rclab

6 minutes ago, forkyfork said:

her generation has the most to lose

Even if “from the mouth of babes “ is as old as forky. As always .....

2 hours ago, BxEngine said:

The obvious answer is the experience she gained dealing with you...

Be, you must have been channeling, that’s exactly what my late beloved, also a teacher, would have said. As always .....

4 hours ago, donsutherland1 said:

Rising and increasingly vicious personal attacks on Greta Thunberg who has played a pivotal role in building a global youth movement aimed at persuading policy makers to address climate change are contemptible. They also offer fresh indications that science is advancing and those who seek to align public policy with science are making progress. The increasingly unhinged responses of the climate change denial crowd reveal that they are out of anything resembling climate, meteorological, or other scientific ammunition, as their discredited cause is anti-science at its core.

That Ms. Thunberg is now being loosely associated with the Nazis via a conspiracy theory of her being placed in her position via the Left (even as Nazism was on the Far Right) is particularly reprehensible. Yet, it's happening.

https://twitter.com/BigJoeBastardi/status/1175948680253362178

Whether this will prove the low water mark so to speak remains to be seen. After all, the climate change denier movement is frightened with its loss of ability to influence, terrified of a move away from the status quo, naked before science, and desperate for relevance. For now, it has moved into the dark shadows of conspiracy theories (almost certainly the environment in which the remnants of that movement will persist after society has moved on) and it seeks the personal destruction of those who stand for science. Historic experience is not on its side.

I’m not sure if using children, in the manner shown is wise, regardless of intention. The action becomes clouded by media hype and the true purpose compromised. The adult individual identified as closest to the movement becomes a very appealing target for negative comparison. More political back and forth, nicely avoiding the point into non discussion/action. “From the mouths of babes” is a spontaneous reaction to something not right or comfortable in a child’s mind. When the children start asking; “why doesn’t it snow here anymore” or later on “what is snow” the sorrowful parent/guardian will beg the question. The correct answer will already have been given by Nature, then, of course, it will be too late. As always .....

2 hours ago, Snow88 said:

Just got engaged today =)

My mother once told me that love is blind but marriage is an eye opener. I’m positive you and your beloved are going into your union with 20/20, May your vision remain clear even unto the night of your diamond anniversary. As always ....

18 minutes ago, donsutherland1 said:

Personally, I think the mechanisms by which policy makers look to the future and devise policy are deeply flawed, untethered from meaningful prioritization (largely ignore the opportunity costs of doing nothing), and confined in at least semi-closed personal belief systems. The new UN synthesis report on climate change shows that dramatic changes need to be made to limit warming to 1.5C or 2.5C. The report also notes carbon emissions are not expected to peak by 2020 or even 2030.

To change the mindset of power would probably require making the dramatic changes profitable. When will balance assert itself. Will even a catastrophe, such as ice sheet collapse, Greenland glacier disintegration, Gulf Stream interruption, Yellowstone caldera awakening, I wonder.  I think of the extravagant fiction of Art Bells, The Coming Superstorm, than I stand in my Cobble Hill back yard look up and think that today’s, 86 degree, suns rays, a little over 15,000 years ago, glinted off the surface of an ice sheet almost a quarter of a mile above me. All the good intentions and the road that’s paved to, well I fear that (weather) we like it of not, a balance will be reached. I doubt it will be pleasant. As always ....

1 hour ago, donsutherland1 said:

IMO, if the focus is shifted to one of capitalism vs. socialism, that will be a recipe for preserving the status quo. Instead, the emphasis needs to be on addressing the challenge of climate change, not trying to use that challenge to pursue unrelated political goals. Like you, I believe nuclear power will be an important piece of any coherent approach to addressing climate change.

Don, it’s two minutes to midnight on the atomic apocalypse/climate change doomsday clock. While an atomic conflagration, is more immediate and physically frightening I wonder if it and climate change should be linked. Theoretically, even though not likely, if an outbreak of sanity took place in the seats of power and a decision to destroy all existing atomic weapons and the means to make them, the threat would instantly diminish and the clock would roll back. The climate does not work that way. If that same out break of sanity took place regarding climate would the clock appreciably change at all. Sadly a change of mindset, while welcome, can do little to alter the path, if it reaches a point of no return. As always ....

