Six Degrees by Mark Lynas

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Pentlandpirate

Post by Pentlandpirate »

Longshanks, it's obvious that this job you have means you are working all hours and unable to get out and and about and see the world for yourself, and learn about it. Instead of playing on the internet whilst you are supposed to be working, get down and do some work (as I'm sure your boss expects you to do in return for a paypacket) so that you can get your work done quicker, leaving more time to learn about your environment and some manners
longshanks

Post by longshanks »

Pantiland Pirate has obviously picked up the annoying habit of preaching to others....guess who from? But at least he's not sensationalising his preaching with threats of the end of civilisation/our species/the world as does our other self-confessed scare-monger and titillator.

Just a quick note (which I can write at this time in the morning thanks to the joy of not having a boss, Pentland, but being self-employed) as my one word response to your conjecture about people living in remote areas seems to have miffed you a tad:

Yes, the eskimoes probably are mumbling about changes in their part of the world. Most likely that there are less polar bears to slaughter these days because the population has been severely depleted by their new, efficient killing technology as they now use skidoos and high powered rifles in contrast to their grandfathers less efficient methods. They're probably also commenting on the record extent of sea ice last winter which has resulted from the ninth consecutive year of global cooling. Yes, global average temperatures have been falling since 1999 and last winter was the coldest (in the Northern Hemisphere) since the Victorian era mini-iceage. IPCC have acknowledged this.
Pentlandpirate

Post by Pentlandpirate »

Longshanks: Self employed boss? Then there is no excuse. Spend more time working, and less time frittering away the hours on the pc and then you wouldn't have to work weekends too.

Now that eskimos can buy beef burgers in supermarkets wouldn't you think they shoot fewer polar bears for bear burgers? It's a lot less hassle.

PP. Normal by choice.
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khartoumteddy
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Post by khartoumteddy »

Working for yourself is ideal
think of all the journeys to work you dont have :D :D :D :D
No long hours only 12-16 a day :D :D :D :D :D
Good financial rewards :D :D :D
BUT
Taxman :( :( :( :( :(
Vatman :( :( :( :( :(
WIFE :( :( :( :( :( :(
Uncle Tom Cobleigh and All interfering :( :( :( :( :(
and The or Any Government to support while all those who dont
work for themselves think you have it EASY :D :D :D :D :D

However if we are waiting for the end of civilisation
Have we missed the 47ft Boat :?: :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:
or just never left the ISLAND FOR YEARS :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
longshanks

Post by longshanks »

Below are a couple of extracts from articles in two of today’s quality broadsheets which may allow a little healthy scepticism to counter the ecofascist alarmism which colours the global warming debate, although, ‘he who would be a Scot by choice’ will no doubt lambast them because they come from ‘right wing rags funded by the oil industry fink tanks’.
The penultimate link directs you to a graph of global temperatures for the last 425,000 years. Interesting cycles from which one can draw one’s own conclusions.
The final link takes you to a lengthy article written by Prof Bob Carter, a geologist at James Cook University, Queensland, engaged in paleoclimate research . It’s entitled “There is a problem with global warming....it stopped in 1998.”
Ignore all of this if you find the discussion boring....employ the “ignore” button”. I have no wish to push these sceptical views on anyone who is totally happy with that which is fed us constantly by the warmists, but one does feel a need to balance the hysterical scare stories which assail us.
Le Fin
Long Franks (using the language of the Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys by choice)
.........................................
 Just a drop in the frozen ocean
Increasingly desperate to sustain their scare, as the evidence suggests otherwise, the global warmists have recently been focussing more and more on that vanishing Arctic ice.
The Independent recently cleared its front page to warn: "it seems unthinkable, but for the first time in history ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year". The latest horror story is the breaking up of two huge chunks of ice measuring "seven square miles".
Oddly enough, however, the latest ‘Just a drop in the frozen ocean’ satellite pictures (see the Watts Up With That website) show the North Pole still surrounded by six million square kilometres of ice, a million more than this time last year.
It is true that, back in May, the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre said it was "quite possible" that all Arctic sea ice might vanish this year. Now they are only predicting that the Arctic may be ice-free "by 2030".
It's really frustrating how that "end of the world" we were promised keeps on having to be postponed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main ... do0307.xml

