Global warming may have already passed irreversible tipping point

[Twdft]

, "re-invent" public transportation

I guess you practically have to build new cities from the ground up to get public transportation in the US, current cities can't be changed anymore.

[Rasulis]

They'll get a 40 billion tax break from California for it, another 20 billion from the Federal government and then will start an endless legal battle over water rights with alfalfa or whatnot farming corporations.

The preliminary planning plan include "toilet to tap" water treatment system. The other cities in Solano County would be able to send their sewer to the new development. Similar to Orange County. Orange County accepts sewage from Riverside and San Bernardino, treats the sewage to potable water level, and then pumps them into underground aquifer for future use. Huge upfront cost building the infrastructure which had to be paid by the taxpayers. Big payoff in term of water supply stability at the end.

Take all of these with a grain of salt. It is still very early in conceptual stage.

[Elder Millennial]

I guess you practically have to build new cities from the ground up to get public transportation in the US, current cities can't be changed anymore.

Why not? Current cities have been literally demolished to turn them into massive parking lots.

There's absolutely no reason why that space cannot be used to build public transportation with additional housing.

None.

It's been done a whole bunch of times in massive cities across Europe and Asia which were all originally rebuilt around cars after WW2.

You also missed the point.

All these tech bro ideas that swallowed up billions to "re-invent" public transportation, like Boring Company, Hyperloops and whatnot are literally all just expensive and dumb versions of ...trains.

Like we did it guys. We already invented the most environmentally friendly, cost effective, efficient form of moving people around on short to medium distances.

Rail.

Metro/Tram/Streetcar/Commuter trains/High speed rail. A big metal tube, powered by electricity running on two metal tracks. You don't need to stick em in a vacuum tube, you don't need to turn them into little pods, none of that bullshit.

[Rasulis]

One of the most common arguments against climate change, and the one that bug me the most, is “summer is supposed to be hot.”
It was never this hot. At least not within my lifetime.

We lived in San Diego for 30 years. It has become noticeably warmer.

Our neighbor is an Indian couple. Both were from Mumbai. They met here while going to school and got married. They remember growing up without A.C. in one of the hottest and most humid places in the world. Napping during the hottest time of the day and going out at night. Sleeping out in the courtyard at night. None of those techniques work anymore. The nighttime temperatures during the hottest time of the year in Mumbai don’t go down low enough to make it comfortable to sleep.

My daughter has been in Texas since 2007 or 2008. I have cousins that have been in Texas since 1990. They all agree that Texas summers have gotten hotter.

A cousin from Belgium used to spend her summer in Naples, Florida. She sold her home this year. Summer in Florida has gotten too hot for her.

Summer in many places in the US, and the world, is not survivable without A.C. A necessary but problematic solution. The power demands create pressure on electrical grids. Many are not designed to handle the load. The intersection of extreme heat and power outage is one of the deadliest events you can imagine. A.C. also increases outdoor temperatures. By as much as 2 degrees C (3.2 degrees F). A study in Tokyo and another in Phoenix. Obviously, A.C. also generates a lot of greenhouse gases.

A.C. is a flawed but necessary solution.

Extreme heat has been so bad this summer that Americans without access to air conditioning are dying

It should be noted, that as solution goes, the A.C. technology is quickly reaching its limit. The typical A.C. units are not designed to cool the inside by more than 20 degrees F. At least efficiently. Each degree in excess of 20 degrees F requires higher amounts of energy. Humidity will also reduce A.C. units efficiency. A 10% increase in humidity reduces A.C. units efficiency by approximately 20%.

[Elder Millennial]

One of the most common arguments against climate change, and the one that bug me the most, is “summer is supposed to be hot.”
It was never this hot. At least not within my lifetime.

We lived in San Diego for 30 years. It has become noticeably warmer.

Our neighbor is an Indian couple. Both were from Mumbai. They met here while going to school and got married. They remember growing up without A.C. in one of the hottest and most humid places in the world. Napping during the hottest time of the day and going out at night. Sleeping out in the courtyard at night. None of those techniques work anymore. The nighttime temperatures during the hottest time of the year in Mumbai don’t go down low enough to make it comfortable to sleep.

My daughter has been in Texas since 2007 or 2008. I have cousins that have been in Texas since 1990. They all agree that Texas summers have gotten hotter.

A cousin from Belgium used to spend her summer in Naples, Florida. She sold her home this year. Summer in Florida has gotten too hot for her.

Summer in many places in the US, and the world, is not survivable without A.C. A necessary but problematic solution. The power demands create pressure on electrical grids. Many are not designed to handle the load. The intersection of extreme heat and power outage is one of the deadliest events you can imagine. A.C. also increases outdoor temperatures. By as much as 2 degrees C (3.2 degrees F). A study in Tokyo and another in Phoenix. Obviously, A.C. also generates a lot of greenhouse gases.

