h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I believe Iceland does not benefit from the Gulf Stream as much as Norway does

But then the icelanders can benefit from the volcanic heat which gives them a lot of free energy

Pierce, -18.4C is a very low temperatures to fall down. I have read on the internet and on the television teletext service that we are due for a mini ice age.

If it coincides with the global warming we might be in the clear for a few years more - but what do I know about climate changes

Climate change is horribly, horribly complicated. Too many variables, so many that our best computer programs are powerless to give accurate predictions. I'm quite serious here. There was a time when I read every book I could find on ice ages. Did you know that the average altitude above sea level of the world's landmasses has an effect of glaciation? The Rockies, the Alps, the Andes, and the Himalayan plateau have combined to make the world much cooller, on average, than it was during the Age of the Dinosaurs?

Yes, fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide generally predict higher global temperatures going forward. However, you can't accumulate heat at or near the ground if the sun's rays can't get through the pollution in the atmosphere. Compared with the early 1960s, about 25% less sunlight gets through to us now. If we had more cloud cover (as was the case during the 18th century, some believe), this would predispose the world to cooller temps. The 18th century had a mini-Ice Age. In the 1770s, when Washington's troops were freezing at Valley Forge, New York's harbor froze solid.

The tilt of the Earth in its orbit affects world temperatures.

The placement of the continents affects temperatures.

The sun's output of light fluctuares. Some believe that it has a cycle, and that we are in the early Spring. It should get hotter over the next 50,000 or 60,000 years. The people who belong to this camp believe that the next Ice Age will not come along until at least 70,000 years.

Ah good, plenty of time for another then - hold the ice

Johnny Ball FRS says that two water molecules are produced for every carbon (plant food) molecule, and it isn't carbon causing climate change because of some hard reasoning in Physics.In fact water is the most likely cause.

I have only heard him say this on the radio, but if he's certain then it is good enough for me.

Water has been mentioned as a greenhouse gas, but only in a very minor sense. If water molecules are too thick in the atmosphere, they will block heat from radiating out into space, but they'll also block the sun's rays from getting to the surface to produce the heat.

It's generally cooller during long periods of cloudy or rainy skies.

In any event, I wouldn't ever be seriously worried about water causing global warming.

There are a lot of different people who are going around making predictions about the Earth's climate in the next 50 to 100 years. Somebody is probably going to be right, but I don't know who it will be. I won't be around in 2061, so I hope the young people who will still be alive are going to manage with whatever Nature throws at them.

I don't believe you. I don't know how his argument goes because I can't find it, it had something to do with saturation and ability of carbon to absorb photons.

No matter; he's an FRS I'm not, so it is reasonable until proved otherwise to believe him.

You don't have to believe me, PAL. We can both be wrong, but in different ways. We might even both be right. Time will tell, and I doubt that we will still be around then. Heck, if I *am* still around in 2061, I'm likely to be pretty upset that I couldn't have departed sooner.

Pierce is where I heard about the mini ice age http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2003824/Earth-facing-mini-Ice-Age-years-rare-drop-sunspot-activity.html and about and Britain facing a little ice age http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1267757/Britain-facing-bitterly-cold-winters-drop-solar-winds.html

Here is some weather lore:

When there are lots of berries on the dogberry/rowan berry tree,
it means its going to be a bad winter!
When it is hottest in June, it will be coldest in the correlating days of the following February.

If the 1st of July it be rainy weather,
It will rain more or less for four weeks together.

If it rains on July 10th, it will rain for seven weeks.

If the first week in August is unusually warm, the coming Winter will be snowy and long.

There have been a lot of dog berries/ rowan berries out this year and they were orange-red looking in June which is very early and now they are scarlet red.

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Apparently I quoted too much material from a website that predicted major damage from solar flares next year. Not since 1859 have we been at so much risk of major damage. In 1859, the sun's flares were so powerufl that they disrupted telegram transmission. If they occur at that level next year, 130 million people in the U.S. could be withour power, and full recovery of the U.S. economy could take 5 or 10 years.

oh dear

Had this crazy thought. I know it is silly Wot if wot if carbon increases in the atmosphere when it gets warmer. .............

You can be in charge of putting carbon into the atmosphere, PAL.

Better yet: Out of it

Send it to a that needs it. We have plenty

busy busy

I think we need to keep all the carbon we have. The only problem is storage. Mother Nature has stored carbon in the best possible form for millions of years, but then we had to undo her work!

Lovely pictures .

It seems to be a bit barren in the Farthest North. I've never been north of Narvik/Riksgränsen. It's much colder here in the Far North though, but our summers can be warmer. (26-27C today in the shadows)

I still think there were rum in those barrels and that you climbed the ropes off the camere

Great to see you, Dragonqueen.