18 hours ago, donsutherland1 said:

To be fair, some of the big breakthroughs that led to contemporary understanding of anthropogenic climate change i.e., Hansen's work, Mann's proxy research, etc., were still years in the future. Today' scientific understanding of the fundamentals of climate change is unequivocal. Yet, there's a large gap between the urgent realities of the continuing rapid rise of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and political will.

For at least the next 5 or perhaps even 10 years, the unfortunate reality is that a path pretty close to the status quo is probably the base case for policy. I very much hope my dreary assessment is wrong, because delay only magnifies the scale of an already great challenge.

So as the Yahs and the Nays batter each other; the audience falls into a dangerous state of ennui.

As I watch the fabled Northwest Passage open up every spring and wonder if Santa has flood insurance; I ponder the sad result of the above. Cover the eyes, the ears and the mouth all at the same time. What finally does get our attention may not be very pleasant.

As always ......

On 9/19/2019 at 3:53 PM, Typhoon Tip said:

mm... not always - not imho that is.   

That introspection piece/op ed isn't an exoneration - the ending morality is paramount.  It's how we respond that's paramount.

Not sure exactly what you meant but, if by that as always, we intend to mean, we'll can figure it out when we need to?  no - it's entirely plausible such a future is insurmountable and as untenable as that may be, it is in fact a future that would not longer include the footprint of our species. 

I will say though - the "intellectual force" is the most powerful one of life that evolution has ever managed to create - and because of that, there is uncharted waters.  But that's not a reliance - not even close.  It could fail - the tragedy would knowing that and not flouting opportunities to stopping it.   My present fear is that ...we could know it, and still be powerless to stop - 

Perhaps it’s metaphysical optimism. I worry about our seeming collective uselessness in taking action. What concerns me is if we lack the concern to effectively restore balance will we like it when natural order steps in to do it for us. As always .... and thank you for your reply.

1 hour ago, psv88 said:

Hoping it’s hot AF so you are sweating for the next month. Softest cop on the force lmao

So, what do you two really think about each other? As always ......

14 minutes ago, Typhoon Tip said:

A conceptual question I've oft coveted about the anthropomorphism aspect of AGW, is how "natural" vs "unnatural" is that in reality.

You know, whatever we do as a species .... is natural. Quite logically, any process of Nature must then be causal in the changing nature of the natural setting and on and so on.  Thus Nature cannot create something unnatural.

That may seem obvious reading that in short, terse turns of phrase, but it still is an important distinction that tends to get lost in the dogma of environment lobbies, this, that, and/or the general conscientious voice.  Plastic, as anathemic as it's becoming... isn't really unnatural at all. 

Look if we wanna call Plastic, global warming, death-zones of the seas... etc, etc, secondary, tertiary, or quaternary harmful consequence of something Nature did, that's fine and perhaps we should define them more proper to real math. Any decision we make as an entity-force as entity-forces created by Nature, is a natural force.  Sorry - anything else is delusional.  

Yes yes we all get it, but why does that matter? 

Well...for starters, there are tendencies to improperly conflate factors that are incorrectly derived/defined when semantics, particularly those of incendiary rhetoric etymology is the primary conveyance; and also, culpability is a miss-assignment of blame. It disenfranchises when considering that Nature put us here in all our glory, an organism so advanced technically. It's a fair question - what really is and is not our fault... Ah, one that may be answered through morality?   

Before that happens, however ... hint hint hint:  no one has ever won a debate insulting people. That's what the shimmering brilliance of the Environmental/scientific community didn't understand in their art of diplomacy decades ago, when they introducing this whole crisis 'all people are assholes'  ... They disenfranchised Humanity in a lot of ways by impugning the same "rights" to do what Natural evolution gave them the capacity to do.  It set off a sociological ramification that I believe we continue to fight today.  But that's speculative.

Define a catch-22:  Nature endowed its self with an unstoppable ways and means to remove its self.  There's an intriguing premise for a science fiction novel, "The GAIA experiment: the kill-switch chronicles."  Holistic muse aside... this may also be related to why deep field cosmological fields of research don't readily see the Universe twinkling with the after glow of all these super advanced species.  Too few over pass this test.

