German research vessel Polarstern of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) is currently underway again in the Arctic. where a decrease in sea ice had been expected there, or, probably more accurately said, hoped for.
But this year the minimum Arctic sea ice extent has turned out differently, as Germany’s widely viewed (climate-alarmist) Tagesschau news had to report:
In view of the extreme summer, the question arose in advance: Will the Arctic also see a new negative record in melting ice this year? This time, the Arctic has been spared. AWI director and expedition leader Antje Boetius tells Tagesschau that an unusual weather phenomenon prevented a record melt of Arctic sea ice this summer. According to Boetius, a sequence of low-pressure systems has led to an entirely different ice movement. The so-called transpolar drift, which describes the drifting of ice along certain routes, took a different course this year, she said. Ice from the Siberian region has been held together and compressed instead of drifting out and melting. For the AWI director, this shows that weather phenomena determine the development of sea ice, and that forecasting is more difficult than ever. The Arctic, with its sea ice and life, has been lucky once again, says the biologist. But things could go the other way. “If we are unlucky, if weather phenomena play unfavorably, we can also be affected by large ice-free parts much sooner than expected,” Boetius adds.”
We notice that when the opposite happens, e.g. heat, storms or more melt happens, then it’s all because of climate warming. But when it goes the other way, then it’s weather!
Campaign group Net Zero Watch has welcomed the decision by the UK Government and the North Sea Authority to give the go-ahead to the giant Rosebank oil and gas field off the coast of Shetland.
The field could provide a significant proportion of the UK’s fossil fuel needs. At nearly 500 million barrels, Rosebank is the UK’s biggest undeveloped oil and gas field.
Net Zero Watch director Andrew Montford said:
Nobody seriously disputes that the UK will require fossil fuels for decades to come – even the Climate Change Committee agrees. So the Government’s decision to sweep aside the green opposition that has been holding the development back for two decades is very welcome.
The decision comes close on the heels of Rishi Sunak’s belated recognition of the failure of current Net Zero policies, and his announcement of a shift in emphasis. Mr Montford said:
The poll bounce since Sunak’s Net Zero delays suggests that the only way the Conservatives can dream of retaining power is to dump as much of the ‘green crap’ as they can before the election, and the Rosebank decision shows that Mr Sunak knows it.
The decision comes as governments across Europe are weakening their commitment to decarbonisation policies, as recognition of their futility and the unbearable costs spreads. The continent has significant fossil fuel resources, which will be vital to keep the lights on in coming decades.
Net Zero Watch has repeatedly warned ministers and MPs in London and Brussels that they have a choice between exploiting Europe’s untouched fossil fuels or inevitable relegation of the continent to second division status.
The illogical conclusion of tail-wagging-dog climate theories fed into models based on them, with a side order of volcanoes. In any case a lot happened to Earth in the last 250 million years, including periods when CO2 was much higher than today – so whatever comes out of a supercomputer, natural evolution will continue. – – – Extreme global warming will likely wipe all mammals – including humans – off the face of the Earth in 250 million years, according to a new scientific study. Sky News reporting.
Temperatures could spiral to 70C (158F) and transform the planet into a “hostile environment devoid of food and water”, the research warns.
The planet would heat up to such an extent that many mammals would be unable to survive – and the Earth’s continents would merge to form one hot, dry, uninhabitable supercontinent.
The apocalyptic projections are from the first-ever supercomputer climate models.
They suggest the sun would become brighter, with tectonic movements unleashing huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air through volcanic eruptions.
The Earth would become so hot that only 8% to 16% of the projected supercontinent would be habitable.
Mammals, including humans, are better adapted to living in the cold, and are less able to deal with extreme heat.
‘Humans would expire’
The study’s lead author, Dr Alexander Farnsworth of the University of Bristol, said: “The newly emerged supercontinent would effectively create a triple whammy, comprising the continentality effect, hotter sun and more CO2 in the atmosphere, of increasing heat for much of the planet.
“The result is a mostly hostile environment devoid of food and water sources for mammals.
“Widespread temperatures of between 40C to 50C, and even greater daily extremes, compounded by high levels of humidity would ultimately seal our fate.
“Humans – along with many other species – would expire due to their inability to shed this heat through sweat, cooling their bodies.”
