Add to our climate change list...

As you know, we live off the grid; have for nearly 40 years now.  Our energy consumption, capture, and storage protocols were based on "normal" weather; normal winter and summer sun and wind.

But- we don't have them any more.  Typically here in SE Minnesota, late January and early February are brilliantly sunny.  Cold; but totally clear skies.  That works great for photovoltaic power, in fact; yes, the days are shorter, but the cold dramatically increases the panels' output; for every 3°C colder than the specified temp; which is around +27°C; the panels put out 1% more power than specs.  So- when it's -10°F; e.g. -23°C; which used to be very common week long temperatures here; the panels are putting out around 17% more power.  That's a lot.

The past several years though have shown a new January/February pattern - which does not include sunny days.  Warm (for January in Minnesota) - it hasn't been below freezing for a week now- and...

This is what our world has looked like, for days, and days, and days....... we are now living in Niflheim; one of the realms from Norse Mythology - "Mist World".  Primordial snow and ice and damp- and no sun.  Yup.  Here we are.  Well, plus we have primordial mud, at 2 PM daily.

Besides being depressing, just a bit, our energy processes are messed up, good.  No, solar panels do not put out significant power in this kind of fog/cloud cover.  So- we are forced to burn gasoline to run our backup generators, which we have for the supposedly occasional week with no sun.  Those sunless weeks happened every year - once, or twice.  Now- we have them every other week.  It seems. 

Which creates another "not in the plans" problem- we own 4 backup generators; for 3 locations and a spare...  3 out of 4 are now dead; from being run so constantly; far more than designed for.  We now spend an hour or so a day running the one generator around (in the slush no vehicle can move through) from one site to another; and wondering if we have enough gas...

And if you are using solar heat - same thing; your building will not be getting warm today.

These impacts are here, now.  Affecting everyone.  But it's like "being nibbled to death by ducks" - it kind of seems harmless; until you die.

It's not harmless, though; it's cumulative, and weakens everything we depend on.

We Told You So.

Yeah, somebody needs to say it, I think; and as I peruse the international news today- nobody is.

A great measure of the effectiveness of the climate denial troops in squashing the dialogue.

That and the basic politeness of good people.  This would not be considered the best time to be getting all hoity-toity - about anything.  A whole lot of people are in a great deal of pain.  We should all just be quiet, and help each other out, right?

Except- that's what climate change warners (such as me) have been TRYING to do - for decades now. Prevent human anguish.

And here we are.  Yes, Hurricane Sandy is a direct result of human caused climate change, brought about by burning way too much fossil fuel, to power "economic growth".

Being silent about it- won't help either.

Big headline at the moment; Gov. Christie of New Jersey is cited by CNN as saying:


"Superstorm Sandy left wreckage in its wake 'beyond anything I thought I'd ever see,' New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said at a news conference today.

'The level of devastation at the Jersey Shore is unthinkable,' he said."

Except - it isn't unthinkable, nor beyond what we expected- it's right smack in the middle of mainstream climate change predictions.  Hotter oceans cause bigger storms cause bigger storm surges- floods eastern coastal US cities.  Duh.

So.  Maybe we shouldn't be shy about saying "We told you so."

And maybe we should start saying "You're a goddamn liar." to the deniers; regularly.  Right out loud.

Just to soften my harsh message, a tiny bit- I'll point out I have a long track record of insisting on people hearing the "I told you so", when it's appropriate; this is Smidgen, age 5 (now 7.5) - after "being silly on the stairs" - one time too many.

You see- Smidgen was the one who insisted on my writing that on her cast; she was eager for it.  Because?  She'd already heard the story, many times, about my writing it on the cast her big brother Beelar had to have on his leg, years before...

It's Official.

The scientific world is, finally, actually saying right out loud: "Global 'warming' is here; now; faster and worse than we thought."  James Hansen, the most visible of the mainstream scientists who have been willing to stake their careers on plain speaking, is speaking plainly again today in The Washington Post.  So; that's headline news, right?  Top feature?  Nah, you have to go dig on the Opinion page; and of course, they provide "balanced coverage", with a counter-opinion; from the Editor (idiotors) of the Post.

For those who've been reading this blog for a while; you'll remember I tried to point this out in 2007; scientific "best practices" will cause systemic underestimates for this problem.  And that's a really big problem.

If you've been dithering about changing your life to adapt; I think it's time to stop dithering.

A New Effect Of Global Warming...

Yeah, yeah, climate change, what the hey.  This comes under the category of Global Weirding, a phrase I first heard at least 15 years ago, but which has recently started to gain steam.  Or my own choice to describe where we are; Climate Collapse.

We just went through this new effect, one I have not seen really described elsewhere.  We're among the many suffering from the drought here, so we're amazingly sensitive to the hope of rain.

This got my hopes up-

And yeah, we're kind of in the middle of all that.  But?

SQUAT FOR RAIN - out of all that lovely dark green radar (usually heavy) and yellow-orange (usually toad-strangler downpour).  Seriously, the deck is barely damp.

What we have here is an Insincere Thunderstorm.  

Or perhaps, for the poetically and vulgarly inclined: a Pissant Thunderstorm.

'Cause that's how much water we got; about as much as an ant could piss.

(actually, it's still dark as hell, and I'm hoping if I insult it enough, it'll eventually RAIN on us...)

Actually, later- no, it never did.  So-

Or.  Dunderstorm.

Ok, or, just Understorm.

Yet another horror awaiting us all as the climate goes over the edge.  Big promises- but it was only teasing.  The grass - is outraged, I assure you; and my neighbors who were hoping this would save their corn may be opening their arteries as we speak.

And I would like to talk to the radar people.   What's up with this!!???  Seriously- I sweat more water than this big blockbuster official "Severe Thunderstorm Warning" produced.

sigh.  Back to sweating.

:-/

You guys should, like, vote.  I'm currently liking Dunderstorm, myself.  Noisy, but totally incompetent.

The first cygnets of summer-

If you're not already, better get used to headlines that read something like "Cherry trees blossom 2 weeks ahead of average."  The year is off to a hot start already; and lots of early events are in the pipeline by now.


This is the one that motivated me to post today: "The first cygnet of the year at Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset is the earliest since records began in 1393."


That's a pretty substantial record.


Thing is; here on the other side of the globe, I have our own to report.  Last night at 11 PM, as I went outside to check the sky for lightning, since our neighbors to the west were having tornadoes again, I was greatly startled by some flashes of light- from the wrong direction.


They were fireflies; 10, at least.  On May 1st.  That is absolutely the earliest, by far, we've ever had fireflies here.  Ok, I've only got a 30 some year observation track, not quite up to the swans' records.  But the first firefly, like the first cygnet, has always been an event to watch for- yes, it's summer.


About 3 weeks earlier than the average, I think.


Supposed to hit 80°F today.


Another headline to get used to: "Long, hot, summer..."