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What is Climate Change?

There are many Websites, including official Websites such as the United Nations, that give a one sided view of the causes. Basically the main issue they claim is the burning of fossil fuels.

Is it actually entirely true though? Quite simply: NO.

Whilst CO2 is being sent up into the atmosphere from burning petrol, oil, coal and natural gases, that is NOT the main cause.

There are many more people living on the planet now than before the Industrial Revolution began. In 1800, when the Industrial Revolution began, there were an estimated 1 billion people alive globally.

In 2010 there was an estimated 10.4 billion people alive globally. (Ourworldindata.org). Much more food and water is required to sustain them. Therefore, by mechanisation and invention, the food and water has to be transported from one location to another.

Do we go back to horse and carts, sailing ships, ploughing the soil by horse drawn ploughs? Hand threshing the corn, scything the fields and making hay stacks. We could go back to salt preservation of certain foods ready for the winter months.

It isn't really an option. There are more people living today than at any time in history by a very large factor. So, it is logical for anyone to even consider that CO2 levels should go back to those prior to the Industrial Revolution.

Climate Change - what does it mean?

Climate: could be considered as the weather - that is like saying a wheel is the car. It is only one part.

Climate: - how long a time period should be considered? A Life time, a decade, century, or millennium? The study of geology is a fascinating subject. It enables a look back in history with evidence. Historians and archaeologists also look back at the history of man on the planet. A much narrower time period slot.

Both disciplines: geology and anthropology have proven that the climate changes naturally. Therefore, climate is the weather patterns, humidity and temperatures over a long period such as several centuries.

During the Roman occupation of Briton the climate was warmer than it is now in the 21st century. Far less people existed, no cars, or lorries, or factories belching out smoke and so on. But the weather was warmer during the summer and colder during the winter.

Further back, about a million years (man was on the planet then) Greenland wasn't covered in ice for about 250,000 years. The scientists at the Purdue University USA have studied radiation in the rocks. The observations conclude the temperatures during the 'no ice period' were similar to those of today. They also state that the current climate change measured since 1990 has seen the rate of ice melting doubling.

There are a few unknowns:

• Why did the ice melt when the temperatures were similar to those currently in Greenland?

• Is is a cyclical event? The start of another 250,000year thaw?

1651 - 1654 England endured continuous droughts and excessive heat according to the chronicles of the day.

Samuel Pepys had commented that the summer of 1666 had been hot and very dry since June. A strong contributor to the Great Fire of London in September as the timber buildings and thatched roofs were like tinder.

The River Thames had become a 'trickle' near Oxford indicating the lack of rain to fill the aquifer that supplies the River Thames. It was reported that the months November through to September had seen very little rainfall - drought conditions.

From October 1666, just after the Great Fire, heavy rainfalls and storms were recorded. Pepys's chronical commented that the storms had destroyed ships off the east coast during November / December 1666. The last storm he recorded was during December 23rd when he noted that it was cold and snow was falling.

Ironically, the previous year the River Thames in London had frozen over.

During the period 1600 to 1814 there had been several Ice Fairs. The River Thames had frozen over with ice thick enough to place structures on it and roast animals over braziers.

1708-09 The Great European Freeze. Known in England as the Great Frost,  and Le Grand Hiver in France. Millions of people and animals died from the extreme cold right across Europe.

It was the coldest known temperatures for about 500 years. The temperatures were reported to have remained below zero for the whole year. Crops failed and many people and animals died through starvation. The climate in Italy was extreme. They suffered the same freezing weather as the rest of Europe from Russia across to France. 

There is an excellent website for further reading about the weather: premium.weatherweb.net

Lifetime Climate Change

Boxing Day 1962 was considered the start of 67 days of the coldest weather on record in Britain. The River Thames froze over in London. Large chunks of ice floated onto the beaches in the Thames Estuary. Large chunks of ice were washed on the shores all around the coast-line. Sea water freezes at a lower temperature than fresh water. It was a very cold period.

The National Press were saying we were going back into another Ice Age. All doom and gloom.

A few decades later, The National Press were saying we will be having Mediterranean like weather.

Traffic jams due to the black top on the motorways were melting. Hose pipe bans due to the drought conditions both winter and summer.

Storms have become more powerful and frequent. What was expected very 50 years was occurring almost every year. The hurricane during October 1987 went through France and England and up to Scotland. However, for the record it wasn't a hurricane according to the Met Office. Their records show that as the storm had not originated in the tropics it could not be catagorised as a hurricaine.

Since October 1987 there have been several storms of high powered winds that have hit the south coast. Termed 'Tornados', the destructive power capable of extensive damage. The British Standard Code of Practice and other associated guides normally state that strong winds and gusts happen on average every 50 years.

Climate Change? What is the climate of the UK? There have been many occasions when extremes have occured. Some for just months, some years and some decades.

What about other parts of the world? If it is Global Climate Change then are other countries significantsly changing their climate?

Australia is a massive continent. It holds the records for being the driest and flatest place on Earth other than Antarctica. Data for Australian Climate can only be traced back to the mid 1800s when official records began. Temperature increases are compared since the beginning of the 20th century. Drought periods have been recorded and annual rainfalls steadily declining since 1991. however, in the same period there have been several floods caused by torrential rain.

December 2023 in Northern Queensland about 2m of  flood water. In the week 18th December approx 400mm fell.

In 1977 several rivers broke their banks and flooded the area.  The Daintree River exceeded the previous record by 2m, after receiving 820mm of rain in 24 hours. That was during the summer in Australia.

