Toasty!

[flatandy]

I like the theory. I thoroughly approve of the concept of generating power where it makes sense to generate it. If they can genuinely transmit that much to Britain over that distance, it's a great plan.

But, much like Namibia's plan to become a global hydrogen hub, using solar power to extract hydrogen from sea water, there's quite a lot of "we just need to..." undone stuff in between. Like building the power plant in Morocco, and laying the pipelines, and making sure it all works, and the country not getting f**k*d over when some scally tries to nick some copper cable.

Of course, it only makes sense if Morocco also builds enough supply for themselves first. It would be weird to have Morocco generating solar and wind for us but burning oil and coal for themselves.

[perrykneeham]

Yeah, and I'm not sure thatI fancy being held to ransom by Johnny Tangier any more than I do Johnny Jeddah.

[happyhammerhead]

It's a massive initial investment but relatively low maintenance costs after that (compared to - say - a nuclear power station).

Also, technologically it isn't that complicated, just done on a breathtaking scale.

It'll probably come to nothing anyway <sigh>

[perrykneeham]

Even if it does, it'll need to be kept secure. Guess who?

www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/05/houthis-may-sabotage-western-internet-cables-in-red-sea-yemen-telecoms-firms-warn

[mids]

Beam the energy up into space and back down to Britain using a space energy relay system (SERS).

[flatandy]

Storm blowing through Northern California and the Cascades today through the weekend. Forecast in the Sierra Nevada is now for up to 12 feet of snow from this one storm. Gusts up to 145mph have been recorded at the top of the hills already and the storm is just starting. Everyone has been told to not travel anywhere in the hills.

[voice]

We're getting the edge of that storm, snow and wing but no where near what CA is getting

[voice]

Texas now has the biggest wildfire in North American history, and it's only March.

Caused by their badly maintained independent power grid infrastructure failing apparently

www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/texas-wildfires-live-updates-rcna141087

Obviously all talk of them seceing cos they hate the federal government has been put on hold while they beg for massive amounts of federal cash to help them out.

[mids]

Started by immies, you say?

[flatandy]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear some idiot right wingers mentioning that lots of the power generation in the Texas Panhandle comes from wind turbines and therefore the fire will have been caused by not burning things.

[voice]

No hoards of eco-warriors setting the place on fire, as ever, the cause is far more prosaic.

www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68505953

A power company said its equipment likely ignited a massive wildfire in Texas last week that left two people dead and killed thousands of cattle.

[mids]

Good. It seems like a ridiculous idea- that if only they know what "we" know, they'd consent to having their buildings violently smashed up.

"Yesterday, the Lady Chief Justice, Lady Carr, delivered a judgment on protest law which may close a remarkable loophole which had been exploited by climate change protestors who engage in direct action to promote their cause.

Protestors who have damaged property with paint or smashed windows have been cleared in recent years after telling juries they ‘honestly believed’ that property owners would have consented to the damage if they had known about the impact of climate change.

Now, the Court of Appeal judgment should ensure that this defence is removed from many of those seeking to rely on their philosophical and political beliefs when engaging in destructive direct action."

www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-climate-protestors-lost-the-right-to-cause-criminal-damage/

[flatandy]

Global average Sea Surface Temperatures have been at a record high for their date for an entire year now. There hasn’t been a single anomalous day bringing them back. And almost all by an absolutely massive margin:

www.axios.com/2024/03/19/weather-ocean-temperatures-record-warmth

This summer’s probably La Niña will bring them back down below the old record, most likely, but these are the kind of numbers that should freak people out.

[moggyonspeed]

... especially those living on the eastern seaboard of the good ol' US of A, I would opine.

[flatandy]

Yes. If, like me right now, you are in a house that’s about 10 feet above sea level, 2 blocks from the water, there’s a non-zero chance you’ll have ocean front property in a few years, particularly if the thermohaline weakens substantially.

[moggyonspeed]

I suppose the feeling of "It'll never happen to me" is all part of the human condition, but I've always been amazed at the way some east-coasters just don't seem to realise the raised levels of risk they face as the climate changes for the worse. Then, of course, there's the potential for the failure of the western slope of Cumbre Vieja on La Palma which, if the numbers stack up, could produce a tsunami which would render eastern Tennessee as prime beachfront property.

[flatandy]

I think that Canarian Collapse is actually genuinely unlikely in the catastrophic form, particularly in foreseeable human timescales. You might worry about it, but not in a meaningful way.

The other stuff is serious. Houses get destroyed in floods and hurricanes and people just rebuild in the same place over and over again. I feel a bit better here - the trees are 100 years old and there are houses the same age. We're protected by the harbour and barrier islands, to an extent. The people on the Florida coasts are even more f**k*d.

The insurers don't think so, mind you. I am having a bastard of a time getting this place insured, and am going to end up paying double what I did last year. Half the insurance companies have bailed out of insuring anything on the coastal south-eastern seaboard and, frankly, I don't blame them. It's easier to get rid of the business completely - particularly as so much of it is loss-making - than to finesse which neighbourhoods are acceptable risk and which are not.

Eventually new insurers will come in, but the prices are going to be astronomical for some people. Too many locals don't realise this and are going to be in shock. And they're going to not insure and then they're going to plead to the national government to bail them out.

[mids]

It's more important that fat chicks with blue hair get locked up for throwing soup over paintings.

[moggyonspeed]

Why not just divorce your wife if she's embarrassing you that much?

[mids]

OK, that was funny. Or would be if I had a wife.