A.C. is a flawed but necessary solution.

Extreme heat has been so bad this summer that Americans without access to air conditioning are dying

It should be noted, that as solution goes, the A.C. technology is quickly reaching its limit. The typical A.C. units are not designed to cool the inside by more than 20 degrees F. At least efficiently. Each degree in excess of 20 degrees F requires higher amounts of energy. Humidity will also reduce A.C. units efficiency. A 10% increase in humidity reduces A.C. units efficiency by approximately 20%.

While all that is true, and we're likely to see the availability of AC in the US climb towards "essentially everything used as a living space" and wide adoption, especially in Southern Europe these are places that can AFFORD AC. Mostly.

There are literal billions of people living in places where the cheapest portable Chinese off-brand AC unit might cost as much as a half a year to a full year's wages. Assuming they have a power grid access and the ability to pay for the power too.

Those people are utterly fucked.

Also about Southern Europe....people don't quite realize, including Europeans themselves, just how fucking far north Europe really is.

Spain/Italy/Greece are about the same latitude as the US/Canada border, not California/Florida most people tend to compare them with.

[PosPosPos]

I’m of the opinion, with climate change just getting worse, that A/C’s should be universally regulated, and people subject to penalties if they are found operating them below the designated/locked temperature setting.

Good luck enforcing that of blatantly authoritarian-fascist shit. Especially when it's just going to function as a deterrent for the lower and middle classes as rich people are just going to treat any possible fines as just the additional cost of turning on the air conditioning.

[Endus]

Good luck enforcing that of blatantly authoritarian-fascist shit. Especially when it's just going to function as a deterrent for the lower and middle classes as rich people are just going to treat any possible fines as just the additional cost of turning on the air conditioning.

Not to mention, it's just a repeat of the entirely false and intentionally propagandized mantra that climate change is somehow due to personal actions by individuals, when the reality is that it's due to corporate action by major companies.

In the case of A/C units, they run off electricity, but don't themselves create any significant GHG emissions. So if we want to track down emissions, we need to talk about power plants. And blaming end users for the use of coal and oil plants is fuckin' ridiculous. They don't have a choice. If you're in an apartment, you can't just set up solar panels. And even if you own your home, putting up panels is expensive and beyond a lot of people's available budget, even if you'd make that investment back over their lifetime.

Push to get your local production onto renewables and clean energy. It's achievable. Ontario's eliminated most major sources of GHG emissions in power generation; we're down to 7% of production being natural gas, and coal and oil are nearly eliminated completely (0.3%). 100% elimination is difficult when you consider Northern locations which are too distant for easy line transmission. All told, 92% of electricity in Ontario is zero-carbon.

https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-an...ntario.html#s1

[PosPosPos]

Not to mention, it's just a repeat of the entirely false and intentionally propagandized mantra that climate change is somehow due to personal actions by individuals, when the reality is that it's due to corporate action by major companies.

There's some truth to "individuals", in the sense that the extremely rich people have disproportionately contributed to more unnecessary carbon emissions than everyone else who do it to survive.

Like their private jets and superyachts.

[Muzjhath]

There's some truth to "individuals", in the sense that the extremely rich people have disproportionately contributed to more unnecessary carbon emissions than everyone else who do it to survive.

Like their private jets and superyachts.

And fruit grown in Argentina, packaged in Thailand, then sold in the USA.
All for the profits of some very rich people

[Elder Millennial]

I’m of the opinion, with climate change just getting worse, that A/C’s should be universally regulated, and people subject to penalties if they are found operating them below the designated/locked temperature setting.

That solves exactly nothing whatsoever.

[Elder Millennial]

The significance of grind stability becomes very apparent when we consider how badly states like Texas are being affected. It can also help reduce energy consumption, energy costs and resource conservation, by forcing people to have a behavioral shift.

Energy-saving incentives (money back) could also be applied to bills, to help that shift — something that I have taken part in.

Grid stability is an infrastructure problem. You're placing the burden for said stability on the wrong end of the scale.

The incentive to save energy for the average to poor consumer is already there.

It's called POWER IS EXPENSIVE.

Again, everything you said is just there to shift the responsibility onto the consumers for something the consumers aren't fucking responsible for. It's privatizing profits and socializing costs.

[Endus]

The significance of grind stability becomes very apparent when we consider how badly states like Texas are being affected. It can also help reduce energy consumption, energy costs and resource conservation, by forcing people to have a behavioral shift.

Energy-saving incentives (money back) could also be applied to bills, to help that shift — something that I have taken part in.

