Colder than severe
Some weeks ago, when the cold spell was still a snap, I bought some screenwash in Asda to prevent my screenwash from freezing.
Sadly, however, it froze before I got a chance to pour it in.
Yesterday was quite a warm day, however, and after a long drive the scooshers started working again, so I wanted to take the opportunity to fill it up with my precious screenwash, only to find out that it had frozen, just by being in the boot of the car.
Given that the whole purpose of buying screenwash is to prevent it from freezing, that annoyed me a bit.
If you look at the photo, you’ll see that it tells you normally to dilute it with water, but to use it straight in a severe winter.
So this winter must be colder than severe according to Asda.
Laboratory Earth
It appears that there are many more scientists who think our civilisation is heating our planet up more than would have been the case otherwise than there are qualified people thinking otherwise, and I therefore do think it’s foolish to avoid taking strong measures to combat global warming.
However, as the recent Copenhagen summit showed, the evidence is not yet so overwhelming that all of humanity can be convinced, and it’s therefore very hard to achieve any meaningful emission cuts.
We therefore need to get more evidence and refute all major competing theories.
One of the alternative favourite theories cited by the opponents of global warming is solar activity.
I therefore found this article (written before the current cold spell began) very interesting:
But how to prove this? During the 20th century, solar activity rose steadily, as did the amount of industrial gases being pumped into the atmosphere. With both quantities rising, it has been impossible to distinguish between them. Now, that has all changed.
In the past 12 months solar activity has fallen to levels unseen since the 1920s. Sunspots have become rare sights and for three quarters of this year the Sun has been spot-free. According to one study if the trend continues at its current rate, the Sun will lose its ability to produce sunspots by 2015. That would take it back to its condition in the latter 17th century, when hardly any sunspots appeared for 70 years — and Northern Europe underwent the worst years of the so-called Little Ice Age.
Winter scenes from this period were romanticised by artists such as Brueghel painting frost fairs and hunting scenes. But was the 17th century sunspot crash responsible for the Little Ice Age or a coincidence? Could we now find ourselves plunged into a similar freeze if the sunspots do not return?
I’m well aware that the current cold spell doesn’t disprove global warming in the slightest. One possible consequence of global warming could be the Gulf Stream moving or stopping completely, and that would make the British Isles even colder than they are at the moment.
It will be interesting to see if the solar activity theory can be complete refuted within a few years, though.
Snow from a blue sky
Scotland is an amazing place at times.
For instance, two days ago I was standing outside my in-laws’ house when I noticed that it was snowing from a bright blue sky:
I suppose the clouds must have moved away or dissolved after dropping their snow, but it was beautiful to behold.
Winds from the east
There’s been snow on the ground here in Newton Mearns since Anna’s birthday (19th December), and that’s not usual for the west of Scotland. I mean, we have palm trees, and they don’t like these temperatures at all!
There’s a good article in The Telegraph explaining that the unusual weather is due to the winds coming from the north and east instead of from the south and west.
As part of this new wind pattern, parts of Canada have much milder weather than usual.
Although it’s not mention in the article, I can’t help wondering whether something similar was happening during the early summer months of 2009, when we had much warmer and drier weather than we’re used to.
And of course, it would be useful to know whether this is a one-off, or whether easterly winds are going to be a frequent occurrence in future years.
Why are they talking about Gustav?
Hurricane Katrina was an important news story in many ways, not least because it came as a partial surprise.
This time the media seem to have decided not to be surprised again, and they seem all to have placed tons of reporters in Louisiana.
However, Gustav is now only a Category-1 hurricane, and while I would expect that to be reported if it happened in Scotland, I really don’t expect to hear about such minor event if they happen abroad.
However, all the news channels seem to be reporting non-stop from the area, standing upright with hats on their heads, with birds flying in the background, talking about the horrible storm they’re experiencing…
Last chance to see Bangladesh
There is a scary article about Bangladesh in The Independent. (The first half is much better, so feel free to stop reading when you’re halfway through.)
Basically, Bangladesh seems to be drowning already:
The seas are rising, so land is being claimed from the outside. (The largest island in the country, Bhola, has lost half its land in the past decade.) The rivers are super-charged, becoming wider and wider, so land is being claimed from within. (Erosion is up by 40 per cent). Cyclones are becoming more intense and more violent (2007 was the worst year on record for intense hurricanes here). And salt water is rendering the land barren. (The rate of saline inundation has trebled in the past 20 years.) “There is no question,” Dr Rahman said, “that this is being caused primarily by human action. This is way outside natural variation. If you really want people in the West to understand the effect they are having here, it’s simple. From now on, we need to have a system where for every 10,000 tons of carbon you emit, you have to take a Bangladeshi family to live with you. It is your responsibility.”
Winter again!
The weather has been getting warmer recently, and Scotland has been full of cherries, forsythias, ribes, daffodils, tulips and other flowers in full bloom.
This morning, however, the weather decided to revert to full winter mode: Lots of snow everywhere.
It’s very pretty, but not very good for the garden, I fear!
雪
デンマークで多くの雪がある。列車で眠らなければならないと新聞を読んだ。親の猫は多くの鳥をつかまえるので、雪がだいすきである。父は駅から大学まで歩かなければならなかった。しかし、スコットランドに雪がないで、既に桜の花がきた。