World's hottest day since records began

Akrasia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847709#Comment_120847709

Depends on what kinds of regulatory processes we have. With renewables there are so many opportunities for micro generation, community wind and solar projects, domestic PV and storage etc, were unlikely to be at the mercy of the kinds of plutocrats and oligopolies we are victims of now via OPEC

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847709#Comment_120847709

It's a market which is exactly what we have now.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847799#Comment_120847799

Doubt it tbh.

These companies are in the game to make profit for shareholders at the expense of customers, any other viewpoint on that is very naive.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847837#Comment_120847837

? What’s that mean?

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847854#Comment_120847854

It means that a renewables dominated market will function much the same as they do now. There was a statement of paranoia about those industries which is what I responded to. Do you imagine we currently operate on a different basis ?

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846456#Comment_120846456

So more food should be produced in South America and less produced in Ireland ?

You are OK with that ?

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847919#Comment_120847919

For what it's worth, Ireland produces almost no food for domestic consumption.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847892#Comment_120847892

Which is why we have expensive electricity now. (Gas spiked prices alright but wind won’t make things cheaper)

If we had state owned generation the price would be cheaper- but we can’t due to EU competition regulations- so what ya gonna do!

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847994#Comment_120847994

Keep living that dream.

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847940#Comment_120847940

You didn’t answer my question just trotted out the usual Green BS .Are you actually saying that no meat or dairy produced here is for the domestic market ?

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846888#Comment_120846888

An honest fair play to you for your efforts. Not everyone is in a position to move. We have insulated the crap out of the house, installed solar panels and try to minimize emissions where we can. However, I don't see any way of dropping my emissions by a factor of 10x or 20x to reach those from China or India. I am still going to heat the house in the winter, I am still going to shower after exercise (mostly with solar heated water and turning off the water when washing), my job requires a computer and lighting my work area, either at home or in the office for large parts of the year. Without finding a plot of land with an a rated house where we can grow our own fire wood and food, (which I couldn't afford and don't have the skills to do)I don't see how those emissions are going to drop.

I support the state where they are actually doing something sensible. They should be taxing new goods, non essential, highly to encourage reuse and repair. They should be subsidizing companies and schools to install showers, drying areas, and safe, weather protected bike shelters.

In terms of support, we have changed how we heat the house to use lower carbon fuels where possible. We try to use active travel for short distances where possible (there is no place to leave bikes at the school where they won't be soaked, and not enough space to hang wet clothes to dry during school hours).

Again, my issue is not being green or trying to be green or walking to the shop instead of driving, or wearing an extra layer in winter to reduce heating related emissions. My issue is probably quite doomsday ish but given the current effects we are seeing, is there anything we can do, as individuals or a small country that will halt climate change given the level of wasted emissions from war, private jets, private yachts, etc, or are we just peeing into the wind?

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848006#Comment_120848006

Will do chief thanks.

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847520#Comment_120847520

Absolutely, we can't go around expecting everyone else to cut emissions when Eire Inc doesn't. And yes, there should be economic benefits from having renewable energy. However, as the dinosaurs are playing catch up they are still causing a lot of ghgs, increasing climate change, causing more droughts and floods and human migration to more stable locations, food shortages , etc.

If the expectation that we are near a tipping point is correct, how do we stop going over it and keep the world safe for future generations?

As I reply to these comments I find myself struggling with the hope that people here have and hoping the changes we make will make an impact. However I don't see how we can avoid climate disaster when some of the biggest polluters don't always see fossil fuels as an issue, and it will be such a long time before we have sufficient renewables and storage in place to replace fossil fuels that we will be well past the tipping point of irreversible climate change.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848086#Comment_120848086

I tend to agree with you on almost all points, but whats the alternative - Hedonistic despair ?

We do what we can and hope that if everyone pulls their weight we have a fighting chance. I am overall pessimistic but will go down fighting.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848008#Comment_120848008

Most is for export. I would have a lot more sympathy with Irish farmers if they were producing for domestic markets. As it is they are some of the worst environmental polluters and destroyers and mostly for foreign earnings which actually contribute diddly squat to the balance sheet. So we destroy our environment for virtually nothing.

