Summer 2024 comes in a full degree cooler than Summer 2021
In the Chart just below, Summer 2024 is shown modestly cooler than Gamba's Summer 2021
August 2024 is modestly warmer than normal, and yet also actually cooler than August 1981 (72.1 F)
August 2024 is modestly warmer than normal, and yet also actually cooler than August 1981 (72.1 F)
For Meteorological Summer 2024, Portland's average around the clock temperature is 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than was Meteorological Summer 2021. Meteorological Summer is comprised of the months of June, July and August in their entirety. Meteorological Summer does not include any part of the month of September.
If you recall, back at the end of August 2021 (at the conclusion of Meteorological Summer), then Mayor Gamba wrote in the "Milwaukie Pilot" that summers going forward in Milwaukie Oregon would only get warmer if man-made greenhouse emissions were not globally eliminated immediately.
Well, I can tell you that greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase steadily, and yet, summer 2024 turns out notably cooler than Gamba's acclaimed 2021 watershed-like summer (as measured by the National Weather Service at the recognized Portland area benchmark temperature station - namely the Portland International Airport). In fact, all three Portland area summers since 2021 have been a tad to modestly cooler than 2021.
So, Gamba's weather prediction is zero for three. I plan to keep checking in on Gamba's weather prediction each of the two next summers.
August 2024 is modestly warmer than normal, and yet also actually cooler than August 1981 (72.1 F)
August 2024 is modestly warmer than normal, and yet also actually cooler than August 1981 (72.1 F)
August 2024 is modestly warmer than normal, and yet also actually cooler than August 1981 (72.1 F)
According to NOAA's benchmark Mauna Lua Observatory CO2 measurement gauge, this summer saw an outsized surge in atmospheric CO2 content.
Might it be that the big thinkers on planet earth, paid for big thinking by a big and ever-expanding self-interest government sector, are getting correlation and causation backwards? Might it be that a warming planet, especially with its vast oceans, might naturally release much more in greenhouse gases (CO2 primarily) than that emitted by human activity?
(posted by Elvis Clark on September 5, 2024)
MIT and princeton physics professors deflate net zero plans
The Climate models ASSUME global warming and increases in CO2 are linear - professors say no to this
Atmospheric science professor Richard Lindzen of MIT and Physics professor William Happer of Princeton co-author a brief report which estimates that for all its costs in the trillions the most that Net Zero plans, if adopted globally, can reduce the temperature is not more than one-half degree Fahrenheit.
They argue that at current concentrations of CO2, the heating effect of more CO2 declines rapidly to the point that continued CO2 emissions have little effect on raising global temperatures, climatically.
Here's the Lindzen-Happer brief on decreasing effectiveness of increasing CO2 atmosphere content:
Net Zero Policies Will Have a Trivial
Effect on Temperature, But Disastrous Effects on People Worldwide - CO2 Coalition
I remember reading that Harvard University's science department recognizes a decreasing effectiveness of CO2, also. But Harvard contends that there is a certain threshold in the thousands of parts per million (we are now at 420 parts per million CO2 and increasing 2 parts per year) where the effect accelerates again.
At any rate, the Climate models that are driving governments to adopt Net Zero plans like those in Oregon, which in turn are causing electric utility bills to surge higher and become unaffordable for a growing number of Oregonians, should be paused until a scientifically rigorous test is run on Lindzen and Happer's postulation about a deceleration in the effectiveness of CO2. Right now, the Climate models are based on a strict linear relationship between Global Warming and Greenhouse gas (mostly CO2) content of the atmosphere.
(posted by Elvis Clark on August 23, 2024)
World grain production increases 56% since Year 2000
Meanwhile world population increases by a third since 2000 -
Despite claims that man's Greenhouse emissions will cause agriculture production to decline, world food grain production continues to steadily increase - per the above graph prepared by the World Food and Agricultural Organization, a member of the United Nations.
Man-made Climate Change proponents continually talk of drought and the decline in agricultural production. But there is very low scientific confidence in the warming of planet leading to more droughts - per scientist Steven Knonin, former Undersecretary of Science during the Obama administration.
Actually, the increase in Carbon dioxide in the atmospheric, whether it be natural and/or man-made with the burning of fossil fuels, is observed by satellite imagery as causing the earth to become more covered in green plant life. This CO 2 driven increase in green plant life helps mitigate the deforestation going on in place like the Amazon river region of South America.
(posted by Elvis Clark on July 18, 2024)
Gasoline-Electric hybrids can cost less with sub-$3.50 gas
The Above Chart compares the cost of going a mile in a gasoline-Hybrid car v. an all-electric car
Former President Trump, if re-elected, says he will implement an energy policy of "Drill, Baby, Drill." It is possible increased domestic oil drilling, stemming from a "Drill, Baby, Drill government program, could easily cause the average cost of gasoline to decrease to the $2.50 per gallon range. The average price of gasoline nationally for the last ten years is just about $2.50. Currently, the average price of gasoline in the U.S is just under $3.10 per gallon. (Gasoline in Texas, though, is already less than $2.70 per gallon.