 Records kept by Nelson and Cook are shedding light on climate change

Britain's great seafaring tradition is to provide a unique insight into modern climate change, thanks to thousands of Royal Navy logbooks that have survived from the 17th century onwards.
The logbooks kept by every naval ship, ranging from Nelson’s Victory and Cook’s Endeavour down to the humblest frigate, are emerging as one of the world’s best sources for long-term weather data. The discovery has been made by a group of British academics and Met Office scientists who are seeking new ways to plot historic changes in climate.
“Ships’ officers recorded air pressure, wind strength, air and sea temperature and other weather conditions. From those records scientists can build a detailed picture of past weather and climate.”
 A preliminary study of 6,000 logbooks has produced results that raise questions about climate change theories. One paper, published by Dr Dennis Wheeler, a Sunderland University geographer, in the journal The Holocene, details a surge in the frequency of summer storms over Britain in the 1680s and 1690s. Many scientists believe storms are a consequence of global warming, but these were the coldest decades of the so-called Little Ice Age that hit Europe from about 1600 to 1850.
 Wheeler and his colleagues have since won European Union funding to extend this research to 1750. This shows that during the 1730s, Europe underwent a period of rapid warming similar to that recorded recently – and which must have had natural origins.
Hints of such changes are already known from British records, but Wheeler has found they affected much of the north Atlantic too, and he has traced some of the underlying weather systems that caused it. His research will be published in the journal Climatic Change.
 The ships’ logs have also shed light on extreme weather events such as hurricanes. It is commonly believed that hurricanes form in the eastern Atlantic and track westwards, so scientists were shocked in 2005 when Hurricane Vince instead moved northeast to hit southern Spain and Portugal. Many interpreted this as a consequence of climate change; but Wheeler, along with colleagues at the University of Madrid, used old ships’ logs to show that this had also happened in 1842, when a hurricane followed the same trajectory into Andalusia.
The potential of Royal Navy ships’ logs to offer new insights into historic climate change was spotted by Wheeler after he began researching weather conditions during famous naval battles. Later, as global warming moved up the scientific agenda, he and others realised that the same data could shed light on historic climate change.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/e ... 449527.ece

http://www.seed.slb.com/en/scictr/watch ... change.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main ... world.html
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NickB
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So?

Post by NickB »

.
Even the most rabid 'warmist' as you choose to term them would not deny that :

a) there have been climate fluctuations in historical times

b) there are more factors affecting climate than atmospheric CO2 concentration

. . . and your point is ?????

- NickB 8)
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Pentlandpirate

Verbal warming

Post by Pentlandpirate »

Yeah, what was his point? I felt dizzy trying to read it. The world is definitely worse off for all that warm air and CO2 he put out. He's losing his cool.
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khartoumteddy
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Post by khartoumteddy »

ecobabble take many forms

some for

some against

would the voice of reason could be heard occasionally :!: :!: :!:


TEDDY :? :? :?
longshanks

Post by longshanks »

My first point PP, is to counter the extreme sensationalisation of this controversial topic eg
"the time we have to avoid future catastrophe is shorter than you may have thought. " (Nick McB in his opening post)
with a little, gentle counter balance (of which Alfred E Neumann would have been proud) showing that things are not really as bad as the warmists love to say.
My second is to register extreme disquiet that the topic was first posted as a money making exercise by the author of the topic by grabbing the forum's attention through a sensationalist post which encouraged readers to click through an Amazon link to his account with said company.
Wrong Shanks (Right by choice)
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Yawn . . .

Post by NickB »

My second is to register extreme disquiet that the topic was first posted as a money making exercise by the author of the topic by grabbing the forum's attention through a sensationalist post which encouraged readers to click through an Amazon link to his account with said company.
Extreme disquiet? Eh? You do worry about the strangest things.

The topic was posted because it is an interest of mine, I had just finished the book and there hadn't been many interesting posts recently.