The authors of the research believe CO2 levels could rise from around 400 parts per million (ppm) today to more than 600 ppm by the time of the formation of the supercontinent – named Pangea Ultima.
This assumes, however, that humans stop burning fossil fuels – “otherwise we will see those numbers much, much sooner”, warned Professor Benjamin Mills, who calculated the future CO2 projections for the study.
Spear hundreds of 300m high wind turbines into ocean environments and it’s only natural that that environment changes. Downwind air currents are cut and buffeted by the blades of turbines up wind. The phenomenon known as ‘wake turbulence’ reduces output from each turbine within a cluster of turbines, because it reduces and interferes with wind speed and direction within that cluster.
However, it’s the effect on surrounding ocean currents caused by interference with local wind speed and direction that now has weather watchers worried.
As any good meteorologist will tell you, the movement of ocean currents (which mixes cold and warm water, thereby altering sea surface temperatures) drives the climate onshore. Changes in sea surface temperatures determine rainfall patterns around the world. Think El Niño and La Nina – both related to shift in ocean currents and changes in sea surface temperature.
Where those periodic events are entirely natural occurrences, there’s nothing natural about offshore industrial wind power operations, as Pierre Gosselin outlines below.
Offshore Wind Farms Altering Marine Ecosystems: “Sufficiently Potent To Redirect Existing Currents”
No Tricks Zone
Pierre Gosselin
20 August 2023
It’s ironic: Man is changing the environment and climate in order to prevent change.
Atmospheric wakes extending from the bottom to the top of the picture [contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (Sentinel 2A-MSI 29/03/2021), processed by ESA & Hereon/ Dr Martin Hieronymie]
Researchers from the Hereon Helmholtz-Zentrum have found shifts in airflows and sea currents, which are connected to offshore wind farms.
A team led by Nils Christiansen recently published a research paper about the impacts offshore wind farms have on ocean dynamics, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Press release here.
“Wind speed deficits spread up to 70 km behind the wind farms” The turbines extract kinetic energy from the wind field to generate electricity. Downwind of the wind turbines, the so-called atmospheric wakes develop, and are characterized by reduced windspeed, specific pressure conditions and enhanced air turbulence. During stable atmospheric circumstances, the wind speed deficits spread up to 70 km behind the wind farms.
Using high-resolution hydrodynamic computer simulations, the team analyzed the effects on the southern North Sea for the summer of 2013 (May to September). The analysis shows a link between atmospheric wakes and transformation in the momentum-driven exchange between the atmosphere and water. As a consequence, the horizontal currents and the stratification of the water could be affected.
Redirecting existing currents The wake effects are sufficiently potent to redirect the existing currents, and thus results in shifting mean temperatures and a changed salinity distribution in the wind farm areas.
“While the occurring changes remain within the range of interannual variability, they illustrate similar magnitudes as the presumed mean changes due to climate change or year-to-year variability,” says Nils Christiansen, from the Hereon Institute for Coastal Systems, who was lead author on the study.
Reduced water surface turbulence Another wake effect is the reduction of shear-driven processes at the sea surface. In other words, the turbulent mixing of the water surface caused by shear wind is reduced dozens of kilometres around the wind farm. Water is usually stratified, thus a layer of warmer water may lie on top of a layer with cold water. Wind farms disturb this natural stratification. Due to reduced mixing, a stabilized stratification of the water is fostered. This phenomenon was particularly noticeable during the decline in summer stratification.
The natural stratification of the water is especially prominent in summer and decreases towards autumn. In the area of the wind farms, however, a stabilized stratification outside the seasonal variation was measured.
“The magnitude of the induced mean changes does not indicate severe local effects, however far-reaching structural changes in the system occur“, says Christiansen.
“Far-reaching structural changes in the system” “The transformation concerning currents and mixing are likely to affect plankton production and the food web structure. As a result it may influence the function of protected areas. Hence it is important to consider these consequences while developing marine protection concepts“, says Hereon Institute Director Prof. Corinna Schrum.
Moreover, possible feedbacks on air-sea exchange potentially affects regional atmospheric conditions and ecosystem dynamics. No Tricks Zone
Iowa Climate Science Education 