At $2.50 for the price of a gallon of gasoline, it costs about 5 cents for a gasoline-electric hybrid car, like my Toyota Corolla to drive a mile. Locally, in Milwaukie, PGE's residential electricity cost is over 17 cents per KWH, which means in PGE's area the cost of going a mile in an all-electric car is just about 5 cents.
But gasoline in Portland is selling for an average price of $3.65 currently (although there are non-major gasoline stations like Astro and Space Age in the Portland Oregon area selling gasoline for as low as $3.10 per gallon - as of January 23, 2024).
Gasoline sells for an average of $3.08 nationally currently. But maybe with "Drill, Baby, Drill.' The cost of gasoline, nationally, could decrease to its ten-year average of just about $2.50. Oregon maintains a higher price of gasoline than that of the nation as a whole, but Oregon gasoline prices could get down to around $3.00 per gallon.
Meanwhile, electricity rates are increasing steadily in recent years, with PGE's rates having increased nearly 20% this month of January 2024 from last year 2023. The Oregon government push to replace existing fossil fuel generation stations with wind and solar power generation is likely to cause PGE's electricity rates to increase to the 20 cent per Kilowatt Hour range (KWH) and as high as 25 cents per KWH. Speaking of a net zero state, California's average rate for residential electricity is already over 25 cents per KWH.
At $2.50 gasoline, 20 cent and 25 cent KWH rates would cause the gasoline-electric hybrid car to have an energy cost of 2 cents to 3.5 cents lower per mile than an all-electric car.
(posted by Elvis Clark on January 20, 2024)
Portland area climate warms with conclusion of year 2023
2023 was the warmest year in some 90 years in Portland, only surpassed by 1934 and 1926
The around the clock Portland Airport temperature registers just about 55 degrees Fahrenheit for the last thirty years, a tad higher than the 30-year average posted at the end of year 2022. So, the Portland area climate as measured by average temperature for 30 years continues to increase.
There is a hint of a slowing in the increase in Climate temperature in the above graph. From the early to mid-70s through the late 1990s, the local climate temperature seems to increase a bit faster than since the late 1990s through last year (2023).
But this hint of slowing in warming would not be because of a slowing in the dominant greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide as a component of global atmosphere. This is because carbon dioxide (CO2) continues to increase steadily as a part of the global atmosphere, as measured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There is a physics theory I guess that says that the more the atmosphere becomes saturated with CO2, the less potent additions of CO2 to the atmosphere become.
I used to deliver newspapers, as a paper boy, to homes in the late 1960s and 1970s in the Portland suburbs, and it always seem damp and cold. I would often say to myself while doing my bicycle newspaper route(s): 'when I grow up, I sure hope I move to somewhere warm and dry like the U.S Southwest.' Well, here I am more than 50 years later living in the same Willamette Valley I grew up in, but maybe I got a part of my wish as the Willamette Valley has gotten significantly warmer since my paper route days as a teen. It is a bit of a double edge sword, though, as now government tries to take away things and social engineer peoples' lives as in the pursuit of what I call 'climate change environmental type purity.'
Those authorities in pursuit of climate action sacrifice seem like they could be the modern-day version of America's 17 century Puritan religious movement - which saw the Witch Trials. Maybe not as drastic as the Witch Trials, not yet at least.
(posted by Elvis Clark on January 9, 2023)
Bill Gates says we'll survive rising global temperatures
Bill Gates, prominent de-carbonization spokesperson, now says there is too much climate alarmism
Both Bill Gates and Mike Bloomberg, as reported by Fortune news media, are now on record as stating that technological progress will most likely help the earth de-carbonize and stop the earth from overheating. Here's the link to Bill Gates tamping down on Climate Alarmism:
Bill Gates on climate change: 'The climate is not the end of the planet' | Fortune
Only a little over a year ago did Milwaukie, Oregon's Mayor Gamba warn his community that if it (Milwaukie, Oregon) didn't ban natural gas and other fossil fuels over the next decade, the earth and its people would suffer catastrophic climate consequences.
Now, with prominent figures like Gates and Bloomberg both publicly tamping down climate alarmism, maybe government can get back to better balancing economic affordability/prosperity against environmental cause.
Bill Gates' former company he help build, namely Microsoft, is planning on investing in small nuclear power plants to serve the intense electricity demands of its data centers. Small advanced nuclear module power plants are part of the reason for Gates' optimism about technological progress helping reduce green house gas emissions and thereby limit the earth's warming.
(posted by Elvis Clark on October 14, 2023)
Electric Vehicles cause more microplastics pollution
Pew Research finds that Electric Vehicles tires wear out faster than conventional vehicle tires
New research efforts are only just beginning to reveal the impact of near-invisible tire and brake dust. A report from the Pew Charitable Trust found that 78 percent of ocean microplastics are from synthetic tire rubber.
EVs tend to shed around 20 percent more from their tires due to their higher weight and high torque compared to traditional internal combustion engine-powered vehicles (Drive Magazine).