The Continent is surrounded by warm oceans much of it Tropical or sub-tropical. Typhoons are formed over warm waters. Another word for the type of storm is hurricaine. It is the location that dictates the name.

Now consider facts: Australia is a vast Continent. Much of which is the Bush, or deserts. Very hot and arid. Rich in iron ore and many other valuable minerals. Population per land mass is very small.

Other countries located in the same oceans also experience dramatic weather patterns. Accepted as monsoons, heavy rain periods are a natural phenomenon.

Warm water evaporates easily. There is more energy within the water to become vapour. Solar energy is electromagnetic. It contains no thermal luggage at all. It is purely electricity and magnetism termed radiation. When the radiation collides with matter, from the smallest atom, to the largest land mass, the atoms and molecules become energised. The consequence is the kinetic impacts between the atoms produces motion and thermal energy = heat.

If the ocean is relatively clear the radiation will be absorbed with some heat given off. Water molecules although fluid still collide and produce thermal energy. The ocean will heat up albeit slowly.

In contrast, land mass with minimal foliage such as The Bush, and deserts of Australia will heat up far faster and produce far higher temperatures. When the land heats up more quickly the air above also becomes warmer. Hot air rises and leaves a void that the cooler air from the ocean rushes in to replace it. Coastal winds.

A chimney effect takes place, and the winds can start to rotate causing a vortex. Even large object such as roofs, parts of buildings, animals can be sucked up within the vortex high up into the atmosphere. As the air cools, the debris is rained down back to Earth by gravity.

The oceans are becoming polluted not only with a phenomenal amount of plastics, we, that is 'man' are dumping more and more chemical pollution into the rivers that flow out to the seas and into the oceans.

Some of the pollutions are proteins and fertilizers from sewage, (animal and human), factories, and farmland. There is a whole marine environment that over millions of years has enjoyed a world without pollution.

Zooplankton and photosynthetic phytoplankton are naturally found in the oceans and some rivers and seas. They are part of a sophisticated food chain when in balance.

Pollute the seas and oceans and the food chain is put out of balance. Over fish the waters, poison the waters, sterilize the fish (hang on, sterilize?). Yes. Research of marine life is showing that the female birth control pill remains effective even in sewage water.

Large amounts of the drug has been found in the North Sea conveyed by sewage. Water doesn't just stay in one area. The drug diffuses through the water. Female fish have been analysed and found to have become infertile.  Researchers have found in particular cod in the North Sea and North Atlantic are not spawning as much.

Other countries have had similar research carried out in the waters around their countries.  Similar results with other species of fish have been found. 

As a young scout my 'woodland' badge (not sure the exact name as it was about 60 years ago) enabled observation of plants and trees etc. There are specific lichen that will only grow on the north side of a tree in the northern hemisphere. Useful to know if lost and the position of the Sun or stars is covered by cloud.

There are specific lichen that will grow rapidly if the air is clean. Others prefer smoky air with plenty of sulfur in it.

Geology is the study of rocks. That includes how the rocks were formed: igneous, sedimentary or metamorphic.

Using various techniques a geologist can unfold the history of the planet. Carbon dating isn't possible as the technique can only go back about 50,000 years. That is a matter of minutes in the geologist's clock.

Scientists can measure the radiation in rocks. Typically igneous rocks that contain uranium. Granite plutons often contain veins of uranium. As they weather the radiation leaks into the air. Radon is the most common radio-active gas.

Why are we talking about rocks and plants? I thought we were looking at the reasons for the Climate Changing?

Climate change is natural, as David Bellamy had stated. Geologists can physically observe samples of rocks obtained from below the ground, or up a mountain to see historic temperatures, humidity, and plant remains. Plants were on the planet long before creatures.

A sample of a red coloured sandstone for example indicates a high iron content form a sedimentary rock laid down in a very hot and arid environment.

Fossils, be they of creatures or plants can bookmark where the rocks formed and when. So, to cut a long 'lecture' down, it is easy to see that there is plenty of evidence showing how the Global Climate has changed over the millennia.

Sandstone and limestone strata high up in the Swiss / French Alps provide evidence of tectonic movement and Climate Change.

Greenland hasn't always been covered in ice. Evidence from geologists who have identified a period of about 250,000years when the rocks were exposed to radiation from the Sun.

Geologists can also prove that the atmosphere during the period of initial cooling was filled with sulfur dioxide. The very concentrated acid rain before plants or creatures existed dissolved granite into silica (sand) and clays. Over the centuries of the previous millennia there have been several major volcanic eruptions spewing tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere.

Sulfur dioxide is polar and will readily bond with water vapour (H2O). Whilst in its gaseous form it can remain in the atmosphere and stratosphere. The molecules effectively reflect the Solar radiation from the Sun, sending it back out into space and being absorbed. The latter is providing energy that slows the formation of liquid 'Acid Rain'.

Therefore when volcanoes erupt, they can effectively significantly reduce the electromagnetic radiation arriving on Earth. The effect can cause widespread cooling of 1 to 2° 

Al Gore penned "The Earth in the Balance". An excellent read, and a Course book for Open University geology units.

Gore had been a Senator and Vice President of the USA. His book was published in 1992. The research had been over at least 25 years and was scientifically based. Many of his comments and conclusions about the Environment did not meet with the financial masters of the States. In other words he had cited that 'man' had caused massive environmental damage to the Planet Earth.

It has been suggested that due to his comments about Environmental destruction the owners and shareholders of the polluting businesses ensured Gore would not become President of the USA.

Climate Change Explained covers some of the topics from Gore's book. However, with the benefit of hindsight of 30 years, Climate Change Explained is up to date in 2024.