I thought something similar when I saw this on the news yesterday . . . central government taking control is usually one of the first signs that we are in real trouble.
I have heard anecdotal reports of bread and milk rationing in Asda and Tesco.
My lodgers went into our locally owned supermarket, and bought me the last small granary loaf and a few rolls. Apparently there were no free range eggs, but plenty of milk. They had bread flour and yeast, so I can make a few loaves.
We bought 20kg of wheat a few months ago and we'll be using the first of it for bread next week. Dug up some carrots and parsnips today which I had covered before the snow came. There was a crust of frozen ground about an inch thick under the matting and 6 inches of snow but the carrots were OK.
I suggested my wife bought some sea salt today but even that has run out in our local supermarkets. Some people must be pretty desperate to rid themselves of snow and ice to be using sea salt. I suppose it's a psychological desire to be in control, having a completely clear pathway to and from your house. We have compacted snow everywhere and its no trouble to walk on.
We've been putting out about 15 bales of hay a day for the animals on the common at £3.50 per bale bought in. Normally we don't feed them anything and they get by on gorse, heather and a bit of grass. The only thing they can reach now is the gorse. Next year we're going to make some hay ourselves because I think, after snow two years running, we are likely to have more.
The company I work for bought a pallet of grit a couple of weeks ago for the carpark etc. On Friday the supplier rang to see if we had any left, if so we had to return it as they had been asked to recall all that they had supplied.
My own (very steep) road actually had our grit bin filled today, within 30 minutes the drives of several houses close to the bin were completely clear, the road of course is still covered
The Co-op round the corner from me had sold out of bread a couple of days back but still had enough of everything else. Tesco in Cleethorpes and my local bakery seem to be doing fine with their stock.
kenneal wrote:Next year we're going to make some hay ourselves because I think, after snow two years running, we are likely to have more.
That's interesting reasoning. Is snow next year more likely because there was snow the previous two years?
(Not that I don't think you are wise to make your own hay, of course.)
I think snow two years in a row constitutes a trend, together with the long term lack of solar activity. Although the sunspot number for any particular year appears, from my research, to have no correlation with weather, a succession of quiet cycles seem to produce a cool climate, e.g. the Maunder Minimum. The last solar cycle was not a very active one and was very long lasting and the new one, started in 2008, is starting very slowly and is predicted to be quieter than the last one.
I can't find anything about the eruption of the Philippines volcano and how its emission of about 3000 tonnes of sulphur dioxide a day for the last six months has effected northern hemisphere temperatures. If this eruption carries on as it has been into the New Year it could effect summer temperatures and maybe next winter as well.
The Doomer in me says, "Prepare for the worst and hope for the best."
I think you are correct that a single year of low sunspot activity has a negligable effect on that years weather but we are in an extended period of low activity and so can expect extended periods of cooling with harsh winters in the northern hemisphere until the activity returns.
One for the real doomers. The Carrington Event came after the Dalton Minimum. Will it happen again?
kenneal wrote:I think snow two years in a row constitutes a trend, together with the long term lack of solar activity. Although the sunspot number for any particular year appears, from my research, to have no correlation with weather, a succession of quiet cycles seem to produce a cool climate, e.g. the Maunder Minimum.
But surely our 'cold snap' is a short term local phenomenon. November and the first half of December were unusually warm - in fact the whole of 2009 was significantly warmer than the long term average, though not quite a record breaker.
Here's December's Arctic temperature chart:
and I gather Canada has had some unusually warm weather recently.
We had a peak of 6 degrees yesterday, Despite some snow and a few cold patches the weather here has been generally warmer than it should be. I'm not sure we will see skating on lake Balaton this year but it's only January plenty of time for things to turn.
The company I work for bought a pallet of grit a couple of weeks ago for the carpark etc. On Friday the supplier rang to see if we had any left, if so we had to return it as they had been asked to recall all that they had supplied.
Knock. Knock.
"'ello I'm from the Council. We've been told by the credit card people that you bought a generator 18 months ago. You need to 'and it over. National emergency and all that. I'll give you a receipt."
and I gather Canada has had some unusually warm weather recently.