(posted by Elvis Clark on October 6, 2023)
Environmentaly, prius maybe still beter than EV Bolt
The Toyota Prius hybrid requires a lot less lithium than Chevy's all electric Bolt
The Toyota Prius hybrid requires a lot less lithium than Chevy's all electric Bolt
The Toyota Prius hybrid requires a lot less lithium than Chevy's all electric Bolt
With the same amount of lithium metal, 8 times as many Toyota hybrid Prius' can be manufactured than all-electric chevy Bolts. Lithium mining carries with it certain environmental impacts, too, just as an important note. The Prius saves one gallon of gasoline for every 52 miles it drives. If there are 8 times more Prius than conventional gasoline automobiles, this saves 8 gallons of gasoline with every 52 miles driven.
Against the Prius, the Bolt - with less of them - only saves two gallons of gasoline, at most, driving this same 52 miles.
Hybrids more environmentally friendly than all Electrics
The Toyota Prius hybrid requires a lot less lithium than Chevy's all electric Bolt
The Toyota Prius hybrid requires a lot less lithium than Chevy's all electric Bolt
So, by this accounting, the Prius may be a better vehicle / fuel solution for the overall environment than an all-electric vehicle like the Bolt.
(posted by Elvis Clark on July 21, 2023)
Colville Indian tribe advocates more controlled burns
The Canadian wildfires come at a time when some groups realize the benefits of controlled burns
Forest practices in recent decades in the Western U.S states have not included, to much a degree, the use of controlled burns to get rid of excess wood debris accumulating in forests - woody debris which after years will build up and eventually make uncontrolled forest fires much bigger and more destructive.
Here's the link to the Ashland Chronicle which reports on the historical benefits of controlled burns - aimed at reducing the "fuel" for mega forest fires:
(posted by Elvis Clark on June 8, 2023)
First Real Snow Day for 2023 - > 10 inches (2/22/23)
North Clackamas Schools & Milwaukie City Hall closed 2/23/23
In this decade (2021-30), there has been snow in Portland in first three years
In this decade (2021-30), there has been snow in Portland in first three years
The National Weather Service reports 10.8 inches of snow fell at the Portland airport on the evening of February 22, 2023.
In this decade (2021-30), there has been snow in Portland in first three years
In this decade (2021-30), there has been snow in Portland in first three years
In this decade (2021-30), there has been snow in Portland in first three years
Climate forecasts have forecast that snow would cease to happen in Portland, Oregon, with Climate Change in this decade. Yet in the first two decades of this century (21st) there is actually a rebound in snow fall in Portland. And what's more in the year 2021 there is two snow events with a total of 14 inches between them, 2022 had 2.6 inches among three small snow events; but now in just the single night of February 22, 2023 some 10.8 inches of snow falls.
(posted by Elvis Clark on February 23, 2023)
Scotland: supposedly 72 Wind Turbines have diesel Back-up
Supposed green wind turbines are hooked up to diesel generators for when the wind doesn't blow
This story about renewable shortcomings was published in "Watts Up With That" on-line climate blog.
(posted by Elvis Clark on February 9, 2023)
There is not enough copper/other minerals to allow net zero
Net Zero by even the year 2050 is fantasy. It should maybe be called Net Zero Zip.
The above photo is of an Arizona open pit copper mine. It has been mined now for over 50 years. The nationally recognized Consulting firm for energy and resources, S&P Global, has found that it is almost virtually certain there is not enough copper to allow for an all electric U.S economy (so called net zero) by the year 2050. Aluminum can also conduct electricity but at only 60% of copper's capability.
PGE our local electric utility monopoly loves Net Zero and total electrification mandates like those of the City of Milwaukie (PGE no doubt salivates over the windfall profits it will score with Net Zero mandates). Milwaukie City Council and our state governor touts PGE's line that Net Zero is achievable. Milwaukie City Council even wants to mandate Net Zero much sooner than the year 2050, mandating it by the year 2035.
But our local City Council and other state leaders are mostly "progressives" who want total control over people, delivering a world where there are only two classes - those in control (these same leaders) and the masses (with depressed equal means). So, they hock PGE's so-called expertise to sell a naïve electorate on Net Zero, while also instilling the fear of an impending climate crisis.
(posted by Elvis Clark on January 27, 2023)
Portland area temperatutre in 2022 not unlike 2004
but Portland definitely warmer with CO2 since the year 2014. But is Warm temperatures causing CO2?
Statistically, I can understand some of the concern over the steady rise in the CO 2 composition of the global atmosphere as shown in the graph above, and it causing continued warming of our City of Milwaukie and Portland area. The period of year 2014 through this last year 2022 is warmer than the first 14 years of this century (when CO 2 atmospheric concentrations are lower than in recent years).
But it is also questionable that this warming is the climate crisis that our Milwaukie City Council, City staff and other local leaders want us so to believe. The year 2022 was not that unlike the year 2004 some 18 years ago now. We all survived both years, and prospered in the interim.
Then too, in the secton just below, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the prominently recognized Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) finds that Net Zero even by the year 2050 is currently out of reach with existing technologies such as wind and solar and batteries; and that power generation will still need a substantial amount of natural gas to provide a reasonably reliable electricity grid - to avoid costly electricity black outs.
(posted by Elvis Clark on January 5, 2023.)