disaster.

    And yet they make smartphones that are just terrible for the environment. Stupid gits.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  37. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by SomeoneFromBelgium · · Score: 1

    While your reasoning is of course correct (higher half life translates into a lower intensity of radiation).
    It doesn't mean, however, that radioactive wase doesn't remain dangerous for more than 1000 years. I think nobody in the nuclear industry (not even the proponants) would deny that. Look e.g. to answer on question 4 on this pro nuclar power website where they admit that it takes 1000-10000 years for nuclear waste to become sufficiently safe. link

  38. Averages are easier by XXongo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why talk about how horrible the end of the century is going to be in Asia climate-wise while we still cannot predict the weather for the weekend?

    It turns out to be much easier to predict the average temperature over a large area for a long term than the instantaneous temperature at a single location at a single time.

    I can tell you the average height of American males with pretty good confidence (177 cm)-- but I can only guess how tall you are, and with a very high error.

    1. Re:Averages are easier by eminencja · · Score: 1

      Why talk about how horrible the end of the century is going to be in Asia climate-wise while we still cannot predict the weather for the weekend?

      It turns out to be much easier to predict the average temperature over a large area for a long term than the instantaneous temperature at a single location at a single time.

      I can tell you the average height of American males with pretty good confidence (177 cm)-- but I can only guess how tall you are, and with a very high error.

      Very well, so what is going to be an average height of an American male toward the end of the century?

    2. Re:Averages are easier by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Very well, so what is going to be an average height of an American male toward the end of the century?

      To that extent we have to put in certain assumptions into our models, kind of like how much carbon we will emit in the future.

      Will there be another war + famine which past studies have shown stunts growth quite strongly? Will there be a different medical catastrophe? Well we don't know. But what we do know is that in the USA humans have grown on average about 7cm linearly over the century while remaining stagnant during the war, so assuming another world war (likely) then I'll say 184cm at the end of the century.

      Now a harder question will be the average American's girth which appears to be growing almost exponentially. By all accounts by the end of the century the average American will be perfectly round and tend to concentrate the population in valleys and seasides as gravity will roll them down the hills.

  39. Fix it with solar by XXongo · · Score: 1

    If you fix the issue of 25% of Indians not have electricity, you've just increased global warming a few more degrees by making them contributors.

    Unless you fix it with renewables, in which case they will contribute less because right now they're burning anything they can lay hands on.

    Absolutely.

    The pollution levels in central India are absolutely appalling, and they are appalling precisely because the people are so poor

  40. cheap energy by XXongo · · Score: 1

    How are climate change activists preventing Indians from accessing cheap energy?

    They aren't, of course. Cheap energy in rural India is now being addressed by low cost solar arrays, which is something climate change activists like.

    This isn't actually a result of climate change activism, but in fact a result of an earlier crisis: the current generation of low-cost solar panels is a direct result of the Low Cost Solar Array project, originally started in response to the 1970s Energy Crisis (actually an oil crisis).

  41. Re:Not deadly yet by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

    The duration matters... you can place your palm on a hot grill without being burned if you're quick.

  42. Re:Not deadly yet by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Maricopa county, Arizona. Just happens in May. telling us it's not the same is almost reasonable. Almost.

    And yes, the humidity also come there, for similar reasons.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  43. Re:Not deadly yet by Nemyst · · Score: 2

    You don't know what the fuck you're talking about. The worst you'll find in the entire US is gonna be around 81F wet bulb temperature, or around 27C, and that's at a yearly occurrence rate of 0.4%. TFA is on another level entirely from that.

  44. Solar doesn't use rare earths by XXongo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Absolutely! Solar cells virtually rain down upon us, we need only collect them each morning and *poof*, electricity!

    There are, of course, a large number of solar panel manufacturers in India, and solar has supplied a significant amount of the electrical growth in India. I'm not sure if you're clueless, or just pretending to be clueless.

    You might start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
    and then try http://www.greenworldinvestor.... http://www.wlivenews.com/top-1... https://www.bijlibachao.com/so...

    Imagine having to manufacture them, the odd chemicals, by-products and waste, and the rare earths etc used for interconnects and circuitry to control them. THAT would be a monumental environmental disaster.

    There have been a large number of people recently claiming that solar panel manufacture is an environmental nightmare, but as far as I can tell, none of these actually know anything about solar panel manufacture.

    A good way to tell who is clueless and who isn't is to see whether they're claiming solar panels use rare earth metals. (They don't.)

    Half a bonus point for at least saying that it's the "interconnects and circuitry to control them" that use rare earths. These don't either, but at least you have enough of a clue to know that solar panels don't use rare earths, so you know enough to be flailing around.

    1. Re: Solar doesn't use rare earths by rickb928 · · Score: 1

      Thank you for your support.

      Let's just not pretend that solar cell manufacturing isn't without some consequences. Heck, nothing is, not even hydro.

      --
      deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    2. Re:Solar doesn't use rare earths by Khyber · · Score: 2

      "A good way to tell who is clueless and who isn't is to see whether they're claiming solar panels use rare earth metals. (They don't.)"

