Global Climate Destabilisation

For threads primarily discussing Climate Change (particularly in relation to Peak Oil)

Moderator: Peak Moderation

User avatar
Potemkin Villager
Posts: 1989
Joined: 14 Mar 2006, 10:58
Location: Narnia

Post by Potemkin Villager »

"Bomb Cyclone" expected on east coast of USA.

https://inhabitat.com/bomb-cyclone-to-s ... d-weather/

Sounds serious to me compared to our wee storms on this side of the Atlantic.
Overconfidence, not just expert overconfidence but general overconfidence,
is one of the most common illusions we experience. Stan Robinson
User avatar
Potemkin Villager
Posts: 1989
Joined: 14 Mar 2006, 10:58
Location: Narnia

Post by Potemkin Villager »

Very well written and easy to follow exposition on the Beast from the East and all that.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-p ... -303476225

When you think about it the degree of compressive warming is pretty mind boggling!
Overconfidence, not just expert overconfidence but general overconfidence,
is one of the most common illusions we experience. Stan Robinson
vtsnowedin
Posts: 6595
Joined: 07 Jan 2011, 22:14
Location: New England ,Chelsea Vermont

Post by vtsnowedin »

Potemkin Villager wrote:"Bomb Cyclone" expected on east coast of USA.

https://inhabitat.com/bomb-cyclone-to-s ... d-weather/

Sounds serious to me compared to our wee storms on this side of the Atlantic.
One of the wife's cousins has a beach house in Maine that is a bit under water. From the picture they Face booked about a foot above the ground floor.
kenneal - lagger
Site Admin
Posts: 14287
Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
Location: Newbury, Berkshire
Contact:

Post by kenneal - lagger »

Potemkin Villager wrote:"Bomb Cyclone" expected on east coast of USA.

https://inhabitat.com/bomb-cyclone-to-s ... d-weather/

Sounds serious to me compared to our wee storms on this side of the Atlantic.
All the "proof" that US deniers need that global warming is a sham!! How can we have global warming if it's so cold even in Florida? Prats!
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
User avatar
emordnilap
Posts: 14823
Joined: 05 Sep 2007, 16:36
Location: here

Post by emordnilap »

Bridge collapses in Italy during severe rain

What a nightmare for those people.

Expect more destruction of this kind as weather worsens and infrastructure fails to be maintained.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
kenneal - lagger
Site Admin
Posts: 14287
Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
Location: Newbury, Berkshire
Contact:

Post by kenneal - lagger »

I've amended the above from Spain to Italy for you, Em.

As the bridge was quoted as being built in the 1960s there could have been some Mafia interference in the bridge building resulting in underspec materials being used. There are at least two spans of the bridge collapsed which would be unlikely to have been caused by the lightning strike that the bridge was reported to have received immediately before collapse. Judging by the 40ft container lorry stopped on the bridge it looks more like 250m have collapsed rather than the 100m quoted.
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
User avatar
emordnilap
Posts: 14823
Joined: 05 Sep 2007, 16:36
Location: here

Post by emordnilap »

kenneal - lagger wrote:I've amended the above from Spain to Italy for you, Em.
Genoa, I always thought that was in Spain. :lol:
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
User avatar
adam2
Site Admin
Posts: 11001
Joined: 02 Jul 2007, 17:49
Location: North Somerset, twinned with Atlantis

Post by adam2 »

I agree that mafia involvement seems probable.
A defective structure is of course more likely to fail during extreme weather than on a calm mild day.

Two modes of failure occur to me.

Firstly a lightning strike, in passing through the steel reinforcing the current can heat the steel to the point of danger, and also the heat can turn trapped water into steam and thus shatter the concrete.
Reinforced concrete structures should of course be designed to withstand lightning, but if the steel reinforcement was already smaller than it should have been ?
Or if the lightning was intended to be conducted to earth by an external lightning conductor, and that precaution was undersized, or completely omitted, or later stolen ?

Another possibility is failure of a vertical support due to floodwater undermining the foundations, a much more likely eventuality if these were less deep or less substantial than called for by the designer.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
fuzzy
Posts: 1388
Joined: 29 Nov 2013, 15:08
Location: The Marches, UK

Post by fuzzy »

I would guess salt corrosion. Genoa is a fairly temperate historic coastal city. Very worth a visit.
kenneal - lagger
Site Admin
Posts: 14287
Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
Location: Newbury, Berkshire
Contact:

Post by kenneal - lagger »

Just stay off motorway bridges. Or any bridge for that matter!!
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
kenneal - lagger
Site Admin
Posts: 14287
Joined: 20 Sep 2006, 02:35
Location: Newbury, Berkshire
Contact:

Post by kenneal - lagger »

I thought that it could be foundation failure in the heavy rain but, from the pictures, at least one of the foundations seems to be unmoved at its base although the structure above has collapsed.
Action is the antidote to despair - Joan Baez
raspberry-blower
Posts: 1868
Joined: 14 Mar 2009, 11:26

Post by raspberry-blower »

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
User avatar
Potemkin Villager
Posts: 1989
Joined: 14 Mar 2006, 10:58
Location: Narnia

Post by Potemkin Villager »

Reasons to be cheerful 1,2,3...

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence ... ef3c1dd7eb

There is no doubt that we as a species are totally barking.
Overconfidence, not just expert overconfidence but general overconfidence,
is one of the most common illusions we experience. Stan Robinson
User avatar
emordnilap
Posts: 14823
Joined: 05 Sep 2007, 16:36
Location: here

Post by emordnilap »

Potemkin Villager wrote:Reasons to be cheerful 1,2,3...

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence ... ef3c1dd7eb

There is no doubt that we as a species are totally barking.
Thanks. Good article, it chimes with things I mull over almost daily.
Far from waking up and taking action, we see that the human species is becoming increasingly mired in obsessing over geopolitical and economic competition, self-defeating acts of ‘self’-preservation (where the ‘self’ is completely misidentified), and focused entirely on projecting problems onto the ‘Other’.
Yes. :shock: 99.9999999% do nothing when not blaming others.

This bit got me:
A key signifier of how insidious this is, is in yourself. Look to see how your critical preoccupations are not with yourself or those with which you identify; but that and those whom you oppose and consider to be ‘wrong.’
Is this really true? I hope not but fear it is. A standard British mid-to-late-20th century education can instil in you a guilty conscience about absolutely anything. :lol:
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
Post Reply