Leading geologic and paleontological sciences purport plenty of evidence that during the Dinosaurs apex reign circa 250 to 65  Million years ago ... there were extended periods with no icecaps.  In fact, there are fossil remains of tropical flora above the 60th parallel, and that's also factoring in tectonic drift, too.  Life flourished until the either the Chicxulub, or a cocktail of events including that fateful comet or asteroid teamed up an end the Mesozoic era. It's not a question of whether life can survive an ice free world - the problem is rate of adaptation that's the killer.  Pangea broke apart over millions of years and as the climate shifted because of resulting changing circulation patterns, air and sea, along ( probably ) with eccentricities in the Earth's orbit, taking place spanning millions of years.  Human kind evolving the ways and means to liberate in just 500 to 1,000 years what took this planet some 3 billion years to sequester, and that is reactive Carbon, that is a Chicxulub event for all intents and purpose.  

Ahh...but we have this thing called morality - morality is based in no small part on an unconscious, yet ubiquitously accepted knowledge ... no, scratch that. Let's call it an 'ability', within the mentality of responsible sentience ( not everyone...) to project results of addition and subtraction to the vitality of scenario, and weigh the cost of ending consequences.  There are probably an innumerable ways to define morality, but one thing most would likely agree upon is that it is the existential result of the individual having matured through necessary stages of success and failure, reward vs punishment, pain and pleasure...etc, as they grow to understanding how their own actions parlay cause and effect and on and so on. 

The problem of AGW ...isn't a question of whether it is Natural or artificial ... it's a question of evidence and observable cause and effect - one that awakens the morality.  By the time the evidences become that clear, it may be too late to stop the crater.   

 

Blossoms In The Dust. Even from dust (hu) man can rise.?.?. As always .......

1 hour ago, IrishRob17 said:

Around the park

 

Thank you I.B. I closed my eyes and I was there. I could feel the dew as I walked, breathed and was caressed by the morning mists. The chance of actually being there is long gone. Dreams are easy and wonderful. It’s the waking that is difficult. As always .....

4 minutes ago, Hoosier said:

Your posts are a bit like somebody in Macon, GA lamenting the lack of snow in their area.  It's like what do you expect?

No offense to the fine people of Macon and any posters who may be from there.

Thinking of the heat those good folks have had this warm season, who could begrudge them that fantasy. As always ....

37 minutes ago, LongBeachSurfFreak said:

Swells from Humberto were increasing this morning and should peak Friday with some 8 foot waves. It should rival Dorian in size as Humberto has a huge wind field this morning. The swell being generated now will arrive then as it’s takes time to travel.

thats really the only interesting thing going on weather wise. I’m sure everyone’s sick of hearing me complain about having to water!!

Not really L.B. That does, however, depend, on how and where you do it. As always .....

20 minutes ago, dmillz25 said:

The west coast 

I think we should all make use of a coaster. As always ......

2 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

I’m with ya, the more I learn the more I realize there is to learn

So true. With so little time left, I have so much more to learn, so much I should have but didn’t, so much I never will and so much well .... As always, ....

On 9/14/2019 at 8:21 AM, Snow88 said:

This weather sucks. We need something interesting  up here.

Be of good cheer, Anthony, S-19 is on the way. As always .......

10 minutes ago, forkyfork said:

these days we either get flooding or prolonged dry spells

The forum seems to work that way also. As always ....

48 minutes ago, dendrite said:

How's the australian look?

Down under as always .....

3 hours ago, IrishRob17 said:

Good thing they had an umbrella to keep dry...

Fools rush in where Angels fear to go. That person from that, street that became a river video, a month or so back sure does get around. As always ....

13 hours ago, uncle W said:

that was Jan 19-20th, 1978...only Alan kasper was worried we would get a big hit on his late night show...from Jan. 9th-Feb 7th 1978 there were six major storms that brought rain or snow or both...that was a bad month for letter carriers...

Thank you, Unc. I liked Mr. Casper and his style of delivery. My ‘thank you’ for delivering two routes, without even being a regular, was .... I only had to deliver one route the next day. 41 years does make a difference. As always .....