It doesn't cost people any more to buy a book through Amazon no matter how they arrive at the site. Amazon affiliates get 5% commission on sales, so we would have made a princely 28p on any sales of this item resulting from a clickthrough.

If you go to any of the directory pages on this site you will see that there are links to relevant books on Amazon. Every single one of those links is tagged with Webcraft's affiliate ID. So what? Your implication that there is anything underhand going on is somewhat childlike. I haven't looked at the exact figures for Amazon sales via this site, but I very much doubt if the commisson from Amazon earned via this site pays for the cost of the server.

If I post a link to a book in a thread I copy and paste the link in the standard format used elsewhere on the site and change the ASIN number. As a result the link is automatically tagged with our affiliate link. It is hardly a money making exercise - so far we have made precisely £0.00 from that link. If I wanted to use the forum to push Amazon books I would post reviews of less controversial titles such as:

Image The Islands That Roofed The World: Seil, Luing, Easdale and Belnahua

(Don't click this link and buy from Amazon though if you object to Webcraft getting commission of 28p on the sale)

(For those of you who still aren't sure what the Shankling is ranting about this time, if you click through to Amazon from any of the book links on this site then we get a commisson on any sales made on that visit, even if you purchase a different book or product. Commission is generally between 4.5% and 5.5%, but there is a low cap on electronic products. By purchasing from Amazon via a link from this site you are helping to support the site, but you are not making us rich. Our total Amazon commission from all our directory sites ( a couple of which receive 10 - 100 times the visitors this site does) average £1.00 - £1.35 per day.)
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Post by canUsmellthat »

So how much does running a server cost??? And who gets the money, I thought the internet was a giant free for all, nay?
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A giant free for all . . .

Post by NickB »

.
Not quite.

Websites have to be hosted on a computer somewhere with a bombproof connection to the internet, maintenance staff, security systems etc. Needless to say no-one is very interested in providing this for nothing. Hosting costs for a single domain vary from £50 a year upwards depending on the facilities required, bandwidth used etc. Webcraft UK (my company) rent servers and then resell the space on them, typical costs being in the region of £100 - £150 per annum (these prices include support of course).

Domain names also cost money to register and keep registered. In the case of this site it is currently hosted as a sub-domain of oban.ws, which costs $35 a year (with discount if more than two years registration are purchased in advance). Different domain extensions cost differing amounts, with .co.uk being one of the cheapest.

This might have been a more appropriate subject for one of the two 'Techncal Issues' forums at the bottom. Always happy to answer technical questions about the web though (assuming I know the answers :)

- NickB 8)
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longshanks

Post by longshanks »

My profuse apologies to NickB (humbly I've dropped the Mc)
Your semtence:
"I haven't looked at the exact figures for Amazon sales via this site, but I very much doubt if the commisson from Amazon earned via this site pays for the cost of the server."
has enlightened me.
I am guilty of totally misreading the Community Council's accounts. or wherever I had the impression, as I always thought they paid you £125 a year to host this site, hence my disquiet at your additional revenue raising.
Obviously I'm completely wrong so accept my apologies.
I now think that if you are in fact hosting this site for free then you are totally right in posting these Amazon links in order to recoup your expenses.
Personally I will now make all my future Amazon purchases (a not inconsiderable amount) by clicking through your own link.
Hope that helps.

Long Sackcloth & ashes (humbled by an assumption)
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NickB
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Apology accepted

Post by NickB »

.
I host this site for nothing and keep the various community pages up to date because I don't want to be on committees but, like most of us, like to feel that I am 'doing something'. I have some idea of what the Community Council's budget is for publicity, advertising etc and it really is miniscule, so if you thought I was taking over a hundred pounds a year from them then I can understand why you were a little upset.

- NickB 8)
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sleepy
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Post by sleepy »

:shock: :shock: :beer :banghead

What's this, a modicum of sanity and peace and understanding between you two?

Just as well, I was loosing the will to live trying to keep up with the 6'c ramachle!

But I'm sure it won't be long before normal service and hostilities will be resumed shortly! :sigh
I had a Schottische last night but I'm much better now thank you!
longshanks

Post by longshanks »

A quick note to NickMcB.

