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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 25, 2013 10:14:06 GMT 1
I don't know about you but I am increasingly irritated by bozos on the BBC referring to the paltry few inches of snow that has fallen as "extreme weather".
If the transport network has to some extent broken down it is not the fault of the "extremity" of the weather but of the authorities' planning for it and of the nature of our increasingly mobile society that has resulted in increasingly long commutes for working people. In the cases of airports like Heathrow ever tighter landing and take off slots cannot be maintained in adverse weather conditions. This has nothing to do with "extremity" of the weather and everything to do with squeezing a quart into a pint pot.
As for closing schools because of fears of people falling on the ice - come on! Are we a nation of wimps? If my generation could get themselves to school in the snow so can the current one. That the economy should be adversely impacted because working parents have to look after children who are unable to go to school not because of weather but because of fears for the kids' health and Safety is a scandal.
The BBC, as per usual, is certainly taking every opportunity to push the "extreme weather due to climate change" meme as a result of this bit of snow.
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Post by jonjel on Jan 25, 2013 11:03:18 GMT 1
I agree very much with what you say Marchesa. I am old enough to have lived through some pretty harsh winters and never remember schools being closed. We walked if the buses stopped, and we walked without the aid of really good outdoor clothing. A wool coat gets pretty soggy, as do wool gloves. But the slides we made in the playground which after just an hour were like glass were good fun.
We are now in the 'damned if you do damned if you don't' culture where if a child falls over on ice the head is terrified the school might be held liable. And we have the ludicrous situation where one school is open and anther closed when almost adjacent to one another.
About 5 years ago I was walking my dog when a woman fell very badly on ice outside a local school. Lots of panic, and I picked her up and carried her into the warm where an ambulance was called. I also took her dog home with me but that is an aside. She had broken her ankle quite badly and required surgery pins and so on.
A few weeks later I got a call from a solicitor. He was asking me questions which I forget in detail now, but he was effectively seeing if there was enough 'evidence' to sue the school, or in fact me as I might have caused even more damage. I told him that with the temperature at -8 anyone walking would normally avoid the ice, and although I felt very sorry for the woman it was her own damned fault. As for me being a good Samaritan I had two choices, let her freeze to death or take her in the warm, and I then told him in fairly blunt language to get off the phone. I guess a solicitor being told to sod off was an indication that I was perhaps a 'hostile' witness and I never heard any more.
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Post by fascinating on Jan 25, 2013 14:53:51 GMT 1
All the media, not just the BBC, are guilty of greatly exaggerating the extremity of the weather; look at the Daily Mail website for example. They do it because, well, the media love nothing more than reporting disaster. It seems to sell newspapers - so maybe joe public is ultimately to blame. Every time there are some traffic difficulties it is shown as "gridlock" (which can only be used correctly when a grid of streets is full of traffic and nothing can move because each street of traffic is vainly waiting for the next street to clear) or "chaos" (which means a situation totally without any order, and only should be used if all street signage obscured or even "meltdown" (which obviously is appropriate to uncontrolled nuclear processes in a reactor).
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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 25, 2013 22:06:02 GMT 1
I have had four parcels delivered by couriers during this period of snow. No problemo!
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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 26, 2013 0:08:42 GMT 1
Guess what, according to Newsnight the UK is now on "Flood Alert". Snow is still falling here in Leeds, however.
Never give up do they, these AGW alarmists? If it's not one thing its another! All grist to the mill, prats. One wonders how the snow ever melted in the past without inundating us?
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Post by fascinating on Jan 26, 2013 8:57:16 GMT 1
It's got nothing to do with AGW alarmism. It is just saying "be alert for floods because all the snow is going to melt".
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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 26, 2013 18:03:38 GMT 1
I'm afraid it is all part of the AGW agenda promoted by the BBC, fascinating. It would be nice to think it was just a sensible forewarning. It is not. It is effectively proclaiming, we are in an are of "extreme weather" and its all our fault. Just like the Met Office's ill-advised "forewarning" of extreme drought last March. It's all grist to the AGW alarmist mill and the BBC is a key player.
It is so bloody refreshing to hear the weather forecasts from Paul Hudson. He is the only one at the BBC who is bucking the trend re extreme weather and global warming hysteria.
I hope you take note of the now almost nightly references to the Urban Heat Island Effect, fascinating. They don't call it that, of course, they simply tell you, after giving the forecast for the connurbations, that it will be MUCH colder in rural areas! Hurrah!
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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 26, 2013 23:26:12 GMT 1
I have certainly followed the debates with great interest since 2007 and I am well informed about them. Probably more so than yourself.
Stick to the subject and leave personal abuse out, please. This is The Science Board and we expect civilised conversation about science here. Not personal remarks.
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Post by alancalverd on Jan 27, 2013 9:02:12 GMT 1
Here are my predictions for 2013
The days will generally get longer and warmer for the next 6 months, due to your profligate use of fossil fuels (not mine - I have to travel in a big car and fly to international conferences on Blame Assignment because as a Prophet of Doom I am more important than you).
Thereafter, daylight hours will decrease and the average temperature will drop. This is because we have become a godless nation and the Almighty is visiting us with darkness to remind us of His aweful presence.
It will rain, hail, snow and thaw from time to time, with > 50% probability that at least one such event somewhere will deliver more surface water than at any time in the last five years, and some people will get wetter than they expected, even though the local river has been there for a million years. This will be known as a record flood disaster (caused by global warming), not planning stupidity (caused by greed and democracy).
Some days the land will be obscured by fog, and some days the cities will become unpleasantly hot, as a result of the ruthless pursuit of capitalism and the failure of mankind to sacrifice enough virgins.
The failure of private railway companies to invest in adequate track maintenance and weather-appropriate vehicles is known as "EU Regulations" (which only affect offshore islands, not mainland Europe) and further subsidies wil be required at your expense.
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Post by marchesarosa on Jan 27, 2013 11:46:33 GMT 1
After a few more inches of snow on Friday afternoon it rained in the early hours of Sunday morning and now the snow is largely gone from this part of Leeds (enhanced UHI, I expect!)
Sadly, the increased weight of snow on a large cotoneaster bush in my garden which was tethered to a brick column to keep it upright pulled the column (and several others linked by a handrail) over during Friday night!
So I guess I am a victim of 'extreme weather'!
It never rains but it pours! (where does that old saw come from, I wonder?)
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Post by Joanne Byers on Jan 27, 2013 16:43:37 GMT 1
Discuss science please. Personal remarks will be deleted.
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