The problems are systemic, and yes I do think we should produce as much of our own food as we can - but giving over half of our land to beef and dairy isn't going to deliver that.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848165#Comment_120848165

Given that crop failures are becoming more and more common, and megadrought in Spain where most of our veg comes from, we really should have schemes in place to become more self sufficient when it comes to food.

Always amazes me that 55% of all Irish fruit and veg come from the fields up the road from me in North County Dublin.

Shows how little range we have countrywide in the foods we produce.

We're screwed if crop failures become more and more common. Even our farmed animals are dependent on imported food.

randomname2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848150#Comment_120848150

I was hoping someone would have a realistic projection that would show that our efforts aren't futile.

At the very least if we keep doing what we can to reduce emissions and be as green as feasible, we can look our future generations in the eye and say we tried.

cdeb

I don't think there's any chart at present that shows our efforts are anything other than futile.

The reality is we've tried very little at the moment. A couple of quick wins, lots of nice ads, but we're still stuck in a consumer economy which has to grow each year, a population that has to grow each year (even as that means flying people in from halfway around the world), huge building projects, etc

GNWoodd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848165#Comment_120848165

What parallel world do you live in ? It must be fun

White Clover

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848549#Comment_120848549

That was a fairly green post above. Excuse the pun!

Akrasia

https://www.wired.com/story/the-arctic-is-a-freezer-thats-losing-power/

thos is for MT and others who think we can just allow this to take its course without too much worry

Positive feedback loops are already emerging.

We have a brief window of opportunity to stop these from becoming self reinforcing cascades that will mean humans can no longer prevent runaway climate change

We don't know what the thresholds are, we only know that the hotter we allow it to get, the bigger the chance that we will exceed them

beggars_bush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120848211#Comment_120848211

That's more to do with the soil type in north Dublin

A lot of farmland isn't suitable for veg or fruit growing in Ireland

Shoog

80% loss of biodiversity since the 1980's is what we should really be focusing on. This is why the recent intensification of Irish agriculture for foreign earnings is probably one of the worst things to happen in the last century. This all happened after it was flagged up as a crisis by the EU and why we now have to try to backtrack with the Draconian Nature restoration Bill which will force us to undo some of the damage.

The sixth great extinction is happening right now and gathering pace. It's also not happening somewhere else - it's happening harder and faster right here on our doorstep.

arctictree

All the media reports about the heatwave in Europe and its wet and cold here! Free air con!

monseiur

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846824#Comment_120846824

You obviously are a typical introspective 'green' who can't see beyond his/her own nose. I suggest that you take off the blinkers for a period and see for yourself what's really happening in the big world out there - it may be news to you & your ilk that Ireland is a tiny, almost to the point of being invisible, part of planet earth.

The current NATO / Putin war in east Europe has produced more carbon emissions to date than Ireland has produced in the last 4 years and the war will last for years. Munitions factories in the US and elsewhere which were on short time until the war are now working around the clock producing billions of $ worth of armaments including cluster bombs and in the process emitting millions of tons of pollutants into the atmosphere. In the meantime sad folk like you are crying into their soy or coconut milk at the thought of Irish farmers producing almost organic products to feed the world.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120850193#Comment_120850193

you've just gone off ranting there and not responding to what I actually said. more of an oat milk person myself by the way, don't like soya or coconut. the war in ukraine doesn't really matter to the sorry state our environment is in in ireland.

Shoog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120850278#Comment_120850278

Its just your typical whataboutarry from our monseiur.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120850278#Comment_120850278

You mean oat juice. It’s not a milk.

Thelonious Monk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120850399#Comment_120850399

I call it milk, delicious oatey milk

mikeybhoy

It's hot in Southern Europe every summer ffs. Same way Scandinavian countries are guaranteed to be cold in the winter. Climate change is the biggest lie ever told like Covid it is an excuse for more government overreach into our lives. Maybe some people don't like driving electric cars, paying more taxes or eating ze bugs.