As promised I have started to use your links for my online purchases and have just bought a "Groom Mate Platinum Xl Nose & Ear Hair Trimmer".
Hope the commision from this helps defray your costs in running this site.

More purchases in the pipeline!

Dong Shanks (hair trimming by choice)
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Post by sleepy »

Ah, normal service being resumed!

In my parlance 'dong' has an inappropriate alternative defination! :oops: :oops: :oops:
I had a Schottische last night but I'm much better now thank you!
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Post by sleepy »

Sorry Guys I didn't mean to bring this topic to a sudden halt.

I confess I did not read or digest all your replies, I didn't have the energy or enough daylight hours but I do accept that there appears to be something going on with the climate - if I believe some of what I hear and read.

Global warming through CO2 emissions seems to be the word on the street but, pardon my lack of reading and knowledge but if it is accepted that there is a general heating up of the planet and the hole in the ozone layer is there for all to see could it not be for a completely different reason?

For example, has the possibility of warming from within the earth's core been explored? This could melt ice/glaciers, cause ocean temperatures and therefore ocean currents to fluctuate thus affecting all aspects of the Earth's varied elaborate eco-systems ?

Are we about to experience a cataclismic eruptiion of some dormant volcano - Ben More maybe or perhaps the Canaries will finally fall into the Atlantic causing the expected tsunami affecting GB.

Me, I'll keep on doing my green bit by switching off the unneeded lights in the house , turn down the thermostat, recycle my newspapers/unsolicited mail, bottles and cans - at the hall and not the surgery - and continue to detest the phrase "hottest/driest/wettest since records began."

150 years of weather reporting in the existance of the Earth means absolutely nothing if justification for global warming is being attempted.

It maybe part of the crazy cycle but can anybody remember a front page photogragh taken at night about 20/25 years ago of a stag outside the butchers shop in Braemar and the headline was the lowest recorded temperature in Britain of -32'C? I think a temperature recorded at Dunstaffnage was -18'c - it was bloody cold :!: :!: Gobal warming :?: :?:

:freezing :chilly :freezing :chilly

I accept something is going on but I know not what. Can I do anything about it - No!

But, very soon, I hope to enjoy my short haul holiday in the sun courtesy of Thomas Cook and his fleet of aircraft.

Sorry, as I said in another topic I ain't that principled :sunbathing :beach :sunny :droont
I had a Schottische last night but I'm much better now thank you!
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Have a look

Post by NickB »

.
pardon my lack of reading and knowledge
A good starting point is to look at some of the many articles which set out to answer the many arguments against MMGW put by climate change sceptics. That won't take too long, will give you an insight into the main arguments put forward by the 'antis' and will give you a little more information on which to base your opinions. (If you can be bothered of course - I do understand that most people are just too busy getting on with day to day life . . . )
Here are a few, from diverse sources. If you want to assume that all these organisations have some common hidden agenda then fine - there are aliens at Roswell, Diana was murderd and of course NASA didn't land on the moon . . . Image

Learning and Teaching Scotland - Climate Change Myths

New Scientist: Climate Change for the Perplexed

Heat and Myth - Financial Times article

Sierra Club of Canada - Ten Popular Myths About Gobal Warming

As I said, four very diverse organisations picked pretty much at random, all non-governmental with no particular axe to grind on this issue in terms of economic interests or reputation as far as I can see.

Enjoy your holiday. If you are worried about your carbon footprint you could always consider offsetting the carbon created by your flight.

- NickMcB 8)
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longshanks

Post by longshanks »

"If you are worried about your carbon footprint you could always consider offsetting the carbon created by your flight. "

With all due respect Nick McB, my friend, haven't we had enough of all this global warming claptrap on this forum.

Preaching is unbecoming as it demeans the preacher and the intended recipients.

Most normal people are fed up to the teeth with being preached at by the warmists and just want to get on with their lives without being told to, for example, give money to someone so they can plant a tree in Ulan Bator which will suck up the one 500th of the CO2 emitted by your jumbo jet to Bali.

Hoping this post doesn't spoil our close relationship.

Green Shanks (looking like Swampy by choice).
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