30 minutes ago, uncle W said:

the morning of the March 3rd 1960 storm had a forecast for snow changing to rain on the morning TV news...I was walking on 11th Ave and 63rd St at about 8am with light snow falling...it was 27 degrees and snow was starting to drift near the curb...I said to myself how could this snow change to rain...it could have easy if a coastal that developed near Virginia and bombed out didn't...the weather bureau missed that one...That evening while listing to WMGM on the radio the disc jockey ( Scott Muni ) said 'hey kids...no school tomorrow'...

Your memory is sharper, Unc. I do remember Scott Muni. I also remember listening, a year or two later to HOA, Herb Oscar Anderson. He had a fine morning radio broadcast. The biggest change to rain blunder I remember was a 78 Jan or Feb storm. I was a letter carrier in Brooklyn Heights and delivered two routs that day. The motto was taken seriously. It was supposed to change to rain quickly. 13.5 inches later it finally changed to freezing drizzle. As always .....

4 hours ago, uncle W said:

the December 11-12th 1960 storm is still one of my favorites...16.6" in Bensonhurst...21" at Newark...15.2" in Central Park...record cold followed...then the two disasters spoiled it...it was great to be 11 years old during March 1960 to Feb. 1961 ...four cold windy snowstorms and hurricane Donna...

I can never forget the raging river that was really the stairs going up to Fort Green Park during Donna. Schools were not closed for that one. I remember seeing the widest and beautiful rainbow in my Dyker Heights sky. The day the March snow storm started I was riding the Sea Beach express back from a school chums house, in Coney Island. I remember my father, that night, settling the old, yes he still had it, 50 Buick in the big alley community drive. The winds were strong with drifts already growing. Bay Ridge Parkway was a snow emergency street and the Old Man was in no mood to get towed again. Moving vehicles were banned from the streets during the emergency. A reminder of the disasters brings them right back to me. John Tillman on my black and white TV reporting, on site, the Constellation fire. The young boy Boeing 707 passenger, who only survived a couple of Days. The heartbreaking photos in the news and mirror. The fellow selling Christmas trees at the crash impact site, I believe his remains were never found. Perhaps I’m wrong but it sorta stuck with me. A dramatic fall and winter series of events, some great , some far from it and never forgotten . As always ...

Unc jogged my memory. August 1954, Hurricane Carol, I was seven. The wires on 75th Street, Bay Ridge Parkway were all above ground and on huge telephone poles. I remember, no power and being afraid. I had no concept of a hurricane being a natural event in nature. I’m afraid in my young mind I gave it metaphysical qualities and stayed very close to my mom as we sat in the dark. I remember the next day riding with my dad. He had a 1950 Buick Roadmaster, a chrome and steel tank. We rode long lengths of tenth and eleventh avenues. As I looked down the side street I saw fallen trees, crossed like swords. So many streets, it seemed to me. That strong impression always remained with me. It seemed like the east coast was a storm magnet at that time.                                        It wasn’t until  December of 1960 when my interest in the weather took hold. I was thirteen and a Freshman in Brooklyn Tech. The day  it hit I remember the sky milky white, with the sun a well camouflaged yolk. It was cold and people were starting to ramp up for the holidays. We didn’t start before Halloween at that time. If I remember correctly the storm started with intensity, in the late afternoon. By the morning, public school classes were cancelled, a miracle event at the time. Bless you Mayor Wagner. I never remember seeing that much snow. The temperature, l believe dropped to the single digits. 17.5 inches fell, based on the radio reports. To my young eyes and up to my lower calf slogging, it seemed a lot more. Maybe the CPK measurement team was in training at the time. Based on how the future turned out, they graduated with honors. Little did I know that it would be a winter to remember. A winter of natural and unnatural disasters. Sad memories of the USS Constellation fire and the Boeing 707 crash into Brooklyn, all in snow. Unc and other more competent forum members can check my data. I could have myself but why mess up a childhood memory with facts. As always ....

19 minutes ago, Lava Rock said:

I like your avatar without the pixelation.

Sad to think that’s the original. As always ...

On 9/7/2019 at 6:54 PM, forkyfork said:

i still think josh is shark food

Forky is all right even when he is all wrong. As always