      Yttrium-substitituted TiO2 anodes are developed and in use. Try again when you actually have worked in a modern and up to date semiconductor fabrication facility, n00b.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  45. Empiricism by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

    That's NOT SCIENCE nor is it even rationality or based on reason.

    Someone doesn't know what empiricism means.

    That actually sums up quite a lot about your post, actually.

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  46. Re:It's already too hot by mpercy · · Score: 1

    Source: The Lancet
    Summary: Cold weather kills 20 times as many people as hot weather, according to an international study analyzing over 74 million deaths in 384 locations across 13 countries. The findings also reveal that deaths due to moderately hot or cold weather substantially exceed those resulting from extreme heat waves or cold spells.

    Around 7.71% of all deaths were caused by non-optimal temperatures, with substantial differences between countries, ranging from around 3% in Thailand, Brazil, and Sweden to about 11% in China, Italy, and Japan. Cold was responsible for the majority of these deaths (7.29% of all deaths), while just 0.42% of all deaths were attributable to heat.

    The study also found that extreme temperatures were responsible for less than 1% of all deaths, while mildly sub-optimal temperatures accounted for around 7% of all deaths -- with most (6.66% of all deaths) related to moderate cold.

  47. In a world... by mpercy · · Score: 1

    where being outside is deadly, one man stood up...

  48. Re:Normal cycle... by mpercy · · Score: 1

    If all the ice caps and glaciers melt, expect sea level to rise about 61 meters. Yes, this has a big effect on coastal areas and atoll islands. But the actual loss of land surface area represented is small, something on the order of 10% of surface area is flooded, but then again, a lot of Greenland and Antarctica would no longer be covered in ice so we have some usable surface area gained. The net loss is a few percent of the current surface area.

    It's not like the earth will become Waterworld even if all the ice melts.

    There's plenty of sites that can show you maps based on sea-level, and they include "what if all ice caps and glaciers melt" among the different views.

  49. Re:Not deadly yet by BigDukeSix · · Score: 1

    Undoing moderation to correct the physiology error in your post. Not a heart attack. Elevated core temperature manifests acutely with seizures and coma (that's why it's called heat 'stroke'). If core temperature goes up more slowly the toxicity is renal failure from breakdown of muscle proteins (rhabdomyolysis), which destroy the renal tubular system. There is a mechanism for myocardial ischemia related to increased blood viscosity, but this is not typical.

  50. Domed cities.. duh! by modi123 · · Score: 1

    Time to start working on those domed cities I read about in the fancy manga magazines.. May as well start up the Academy of Law to start training the street judges needed to police these mega domed cities.

  51. Tu quoque by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is an informal fallacy called tue quoque, or 'appeal to hypocrisy'. If these people could themselves solve this problem then hypocrisy would be a valid argument. Since this is not the case it's simply a baseless personal attack.

    But it's really not necessary to listen to others on the subject. The science is pretty accessible. Arrhenius 1896 lays out the basics, and it should be readable by anyone with a high school education. Equally instructive are the reasons why it was considered disproven for 50 years. Or are you somehow unaware that this issue was discovered by scientists over a hundred years ago instead of by recent celebrities?

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  52. Radioactive Decay. by Tenebrousedge · · Score: 1

    That's not what that link says. Look, we're a pretty savvy group here, all right? If the experts are all saying one thing, it's probably not a great idea to assume that you know better.

    What your link specifically says is that it takes 1-10k years for the high-level waste to reach radiation levels on par with the original ore. This says nothing about safe radiation levels, and there isn't any particularly good definition for what is "safe" to begin with. There are multiple different types of radiation and different hazards depending on the exact type. Alpha emitters can typically be safely handled, but if ingested are quite dangerous. The biological models for radiation are a subject of current research, and in particular the linear no-threshold model is probably on its way out the door. Generally speaking "safe" is not well defined, certainly not as a blanket statement about all nuclear waste. And again, the more dangerous it is, the less time it will be a problem. Waste storage facilities tend to be massively over-engineered; the actual health risks of the waste decline pretty rapidly.

    --
    Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
  53. on the plus side... by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

    ... this would solve the outsourcing to India problem. Not the most elegant way, what with the death and all...

  54. Re: Wrong. by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    We will all die sooner or later, so why not make it painless and quick?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  55. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by Khyber · · Score: 1

    DC or AC?

    --
    Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
  56. Re:There's your problem! (Knows nil about India) by phantomfive · · Score: 1

    This looks really good, tbh.

    I'm interested in seeing how Elon Musk's solar powered batteries turn out. If they work well (and cheaply enough) then suddenly solar becomes a viable alternative to nuclear.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  57. Re: Volcanic Winter anyone? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    So you mean that a nuke in yellowstone may solve the.problem?

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  58. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If the tropical places don't want to get hot, perhaps they shouldn't cut down the forests that locally regulate temperature and humidity.