Grid instability in the USA due to things like heat waves is entirely down to shitty power companies cutting costs and not doing proper maintenance, and being allowed to get away with that even though the result is people dying by a government who really doesn't give a shit about the welfare of its citizens.

People using their AC unit to not suffer in the heat are not the problem, and it's gross as fuck that you'd argue otherwise.

[Endus]

Currently, as far as I’m aware, a couple of European countries have enacted similar A/C regulations, but they primarily pertain to businesses, as the majority of the population do not use them. However, with the heat continuing to rise, there have been discussions of residents possibly having the same regulations, should A/C be more widely used.

And? That doesn't support your position at all and the situations aren't remotely comparable. Even you admit that, in your own post, though you try and play it off otherwise.

[Elder Millennial]

Currently, as far as I’m aware, a couple of European countries have enacted similar A/C regulations, but they primarily pertain to businesses, as the majority of the population do not use them. However, with the heat continuing to rise, there have been discussions of residents possibly having the same regulations, should A/C be more widely used.

Comparing the requirements imposed on commercial spaces to those on private individuals is asinine.

Your average supermarket uses more power than an entire 4 story apartment block. Gazillion freezers, fridges, stock storage, lights, bakery ovens and god fucking knows what else. Not to mention the sheer surface area that requires air conditioning and the temperatures businesses often air-condition to is an entirely different affair than what your average family household or apartment would or literally could use. Same with office spaces, bars, I know restaurants that will air condition to the low 60s in areas with 100+ temperatures just so they can maintain their jacket requirements. Absolutely inane.

Businesses also contract power very differently and at VERY different rates than the average user. They usually have very very fixed requirements with almost no variation in consumption so they buy in bulk at low rates. The power that might cost you as a private consumer 1 dollar will cost a business a fraction of that...10 or 15 cents or less, the more they use the less it costs. So they naturally tend to give less of a fuck about just how much power they are consuming.

That's why those regulations are required for businesses.

[Soulwind]

Currently, as far as I’m aware, a couple of European countries have enacted similar A/C regulations, but they primarily pertain to businesses, as the majority of the population do not use them. However, with the heat continuing to rise, there have been discussions of residents possibly having the same regulations, should A/C be more widely used.

That regulation happened (past tense, as far as I'm aware, it's no longer a thing, not even in government buildings) to save energy for winter in case things got dire because of the war, which they didn't. Nothing to do with grid stability or climate change.

Don't project your country's failures onto the civilized world.

[callipygoustp]

This composition shows the difference in water levels at Lake Mead from July 6, 2000 to July 3, 2022.

[The Stormbringer]

-SNIP-

This is so fucking depressing, dude. Why you gotta bum me out right now?

More seriously, I don't get how people can see things like this and pretend there's nothing wrong. Or, if there is something wrong, it's not our fault. Or, if it is our fault, it'll be too difficult for us to fix, so don't even bother.

[Rasulis]

Electrical infrastructure hardening cost money. Lots of money which the customers end up paying.

After 2003 and 2007 devastating wildfires in San Diego, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) went into hyperdrive mode with fire hardening their distribution system. More than 10,000 miles of lines have been undergrounded as of 2019. Not only does undergrounding protects the lines from fire, but it also keeps them cooler allowing for higher electrical load. Around 60% of the remaining electrical poles, primarily in the backcountry, have been replaced with metal poles. All poles are equipped with infrared cameras. Hundreds of weather stations were installed allowing SDG&E to track wind speed and temperature throughout San Diego County. All monitored around the clock. Microgrids allowing the utility to conduct precision blackout and protect the grid from systemwide failure.

All good and great. SDG&E probably has the best distribution grid in the US. Except San Diego now pays the highest electrical rate in the US. The county also has the highest rate of home solar power adoption. With each new solar customer, the pool of SDG&E electrical users got that much smaller. All that improvement cost, which is still ongoing, is now being borne by an ever decreasing user base. In the end, something will have to give.

On a side note, California turns to experience another heat wave. Although it is expected to be short lived. Cooler than normal is expected for Labor Day weekend.

[Mayhem]

This is so fucking depressing, dude. Why you gotta bum me out right now?

More seriously, I don't get how people can see things like this and pretend there's nothing wrong. Or, if there is something wrong, it's not our fault. Or, if it is our fault, it'll be too difficult for us to fix, so don't even bother.

The same people who see this say we can't be responsible for climate change because humans are just too insignificant.

[Rasulis]

Another cost of living in an ever warming world - good sleep.

This is the ideal sleep temperature for older adults, new study finds

For most people, keeping your bedroom cool — anywhere from 60 to 67 degrees, per the National Sleep Foundation — will likely result in higher sleep efficiency, or less time spent tossing and turning.

However, a new study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, indicates that older adults in particular may benefit from slightly warmer temperatures at night, between 68 and 77 degrees.