|
Post by missouriboy on Jul 14, 2019 1:16:47 GMT
"I'll send them some of ours. I'll throw in the ticks for free." I was thinking this too. But I wonder if it might be true? They told us for years that glyphosate was not carcinogenic. I wonder if heavy use of that stuff might be why I see fewer butterflies, toads, horned lizards, honey bees, and garter snakes than when I was a kid. We are turning a lot of our landscape into a green suburban desert, I think. And of course heavy agricultural use of it. It's possible. I don't use the stuff much my self. But it may be other things. Before Roundup there used to be more diversity in ag fields. Most "weeds" (and that is a nebulous term) have flowers, and those flowers, staged as they are through a season, are a source of sustenance for many insects, including bees. A mono-crop field is a relatively sterile environment in comparison. I have not noticed a decline in insects / bees in my relatively wild orchard area. But I have not done a systematic study.
|
|
|
Post by walnut on Jul 14, 2019 1:21:08 GMT
I try not to go overboard with it, but we have been spraying much more of it around the pecan orchard this year. Because of the daily rain, the grass and weeds are crazy and my tractor can't keep up.
I don't know either, we have plenty of bugs out there. But I don't see the honeybees etc all over in the city like when I was a kid. ButI can't really know for sure.
|
|
|
Post by Ratty on Jul 14, 2019 7:53:06 GMT
"I'll send them some of ours. I'll throw in the ticks for free." I was thinking this too. But I wonder if it might be true? They told us for years that glyphosate was not carcinogenic. I wonder if heavy use of that stuff might be why I see fewer butterflies, toads, horned lizards, honey bees, and garter snakes than when I was a kid. We are turning a lot of our landscape into a green suburban desert, I think. And of course heavy agricultural use of it. It's possible. I don't use the stuff much my self. But it may be other things. Before Roundup there used to be more diversity in ag fields. Most "weeds" (and that is a nebulous term) have flowers, and those flowers, staged as they are through a season, are a source of sustenance for many insects, including bees. A mono-crop field is a relatively sterile environment in comparison. I have not noticed a decline in insects / bees in my relatively wild orchard area. But I have not done a systematic study. Apply for a grant.
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 14, 2019 15:41:53 GMT
"I'll send them some of ours. I'll throw in the ticks for free." I was thinking this too. But I wonder if it might be true? They told us for years that glyphosate was not carcinogenic. I wonder if heavy use of that stuff might be why I see fewer butterflies, toads, horned lizards, honey bees, and garter snakes than when I was a kid. We are turning a lot of our landscape into a green suburban desert, I think. And of course heavy agricultural use of it. I think that the effect of an industrialized monoculture is grossly underestimated. Some of the 'fields' in the mid-west are considerably larger than most farms were in the 50's. Then they are sprayed to ensure nothing else grows. From a biodiversity point of view it is a disaster. Insects that breed/eat particular plants cannot survive so neither can their predators. This is a short sighted short term greed policy that will not end prettily.
|
|
|
Post by walnut on Jul 14, 2019 16:31:00 GMT
Yes I agree about the sterilizing effects of factory farm monoculture, might be cause for concern.
Anecdotal info on the critter populations, Tulsa 1975- A kid playing barefoot absolutely had to watch for honeybees while playing in the yard, or he would be stung. They were very common in clover. Now much less common. Toads appeared in droves on every rain, now rarely seen. Would see about 1 horned lizard a year, but I have not seen one probably since the early 80's. Butterflies were common enough that kids did go out with nets and could catch a dozen easily. Now, unbelievably, fairly rarely seen. Garter snakes would be flushed out by lawnmowers a few times a year. Now practically never seen.
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 18, 2019 18:32:36 GMT
"GREEN GERMANY RISKS RUNNING OUT OF POWER Date: 18/07/19 Reuters FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany, a poster child for renewable energy, is renouncing nuclear and coal. The problem is, say many power producers and grid operators, it may struggle to keep the lights on.
The country, the biggest electricity market in the European Union, is abandoning nuclear power by 2022 due to safety concerns compounded by the Fukushima disaster and phasing out coal plants over the next 19 years to combat climate change.
In the next three years alone conventional energy capacity is expected to fall by a fifth, leaving it short of the country’s peak power demand. There is disagreement over whether there will be sufficient reliable capacity to preclude the possibility of outages, which could hammer the operations of industrial companies.
The Berlin government, in a report issued this month, said the situation was secure, and shortfalls could be offset by better energy efficiency, a steadily rising supply of solar and wind power as well as electricity imports.
Others are not as confident, including many utilities, network operators, manufacturing companies and analysts."More Here
|
|
|
Post by Ratty on Jul 18, 2019 23:09:51 GMT
" and shortfalls could be offset by better energy efficiency," Here in Australia where we have massive reserves of coal, natural gas and uranium, we are being prepared for the same fate. Mention has been made of aluminium smelters stopping production to avoid blackouts. Big energy users paid for reducing demand... and we're being conditioned to accept it. Big energy users look set to be rewarded for reducing their power usage during peak periods, under a plan to prevent summer blackouts.I despair.
|
|
|
Post by blustnmtn on Jul 19, 2019 0:25:39 GMT
|
|
|
Post by blustnmtn on Jul 19, 2019 10:24:27 GMT
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 19, 2019 11:04:11 GMT
This is a little overblown (cough) ... As the jet streams were not really identified until 1920's and not researched much until the 1940's. Also if you look at 250hPa between Perth and Ratty at Brisbane the jet is just as extreme. What is really meant is jets of this strength are rare during the summer.
|
|
|
Post by blustnmtn on Jul 19, 2019 13:21:13 GMT
Yes...I read the article.
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 19, 2019 23:44:22 GMT
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 26, 2019 14:08:53 GMT
"Collapse of Wind Power Threatens Germany’s Green Energy Transition Date: 26/07/19
Die Welt Hardly any new wind turbines were built in Germany in the first half of the year. Turbine makers call it a “punch in the gut of the green energy transition” and blame environmentalists.
The expansion of wind power in the first half of this year collapsed to its lowest level since the introduction of the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) in 2000. All in all, just 35 wind turbines were build with an output of 231 megawatts. “This corresponds to a decline of 82 percent compared to the already weak period of the previous year”, according to the German Wind Energy Association (BWE) in Berlin. “This makes one nearly speechless,” said Matthias Zelinger at the presentation of the data. The managing director of the Power Systems division of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) spoke of a “blow to the guts of the energy turnaround”. This actual development doesn’t match “at all to the current climate protection debate”."www.thegwpf.com/collapse-of-wind-power-threatens-germanys-green-energy-transition/
|
|
|
Post by nautonnier on Jul 28, 2019 7:17:09 GMT
"Electricity bills could double to bail out new wind farms, report claims
Electricity bills could double to bail out new wind farms that have massively underestimated their operating costs, a former adviser to the World Bank has claimed. Two offshore wind projects secured contracts to supply renewable energy at reduced costs in 2017 and it was hailed the result of huge strides made in technology and engineering, sparking hopes of a green jobs boom. But Gordon Hughes, a professor of economics at Edinburgh University, claims that almost no attention had been paid to whether the contracts were sustainable and what would happen if they were not."www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/07/27/electricity-bills-could-double-bail-new-wind-farms-report-claims/?WT.mc_id=tmg_share_tw
|
|
|
Post by Ratty on Jul 28, 2019 12:53:56 GMT
In response to this, an old friend who has the gift wrote this:
|
|