    Besides, I welcome some warming as it's quite cold for nine months of the year where I live. Might be nice to not have to wear gloves, hats and a scarf for a change.

  59. Re:Wrong. by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    Lol, if you say so doc

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  60. Cause does not justify the effect by Shotgun · · Score: 1

    The temperature rising 3 degrees on average, across the globe, results in the icecaps melting AND half the people in India dying of heat stroke? The Earth's energy increase just 0.6% results in catastrophe?

    A) The Goldilocks Zone we found ourselves in was much smaller than we ever thought. The possibility of finding alien life now seems minuscule.
    B) Those glaciers at the north pole must of been more slush than ice all these years.
    C) Luckily, we have two generations to begin adapting. Do you really expect the craptastic shanty towns housing people in India will be around in 100yrs? I don't expect most of the crappy McMansions everybody struggles for in the US to be around.

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  61. Re: There always is lots of particulates. by Jesus+H+Rolle · · Score: 1

    Cloud-Destroying Nanites. Try to keep up.

  62. Re: Ah. Proof plz. by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Last I heard he still good not provide his data. The judge send to be giving him plenty of time.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  63. Re: 1.5 Billion... There's your problem! by stinkyjak · · Score: 1

    Cut the population and you cut emissions

  64. Modding me down wont change facts snowflake... by denzacar · · Score: 1

    Well what do you know?
    I still haven't run out of copy/paste NOR has the reality abruptly changed to fit delusions of pathetic creatures who can't face facts.
    How's them mod points working for ya, snowflake? Still downmodding facts and arguments you can't accept?
    Aaaaw...

    Anyways... as I was saying above to that CUNT who's accusing people promoting renewables of genocide...

    Those hundreds of thousands you mention have NO energy, if by energy you mean electricity.
    Nor the means to get it. There is no electric grid in most those places. Nor will there be as long as there's money in stealing copper cables.

    And guess what?
    Those "douche bag westerns preaching about global warming" are actually a part of the solution.
    Cause all that preaching is the reason why western governments have pumped in billions of dollars into renewable energy (and continue to do so), increasing production and lowering prices of solar and wind power (particularly solar) - thus creating conditions for all those hundreds of thousands you clearly care sooooo much for to get electricity for the first time.
    Electricity from renewable sources, that is.
    Which is not only cleaner now, thanks in part to those "western douche bags", it is also cheaper than the same electricity from coal.

    Which kinda makes you a part of the problem, doesn't it?
    So... how does it feel to be "actively killing real people right now"? Does it get your limp dick hard enough to see it?
    Without a microscope?

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  65. conditional weather by geowash01 · · Score: 1

    I note the use of "could become" in the headline. Before I jump into the deep end in response to this latest dire hysterical warning, can someone please list all the accurate warmer predictions from the last decade? Preferably someone who has actually spent a summer working outside in the Earth's tropical (or even near-tropical) zone, and not someone who spends all his time in air conditioned comfort in front of a computer display.

  66. Re:Volcanic Winter anyone? by suutar · · Score: 1

    "that caused average global temperatures to drop by 0.4-0.7 Celsius"

    Last I heard, greenhouse effect warming was past 0.7 and still going, and lasts more than a year, so while we can argue about "much", I'd say "smaller" is pretty much a lock until we find a bigger volcano to set off (at which point we'll have a different large problem).

  67. Re: Ah. Proof plz. by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    PS - I don't recall writing that the case has been abandoned. The court records don't show any update since February. And the judge didn't seem in any hurry to address this further. From the last updates, it appears the ball is Mr. Mann's court, so to speak, as he had been ordered to produce his research data or face losing his case for defamation. That's painfully easy to figure out.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  68. Re:Not deadly yet by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    Thank you, especially for mentioning rhabdomyolysis - I didn't think it would happen due to elevated temperatures in the 36, 37C range, though of course it does make sense.

    Much appreciated.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  69. Asking WHY by NewYork · · Score: 1

    Asking WHY is a taboo in Politics/Army/Corporations/Schools/Colleges

  70. Uncivilized by NewYork · · Score: 1

    Uncivilized Caste system http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new...

  71. Re:Not deadly yet by cvdwl · · Score: 1

    Man, there was a lot of argument on this. Yes, wet-bulb and dry-bulb are different, which is why I referenced the relative humidity. NOAA has a handy calculator

    1. The summary mentioned "dangerous" wet bulb temps above 31 and "deadly" above 35 (with no mention of 40). At my cited 45C (dry bulb) mark, that corresponds to relative humidities of ~38% and 52% respectively. The temperatures I observed were relatively dry, but I don't recall the exact humidity.
    2. The guy who cites Texas temps of 107F and 77% humidity wins the prize. Y'all ought to be dead.
    3. As an overweight middle-aged male of Northern European ancestry, I certainly wouldn't want to try living in these temps! It's 31C in my house at night right now, and that's plenty hot enough for me.
    --
    ... grumble, grumble, grumble, mutter, mutter, Millenium... Hand... Shrimp, I tol' 'em, I tol' 'em.